Educ 482 - Microphones, Engagement, and Smart Boards, oh my!

The last day we meet some interesting things were discussed, especially the smart board and the microphone system.

The microphone system seemed like a logical idea. I have seen a similar presentation before and they cited a similar strong reason to implement the speaker system. In the elementary classes it readily fits itself as the importance of young students developing their understanding is critical. For the upper grades the same justification falls through. Once we start talking about the secondary level the rather excessive costs begins to take shape. A credible point made by the presenters is that the system never becomes obsolete. On the flip side, how upgradable is the system. I expect speaker design wouldn't change drastically (as it hasn't really in the last 20 years) so all that is left is the RF receiver and microphone. With blue tooth so prevalent Rf seems like a dead technology. If a new upgraded system costs another 1500+ dollars I would not be tempted. Maybe if these units had a scrambling device to block out cell phones in the classroom I would be interested once again ;)

The second topic of interest was the smart board. Although the demonstration was limited, there was a small glimpse of the power of this device. Initially I want to use this in a math or chemistry class where students can come up and touch and manipulate objects to construct a solution to a math/chem problem but how does this expand student's learning and engagement that differs from the whiteboard/overhead. Two interesting sites [1, 2]. This is where the smart board really shines. Not only can I create custom lessons for my class, but I can share it with other teachers. Now if only there was a social networking site to upload and share various lessons for each subject...