Cases+of+Innovative+Uses+of+Technology

= Searching for Innovative Uses of Technology: = = An Individual Project = = By =

** 1. Reference information **
Sara Merrett-Julie-Ann Edwards. “Enhancing mathematical thinking with an interactive whiteboard.” __Micromath__ vol.21 no.3 9-12, 2005.

** 2. A brief description of the case **
The school the author taught at became technologically advanced and she was able to utilize different forms of technology within her class. In the article she focused on her opportunity to utilize Interactive Whiteboards and its software in her classroom for the purpose of teaching and learning mathematics. The main focus was on shape, space, and measurement lessons to students aged 11-12. Through her study she discovered the Interactive Whiteboard was a great tool for generating class discussion and enhanced students reasoning and thinking skills, along with higher self-confidence in math overall. Also, with well put together interactive software for the whiteboard students were forced to think for themselves a little bit more.

** 3. The purpose of the innovation **
The purpose of the innovation is to help turn ordinary instruction into student centered interactive lessons. The Mimio Teach interactive whiteboard gets students actively engaged in their learning and allows them to take ownership in what they are doing. Also, with the utilization of this very small and easy to use innovation it does not take up much room in the classroom; therefore it leaves lots of space for students to come up front and demonstrate their understanding to the class. The Mimio Teach is a small device about 2 feet long and 4 inches wide that mounts right to your existing whiteboad magnetically. It displays your computer screen right on the board, making your whole computer desktop and all programs interactive. With this handy device your many creative lessons can now be turned into engaging student centered activities. Also note taking becomes fun because you can draw on your notes and explain in depth ideas clearer, then save them to your computer. You can take your Power Points and have students come up and show their undestanding before moving on to the next slide. You can have students come up front and play games interactivley against each other by utilzing the white board. It turns ordinary learning into extraordinary learning. Also this great technology come with a stylus that lets you control the information on your computer from the whiteboard without any wires, it is all wireless based on a hub you plug into your USB port on your computer. Then the pen is stored right in the Teach bar that is magnetically attached to your board, and rechages while in place. Furthermore, you can also include audio, video, and Flashfiles to display on the whiteboard along with being able to create your own audio and video files that you can save to your computer for future use. This innovation is oustanding because your normal white board now can become an exciting technology that grabs students interest and encourages participation from just a tiny little contraption that attaches to the side of your board.

** 4. The technology and resources involved (e.g. facility, network, equipment, software, online program) **
The technology involved in this case study included a projector, laptop computer, Mimio software and Mimio Teach Interactive Whiteboard, Crocodile Maths software, and a network for internet related sites for class lessons.

** 5. What prior skills and knowledge are required of students **
There were not really any skills or prior knowledge required of students because they were to learn the new technology along with the teacher as they were implementing in the new interactive whiteboard. If they had an understanding of the internet and were exposed to interactive software programs before that would be a bonus, but they didn’t have to really know about it ahead of time.

** 6. What are students asked to accomplish exactly (product or process) **
Students are asked to accomplish tasks that lead them to an understanding of the material through discovery. They were not just told why something is, they were to actually come up to the board and manipulate the shape to understand what it truly means, for example two triangles make a rectangle. Also, once they are working in groups and coming up with their own ideas, thoughts, and data they are then taking this information and creating Excel graphs and diagrams to explain their understanding.

** 7. What are the procedures of the project (steps to teach the technology skills) **
The procedure for this particular project involving interactive whiteboards was unique. This teacher had not only the opportunity to integrate an interactive whiteboard into her classroom she also had a class set of laptops. Therefore, she started by teaching the students how to use the interactive whiteboard in her classroom. Showing students special ways the board could be used and getting students up front to demonstrate their understanding through the Crocodile Math software. She had them coming up front and manipulating shapes, playing games in pairs to move items to the correct question, etc. She was building their background knowledge for the particular lessons she was trying to teach. In doing so she was teaching them skills necessary to know in order to utilize this particular software. Then, once students had a good basis, she let them go on their own laptops using what they had been discussing and doing in class through the interactive whiteboard. Then, when necessary she would have all of the students come back as a group and see what she needed them to work on next. For example, showing them how to complete the Excel graphs from the interactive whiteboard and letting students come up and try before they were to complete these on their own with their laptops.

** 8. What are the advantages of the project **
The main advantage of the project was that students thoroughly enjoy working with the interactive whiteboard technology. It gets them engaged in their learning and makes them accountable for what they are learning. They love trying to solve ideas collaboratively with others and feel a sense of self-confidence when they are able to truly explain what is happening.

** 9. What are the disadvantages of the project **
The disadvantages of the project include the screen saver coming up during a presentation if it sits too long. The internet not working properly, if the network is down; therefore, you need to have a back-up plan daily. Many of these great sites we want students to use for interactive lessons require the internet, so when it does not work we have to plan accordingly. Therefore, making up extra PowerPoints ahead of time, which are very time consuming, are necessary, making more work for the teacher, but an added benefit for the students.

** 10. What types of effective instructional strategies are included **
In this case study there were not many effective instructional strategies included. For the students she had them create learning logs to see what their initial reactions were to the implementation of the technology and how they felt the technology enhanced or took away from their understanding of the material. As for the teachers, she mentioned preparing her own PowerPoint interactive lesson starters so that she had enough materials on-hand ahead of time.

