Promethean Boards
Promethean boards (and SMART boards) came into my geographical location with not much fanfare at first. Then without an obvious catalyst Boom! Now they are everywhere and everyone wants one! With all these boards have to offer in improving the educating our students, there are pitfalls.
I will skip the infrastructure issues. First, there is the learning curve. Each teacher has to be taught not only how to operate the equipment but utilize the software. Then there is the tremendous investment of time for lesson plans to be created, adapted, or revamped for usage with the new hardware and software. The potential is seemingly limitless yet the investment of human time and effort needs to be taken into account. Some teachers who have done the same thing year after year are not inclined to change or adapt what they do to incorporate the new technology. Others find that it takes a few hours to reinvent what they do to include the new technology. The learning and time investment is huge, especially at the very beginning.
The boards do bring more interaction into the classroom. They can make lesson come alive. Whole class active participation is possible. The boards provide a platform to reach many different learning styles as possible while encouraging participation and risk-taking on the part of the students. It allows and encourages teachers to bring the world into the classroom for students. It helps transform a class of passive observers into active knowledge creators. There is also a whole online community of educators from around the world sharing thoughts, ideas, and lesson plans.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the number one thing I think schools can do to get the most out of this technology is provide teachers with ONGOING training and support. And in some cases, a little mandated encouragement!
Check out these websites and videos about Promethean Boards:
http://mediasuite.multicastmedia.com/player.php?p=m0c671q1
http://prometheanlearning.com/us/
http://www.prometheanworld.com/
http://www.prometheanplanet.com/en/
