In our small elementary school, we have raised the bar high when it comes to technology to be used with our students. However, every golden apple can sometimes find a blemish just under the surface of its skin. Ours comes in the way of our intercom system. We have a great need to have a new, updated phone system in our school to go along with our SmartBoards that reside in every classroom, Elmos, Laptops, new computer lab, mounted projectors, digital cameras and electronic voters.
As Gilbert Elementary educators we have been forced to become creative with our communication efforts with regard to our lack of an intercom/phone system. With this need, has come an extremely effective use of a technology that may have been overlooked had we had the updated system.
We are a Mac county, and all our computers come equipped with iChat and audio/video chat called iSight. Each teacher uses these tools to collaborate across grade levels and subject areas, provide feedback, mentor other teachers and staff members, and facilitate the creation of student projects. For example, this past week, I had my students explore the idea of an expert as a source to be used during research. Our school nurse, was willing to come in on Wednesday and spend the entire day with each of the scheduled classes in grades K-2 to answer their questions. However, she could not be in our building on Thursday, and I had two other classes who needed to ask questions of the expert. So I requested that she take one of the laptops from the media center with iSight capabilities and video chat with us. I hooked my lap top up to the SmartBoard and projected our conference in real time. My students took turns asking her questions about her role as a school nurse and taking notes to be used later in a summary. The children loved the experience. Our school nurse is now considered a movie star by those children who were able to speak to her, and I plan to have others talk to my children as well. I wonder if the Superintendent would have time for us. I just bet she would.
So, do we need the new phone system? Well of course, but not having it has certainly forced each and every one of us to use the existing technology in a most creative manner.
As Gilbert Elementary educators we have been forced to become creative with our communication efforts with regard to our lack of an intercom/phone system. With this need, has come an extremely effective use of a technology that may have been overlooked had we had the updated system.
We are a Mac county, and all our computers come equipped with iChat and audio/video chat called iSight. Each teacher uses these tools to collaborate across grade levels and subject areas, provide feedback, mentor other teachers and staff members, and facilitate the creation of student projects. For example, this past week, I had my students explore the idea of an expert as a source to be used during research. Our school nurse, was willing to come in on Wednesday and spend the entire day with each of the scheduled classes in grades K-2 to answer their questions. However, she could not be in our building on Thursday, and I had two other classes who needed to ask questions of the expert. So I requested that she take one of the laptops from the media center with iSight capabilities and video chat with us. I hooked my lap top up to the SmartBoard and projected our conference in real time. My students took turns asking her questions about her role as a school nurse and taking notes to be used later in a summary. The children loved the experience. Our school nurse is now considered a movie star by those children who were able to speak to her, and I plan to have others talk to my children as well. I wonder if the Superintendent would have time for us. I just bet she would.
So, do we need the new phone system? Well of course, but not having it has certainly forced each and every one of us to use the existing technology in a most creative manner.
2 comments:
Wonderful!! I think it is great that there is so much technology in your building. We have three smart boards with mounted projectors, three or four laptops that can be checked out, and one digital camera per grade level. I hope to see some changes as I work on my degree in this field. Thank you for sharing!!!!
That is so cool! I've never heard of iChat. Hopefully, it isn't just for Macs. Our school will be getting LCD projectors for every classroom (right now, about two-thirds of the classrooms have them) in October, and then hopefully in November or December, we'll get ActiveBoards for everyone also. I'll get one in the media center and wasn't sure how much I'd use it. Now I'm getting more ideas! Thanks for sharing.
Post a Comment