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NEW SCHOOL |
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Written by FRANK PEEBLES
Citizen staff
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Sunday, 30 November 2008 |
Children use an interactive whiteboard. (Wikipedia photo)
The focus of the technology is special-needs and aboriginal students, but the entire school body is expected to benefit from the interactive whiteboards coming to Malaspina classrooms.
"A lot of this was born out of a passion to have access to technology in schools for kids," said teacher Michael Josey, one of the main advocates for the new initiative. He sees these interactive whiteboards as the main delivery tool for classroom information in the not too distant future, and Malaspina is in on the development early. "Our main goal is to improve student achievement through the use of interactive digital technologies that they will see throughout the rest of their lives. They are going to grow into this digital world, we want them to have it now and be benefiting from it."
"We have purchased three already," said MES principal Nevio Rossi. "We already have one and when we get our funding and planning together, we will implement the rest. We are preparing kids for the real world. Technology is something I am passionate about and believe in, and will this improve student outcomes? Yes."
To what extent, and for whom is what the UNBC study is all about. University researchers will track the use of and results from the use of these whiteboards, specifically for special-needs students and for aboriginal students.
"The research question is at the heart of everything we're doing," Josey said.
"Harwin has also done some work on this, and Malaspina jumped on it with a real mission in mind," said Truman Spring, the school district's special education administrator. "Harwin and Malaspina are flagship schools for this technology, they have a lot of exciting developments going on. I think the UNBC research is particularly fascinating and I expect will prove to be very informative."
It has attracted some funding from RBC which gave Malaspina a grant for the purchase of some initial equipment. The total financial outlay will be in the ballpark of $125,000 or a bit less, said Rossi, if the school was to acquire their full wish list, a slate that consists of an interactive whiteboard (with overhead projector) in each classroom, a laptop in each classroom loaded with the kind of software that operates the whiteboard, other laptops for additional student interaction, a digital still camera and video camera in each classroom, and one portable whiteboard suite.
Far from being an imposing proposition, school board trustee Michelle Marrelli said of the project, "Now we are talking about success for all. The ramifications are enourmous for those children."
WHAT IS AN INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARD?
- large screen on the wall or a trolley connected to a computer;
- anything on the computer is projected onto the screen;
- using a finger, pen or other touch-tool, people can click and move items on the screen;
- market research by Futuresource Consulting indicated that by 2011, one out of every seven classrooms in the world will have one;
- replaces TV, chalk board, flip charts, DVD player, computer, film screen, and others with one devise that can be touch-manipulated;
- Manchester Metropolitan University did most noted research to date on classroom functions of whiteboards that suggested the tool "led to consistent gains across all key stages and subjects" and the results got even better when the whiteboards were ingrained in the classroom.
- A research review by the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency reported the following benefits for students:
- Increased enjoyment and motivation
- Greater opportunities for participation and collaboration
- Improved personal and social skills
- Less need for note-taking
- Ability to cope with more complex concepts
- Accommodation for different learning styles
- Increased self-confidence
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 30 November 2008 )
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