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Analysis of associated Issues with SMARTboards

Page history last edited by Lileshni 11 years, 5 months ago

 

SOCIAL ISSUES

The accessibility to SMARTboards may be a social issue because SMARTboards are quite expensive and not all schools can afford to have one in every classroom. Although SMARTboards are meant for the whole-class instruction only one person may be able to write on the board unless it a multi-touch model. 

 

Communication and socialisation in the classroom is minimised as students become too preoccupied with the SMART-aided lessons. As Concilio (2011) states “abusing the technology is a social concern where the students are concerned because the SMARTboard has extensive capabilities; the teacher becomes a babysitter” (para.6). Students may begin to feel less importance of a teacher in the class if some teachers rely too heavily on the resources available on internet. 

 

CULTURAL ISSUES

In the field of education there are a range of differences that includes gender, race, ethnicity, class, to name a few and the presence of technology in the classroom may lead to a conflict with students from anti-tech culture. The technology disadvantaged groups lack meaningful opportunities to apply technology effectively in an empowering manner (Subramony, 2011). This affects students’ engagement and learning; therefore teachers are faced with the challenge to instructional planning that is culturally responsive.

 

ORGANISATIONAL ISSUES

The organisation will have to consider several issues before installing a SMARTboard to ensure optimal usage of the technology. Since installing a SMARTboard requires a considerable amount of money, the school has to decide whether to have one in every classroom, portable SMARTboards or a SMARTboard lab. Technical experts will have to be hired for the installation and maintenance if required. Limited space in the classroom could be an issue since they take up extra space which could be otherwise used for student desks. 

 

Moreover, teachers will not have much room to write on the board if the SMARTboard is mounted on the blackboard or whiteboard. In case of power failures or malfunction, teachers should have a alternative plan so as not to appear unprepared and potentially lose control of the class (Conway, n.d). The school should also a good internet facility to allow teachers to use online educational resources. 

 

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT ISSUES

Incorporating SMARTboard technologies into the classroom requires training and practice especially teachers who lack technological skills. Schools should give release time to the staff to participate in part time/full time workshops or in-house trainings that enables them to reflect and plan on their practice using SMARTboard tools in order to transform student learning and increase engagement.  Increasing teachers’ competence and enhancing student learning is likely to require extra work and time and can significantly add to teachers’ workload (Guskey, 2002).

 

Schools should enrol teachers in online trainings provided by Smart Technologies and other Smartboard companies. Students must also be shown how to operate the SMARTboard so that they are the ones controlling the technology in a way that empowers them to do better.

 

WORKLOAD ISSUES

Using a SMARTboard technology for teaching may be challenging and overwhelming for some teachers especially if they lack technology skills. Teachers will have to plan and organise lessons using the countless tools of the SMARTboard so that students are interested and engaged in the class. And for this reason some teachers may have to put a little more effort than any other lesson plans to create SMART-aided learning activities. Therefore, teachers should be allocated enough time in their timetable load to prepare themselves for effective lesson execution.

 

COPYRIGHT & EHTICAL ISSUES

The internet is a gateway of vast wealth of knowledge and information for educators today. Complete lesson plans, course resources, power point slides are accessed by educators via internet and many are not protected by copyright law and “many educators feel that anything on the internet is at their disposal and this is potentially unethical” (Concilio, 2011). Thus, ethical and legal issues are a concern when teachers access unlimited educational resources to plan and prepare SMART-aided lessons.

 

Strategies for effective implementation of SMARTboards

 

 

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