Day one of Otago Southland Regional Meeting

We were treated to an interesting day visiting Invercargill schools to look at interactive white boards in action. Thank you to Pania for setting up a varied and engaging day. The classrooms we visited had had their IWB's at the most for one year, and at the minimum for only a term.

Highlights of the the day were as follows:

Year 1&2 children using the white board and comic life software to make a digital story. The combination of the two tools (software and hardware) was marvelous, allowing a lot of discussion and letting them all participate and take ownership of the project. One used the pen, one with a wand and another with a wireless keyboard.

Thinker's Keys activity based around the BAR key. Year 8 students had to apply the BAR (Bigger, Add, Replace) key to a recycling bin, and draw their prototype on a flip chart. A lot of group work, critical thinking and discussion in this activity, and each group added their own page to the flip chart so that at the end the class could discuss the similarities and differences in designs.

Year 6 inquiry topic set out in a flip chart, with each stage and activity on a different flip slide. As the class participated in activities in their topic they added slides to the flip chart. Y charts and other graphic organizers were used to sort out their thinking, and at the end of their topic they had a digital record of their learning journey.

I came away from the day, more convinced than ever that IWB's can be used in engaging, innovative ways and that we are only limited by our imagination and experience. It was great to see classrooms where the IWB was not the focus of the classroom, but a much needed & utilised transparent tool.