The Anywhere Classroom

Group Members
Heather Anderson, Kevin Fukami, Sam Kwong, Ryohoon Kim

Initial Problem Statement
Technology has changed and influenced our lives so much now that we feel we can’t live without it. While it has helped provide us with conveniences, there are always negative effects. In spite of possible risks, people are looking for more expedient methods in order to improve their life style. In that perspective, a lot of schools in North America are already exploiting new technologies such as interactive whiteboard and video conferencing in the class rooms. Applying these new technology systems in the classes is not cheap and it might affect students’ study habits. On the other hand, schools can diminish huge expenses by reducing the numbers of teachers and these technologies actually can lead students to more convenient and easier ways to study. Is it worth the money? Should school be looking into using technologies like these? This project will explore whether adapting interactive white board and video conferencing in the class rooms will benefit both students and our society.

What is video conferencing?

 * Video conferencing has been possible since the creation of television
 * It has become more and more popular as it evolved during the 1990’s
 * It is a two way interactive visual communication system while using telecommunications of audio and video to bring people together

And it is used usually when groups or individuals are over some distance that can be difficult or time consuming to navigate

Video quality
Video quality can be affected by the speed of the network as well as the movements of participants. If the connection is slow then the video session can be unusable. As for the amount of movements the meeting participants create, can cause “codecs” which is known as the (video conference engine) to blur the images as they process communication signals.

Benefits of video conferencing
Alongside with the problems of video conference there are also benefits. With video conference rural students will no longer feel left out. They will be offered the same access to classes as urban students, as they have better alternatives for correspondence classes. Video conferencing also helps cut costs on school activities such as guest speakers, field trips, and administrative travels. Lessons will also be recorded while the technology of video conferencing will engage student’s more than traditional learning.

What are Interactive White Boards?
Interactive white boards are becoming increasingly popular throughout the academic and business world. Using the combination of computers, projectors and touch screen technology, interactive white boards are changing the way people present information to groups.

The image displayed on the computer monitor is also is projected onto an interactive white board screen. The screen is sensitive to touch, allowing the user to manipulate the projected computer desktop. Interactive white boards can be used with any program that the computer has available, often Microsoft Office applications.

The largest distributor of interactive white boards is SMART Technologies who first introduced the SMART Board interactive white board in 1991. Our focus will be primarily based on SMART Board technology and statistics, though there are interactive white boards developed by other companies. SMART Boards are available in three basic models: front projection, rear projection, and flat panel overlay.

Main Usage: Education
SMART Boards can be used for teaching, facilitating meetings and presentations, among other things. The most common use is teaching, as educators were among the first to see the benefits of using such technology.



In the classroom, SMART Boards can be used in many ways to create a more effective learning environment:


 * Writing notes in ‘digital ink’ directly on the screen
 * Writing notes over images or videos
 * Moving and manipulating images
 * Saving, printing or sharing notes and images
 * Sharing a common monitor for viewing internet pages or computer applications

All of these uses, and many more, have been shown to improve the learning experience for students in the classroom. Having a shared display can encourage interaction and participation. Students become more engaged in lessons when they can contribute to the changes made on the screen. Individuals can express their creativity, and groups can collaborate to explore the internet, problem solving, games and so much more.

Different learning styles can be accommodated using interactive white boards. It is probably obvious that visual learners can benefit largely from the large displays. This can help facilitate the education of those with hearing impairments, who are primarily visual learners. Students with visual impairments can also benefit from the interactive surface. The ability to manually manipulate objects on the large touch-sensitive screen can be much easier for someone pointing and clicking with a mouse on a small screen. Those who learn better by manipulating objects and images, or kinaesthetic learners, have the chance to interact with the learning medium. These students have the opportunity to make their discoveries by touching, manipulating and moving objects or words on the board.

Other Uses
Data conferencing is a concept that can utilize SMART Board technology and it is becoming more popular in the business world. People can view, and manipulate the same image, without being in the same room, building, city or even country. Important information can be highlighted and notes can be easily written on the document, erased or saved. The application of interactive white boards in business helps everyone stay on the same page, literally.

SMART Board interactive white boards have also been used in other ways. A county Tennessee uses SMART Board technology to organize agency members during disaster situations. Severe weather, hazardous material spills, evacuations, and 911 calls can be tracked using a shared mapping system. Members from different agencies (police, fire department, EMS) can have a shared visual representation of damage or emergency locations as opposed to relying on relayed auditory information. The Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency has become more effective and efficient using SMART Board interactive white board technology.

Pros
Smart Boards have many positive applications in the world of business, government, and especially education. Positive aspects of using SMART Board technology include:


 * Group interaction and engagement
 * Shared ability to work on the same document
 * Facilitates many learning styles
 * Increased communication between parties
 * Control over displays without being restricted to a keyboard
 * Improved presentation manipulation and demonstration

Cons
Though there are many beneficial uses for the SMART Board, there are a few issues that may be seen as drawbacks to this technology. Possible problems include:


 * People may experience difficulty with the digital ink due to writing styles or lags
 * Blockage of images when using the projection style of whiteboard
 * Quick access may not be possible if the devices are not ready (start up time)
 * Initial difficulty in planning creative, efficient lesson plans
 * Cost

Cost
The price of Interactive White Board varies depending on sizes and options. The most popular ones that are commonly used in the classrooms are SMART Board 600 series.


