Interactive Whiteboards

The interactive whiteboard is a presentation that is connected to a computer and a projector. The projector displays the computer’s desktop onto the surface of the whiteboard, where the presenter controls the computer with a pen, finger, or other device. Over the last decade the use of interactive whiteboards has grown rapidly across the world. Some teachers have welcomed them into their classrooms, while others prefer a different approach to teaching. It is important for any school that implements interactive whiteboards into their classrooms to provide the proper training to their teachers, so that the teachers can become familiar with it. Some teachers are left to their own devices and have to struggle to figure out how to make effective use of the IWB’s, which can waste a lot of valuable time, and could hinder the learning of the learners.

In order to use interactive whiteboards effectively, one should organise the information and group it into small segments, before creating the digital display. Also including visuals that highlight the important information, could be useful and will attract the attention of the learners. IWB’s are effective in teaching a variety of learning styles. Tactile learners can touch the board and move things around, or make notes and highlight important information, visual learners look at the display, and audio learners can participate in class discussions.

Interactive whiteboards have the potential to be used as an instrument that improves the quality of pedagogical practices in the classroom. Interactive whiteboards are a powerful tool that can create a space where learners are more interactive and collaborative, and creates a range of learning opportunities. This tool enables teachers to be creative and encourages learners to take in the information shown to them on the display. Interactive whiteboards can also enable group discussions and participation from learners. It can be effective to use when brainstorming ideas, as notes can be made on the screen and distributed at a later stage.

Using presentations has become a more popular tool for teachers who want to hand out information and share ideas with their learners, and also for teachers who want their learners to use technology when learning. The IWB is an instrument that uses both of these elements, and it is effective for small groups and large groups of learners.

Applying Mindfulness to a Mundane Classroom

In many classrooms today you will find that learners are very disengaged, often bored, and restless, this could be due to teachers being unable to find a way to make learners mindful and aware of the importance of what they are being taught and that engaging in class will be in their best interest. Learners are disinterested in topics discussed, and the teacher struggles to keep control of his/her learners and will often resort to trying different methods to grab their attention, most of which fail.

In her blog, Abby Willis, writes about the method she used to get the learners to be mindful when performing an everyday task in her classroom. At the beginning of each lesson learners had to move the desks to the sides of the classroom, so that they had space to do their work. This simple task took the learners so long to perform that she had to think of a new way to implement this task that would make the learners aware of the time pressure and also the noise that they were making in the class. So she decided to place bowls of water on each table with a note that said, “Keep the floor dry please.” When the learners saw this, they tried their best not to spill the water on the floor and ended up moving the desks quietly and not a single drop of water was spilled. Once the task was complete, Abby asked the learners how the atmosphere of the classroom changed when they saw the bowls of water. The learners said the classroom was calm, peaceful and organised. This simple method created an atmosphere of mindfulness where the learners were engaged and put their minds towards accomplishing a task efficiently.

In the video called “Effective Pedagogy – teaching the whole child,” Foley suggests steps teachers could use to engage with learners. He highlights the importance of the well-being of the learners and that the way they learn is influenced by the state of their well-being. He says that teachers need to be available for their learners to create a space where learners will grow. Foley suggests that teachers should aim to create mindfulness in their classrooms by focussing on who they are teaching and not what they are teaching.

 

Teachers need to provide comprehensive lessons that are engaging for learners and that somehow get the learners to participate in constructive discussions with one another, where they will be encouraged to flourish and grow.

Social Media in the classroom

It is evident that social media plays a huge role in the world that we live in today. People connect with social media on a daily basis, whether it be via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc. Social media enables the world to connect with one another and often social media affects the way that people think and feel. I think that social media could be a good tool to use in the classroom, especially since teenagers are probably the most frequent users or followers of social media. However, it is important that it be used in a controlled manner when using it as a method for teaching learners.

