Five Representative K-12 Hardware Tools

SMARTboards

While there are a number of options available to districts purchasing interactive whiteboards, Smart Technologies’ SMARTboard remains the de facto standard in the K-12 classroom. SMARTboards allow you to project your computer’s screen on the large, interactive whitescreen, and interact with the computer program by “clicking,” drawing, dragging and dropping through the whiteboard itself. This is an excellent way not only to demonstrate concepts and lead learning in your classroom, but also to provide access to computer content where there is an insufficient computer-to-student ratio. Teachers can annotate the lesson by writing on the board, and save the lesson – with annotations – to their computer to share with students after the class.

A large part of the SMARTboard success is the company’s companion Notebook software, which assists teachers in quickly building powerful interactive lessons tailored to the specific needs of their students. Novice SMARTboard users benefit from many downloadable lessons already built by teachers around the globe, and can tailor those pre-existing SMARTboard delivered lessons to meet their specific classroom needs. The teacher is able to search for lessons based on topic or state standards. If your district has invested in the optional Senteo student response devices, the teacher will also find lessons creatively employing that additional interactivity.

As the teacher’s SMART skills increase, he or she will find additional useful features such as a recorder option that records all onboard activities as well as the teacher’s voice. This file is saved as a Windows media file, so the file can be shared with a student absent from class, or provided for a substitute teacher to present if the teacher is absent. One thing that is often overlooked is that the SMART Notebook software also installs some components into Microsoft Office products, so you will find an additional toolbar and print option in the Office programs. One particularly useful feature that is often overlooked is the ability to “print” documents and PDFs to the Notebook software to make them available when using the SMARTboard, very useful for projects such as converting the practice tests available as PDFs on the ODE website for classroom use.



Computers - Creative Evolutions


Sometimes it is easy to forget that once the cutting-edge technologies in schools included mimeographs, overhead projectors, and filmstrips. For most people, however, when you mention technology in schools computers are the first thing that comes to their minds. While the computers that were placed 10 years ago are no longer impressive technologies, computers are evolving in some interesting ways to address specific needs.

On April 8th, Hewlett-Packard announced the release of one such computer evolution: The Mini-Note 2133. This notebook is about the size of a large college textbook and weighs in at about 2 ½ pounds, yet has a keyboard that is only 5% smaller than a regular keyboard. The size of this computer makes it easy to transport, so it is the perfect candidate for field investigations, carrying between classes, and take-home use. It’s relatively low cost, with a base price of around $500.00 and $700.00 “nicely equipped” (as they say in the car commercials), this is also an excellent option when considering notebooks as a communication tool for special needs students. Many teachers and administrators who do not like lugging larger notebooks or laptops will find this unit to be transportable enough to take to meetings and conferences.


nComputing


Almost all districts have problems keeping up with the financial commitment required to maintain an adequate refresh rate on the computer technology they have implemented. As the economy soured, even businesses extended their average 3 year replacement cycles to 4 or even 5 years; even wealthy school districts are extending their computer refresh to 5 or 7 years, while some districts have no plans for replacement at all and run their old equipment until it is absolutely beyond repair.

One company, nComputing, is offering a very interesting option. For just over $200.00, district CTOs can purchase a kit that contains an internal expansion card and 3 PDA-sized modules that allow four students to share the computing resources of a single computer. Rather than buying 4 computers, the CTO can purchase one desktop, the nComputing kit, and three additional monitor/keyboard/mouse sets to serve the needs of 4 students in a type of mini-terminal services environment. The modules allow each student to use his or her own headphones, flash drives, and other connected components. For pods of 7 computers, two cards can be used, as shown above.


Digital Still and Video Cameras

The ease of use offered by digital cameras – be they still or video – opens a whole new world of creativity for the K-12 students. The cameras can be used to create images to help support a student research project, or be the center of the lesson for art and media classes with follow-up digital photo editing or video editing modules. In one particularly noteworthy example, a student dramatically enhanced his project of interviewing local WWII veterans by including each of the men and women with whom he met.

While higher end cameras offer higher quality lenses, extended zoom ranges, and increased megapixel ratings that typically yield increased resolution and higher quality results, most classroom projects can be accommodated by the more reasonably priced cameras from the lower end offerings. Where top quality images are needed, even near professional level digital SLRs, such as Canon’s impressively successful EOS Digital Rebel XT, can be had for less than $500.00.


BoardMaker Activity Pad

Sometimes we forget how easily we interact with our environments, and how difficult it can be for those who are nonverbal. For some children, particularly those at the critical developmental stage of learning that their behaviors impact their environment, the ability to press a button to have a voice call the dog – and the dog comes to the child – is an amazing ability. The combination of the Activity Pad and software allow this to happen.

The Boardmaker software program can be used to create device overlays for the Boardmaker Activity Pad. The software allows you to create word and graphic touch areas that allow the user to use presses to create sentences and convey thought and needs.
To allow a student to independently order lunch, for instance, you could use words and pictures to create a pad template containing the words and phrases required, and then record your own voice speaking the words and phrases. In the lunch line, the student could use touch could use touch to communicate I would like + pizza or I would like + hamburger.

The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Photos of friends and family, buildings, pets, and so on can be used for a variety of communication options.