Smartboards in school

What is it? 
A Smartboard is an interactive whiteboard and projector connected to a computer where the areas of use are many. It will give you access to texts, pictures, video, audio, diagrams and webpages, all in one place. The Smartboard come along with four plastic pens in different colors, where you are able to write on the board while having documents open. These activates when you pick them up from the pen tray. You can also write with your fingers, just pick up the pen of the color you wish to use. This will activate the color and emerge when you touch the board. The eraser works the same way. You can either operate the board via the computer, or you can do it while standing in front of it, simply by using your hands.
The Smartboard was introduced in 1991 and is constantly developing. Which one to buy depends on your purpose and budget. You can work with any program that the host computer allows, but the smart board also comes with software where you can choose one adapted for you and your school. 

How can it be used in classroom?
The opportunities are so many; I will have to make do by just giving some examples. Since the board is connected with the computer, it can do anything the computer can do. This means the computer can be used spontaneously, but also in a more conscious way. The internet will give you access to almost anything in an instant. If a pupil per say tells the class about a bird he has seen, the teacher can easily find a picture of it and show it to the rest of the class. The option would be to find the bird in a book, which of course is fine. Although, this does demand you to have the right books in hand, while the internet covers basically any topic you like. 

The teacher can plan lessons where the Smartboard is a pedagogical tool. Telling stories with images where the whole class can see both text and image at once is one opportunity. The teacher can ask questions and the children are actively listening. There is room for conversation and reflection. Words or sentences can be underlined. The children can write their own stories and show it to the rest of the class. 

The software contains many programs where the children can learn in a fun way. Learning by doing is in focus, the pupil can learn by experimenting on the board and the rest of the class can watch and learn. Having the pupils to help each other out creates a classroom where the children’s knowledge is important. 


Isn’t a Smartboard very expensive?
Well yes, a Smartboard do cost a lot, but the price is not that bad when you look at it. Having a Smartboard means you don’t have to hand out copies of text in a reading exercise, by putting it on the wall everyone can read it. This means you’ll save money and paper. There is no need to buy big expensive maps that you normally scroll down from the ceiling; all maps can be accessed from the computer. If wanted, the teacher or pupils can write on the Smartboard maps, giving opportunity to geographical knowledge in a fun and easy way. Educational videos can easily be downloaded, there is no need to wait for the DVD to arrive, nor will you have to return it.  The Smartboard is time saver, and time is money. All documents can be saved and used again; you can easily go back and correct previous errors. 



Other thoughts.
While the Smartboard can save both time and money, it is important to remember that a book is still a magnificent tool in school. Being able to read a story by your own is being part of a magical world. The Smartboard is not here to replace literature; it is here to create an environment where conversation between teacher and pupils take place. Or more importantly, an environment where the pupils converse with each other. It is a door opener to the rest of the world. The word ‘access’ is key in this high tech board. 

Johanna Gustavsson. 
 

Magazinefactory

                                

                             

                     Magazinefactory

                          magazinefactory.edu.fi

What the resource is: This page makes it possible for a class to make their own magazine. The teacher becomes the editor and the the pupils becomes staff and journalists. Together you can decide who will write about what. You can use the magazine in various ways. It can be for schoolwork, recipes, interviews, read other magazines, communicate with pupils from all around the world and a lot more.

How it works: To start up the magazine the teacher registers as editor-in-chief. The teacher write her/his name, email and phone number and send the registration away. You need to name the magazine and choose which level the pupils are in. In this case 4-6.  The teacher then have to choose how the outlooks of the magazine will be. You have to make initials for the pupils so that they can be authors on the magazine. When you visit a magazine you can see in the left column what the class already have written about and what the different topics there are. If you click on one of the topic-link you can see the written text. On the first page of the magazine you also find different topics like interviews or schoolwork. It's is up to the class and teacher to choose what to write about. The page is based on "tidningsfabriken" and has gained a lot of awards. It is easy to "get to know" this page and understand how it works. Everything is written in English but in the magazine the class can choose in which language they want to write. If you need help to understand how the page works you can download guides for both editor and the authors. In the magazine you can embed you-tube videos, Google search-results and Google maps, so there are a lot of possibility's  on how to use the magazine. On the link "FAQ" you can find out about how to add pictures and how to get started. You can look at and read other magazines where you can leave feedback and write letters. When you want to find another magazine you can look in the right column to find out which country the authors are from. Every magazine has its own design and content. 

What you need to make it work: The only thing you need for this page to work is a computer. You might need more then one so that many pupils can work at the same time. You can use cameras if you want to use your own pictures.

