Hi-Tech Gadgets for the Classroom - from E-Chalkboards to Remote Controls

I can remember the first time I saw a classroom filled with personal computers and it was a big surprise to me (which also tells you that I'm older than dirt.) I was taking a college undergraduate class in creative writing. I'd say about 50% percent of us had computers at home by then, and there were a few computers available for use in our college library. Our teacher explained that with word processing now being the vehicle of choice to product script, editors were inundated with manuscripts with weird fonts and fancy colors. He wanted to give us a few lessons in computer-creating a proper manuscript for submission. He had reserved a small classroom that had about twelve PC's and it was known as the English Computer Lab although from the dust I'd say it wasn't used much. Most people including me had gotten used to the idea of having a desktop computer around. Many of us already used them for playing games, working on spreadsheets, memos and documents for our jobs and that sort of thing. I had a high-tech Commodore 128 in my own home! I could also understand why an English department would want some computers around since English majors generally have to write lots of papers. Still, the idea of a classroom with a computer in front of every student was a funny concept to us. I would never have guessed that ten years after that day, I would be a full-time Computer Lab Supervisor in a college computer lab equipped with eighty computers that rarely went a single hour un-used. The computers were equipped with high-speed internet, most standard suite software, and some of the newest ones even came with built-in CD-ROM players! One of my jobs was to install all sorts of educational software on these computers. We had software for students in math, english, psychology, government, history, nutrition and more. Instructors would assign students to spend a certain amount of time in the computer lab working on these programs and printing out the results for homework. Teachers would also reserve our computers at times and bring entire classes to the lab where the instructor would walk around and lecture as the students took notes or followed various instructions on the computer. It was a new world.

Now, even the tiniest community college campus has some sort of computer room and most now have multiple entire classrooms with a computer or laptop assigned to each and every student. Not only that, but other kinds of technology are pushing their way into the academic environment. Some of the reasons for this are practical and useful. It is so much easier to perform corrections and rewrites on a word processor versus a typewriter (remember those?) and computer programs can automatically quiz us on certain subjects to help us study. Some of the reasons for the introduction of technology are for entirely different reasons. Today's students from young to adult are accustomed to a life filled with gadgets. Depending on the student's age, finances and parental leniency, students may have their own Nintendo systems, DVD players and recorders, Ipods, programmable wristwatches, and of course the ubiquitous mobile phone! Teachers now have to compete with some of these technologies and embrace others in order to keep the attention of the students and continue to educate them at the same time.

As this trend continues, new technologies for the classroom are popping up just about everywhere. You can go to entire conferences about Technology in Education and see ideas from the typical to the outright futuristic. Teachers may love it or hate it, but one way or the other it is now a part of our lives. Students generally feel right at home with it and may become a much more active and willing participant in an academic setting.

A common misconception is that the only reason students embrace this is due to the fact that they are now being raised with gadgets and devices all around them. This is definitely part of the reason that they enjoy the induction of devices into the classroom, but there are more subtle reasons as well. There are new ways for computers to help students with learning or physical disabilities and give them the opportunity to do what other students can do. Shy students may never feel comfortable enough to participate in class discussions and even the thought of speaking out loud can make their hearts pound. Those same students may suddenly awe everyone with their desire to learn when given the chance to participate through a chat room or remote control.

Teachers now need to know about some of the basic technologies available to them. Sometimes these new electronic monsters can seem daunting, but once they are understood they can be great fun for educators as well as students. Without attempting to create an exhaustive guide, I will still try to cover some of the common available devices:

"Smart" Chalkboards:

I use the term "chalkboard" very loosely here as I want to concentrate on how many of our traditional teaching methods have simply migrated to more robust options. When I was in school, every classroom had a board on the wall that was either black or green and the teacher wrote and drew on it with white chalk. I'm sure that these are still familiar to just about everyone and you even still see them in some classrooms, though they are gradually becoming less the norm. We are also generally familiar with the whiteboard or dry-erase board which is a similar board that can be written on and erased like a chalkboard but has the option of being more colorful. Today we have the option to install special boards that look much like the standard white dry-erase board but can do far more. These are usually connected to a computer. You can move a marker across the board and your lettering or drawing will appear, but it is actually generated by the computer. In fact, with most of these devices the marker itself is not even needed. You can move a wooden pointer or even your own finger across the board and markings will appear since they are perceived by the touch-sensitive board. What makes this any better than the old-fashioned chalkboard other than a little color and not needing chalk? Well, quite a bit actually. You can also create anything on your computer at home or school before class and display it on the board, allowing you to display sets of notes, drawings, questions for a pop-quiz, or whatever fits your needs. Some smart-style boards come with handwriting converters that will convert your messy writing into neat fonts (though not always perfectly accurate) and some include spell-checkers. It is usually also possible to have a television or any kind of video media player attached and display anything from educational movies to the latest computer game on the large board.

