Technological Tools in Jamaican Classrooms: The Smart Board

   

Toscana Kindergarten students standing before the whiteboard. 

  What is a Smart Board?

A SMART Board is an interactive tool used by teachers and students in their classroom. Smart Technologies, founded in 1987 conceptualized the Smart Whiteboard in 1991. In 2003 SMART developed and patented Digital Vision Touch which is an important component of the SMART Board. The smart board works along with a laptop, or computer and a projector. It is composed of software that teachers use to create lessons that students can work, manipulate, edit and annotate on the screen with the help of a stylus or their fingertips . (SMART TECHNOLOGIES, 2024). 

Benefits of a Smart Board

Video Showing the benefits of using the SMART Board. 

(Technologies, 2010)

  Watch Full Video Here

   Using smart boards in the classroom aligns with the constructivist learning theory, which emphasizes active participation, collaboration and real-world problem -solving. Smart boards facilitate this by allowing students to interact with digital content, manipulate information, and engage in group activities. Additionally, using smart board technology can increase student engagement, leading to improved learning outcomes (Mun & Abdullah, 2016). The smart board is extremely beneficial in situations where it allows students to go beyond the chalk and talk, notes on the whiteboard and activities in the workbook.

        The smart board enables teachers and students to interact with, edit and annotate directly on the screen using their fingers.  Using the smart board has become increasingly helpful in the classroom as it can be used to engage the students using videos and games using applications such as Kahoot, Quizziz and others mentioned in our Previous Blog . It can be used by students to explore, collaborate, communicate, create, explain and extend their knowledge. Teachers may also use the smart board to do formative assessments as they teach.

  For teachers, using the smart board can help to effectively incorporate this technology in their lessons and can help to create a more dynamic and engaging learning environment for students.

References

Mun, S. H., & Abdullah, A. H. (2016). A review of the use of smart boards in education. 8th International Conference on Engineering Education, 120-125.

SMART TECHNOLOGIES. (2024, FEB 24). SMART. Retrieved from https://www.smarttech.com/en/education

Technologies, S. (Director). (2010). SMART Boards Why are they so easy to use? [Motion Picture].

Let us interact: How would having a Smart Board in your classroom assist you in your teaching/learning experience? 

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Using Technology in Jamaican Classrooms

     

                            Toscana Kindergarten students visit the Safari in Falmouth Trelawny.

        The 21^st century classroom is geared towards stimulating, motivating and improving learning outcomes for modern students through collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity. In this classroom both the teachers and students are equipped with the necessary devices to access technological resources which are essential to their relationship. The Jamaica Information Service (2023) reported that over 18236 or 83% of teachers in Jamaica’s public school system have received electronic vouchers to purchase new laptops in the “Laptop for Teachers Programme” developed by E-Learning Jamaica. With this initiative in place teachers can access a wide variety of applications which may be used to facilitate synchronous or asynchronous teaching experiences. The students were also included in a similar initiative dubbed, ‘Tablets in School Programme Empowering Students,’ which saw the distribution of tablets throughout public schools through varied avenues during the periods 2021-2022. With these devices in place teachers and students could access a wide array of applications to boost their knowledge.   Some of these applications include Smart Term, Zoom, Google Classroom, Blackboard Collaborate among many others which can facilitate communication among students and students or students and teachers. 

Photograph showing Blackboard Collaborate

Source: (Technologies)

            As teachers begin to become acquainted with their devices, instead of using the lecture method on these platforms they can introduce additional applications which can be used within the virtual learning environment. Some of these include Kahoot, Quizizz, No Hands, Wooclap, Online Stopwatch, and PowerPoint Games. Teachers can immerse themselves in the current technology to increase the engagement of students and management of their overall behavior. Students of course have their role to play. They should endeavor to keep abreast of all updates and new trends within the technological society and tap into these applications to extend their knowledge and use creative methods to collaborate, communicate, and apply critical thinking to problem solving. With futuristic artificial intelligence becoming our present reality, now more than ever students and teachers alike should immerse themselves in activities which will develop the skills required to function in the society of the future.

Video showing how to insert Quizziz in your lessons. 

 Source: YouTube: (Permiakov, 2020)

Reference

Government of Jamaica Ministry of Education. (2022). ICT in Education Policy. Kingston 4 Jamaica: Ministry of Education and Youth.

Permiakov, E. (Director). (2020). Top 5 Apps To Make Virtual Lessons Interactive [Motion Picture].

Service, J. I. (Producer), & JIS (Director). (2022). Technology and Education- A Benifical Arrangement [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl-TPKAMhI0

Technologies, C. (n.d.). Class Collaborate. Class Technologies. Blackboard Collaborate.

 

Let us interact: What technological equipment would you like to see in your classroom? 

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Technology in the Classroom: Five Years of Improvements

Source: Toscana Kindergarten 
Students using teacher made classroom resources.

     In 2016 the Ministry of Education in Jamaica launched the New Standard Curriculum across primary and secondary schools. This new curriculum incorporates the use of Information and Communication Technology across all disciplines. However, during the implementation of the curriculum it was evident that there is a wide disparity with urban students having greater access to technology in comparison to rural students. In 2022 the Ministry of Education compiled an ICT in Education Policy which stated that the motivation behind the implementation of the policy was to improve the overall quality of education (Government of Jamaica Ministry of Education, 2022). 

Technology and Education-A Beneficial Arrangement

(Service, 2022) 

    This statement takes into consideration the teaching and learning experience as well as assessment. With this policy in place, it gives precedence to private sector, entrepreneurs and NGO to enable widespread coverage and accessibility across Jamaica. With this internet coverage and access to devices in place, teachers are able utilize learning management systems, incorporate technology in the delivery of instructions and assess students’ academic performance. Through these improvements, students have greater access to a wider variety of knowledge which also enables the development of 21^st century skills needed to function sustainably in our global village.  

  Source: marketplace.org 

Student using Technology in Education

    To date, there has been remarkable improvement in access to internet across the island, with government offering free Wi-Fi access in some communities and town centers, while other communities may pay for access from the two major companies in Jamaica or small business entrepreneurs. All schools have access to the government’s learning management system, where school administrators can input relevant student-data and where students may access certain assessment examinations and/or their results. Students can access their virtual classrooms at any time, and from anywhere using their devices. Technology in Jamaica’s education system has seen great improvement over the past five years, and we are excited to see the resulting benefits in the near future.  

References

Government of Jamaica Ministry of Education. (2022). ICT in Education Policy. Kingston 4 Jamaica: Ministry of Education and Youth.

Service, J. I. (Producer), & JIS (Director). (2022). Technology and Education- A Beneficial Arrangement [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl-TPKAMhI0

Join the conversation and comment below. 

   How have you integrated technology in your education?