• How the resource can be used by teachers: The teachers can come up with different tasks for this magazine, like: movie and book reviews. Interviews, novels, feedback on lessons, discussions on different topics. The teacher can use it to inform both parents and pupils about events. The teacher can also read the pupils texts and evaluate them. It is a possibility to have a good communication towards the pupils. The teacher can help the pupils to connect to another class in a different country. The magazine can be useful in many subjects. You can cooperate with other teachers. You can use other sources like you-tube, Photoshop for pictures so the magazine is a opportunity to work with different ICT - sources.
  
  
• How the resource can be used by pupils: The pupils gets to show their parents and teacher their schoolwork. They can communicate with each other, pupils from other countries and gets the chance to write to English-speaking pupils. They work with topics they are interested in which makes it more motivational and fun. They are authors, work in a team and can affect the content. They use English language in many ways when they, read, write and get instructions. They get to work in various ways and show their capabilities.
  
  
• Other considerations when using this resource: I think this is a fantastic page with many possibility's. I think that you need to work with it all over the year and not just for a few weeks. The pupils can look back on their work and see their progress.
  
  
  
  
                                                  Nadja Andersson 1EN30L
  
  

  
  

  
  

Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint

 

What the resource is and what you need to make it work…

PowerPoint is one of the presentation software. It is really famous as presentation software which can make interesting and affective presentation of any subjects. PowerPoint, originally it was called “Presenter” actually, was developed by Forethought. In 1978, both of this software and the company was acquired by Microsoft Corporation. There is the great number of users all over the world, and so many schools, companies and organizations have this software in their computers as well. When you want to get this software, you should buy the package of the Microsoft Office, which including Word, Excel and so on, to pay money and download them to your computer. When you start to use PowerPoint on your own computer, you have to sign up your user name, although it is not difficult. If you use PowerPoint on common computer, it is not necessary to make difficult registration and you just click the icon of PowerPoint.

How the resource can be used by teachers …

Teachers can use this software in various situations. It is frequently used when a teacher introduces new information to their pupils. There is wealth of content, for example word art, animations, designs, and so on, which can emphasis on important information and make presentation interesting. We can put information on PowerPoint not only text but also pictures, movies, sounds, maps, graphs, charts and so on. Moreover teachers can link to the internet on PowerPoint as well. For example, if a teacher link to YouTube directly, he or she does not have to download movies from website. Or for example, if a teacher uses a particular website like there are English learning exercises, he or she can go to the website and show them to pupils. We can share our own presentation with other people. If you click on “broadcast slide show” and have Windows Live ID, you can show your presentation to other people. People who get the link of presentation, he or she can watch it even if he or she does not have PowerPoint.

How the resource can be used by pupils …
Pupils can use this software as an oral communication’s task. The way of using this software is not so difficult. If pupils can type at a keyboard and use mouse, they definitely can be to user of PowerPoint. Pupils can make slides as much as they want, even they can make only one slide, thus there is no pressure to make presentation so much. Most of schools have this software in their computer, so they can make it in their school by themselves. Also there are guidance how to use PowerPoint, therefore pupils can refer to it even if they have unclear points.

Other considerations when using this resource…

The useful tool of PowerPoint is outline system. You can use this tool to organize information. To use this tool, you can find the lack of information easily or check whether contents of your presentation math for the aim of the class. What is the negative point of PowerPoint is that there are the contents too rich. In the case of people use these contents which emphasis on specific things effectively, the presentation should be meaningful and intelligibly. However in the case of people use these things too much, for example he or she uses animation to every text or puts various colors in the same sheet. What is important is to distinguish between important things and less important things. PowerPoint is good material for presentation, but users have to mention how to convey information to other people effectively. Also if a teacher uses PowerPoint in his or her class, they should pay attention to interactive communication a between teacher and students. People who give presentation in front of other people tend to concentrate on what he or she speaks and using PowerPoint.

Miki Shirabe

Prezi presentations in your classroom

Today the world includes a lot of technology. The school world also needs to use technology when educating pupils. This means that every teacher needs to have knowledge about different technology to use in the classroom. Technology can make a lesson interesting and fun for the pupils. Prezi is one way of bringing the ICT into a classroom.

What the resource is: Prezi is a new cloud-based presentation software. It was released in 2009. Prezi is a presentation everyone can work with online and it is also possible to download the program and use it offline. There is only one page to work with, you write your main idea here and then you build the presentation from this. The most special thing with the software is the zooming navigation. This awesome tool lets the user zoom into the most important things of the presentation. It is also possible to open an internet link in the program for example a YouTube movie.