Another type of interactive chalkboard is a smaller hand-held board. Most of these are e-chalkboards - wireless devices. This device can allow the teacher to walk around the classroom lecturing, checking on students, and still simultaneously write on the wirelessly connected board to display items on a larger wall board. These can be great for writing out math problems or marking illustrations and graphs. Not being tied to the front of the classroom near the board or to a computer can help teachers with better one-on-one student assistance, monitoring for cheating issues, etc.

Distance-Control of Student Computers

There are now software and hardware packages that can allow an instructor to have a central computer linked to all student computers and perform a variety of functions to enhance the teaching process. When I managed a student computer lab, one of the complaints that I heard from teachers was this: "I love to have the computers accessible to my students and they can do internet research for their papers right in the classroom as well as do the writing while I help. I often need to give a lecture at the beginning of class, though, and students surf the web or read their email instead of listening. Of course I can have rules about this, but with larger classes they can be difficult to enforce." This common problem can be solved with a solution that involves either software alone or a combination of hardware and software. By linking the computers on your network, you can use a program that gives you remote-control of the student computers. You can then lock their screens while you lecture, but unlock them when the time comes. You can also sit at your own computer and randomly view the student screens to see how they are doing. These types of software also often allow the students to click a button that offers "virtual hand-raising." A number or name will pop up on the teacher's screen to indicate which student needs direct assistance. In addition, sometimes this software provides ways to display a copy of the instructor's desktop on every student's computer so the instructor can demonstrate an action.

Student Remote Controls

Another popular classroom device is a hardware and software combination that allows the instructor to create lessons, class-participation questions, attendance requests and examinations that can be displayed on a wall or screen. The students obtain remote control-type devices which are sometimes called response systems, clickers, remotes, or pads. Some of these remote devices are simple and have buttons such as A through D for multiple-choice style questions. Other remote devices are quite complex and may have options for advanced numeric answers and more. When the student sees a question on the wall or screen, they press a button corresponding to their answer on their remote control. The student's answer is usually stored in software on the teacher's computer. The computer can then calculate scores automatically and even assigned them to an electronic gradebook. These devices are often popular with students who feel as though they are playing a game while they are really learning regular academics. Shy students or those with learning disabilities may find it easier to participate in classroom activities with these. Remote controls sometimes come with Braille buttons or Braille overlays as well. At both the Elementary and Higher Education level, these systems also often have the ability to send student date to a secure web account where a student can view their grades and other information almost immediately.

Specific Devices for Students with Disabilities:

The simplest ways to use computers for assistive technology are often built into computer Operating Systems such as Microsoft Windows. The teacher or student can turn on features to allow students with low vision to see much larger text. Options may be available to allow the student to listen to text through headphones as the computer uses word recognition to convert text to speech and "reads" to the student. Braille keyboards are readily available as well as Braille printers. In addition, there are special scanners that are made to lay a print copy of anything on a glass and the script will be greatly enlarged for the student. With these, students with low vision can still check out any book in the library, bring a magazine, or get the same handout as other students and just lay it in the scanner to have it converted for those who can only see larger fonts with accuracy. Another device that can be used in a classroom is a special keyboard or picture board that can speak for students who cannot speak or have speech that is difficult to understand.

With these types of advances in technology for the classroom, both students and teachers can find ways to make the learning experience more fun and more productive. Adding these type of items to a classroom can aid students who need to go at their own pace, allowing some students to take longer to complete a task while other students can advance through information quickly instead of becoming bored and therefore a problem student. Many of these technologies can also interact with each other or with internet-based options such as distance learning systems or learning management systems.