A one size fits all strategy for classroom management and engagement is not guaranteed to be a success in all educational ecosystems.The most effective instructional approach for a particular classroom is one that best attends to each student’s needs. The use of technology can supplement a teacher’s lesson plan and activities, and enhance all of the attributes a teacher already does well. In the 21st century not only do most K-12 students have or are in the process of acquiring technological literacy, but concurrently the use of technology has become the central focus of their lives; most teenagers spend between 8 to 10 hours per day in front of a computer, TV screen or on their phone. While the classroom should not become simply a conduit for students to further immerse themselves in technology, the classroom should not pretend technology does not exist as well. Integrating technology within the structure of the classroom can alleviate some of the student maize that can occur during the classic textbook method. The use of interactive technology in particular, such as interactive whiteboards, can have concrete benefits. Throughout this analysis of Smart Boards both student development and student tendencies will be analyzed for a detailed rationale on why Smart Boards can be an effective tool. In the current economic situation the concept spending thousands of dollars per classroom to acquire technology that will also possibly need money to maintain, is not feasible to many, if not most school districts. But it can be asserted it is equally unreasonable to believe that students, especially ESL and socio-economic disadvantaged students can compete for high skilled employment positions if not given access to the same technology resources their more affluent compatriots have.
The Benefits of SMART Board Technology in ESL Learners
This particular study focused on elementary school classroom where 40 percent of students were classified as ESL. The study looked at two different ESL classes: one with access to Smart Board and one without access. The inquiry focus was to track the ability of ESL students both using the Smart and the control group in terms of their development in vocabulary and word choice. As seen in an in-depth study at an elementary school in North Carolina, students who were given access to the Smart Board technology over the course of the year displayed more pronounced improvements in grammar, than students who did not have the technology. Furthermore, the researcher of this inquiry saw student vocabulary growth during the process as well. A huge advantage of Smart Boards is the student’s ability to see their work displayed prominently in front of the classroom. Students can receive real time help sounding out words, connecting pieces of words, suffixes and prefixes and punctuation. The use of Smart Boards has the potential to dramatically increase overall student productivity and awareness of a particular learning segment. The development of phonetic cognition is accelerated by interactive technology. Struggling students, who may be shy or apprehensive about standing up in front of the class can utilize work already reviewed by the instructor to have the confidence to give an in-depth presentation. Of course more detailed and cumulative studies are needed to more accurately address the prolonged developmental changes to ESL students’ vocabulary growth with access to the Smart Board, yet early studies such as the one cited, help illustrate the usefulness of this ever expanding technology benefit to the educational process. Technology has the potential to either bridge the educational achievement gap, or expand the academic inequality that we currently see permeating throughout our society.
SMART Boards in the Classroom
Effective use of the Smart Board technology can without question quickly produce increased student interaction and engagement with specific instructional material and can have lasting benefits on the classroom dynamic and cognitive development of the middle school age student population. Using technology as an educational asset, not simply a time filler is made substantially easier by access to the Smart Board. This technology works with the students developing frontal cortex to better process the visual information the teachers are presenting. The SmartBoard allows both students and instructors immediate feedback; student’s interactions with the board show comprehension and can identify problem areas anonymously. With less overt criticism to students, they will be learning and in future instances more willing to communicate. At its core Smart Board technology is an interactive tool that allows students to truly be at the center of their own learning. Use of large font, colors, shapes, graphs and illustrations, Smart Boards can enhance the curriculum of all subjects. During the teenage years, adolescent brains are transforming and Smart Boards can be used to bridge the gap between childhood and intellectual teenage creativity. While supplementing a students need for visual representations of instructional material, technology such as the Smart Board has the potential to inquire from students more detailed analysis of a particular subject. By allowing students to manipulate the Smart Board, students can be asked to directly participate in activities previously reserved only for the instructor.
Struggling students, children with disabilities, students whose primary language is not English can massively benefit from this cutting edge technology. Some Smart Boards are embedded with a device called “Smart Network” that has spell check which allows students to engage in meaningful trial and error. Students with certain intellectual disabilities that historically have struggled in the classic classroom setting are allowed by the Smart Board technology to integrate their creative minds in a hands-on fashion, using the drag function to tangibly alter and refashion text and sentences. Smart Boards can also display video clips and have the capacity to playback past teacher and student work to further enhance understanding; it can revisit the logic that lead to a correct answer, such as in math or grammar problems, or focus attention on a process or progressive sequence essential to the lesson. Retention is such a common problem seen in standardized tests of the middle school age group. The playback function also allows for material to be presented on numerous occasions to solidify the lesson.
Smart Board technology can bridge the sometimes nearly insurmountable barrier that inhibits many students from capturing information and recalling key concepts. Students benefit greatly from hearing a wide array of voices during a standard class period. The instructor can use past student examples and outside sources to supplement their own direct instruction. A student as a teacher to their classmates is enhanced by this technology because the student can display a variety of work samples and projects. This shared learning experience can have dramatic effects on classroom community building and student relationships with their peers further exemplifying the necessity in social interaction.