The Smart Board

The look of the smart board.

The Smart Board

http://www.delicious.com/stacks/view/ICvi70

This piece of technology turns the average white board into a computer screen.  It projects the picture from the computer onto the white board.  It also works much like a touch screen, so there would be no back and forth from computer to board as you taught the lesson.  They start at about $1,400 and go up from there so they are not exactly affordable.  However, they would be fantastic in the classroom!  Think of all the integrated lessons that could be made with the use of this technology!  As technology advances, the students advance with it, or at least they need to.  It has come to a point where if you have no knowledge of computers, then you cannot get a job.  Even some low paying, part time jobs recommend that you have some computer skills.  To get a really good job though you must be proficient.  It is important to further our students' knowledge in technology and using technology in the classroom is killing two birds with one stone.  More than 2.3 million Smartboards have been installed into classrooms globally.  That is not very many when you think about it.  This is a great piece of technology that classrooms should really be able to utilize.  Maybe they could lower the price and make it more accessible.

Android vs. Iphone

Android vs. iPhone

Technology is getting smarter and this includes our phones.  People are trading up for a phone with a higher I.Q. than themselves.  Smart phones make it possible to find the answer to anything, anywhere at anytime.  Many teachers encourage students to even use them in the classroom.  There have been several times where I have been in a class and had a question in which the teacher said, "I don't know, look it up," and then the smart phones come out in mass.  So after a couple of years of having a very dumb phone, I finally stopped lying to myself that I only needed it to ring and get text messages and started looking for a phone.  I wasn't sure if I wanted an iphone or an Android.  So the research began!  There are an amazing amount of websites that talk about which one is better.  I found that many of these sites seemed to bash iphones a bit.  They didn't say that they were a bad product, in fact, many talked well of the iphones features, looks, and ease.  However, what caught my attention was the debate on updates that the two kinds of phones make.  I have said it before and I'll say it again, Apple is only in competition with itself.  This may be misconstrued as a good thing.  By it only being in competition with itself, it only makes advances in it's technology that are better than the last iphone.  They will never try to better themselves than any other smart phone.  So every time someone buys a new updated iphone they are only getting a phone that is better than their last iphone, not better than any other phone.  With this knowledge, I decided on an Android so that if it advanced it would be bettering itself against other smart phones along with it's previous self.  With all these smart phones in the world, how much involvement should they have in the classroom?  Many smart phones are as good as a computer.  Students could work on a research project without the need of a computer, which many schools do not have enough access to.  Many classes have "Turn it OFF," stated clearly on the door, due to students texting in class or playing games.  It would be very hard to regulate but they advantages should not be ignored at having tiny computers for the students to use at their discretion.  We are already in a world that cannot live without technology so it is only a matter of time before the classroom cannot live without it.  I will have an Android in my classroom.