Quote Of The Day

Followed this link from my TechLEARNING News email subscription about the inroads Interactive Whiteboards are making into US classrooms.

Still, some educators contend there's more to teaching than technology.

It's all just chalk dust and mirrors, says Alan Frager, a Miami University education professor. If a teacher writes too much on a board - be it black, white, or "smart" - students won't learn how to properly take notes.

"You can look in any education methods textbook . . . and you wouldn't find anything on chalkboards or white boards because it's not an important factor in teaching," he said.

"The people who should be writing are the students, not the teachers, because you learn much more when you take the ideas and put them into your own words."

I'd like a bit more context to the quote but I'd still be a bit worried that a teacher spouting forth their wisdom is the scenario here while the students feverishly write notes. I don't think that is preferable to the problems outlined by the professor in the article. Worth a bit of thought however - how do Interactive Whiteboards change things for the better? For the teachers AND the students.