** 11. What are the possibilities that the innovation can be transferred to other teachers, subject content and different school settings **
The possibilities are endless for the Mimio interactive whiteboard to be transferred to other teachers, different content areas, or school settings. As long as the teacher already has a lap-top and projector, this little innovation has a sleek design that does not take up much space at all and just sticks to your board magnetically. It has a Mimio hub that plugs into your computer and wirelessly connects to the Mimio Teach bar. There are no messy cords or anything to worry about. With the utilization of your computer and the internet it makes the interactive whiteboard great for any subject area. Furthermore, anything you write on the board can be saved and reused. Therefore, it is great for note taking and absent students. Also, you wouldn’t have to re-write everything each hour, you could just put the ideas back up as you go. A time saver for any teacher in any subject.

** 12. Other resources/articles you used to evaluate this innovation. (You should find at least 2 other sources.) **
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= Searching for Innovative Uses of Technology: = = An Individual Project = = By =

** 1. Reference information **
[] (article from the Mimio Interactive Tool Technology website)

** ﻿ 2. A brief description of the case **
This is not an actual case study but a success story right from Mimio’s website. I choose the story from Beryl Atkinson who teaches High School math in Nova Scotia. The story talks about how the innovative use of this technology not only helps students with making connections, improving their understanding of material, and being able to retain what they are being taught; it also helps the teacher become more organized and incorporate technology into the classroom easier with the Mimio Pad and its wonderful capabilities.

** 3. The purpose of the innovation **
The purpose of this innovation is to engage students more fully in instruction and encourage participation. You have the ability to wander around your classroom and pay special attention to certain students and keep you classroom management under control. All while allowing students to show their work to problems, explain their thinking, interact with the lesson and they don’t even have to get out of their seats to come up to the whiteboard. Essentially the whiteboard is coming to them which is outstanding for students with limited mobility. The Mimio Pad is a Wireless Tablet that includes a coreded stylus that has all of the capabilites of a Mimio Teach whiteboard but without taking up any space on your board. It is very slim, and weighs about 3 pounds so it is light and easy to carry around. From the tablet you can access anything that is on your computer, as long as the wireless USB receiver is plugged in. The tablet then is connected to your computer, and through your projector it is viewed up on the whiteboard. With the tablet you can access any Microsoft word program to take notes, utlize Power Point programs from reviews or games, incorporate videos, sound, animations, virtual manipulations, interactive websites, etc. Anything you can do on your computer you can do on the Mimio Pad while being able to walk around your classroom, and get students involved. They are able to easily take the Pad in front of them and draw on the board which shows up in front of the room. They can add to notes, solve problems, be a player in a game, etc. This technology is easy to use and is very versitile because you just need to plug in the USB to your computer and you are ready to go once you turn on the device. This innovation is exciting to use in the classroom because students enjoy working with the device and like the fact that they can be involved right from their seats, they do not need to get up and move.

** 4. The technology and resources involved (e.g. facility, network, equipment, software, online program) **
The technology and resources involved include a projector, laptop computer, Mimio software, Mimio Pad tablet, stylus, and software, and a network for internet related sites for the class lessons.

** 5. What prior skills and knowledge are required of students **
Students do not need any prior knowledge or skills in order to work with the Mimio Pad. They can be taught while they go, but it is pretty self explanatory. If they have a knowledge of the internet and different computer programs like Microsoft Word and Excel they should be ahead of the game. The rest they would quickly be able to understand just by playing with the product a few times to become familiar with it.

** 6. What are students asked to accomplish exactly (product or process) **
Students are asked to become active participants in their learning and be able to manipulate objects and ideas through the Mimio Pad to explain their thoughts to the whole class. Everyone is actively engaged in learning and are willing to utilize and embrace the technology to enhance their education. With everyone participating they can make connections more easily to the material and truly understand concepts easier so that this new knowledge will stick with them.

** 7. What are the procedures of the project (steps to teach the technology skills) **
There really are not procedures associated with this form of technology. The teacher models different uses by walking around the room and showing different concepts on the board while maintaining a close eye on student behavior and involvement in learning. However, you can stop by any students desk and hand them the pad and they can then demonstrate what they are learning.

** 8. What are the advantages of the project **
The advantages of this project are that you have control of your classroom because you don’t have to be standing up front at the board, you can teach and stroll the room at the same time. Also, students who are shy do not have to come to the board up front, they can explain right from their seat. Furthermore, if you have the funding you can hook up multiple tablets to one computer so that you could break students up into groups and each group would have their own board, therefore, multiple demonstrations could go on at one time. In addition, students with disabilities or limited mobility could get more out of the lesson because they could be easily included into the discussion and participate without having to move.

** 9. What are the disadvantages of the project **
The disadvantages of this project are that the whiteboard up front would no longer be interactive. The only way to get students involved would be to pass around the board, or purchase multiple boards which would be quite expensive. Also, students would not be getting the exposure of learning to talk in front of groups of people which is an essential skill they need to learn for later on in life.

** 10. What types of effective instructional strategies are included **
There are no specific instructional strategies included, but through the success stories these great ideas are mentioned. Have students create their own lessons and teach others through the use of Mimio technology. Find real-life situations in which teaching with Mimio can make it memorable for students. Show various representations of the same idea. Incorporate graphics and interactive websites, anything that will grab student interest and get them engaged.

** 11. What are the possibilities that the innovation can be transferred to other teachers, subject content and different school settings **
This innovation has many possibilities to be transferred to any teacher, subject, or school based on its ease of use in the classroom for teachers and students. Teachers who struggle with technology seem to feel comfortable using this product and enjoy it. There is not much to learn and it is an outstanding tool because you can move around the room with it to monitor behavior and also teach at the same time. You do not have to take time out from your lesson anymore to go stand by that particular student causing trouble, you can still teach and move at the same time, who wouldn’t love that. Also, you can get students involved right away in the lesson and don’t have to wait for them to move to the board, you can move right to them instead.

** 12. Other resources/articles you used to evaluate this innovation. (You should find at least 2 other sources.) **
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