Have you ever seen a $50 Wiimote turned into a $2000 smartboard? Once you have seen the video, the idea might grow on you.
In fact, this idea had already caught me when I was working in schools and universities in Vietnam and thinking about the use of such technology.
Well, I was even more pleasantly surprised to find that some fantastic people in Vietnam were actually conducting research on this! At a conference on 'ICT in Education' I became informed of some of the research on the use of cost-effective whiteboards in universities in Vietnam.
This cost-effective technological innovation raises some interesting research questions.
One such research question is outlined in a paper by Vo Tan Dung and Do Huy Thinh:
[2]. How can the interactive potential of low-cost ISBs be enhanced in the classroom?
While the conclusion is that many teachers in Vietnam would be happy to say goodbye to chalkboards - it is often said by teachers that chalk dust is carcinogenic - and usher in smartboards, the authors acknowledge that much training would be required for the teachers to make use of the technology.
It is worth considering the benefit of this technology then, not only in terms of learning, but using an ecological research perspective. These cost-effective whiteboards, if implemented, may improve the health of teachers and learners.
Christopher Fulton
We study at HKU in a hi-tech classroom (see http://www2.cetl.hku.hk/room321.htm for a hi-tech view of the room). Our group was also invited to comment on the room in a blog post.
ReplyDeleteI think this would be a good place to highlight the fact that room 321 doesn't have an interactive smartboard of either the low-cost or high-cost type.
A research question might be: Can an interactive smartboard increase interaction amongst learners studying in classroom?
Any other ideas, comments or suggestions?
Christopher