Case Studies – Mt. Laurel Schools
A Magic Window to the World
“This is the biggest breakthrough in education since chalk, slate and binding on books…this is far bigger than personal computers. It will change every chalkboard into a magic window.”
Larry O’Keefe, Curriculum Supervisor,
Mt. Laurel School District
Challenges and Goals
From the beginning, teachers noticed that the ActivBoard was different from a previous model that was present in three district schools. The software package that came with the ActivBoard, ActivStudio, contains thousands of resources that classroom teachers use every day. Additionally Promethean provided not just a presentation device but a collaborative solution complete with the ActivSlate and ActiVote devices for student participation. The teachers who tried the ActivBoard were impressed. Here was a classroom tool that would allow them to create, save, share and interact with lessons. Teachers could easily switch from one subject to the next with just a click of the pen.
Students were engaged by lessons that were bright and colorful. And most importantly, students were being given the opportunity to take an active part in the lessons. Teachers were no longer the sole experts. They recognized that their students had the ability to problem-solve where resources were located and how to more effectively interact with the board. Students felt empowered. Teachers felt invigorated. Parents whose children were in a classroom with an ActivBoard heard from their children the effect the board was having on them. And, the administration was hearing that more teachers wanted to have the ActivBoard in their classroom.
Today, there is still a waiting list. The push to use an ActivBoard has come from the teachers and the administration is willing to meet the need as finances allow. Had the administration mandated that all teachers must have an ActivBoard in their classroom, the program may not have been as successful, since it would have forced teachers to accept a tool they were not ready to use.
The momentum for the boards has grown slowly, but steadily. More teachers are seeing that they do not have to change their teaching style in order to be successful. Rather, the multimedia feature of the ActivBoard enhances the lessons teachers have already created.
Teachers realize that placing an ActivBoard in the classroom is a worthwhile endeavor and more are willing to take a risk and try this new technology. Parents are becoming concerned that their children are not in a classroom with an ActivBoard since their children are expressing how the board is impacting the classrooms that do have them. Board of Education members have seen demonstrations of the effectiveness of integrating the board and are supportive.