Katie O’Brien teaches American Sign Language in the Communication Disorders program at UNI. During her classes, nobody talks, not even Katie! The only means of communication in the room are signing or writing. In order to provide content, she has learned how to use the SMARTBoard to its fullest capacity. She is able to have items prepared ahead of class for presentation with the flexibility to write on the screen as the class progresses or questions arise
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In some classroom evaluation models, the level of noise in a room is used to measure the engagement of the students and the interactions with the instructor. In Katie’s room, the only sounds are from taps on the SMARTboard screen as things are displayed and manipulated by Katie. Despite the lack of noise, the student in the class remain very engaged through Katie’s teaching and the use of the technology.
Katie has been using the SMARTBoard for 14 years and would love to share her experiences with others who are interested in this technology.
In fact, she will be presenting a session on this use at the Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning conference on May 11th from 10:10-10:50 in her normal classroom CAC 116!
