Improve Learning through
Effective Whiteboard
Implementation
AS I SEE “IT”
By Lenny Schad
Lenny Schad is chief
information officer
for Katy Independent
School District (KISD)
in Texas. He is a 2010
Consortium for School
Networking Volunteer
Hall of Fame inductee.
Prior to joining KISD,
Schad spent 17 years
in the oil and gas
sector.
In this series of columns, I’ve outlined how Katy Independent School District (KISD) restructured its IT department by enhancing
and modifying our infrastructure and reorganizing our support model for staff and students.
I also talked about our next step, which was
to identify a Web 2.0 toolbox that targets the
ever-changing needs of today’s digital generation. This column will focus on how we have
used interactive whiteboards to create rigorous,
cognitive lessons.
Over the last two years, we have added approximately 1,500 interactive whiteboards to
classrooms throughout our district, and we are
deploying more as we realize the success of this
tool. Creating and distributing lessons for teacher and student use is a primary objective.
Our technology integration specialists created short video clips that address topics such
as setup of mobile boards, troubleshooting, and
lesson creation. We also have an interactive wiki
available for all teachers, focusing on lessons that
address specific needs. Teachers can ask for and
comment on lessons via the wiki. This has built
a collaborative learning space to share content
across the 52 campuses within KISD.
Our integration specialists use Smart Technologies’ website ( http://smarttech.com), which
offers lessons that teachers from the United
States and Canada have created. The integration
specialists employ Notebook on the Smart site to
locate and modify lessons so that they align with
KISD’s curriculum. They also share the site with
teachers and show them how to align the files
with our curriculum.
Teachers report that students are far more
focused, attentive, and interested, and they
are willing participants because of the
interactive whiteboards.
Teachers harness the Smart Notebook recording feature to create podcasts of their lessons
and post them on their class websites. These lessons are available for students for review or to
receive first-time teaching if they missed class.
Sometimes, they record lessons for a substitute
teacher. Teachers have enlisted this feature to
record explanations of complex concepts that
need additional clarification. Some teachers even
check for understanding by having students record explanations of concepts. Students benefit
from interactive lessons their teachers are creating both within their classrooms and at home.
Teachers install software at home and create presentations they show back at school.
In 2009, KISD hosted a Smart Interactive
Conference for the south Texas region. More
than 400 teachers attended the event, and we
were able to share best practices not only with
our teachers in Katy but also with those from the
entire region.
Teachers report that students are far more
focused, attentive, and interested, and they are
willing participants because of the interactive
whiteboards. Teachers found that whiteboards
make it easy to access photos, websites, and
other interactive content, and they help provide
visual clarity to difficult or complex concepts.
The whiteboards have dramatically changed the
way our teachers teach and how students learn.
