Study Curve

1. Training
2. Practice
3. Getting teachers to use the system to it's fullest potential which may require training throughout the year.

Time is the biggest issue in this building and the training will also be another issue. We will also have the problem of part of our people need more training than others to feel comfortable using the equipment.

The biggest issue I see is practice for staff using this "on the fly". Given time, lessons can be prepared and folks can play with the program while creating a notebook.
It's when you attempt to adjust while you're teaching that seems to throw people.
I don't think people wish to take classroom time to "practice" on their students.

As has been repeatedly said, training is a major concern. For me, the other is time. I would like to see time set aside for content area/grade level teams to work on developing different lessons that use the interactive whiteboard. Collaboratively they could create assessments using the student response system, and it is usually much easier to come up with ideas within a group than on your own. I can imagine my team producing two or three lessons with assessments together, then, after that being able to divide the curriculum and working individually to create lessons to share! This would be great, but it would take a lot of time. Are principals willing to give up staff development time in order to do this? Would staff have buy-in and see the benefits? I hope so, I know my team would.
So, my top three are:
1. training
2. time
3. buy in from staff and principals

I think training's almost a universal need for all of us--heck, we usually have to receive training on every new piece of equipment, system, or curriculum we implement.
Besides that, the biggest issue I see to making this successful for everyone is having the time available to create presentations. Yes, Smartboard is great, because you can create "on the fly" and knock out something in a hurry, but we could really use the time to design dynamic presentations that will be engaging and spark student inquiry. A dedicated place to store and share presentations would be beneficial, too.

#1 is training as has been said below.

#2 show example of how it can be used in every subject and how it can impact student achievement (to support buy in).

#3 Give as much time for the student response system as for the notebook software or whatever we go with. In the high school go over every detail with the clickers, such as using the clickers instead of a scantron which will actually save the district money (it costs ~$126 to give 140 students 9 scantron tests over the year but only $29.97 to change the batteries twice in the student response pads (Costco batteries)).

I think the key is showing examples in every subject as to how it can transform teaching. If teachers can see how it can make their lessons better and in someways easier they will be willing to expend the energy it will take to learn a new way of thinking about teaching and learning.

Maybe have breakout sessions to point out the value at the high school and middle school for different content areas. I know when i started looking at examples of how smartboards were used in chemistry it started me thinking about ways to change the way I have presented or interacted with the class in the past.

The number on thing is buy in. I know for example at my school no one has really bought into the microphone idea. I just asked my class if they had any teachers who use the microphones and 1 student raised their hands. We don't want the same thing to happen with the smartboards or the clickers.

1) Training for Notebook software

2) Training Senteo student response system

3) Training- time to practice

We could easily use two of those inservice days before school doing training.
If teachers are to mentor other teachers at their sites, there needs to be some folks in each building who already are familiar with the software.
If the decision is being made to buy SMART, then maybe we should get the software loaded on all Phat clients in the district ahead of time so that people can start to experiment with and use the Notebook presentation software now. That would help us to hit the ground running when the hardware is installed.
My understanding is that we are clear to download and use this software now (as long as we don't use it on our mimios...). It just takes a bti or someone with administrator privileges to install.

Can the Smart Notebook software run on a thin client? (Otherwise we must wait until there are phat clients in each classroom to get started.)

(1) Supporting and guiding teachers on how to appropriately use the boardas an educational tool and not toys

(2) Using it to engage and not entertain

(3) Providing and sharing "ready made" lessons that are relevant to learning goals, GLEs, etc, that teacher can use right away and have some success that would encourage creation of own interactive lessons. This is an issue that I think departments/people like CIR, curriculum andinstruction, PDS, and experienced Smartboard teachers with a good collection of ready-made lessons can work together to address needs and implementation. Iam sure there are more folks in the district that can be involved that Ihaven't thought of at this time.

1) Training - not cramming too much in and giving time to absorb
2) Consistent and frequent availablility of support at the school
3) Navigation of the technology on the fly in the classroom

I see a larger umbrella issue over the top of these three being that many teachers aren't comfortable with and using consistently and effectively the technology that they already have.

Teachers are comfortable with their ways and the curriculum the district has adopted. There needs to be a lot of time focused to training and time to implement and integrate this technology into the curriculum that the district mandates us to teach. I have found that where as before where I knew and was comfortable with the math lesson I was going to teach that day I am having to spend lots of extra time trying to use/integrate the smartboard to teach the topic for that day. I can see teachers getting frustrated with this and in turn not using it. Just an argument on the side of training and time to get comfortable with boards!

One of the major issues I see is the training piece. We are really going to need some devoted time for teachers to become familiar and comfortable using.