Technology has really helped expand opportunities for students regarding the content area of social studies. The use of smart boards has enhanced the classroom experience. Picture, videos, and power points are important for a social studies class because visuals enhance the learning experience. The power point may contain notes for the students, and the pictures and videos help the student see the perspective of that time period. A smart board allows the teacher to show all of these things together. Since the smart board is linked directly to the computer, there are so many more opportunities for the teacher to show visuals. By having access to the internet a teacher can show their students the process of accessing websites or getting to primary sources that may be important in history. Also, showing historical pictures will help students visualize history rather than just take notes and read textbooks. The smart board inspires discussion and class activity, which is promising for a social studies classroom because many students see it as a boring subject without much creativity involved. Interaction between classmates, teacher, and the use of the smart board will take the traditional note-taking, text reading social studies class to an interactive class.
Another aspect of a social studies class besides history is geography. With the smart board, looking at maps and investigating areas will become a better experience and help the teacher greatly. The internet allows the teacher to have access to tons and tons of maps. With the features of the smart board, the teacher can interact and manipulate the maps to show students different aspects of the areas. Bringing up the website Google maps on the smart board is an example of how easily many maps can be accessed and shown to the students. Like the history content, students can find this boring by just looking at maps in the textbook or reading about areas. With the smart board, students can get a better visual of maps and landscapes and interact with the maps. The smart board has become a very useful tool for social studies teachers and is helping them make history interesting and relevant to students. The smart board is turning the social studies classroom into an interactive classroom instead of just a note taking and reading class.
Hey Keri,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree about Smart Boards. They really are great tools for teachers to use. Promoting student participation is key to the classroom Smart Boards can aid in that area. There is also software that allows students to take tests through Smart Boards with a wireless remote, which is a cool and efficient feature as well.
-Peter
Allowing the use of a smart board to change the dynamics of a history classroom is a wonderful idea. What I can remember of my previous high school’s history classes are the dreadful lessons forcing students to memorize dates and historical facts. I have always struggled with memorization. This difficulty brought issues receiving anything higher than a C+. I am sure I would have a better memory and interest towards history if an interactive form of instruction was implemented. I like your idea of using the Internet and the smart board to draw and illustrate conjectures that students can use to elaborate. I find my self as a visual learner. Pictures and other visual representations of historical facts give a broader learning environment. Your perspective lessons incorporating the smart board sound appealing already. I am glad to hear that you are aware that some students find history a boring or challenging subject and plan to use technology to change the traditional history lesson to a fun/interactive one.
ReplyDeleteHey Keri, nice post! Sometimes I wonder how teachers even got through lesson plans before technology like Smartboards. My school had one in every classroom and it is such a basic part of my understanding of the learning landscape. I remember my AP Environmental Science teacher, especially, using this technology as a main part of her lesson planning. We watched films, looked at graphics and played interactive games to learn more for our AP exam. We were aways looking at maps and charts to see certain information and, like History, these graphics were very important in our understanding. Imagine teaching without being able to point to these maps, zoom in, and interact? Teaching has become so much more student-centered with these boards and I really hope I will be able to use one in my future teaching position.
ReplyDeleteHello Kerri, Smartboards are one of the greatest tools in a school setting. Couple of years ago I had to take a science class, the teacher would give a lecture with information on a projector and then follow with multiple-choice questions.
ReplyDeleteIn order to answer the questions we used clickers which resembles remote controls.
I think that was neat, because each student had a designated number for the school year. The teacher would see the responses in a spreadsheet , this could be practically used for taking attendance and assessing or formative assess by evaluating what do the students need reinforcement, the reason why I am explaining all of this is because I understand that the smart board has a similar option called the Smart Response devices, additionally if the students prefer they have the option to use their cellphones.
I think that in Social Studies, such as Art History a tool like this will also have the students engaged and focused in the lessons.
Smart boards are awesome tools for teachers no matter what concentration they are. I was just in a history classroom the other day where the teacher relies heavily on their smart board. All they had was a lengthy presentation on it. I was so bored watching it. I imagined the kids feeling the same. I was wishing they would put something more active on the board. You seem to have good ideas on how you would incorporate your smart board into your teaching. I like that you brought up geography. It would be great for you to show students Google Earth on it. That will show them where your location is on the globe, to seeing the everyday activity right on a street corner! Great blog!
ReplyDelete