☺ “Student’s Perceptions on Interactive Whiteboards” ☺

In a previous post I talked about a video I had watched from you tube titled, “Interactive Whiteboards” which discusses both the positives and negatives of using interactive whiteboards (IWB’s) and also lists some important benefits of using them in classrooms.  I have now just read an article on the same topic but this time the focus was on what the student’s perceptions about IWB’s being used for teaching and learning was.

The article is titled, “Student’s perceptions of IWBs as a teaching and learning medium” and was written by Debbie Erikson and Wendy Grant.  The article shows the perceptions of students in year 5 and 7 on IWB’s and I found very interesting as a follow up read after having watched the video.

From the study, figures showed that overall the majortiy of students from year 5 and 7 responded positively to IWB’s.  Some students said they felt it added a sense of fun and interest to the learning activity at hand.  On the other hand a small number of year 7 students said they did not like the use of IWB’s as they felt it was to costly and that the risk of technical problems occuring took away from the actual learning being carried out.  Overall it was noted by a large amount of students in both year 5 and 7 that a lot of teachers using the tool lacked the skill and understanding of how to use the whiteboards correctly.

Overall it appears that the IWB’s when used in a skillful manner can offer a fun and interesting learning tool for all students but the need and importance of continuing professional development is highlighted.

Erikson, D & Grant, W. (2007). Student Perceptions of IWBs as a teaching and learning medium. Australian Educational Computing 22(2).

A “Second Life”.. in this life?

Find more videos like this on Learning and Physical Challenges Education Program Forum

I just finished watching a video about “Second Life” - a virtual world for people with learning and physical challenges. I found this video whilst browsing through Caity’s Page. She has summarised the video perfectly and I found myself agreeing with what she has said. It is amazing how this “world” so to say has been created for virtual users and is now thriving and doing so well. I never would have dreamt that technology has came so far to allow people to live out their lives through a ‘virtual world’, undergoing everyday tasks such as even setting up their own businesses and buying and selling within that business to other virtual users.

 

Like Caity, I was very overwhelmed and confronted after viewing this video and I do not know if this ‘virtual world’ is entirely beneficial to all users. Like ive said before, with every advantage comes a disadvantage, in this case I can clearly see both in terms of this ‘virtual world’.

 

I can see where the advantages of such a ‘virtual world’ are - these people, especially those with major physical disabilities, are given a chance to live in a world where nothing is holding them back and where they are not restrained by these disabilities. However, the disadvantage still remains, like Caity puts so well, that this virtual world might eventually totally detach them from reality. Overall I do think that this ‘virtual world’ is amazing and that if it is used correctly and if users do not become reliant and still do participate in the real world then those advantages will definitely out number the advantages.

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