subject: How To Itegrated Whiteboards Into Today's Classroom [print this page] This is the year of whiteboards 2.0This is the year of whiteboards 2.0. Nearly 750,000 interactive whiteboards were sold worldwide in 2009, according to Futuresource Consulting, and one million are on track to be sold in 2010. If your district hasn't yet seen how these machines let teachers transform lessons, perhaps one of the people in this chart will convince you.
Saugatuck Public Schools Douglas, MI
Which whiteboard? Luidia Ebeam from Luidia, Inc.
How many? 70, one in every classroom.
Why whiteboard? "The interactive whiteboard is the next logical step for teaching; it's the next tool, just as blackboards once were," says Paul Gust, technology director.
Why this vendor? "We chose eBeam over the others because of the ease of implementation."
Pros: "The eBeam software is so intuitive; there's no training involved," says Gust. "Other Pros are that it's portable and virtually indestructible. Some of the other boards can be scratched. If kids hit our whiteboards with a hammer, there's only a dent." Teachers like the software, he says, and have integrated the whiteboards much quicker than he thought they would.
Cons: "Ease of moving it is also a negative," Gust says. "It is held on by magnetic feet, so it falls once in a while. It has to be recalibrated when you put it back up." [ED NOTE: Mr. Gust uses an older eBeam model; the newer eBeam Edge uses a stronger magnetic mounting strip that keeps the system attached and helps to eliminate the need for recalibration.]
Which approach and why? "We already had regular, noninteractive whiteboards. We just needed to buy whiteboards to put over our green boards and we were good to go. We saved a tremendous amount of money."
Glacier High School Kalispell, MT
Which whiteboard? Eintruction's InterWriteMobi from eInstruction (R).
How many? 7 in chemistry and math.
Why whiteboard? "I can capture what I'm doing and save it for students to reference later," says Morstein. "A lot of times, if students don't capture what I write, it goes away. Now I can post it to PDF and put it on my Web site, and they can download it."
Why this vendor? Morstein has worked on other whiteboards but likes how the MOBI allows him to move around the class. "I can sit with the kids, talk from the back of the class, or walk to a student and hand them the MOBI and say, 'Show us how you did this.'"
Pros: Mobility. "You can be anywhere in your class; students can take it and use it."
Cons: You have to learn how to write on it, Morstein says. "At the beginning, you struggle a little bit, but once you, and the students, get the hang of it, it's fine."
Which approach and why? "With the 7 MOBIs, I can break the class into groups and they can solve problems together. Then I give them the chair, and they explain what they did. With other interactive whiteboards, I couldn't do that with six groups simultaneously. I catch problems as they interact with each other."
Waterloo Community Schools Waterloo, IA
Which whiteboard? Promethean Activboard from Promethean, Inc.
How many? 840, one in every class as well as in libraries and conference rooms.
Why whiteboard? Superintendent Gary Norris, who came to Waterloo from Florida, liked the way the technology had inspired teachers and engaged students in his former district. "Students want to come up and write on the board and interact with it and the input devices," he says.
Why this vendor? Quality of product and service are two things that drew Norris to Promethean. When his former teachers evaluated boards in 2005, they told him that some were not good for education. He also liked that Promethean didn't require him to buy a lot of peripherals from different manufacturers and count on them all to work. "The Promethean solution represented a total solution," he says.
Pros: Promethean's professional development (PD) tops Norris's list. It's also important that the company keeps improving its product. In addition, when he had a couple of problems (including a board that arrived warped), they were resolved quickly.
Cons: "If you decide to implement whiteboards across the district, you'll have to commit to different levels of training; it can't just be drive-by training. You must invest in PD."
Which approach and why? Clip-ons and other products didn't look like a comprehensive solution, Norris says. "Promethean has the projector, it's solid, and it's easily adjustable, so that first or ninth graders can use it. Our schools are old; when we renovate, we can just move these out and back in."
City School District Of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY
Which whiteboard? Smart Boards from SMART Technologies Corporation.
How many? More than 1,000.
Why whiteboard? "We were looking to take instruction to another level and to make content digital so students and teachers could access it via the Web and email as well as re-create lessons for review," says Christine L. Coleman, director of technology.
Why this vendor? Coleman looked at every vendor when she bought her first whiteboard six years ago. "Everyone I talked with said, 'It's [our product is] just like SMART,'" she recalls. "When I looked, it wasn't. At the time, lots of vendors used pens with batteries, and the corners weren't rounded or safe. SMART was more durable."
Pros: "You can integrate technology into the curriculum. It's easy to learn, and the Notebook software is great. There are lots of resources and tutorials. We rolled it out with discovery streaming, and teachers could immediately integrate video."
Cons: "The biggest is projector bulbs. They are a little expensive. You have to dust and maintain the projectors."
Which approach and why? Coleman wanted teachers to be able to integrate technology into the core-content areas. "Once we gave them SMART boards, it became transparent. Now it's the way they teach and students learn. They capture video, put stuff on the board, and email lessons to kids who are absent."
Port Nechesgroves Isd Port Neches, TX
Which whiteboard? Mimio whiteboard from Mimio, a Newell Rubbermaid company.
How many? Will have 310 (one in every classroom) by the end of this school year.
Why whiteboard? "Kids today need interactive classrooms so they can be involved in learning, and we want to meet their needs," says Brenda Duhon, director of instructional technology, staff development, and student assessment. "Whiteboards are one way of doing that."
Why this vendor? A technology committee started shopping for whiteboards. "We wanted one that wasn't mobile," says Dell Fontenot, director of informational services. "Mimio had one in our price range." Fontenot liked it that if something broke, the company would let him exchange the part without shipping the whole board. He also wanted a product he could maintain.
Pros: Mimio's training and resources are phenomenal, Duhon says. "I'm very pleased with the company's instructional support. We run on very short staff, so any additional support is a tremendous help."
Cons: Since it's modular, all the parts have to stay together for the whiteboard to work properly. Fontenot is concerned about making sure everything stays together over the summer.
Which approach and why? The K-5 classrooms are old and small and have no room to add big boards on wheels that take up space. The district had mobile whiteboards in the past, Duhon says, but teachers didn't like having to set them up, reconnect, and recalibrate every time they were moved.
Moses Lake School District Moses Lake, WA
Which whiteboard? Hitachi Starboard from Hitachi Software Engineering America, Ltd.
How many? 200 now; 300 by the end of next year.
Why whiteboard? People saw them at conferences and wanted them, says Rick Rose, director of technology. He asked three teachers to pilot whiteboards; those teachers "evangelized well and did lots of demos for their colleagues."
Why this vendor? "Two kids at a time can go up and use it," says Rose. What convinced him, however, was the board's lack of electronics. "We looked at it in terms of maintenance as well as curriculum. When we piloted another vendor's board, it developed dead spots and we had to move the whole board out. With Hitachi, if there's a problem you just pull off a small part and exchange it."
Pros: Ease of setup, which also saves money. "It's easy to maintain the filters, and there's a quick turnaround if you have any problems. We also like working with one vendor who handles everything."
Cons: "Cameras get dusty. We have to remind teachers to wipe the tray. Also, the software is still fairly new. We are dual platform, and the Mac software was behind. There isn't as much curriculum stuff developed just for Hitachi yet."
Which approach and why? The district's former projectors had cords all over, and it was hard to change filters in the ones in the ceiling. "We wanted to be able to maintain the projectors more easily. We liked that you can walk up and change the filter by reaching up and pulling it."