 * SB640 - 48" SMART Board 640 - $999.00
 * SB640CT - SB640 with Table Stand and Carrying Bag - $1199.99
 * SB660 - 64" SMART Board 660 - $1599.00
 * SB660i - 64" SMART Board w/ Unifi projector - $5249.00
 * SB660i2 - SMART Board 660 with Unifi 45 projector - $4399.00
 * SB680 - 77" SMART Board 680 - $1999.00
 * SB680i2 - 77" SMART Board w/ Unifi projector - $5599.00
 * SB685 - SMARTBoard 685 Interactive Whiteboard77 - $2599.00
 * SB660-WS100 - 64" SMART Board w/ AirLiner Wireless Slate - $2099.00
 * SB680-WS100 - 77" SMART Board w/ AirLiner Wireless Slate - $2499.00
 * SB690 - 94" SMART Board - $2999.00

Video Conferencing in the Classroom
Video Conferencing and associated technologies have practical and various applications in the classroom. The uses vary by level and geographic location. This technology can be used for teaching basic classroom curriculum, virtual field trips, and meeting with experts or other students around the world. While the planned use will impact the exact equipment requires most facilities often have similar equipment, which may include:
 * Video cameras (1-2)
 * Combination of screens and projectors and/or monitors to display local site, remote site, or computer desktop
 * Area boundary microphones
 * One amplified local audio PA system
 * Document camera/scanner
 * SMARTboard
 * SMARTboard/Instructor Computer
 * Multi-function printer/scanner and fax machine
 * Telephone

For classroom work, teachers use the SMARTboard like a chalkboard, so their work shows up in all locations. Students in alternate locations are displayed on the monitors/screen. There may also be a screen showing the image that other rooms are seeing, enabling the teacher to insure other students have a good view. Microphones and speakers allow speech. Work can be displayed from one end to the other by use of scanners or specific document readers, which allow the papers to be viewed in real time on the other end. This setup can connect to any video conferencing set up around the world, or to web cams on computers, allowing almost anyone to visit the classroom.

Full Course Delivery
Rural schools with small populations often have a difficult time offering full schedules to their students and often have a more limited selection of options than large urban schools. Video conferencing can be used to address this issue by linking several small schools together. This pooling of both teachers and students allows for more options in the timetable and course selection. Schools within the same division can implement the same bell schedule across the district and then can put students from multiple schools in a classroom joined together through video conferencing. This is becoming a common way to teach classes as calculus, languages, and where specific teaching knowledge is required to make the class worthwhile, and also in classes where small numbers of students are interested, whether this be the aforementioned classes, or the secondary stream of classes for students not interested in perusing further education, such as Math 14 & 24. The benefit of providing classes in this way is that students, who might otherwise have to take classes by independent study or at highly inconvenient times or not at all, can take a higher quality class, and one that would be accessible to them if they lived in an urban area.

Supplementing the Traditional Classroom
Video conferencing is also being used to supplement existing curriculum. Video conferencing allows anyone with a web cam and a high speed internet connection to connect with each other. As such, teachers and students can arrange to meet with experts to show students how what they are learning extends beyond the classroom. The Advanced Broadband Enabled Learning (ABEL) Project has been developed to connect K-12 schools with experts at universities across Canada. Since it’s founding at York University in 2002, the program has supported “professional learning program and its virtual community for sharing knowledge and collaboration” (http://www.abelearn.ca/about_us/).A few of the activites students have engaged in in the past year include:
 * Met with Holocaust survivors,
 * ‘Visited’ the Toronto Aerospace Museum,
 * Met with authors and artists,
 * Received lessons from university professors,
 * Connected Senior high and elementary students, reading buddies,
 * Had supreme judge preside over mock trial.

Issue to Address
It is important to remember that as video conferencing is still a relatively new technology, there is still much to be learned when implementing and teaching using this method. At the most basic level, technical errors can detract from the value of this type of classroom. This is a particular concern with full course delivery, as this is the only way these students are receiving the content. Technical errors eat away at precious class time, and frustrate all users, and with so many different pieces making the whole setup, there are several ways things can go wrong. Poor audio quality has been found to be the most problematic of these errors. Limitations in video quality were found to be more disruptive to teachers, who rely on visual cues to gauge how their students feel about the subject and their overall mood in general. Time is also lost to system malfunctions and techincal gliches. However, these can be overcome as technology improves and by improving tech support. The more complex issue is a shift in teaching methodology. There are very real differences in teaching to a live class and teaching through screens and microphones. Proper training and a teacher's willingness to experiment and adapt are key to making video conferencing a success, especially for full course delivery. As with any technology, video conferencing is only a tool and must be used correctly for success.

Argument
We feel that overall the benefits of using SMART Boards and video conferencing in the classroom make this a technology worth investing in. Over time technology will improve as users will discover issues with the application of the equipment. Companies will work to correct the bugs that can be fixed, and improve the quality of their programs. Time and training will also help teaching methods. Programs will be developed to train educators to be efficient and effective using the new teaching tools. The opportunities of video conferencing are too great to let these stumbling blocks stop its development.