In each team of teachers you can find those teachers who are creative and who are keen on using modern technologies. Unfortunately, we cannot give a stop to time, therefore we have to realize that teachers are losing their dominate role during communication at school. Like many years ago, nowadays students surely long for getting knowledge. They are working with more modern technology that can afford them a lot of information. Internet, computers, televisions, mobile phones – just choose one. The aim of school lessons is to teach students how to work with the information so that they can use it in their everyday life. The question is – how the teacher can make students interested? Neither attractive looking nor encyclopaedic knowledge gained at the pedagogical faculty is the answer. Students long for the teacher (of any age) who can support them in cooperation. It is the only way how to drag students into problem so that they can find the solution themselves. Teacher becomes only a part of the class, his role is to be observer and adviser.
To support the teachers and students in the educational process, our school decided to implement new technologies into class work. An interactive board is one of them. It helps us to hold our students’ interest and it motivates them. The interactive board is a large touch screen connected to computer. Through the data projector, interactive board receives videos, animations, sounds and it works with them. There is no need to be worried about the control over the interactive board. Working with this instrument is easy; by only one touch on the screen you can control any application in computer you want. You can write on the board by your finger or you can use a special pen. The big advantage is the possibility to safe your notes you made on the board for further use.
The interactive board’s software is a great didactical utility. You can insert different pictures into your notes on the board; for instance during the Science class the teacher can show pictures of lime tree and its leaves, students can listen to the authentic sounds of animals. The interactive board conveys everything what students cannot recognize from their own direct experience. You can visit different cities, landmarks or nature in films, photos, educational software used on the interactive board. There is no need to cut pictures of photos from magazines because you can find them in the interactive board’s software, well-arranged in categories. Besides pictures, there are many backgrounds and wallpapers the teacher can use to make his/her lessons more interesting. If you want to make writing easier for young learners, you can set the background with the lines. A stave with all kinds of notes and pauses is ready to use for Music teachers. In Science you can use the pictures of human body and its organs, maps, schemes…
Internet is a great source of information. The teacher finds there many online encyclopaedias with texts, pictures or video clips that can be used during lessons. The web sites are full of games, quizzes and pictures and all of these makes the students participated. The students can practice subject matters by doing different quizzes or tests that you fill-in together on the interactive board. They can find out information or pictures they need.
This great board has soon become very favourite tool for each teacher at a secondary school. That’s why we have bought another interactive board for primary school. The reaction of our pupils was colossal – they say, that lessons when they are working with the interactive board are the best. Young learners often need to change types of activities. On this board they can move the objects or texts, match pairs, fill-in coloured letters, catch the falling letters, use the electronic ruler, set different background with lines or squares…
There is a large quantity of educational software that is suitable to be used during class. The software can be shown to all the students on the interactive board. It enables to involve the whole class into work with it. It is motivating for the students to go to board, solve the problem and listen to sounds as a bonus. Weaker students become more confident when they are commended for right solution by the interactive board.
The interactive board helps in teaching dyslectic children because it enables writing with a finger. You can also use a keyboard shown directly on the board. This keyboard gives a chance to write without a fear of own unreadable handwriting. The text can be highlighted, coloured, changed in size. All these advantages help to teach students who have problems with dyslexia. These tools offer visual influence on pupils and immediate feedback. Using sounds is another important support in teaching these children. The more senses can children use the easier is learning for them. The teacher can remind learning matter by showing previous pages of the board. These pages can be still shown on the left or right side of the board. The children can prepare their own presentation using all the mentioned tools. Their presentations can be saved and marked and there is no stress from testing or examining.
There is one another great tool, especially for handicapped students. They can work with the board by a special pen and remote tablet with wireless connection from any place in the classroom.
Experienced teacher will discover more creative using of the interactive board. He/she can prepare the lessons, save them and use them whenever he/she needs. The teacher can prepare the lessons at home, on his/her own computer, where the special software of the interactive board is installed. You can recognize those teachers, because they go to school only with CDs or flash discs. There they saved their prepared lessons.
The only thing you have to pay attention is the time and number of activities for one lesson. The students should not be only passive lookers. They should be those who move texts, pictures, who highlight key information, who mark graphs. Teacher can use the group work instead of frontal teaching. While one group is working at the board, another group can be solving a problem at their desks. In the end both groups can compare their solutions.
Making the interactive lessons should be adapted to students’ needs; it should allow students to work in their own pace. Instead of focusing on using all the possibilities of the interactive board, the teacher should think about the aims of the lesson. There are many ways how to teach students, but at the beginning there must be interested teacher. That teacher is able to create interesting lesson and involve the students. The interactive board is only a tool how to make teachers more creative and students more active and interested.
You can find more information about teaching with interactive boards on this web site: www.veskole.cz.
Written by: Mgr. Daniel Preisler
Primary and Secondary School of T.G.Masaryk, Česká Kamenice, distrikt of Děčín
