Interactive Whiteboards

     I feel that interactive whiteboards enhance teaching and learning by making certain aspects of presenting easier.  Interactive whiteboars allow teachers different ways to gain their student's attentions.  These whiteboards in classrooms also allow students to become more interactive with learning material in the classroom.  My favorite aspect of the SMART board is the way it allows teachers to create interactive assessments that can be seen as fun.
    The technology itsself was a little difficult for me to use.  I found it difficult to use because it was the first time I had used it.  I think that the tools from the SMART software are the most useful to use with powerpoint or on websites.  I believe that interactive whiteboards can be used to make very successful lessons but it is an extremely time consuming project which can not possibly be done for everyday.
     It is definitely a positive tool to use in your classroom, especially to have interactive lessons with students.  The most significant downfall to interactive whiteboards is the same as all technology.  The more complicated technology is the more things can go wrong.  Technology will not always be working properly so a back up plan will always be necessary just incase things would not be working.
     I would use the interactive whiteboards in my lessons to show basic information and link to videos to enhance the information i showed.  The way I would use them the most would be to assess how well my students were learning.  I find that this is a very important thing to be able to do because students should not have to be graded on everything so that the teacher can prove they have learned.

Software Skills

     We learned in my instructional technology a few different softwares such as inspiration, word, publisher, and SMART tools.  I was familiar with word when we had begun looking at it.  I was still able to learn some new tools that were available for me in class.  I found the templates in both Inspiration and Publisher the most helpful because they look professional and it is easy to plug in your own iformation.  I think that it was beneficial to learn how to use them because it could make our lives as teachers in the future more simple.
     It was nice to use the projects as a review of the softwares.  I know that I am going to remember how to use them better because I had to figure some tools out on my own after forgetting how to do them from class.  Doing is definitely the best and most memorable way of learning.  I enjoyed making my newsletter in word the most because I used tools that I had not previously and because my final product looked amazing.
     The software that is the most important for upcoming teachers to become familiar with is the SMART software.  Many schools already have or are getting SMART boards in their classrooms.  I am glad that I am being shown how to use it now, even ownly basically, because I know if I was not taught it now that I would not bother learning how to use it in the future.  One downside of the SMART software is that it takes a very long time to make a lesson on it.  It is much easier to use it like a whiteboard and project a powerpoint onto it than trying to make an interactive lesson on it.  I hope that I am able to learn how to do projects more efficiently using this new software but only time will tell.  I can not wait to try and teach my lesson this Friday!!! :)