Presentations at BLC10 and MassCue 10

Interactive Whiteboard Lesson Design
Barbara Peskin, Instructional Technology, Concord Public Schools, Concord, MA

How can teachers create lessons that build and draw on the skills of today’s students learning and living in the Web 2.0 environment? One answer: effective interactive whiteboard (IWB) lesson design. In Concord, MA, we have had interactive whiteboards in classrooms district-wide for over three years. During that time we have seen a significant increase in the use of digital lessons and resources, along with steady growth in the development of lessons designed specifically to take advantage of the interactive whiteboard software and features.

Recently, Robert Marzano studied and completed research on the use of interactive whiteboards in the classroom. Marzano’s findings affirm that IWB lesson designs that

• use visuals that focus
• provide opportunities for collaborative learning and discussions and
• integrate voting devices to reinforce a student’s metacognitive sense of their own learning

led to a 26% percent gain in student achievement. In this session see specific examples of effective interactive lessons from Concord classrooms and beyond. Also learn about Concord’s professional development plan and ways our teachers share their curriculum resources.