Most teenagers today, are so engaged with the world of technology, and I think that using social media in the classroom can make learning a lot more interesting and fun for learners. If learners were allowed to watch YouTube videos and read articles and reflect on them during class time, it could enable them to be connected with what is happening in the world and it would make things more realistic for them, rather than sitting in class after class, totally disengaged and forced to listen to a boring load of information that is read out to them monotonously and does not attract their attention at all.

Also I think that with the rapid advancement of technology it is important that learners keep up with developments and the fast pace media, in order to prepare them for what they will be encountering in their jobs and in their day to day life as an adult. So therefore allowing social media to be used in the classroom can be beneficial to those learners who are not yet engaged with social media, and the learners who are more techno savvy can help their friends who lag a bit behind. Obviously this would have to take place in a controlled and monitored environment, because if learners are just let loose on the internet who knows what they could end up watching or engaging with. Teachers need to facilitate this in such a way that learners are not tempted to just do their own thing, but actually use social media in the way that they are instructed to do so.

There are many pros and cons to using social media in the classroom, and I do think that it might not be effective in every subject, but for most it could be a vital element that enables teachers to create an atmosphere of learning in the classroom, by using a tool that is in the interest of the learners.

Not Every Teacher is a Pedagogue

Many people seem to confuse digital pedagogy with online learning, when this is actually not the case. Before reading the article “Decoding Digital Pedagogy” I would have also assumed that digital pedagogy means to use the internet while teaching. Some people might ask what the difference is between digital pedagogy and teaching online. The article suggests that not every teacher is a pedagogue and that pedagogy is different from the study of education. Paul Michael Morris states that at the core of the pedagogy lies timeliness, mindfulness and improvisation and that pedagogy is that key exchange that takes place in order for learning to happen.

It is understandable that people seem to think that digital and online are the same thing, however digital does not necessarily mean that technology is being used in the classroom. Digital can mean a series of data expressed as digits or employing signs or signals to express data. Pedagogy can be defined as a method or practice of teaching, yet as I stated above, not every teacher is a pedagogue. In order to be a pedagogue actual learning needs to take place. So I guess what Morris is saying is that not all learners actually learn something from their teachers. Some teachers are unable to engage with their class, and therefore they don’t actually teach them anything. I’ve experienced a couple of teachers who just read from the text book and tell the learners to highlight this or highlight that. They don’t take what is in the textbook and give examples that their learners can relate to, or they don’t find out what their learners’ prior knowledge is or ask questions to see what their learners know and understand.

I think a pedagogue is someone who engages with their learners and who breaks down information into small chunks and explains it in such a way that learners are able to grasp it. A pedagogue is not necessarily a teacher either, he/she can be any educated person who is able to pass their knowledge on to another.

Technology in the Classroom

With the rapid advancement of technology over the years, it has become normal and most of the time expected that teachers would use technology as a tool to teach their learners. When hearing the words, “Digital Pedagogy,” I immediately assumed it meant teaching by making use of computers or other forms of technology in the classroom. However once reading the article, “Digital Pedagogy Unplugged,” by Paul Fyfe, it became more clear to me that digital pedagogy does not necessarily have to be electronic.

The question that is posed in this article is; can there be a digital pedagogy without computers? Many teachers are under the assumption that digital pedagogy means the use of electronic tools or computers. The article suggests that this can be problematic because it limits the teaching to the extent of its tools. In many cases this is true, as teachers tend to read off a power point or an overhead projector and don’t actually engage creatively with the learners. A lot of the time the material that is on these power point presentations or on the overhead projector is provided to the learner anyway, which they can go and read for themselves.

The article speaks about “teaching naked” which simply means removing all computers and projectors from the classroom. In the article Fyfe poses the question, “What if instead we kept the "digital" in the non-electronic senses of that word: something to get your hands on, to deal with in dynamic units, to manipulate creatively?” This makes a lot more sense, in such a way that learners would benefit more from a classroom atmosphere that inspires creative thinking, where discussions are constantly encouraged, where learners are free to ask those “silly questions” and where learners engage with one another and with their teachers, challenging one another and ultimately resulting in learners actually learning and not just moving from one classroom to the next totally bored and having gained absolutely nothing of real substance.