What you need to make it work: The main Prezi program is for free. So the user does not need to pay anything when using the program. There is a version of Prezi that the user can buy. This version lets the user get more tools and space but this is not necessary. The first time when using Prezi, the user needs to sign up. After signing up, there is a short movie to watch. The name of it is how to make your own presentation. In the program there are molds that the user could use. It is good to work through the internet because that makes it easy for the user to work with the presentation on different computers. The user only logs in on Prezi.com and then he or she can find his or her presentation that already is made or almost finished there. The drawback is that you need an internet connection.

How a teacher can use it: All teachers can use this kind of presentations with their pupils, from kindergarten and up to the university. In primary school, Prezi is a good material to use when introducing a new topic or a theme. The zooming navigator can help the pupils to be focused on the right things. It also helps the teacher give the pupils clear information about the subject. When the teacher shows maps and talks about a sequence, the zooming is perfect. The teacher can also use Prezi for storytelling. The teacher reads a story and the pupils can follow by listening and watching pictures in Prezi. It is like turning a page in a book but in a modern way. Every child is able to see the pictures at the same time and very clearly.

How the pupils can use it: For younger pupils this program can be a little bit tricky to manage. The pupils need to be at least a fourth grader to use Prezi by their own. By using Prezi, the pupils have different options to present their knowledge and make fun presentations. This is a way of reporting and showing their results of a subject that they have been working with. Prezi shows the pupils’ creativity because there are so many options to choose between.  

My final thoughts: Prezi is something new for the pupils. It is a program they have not seen before, and this makes the lesson interesting and the teacher can get the pupils attention easily. Prezi will not cost the school anything. The only thing the teacher needs is a computer and an internet connection. These are things almost every school in Sweden has today.   Prezi can make the lesson more clear and could engage more pupils in a lesson. It can be used both by teachers and pupils. Prezi is a good ICT resource to use in the classroom.

Sofie Pettersson

PREZİ

Ebru Altun

Introduction

Prezi is a presentation software which resembles power point.  Power-point has many users all over the world. Generally, power-point and Prezi are created with the same aim which is to create more dynamic and interesting presentations. With this software, people can make the visualization of information possible.  Visualization of the information helps to make learning easier.  According to Edgar Dale’s learning pyramid, people can only learn 5% of the information when they just listen to it, they can learn 10% of it, when they are reading and they can learn 20% of it when they see something which related to subject with audio-visual methods. Learners pay more attention when they see something about the topic you are talking about. Prezi is distinguished from power point by its zooming user interface. . With this interface, Prezi users can zoom in and out of their presentation and this option contributes to the dynamic and effectiveness of Prezi.

You can download this software to your personal computer and then use it or another way in which you can make a presentation is by using this website ( http://Prezi.com/ ). You need to register an account to access it. When you pick a username and a password you can use Prezi to make more entertaining presentations.

In Prezi, there are three different choices in relation to how to use it. You can take a  free account with public license. In this account, everyone can see your presentation and they download it. Other accounts give more useful choices to users.

When you use power-point, you should use your computer to make the presentation or you can use another computer which must have Microsoft Office Programs. In Prezi, there is no need to have this software in your computer, if you have ethernet connection, you can reach your presentation only by using your username.

When you use your account, you can see all your presentations in the same page. You can change them or you can make a new presentation with a new Prezi tab. 

               You can use ready-made templates or you can create new ones related to your presentation.

In Prezi, there are different tabs, you can add frames, you can change the color of your templates by using a template tab. You can add pictures, diagrams or something like them by using images tab. You can add videos by using a media tab. These tabs help to make more efficient, interesting and dynamic presentations.

In power-point, all pages are placed in a sequence so you can follow this order while in Prezi, you can edit the path and can select the order of slides in the presentation.

In Prezi, you can invite others to watch or edit the presentation. You can make presentations with others who are invited by you or they can edit your presentations. When you finish your presentation you can send a link of your presentation to your friend. Or you can share it in Facebook, in Twitter or in Linkedin.

How the resource can be used by teachers

Every student is different from the others and every student can learn more easily with different way so teachers should use different methods in class. According to researches, trying to teach something with lecture or by reading is not beneficial. Lots of teachers prefer the lecture method to teaching. Lectures can be more efficient when using some presentation software. Teachers can use Prezi to make presentation about their teaching subject. In this way, students pay more attention to the subject and they can learn more easily, the learning environment can be more entertaining and the students do not get bored. Without visualization of the information, having only lectures or reading can be so boring and students lose their attention-span very easily. Probably in 10 minutes, students focus themselves on a different object or they start talking each other. In this condition, teaching does not come to its full realization.  If the teacher prefers lecturing, s/he should make a presentation at least so that students can pay more attention when they see something about what they are talking about.

How the resource can be used by pupils

Pupils can use Prezi with the same aim. When they have a task they can use Prezi to make presentation so they can express themselves more easily and they can use Prezi as a tool which supports what they are talking about with photos, videos, diagrams…