Interactive classroom
Technology Grant Proposal
Donna Brown
Curriculum 518
Summer 1, 2008
Project summary
This project involves the purchase of a SMART board and H-ITT CRS equipment
to enhance my third grade classroom, making it technologically interactive. It
would provide my “at risk students with a new and exciting way to learn. I believe
it will enhance learning in two ways. First it will provide a method of keeping my
students “on-task” and as a result may reduce the number of discipline problems in
the room. This is because these systems provide individual, group and team
activities and allow for interactive presentations. I believe it will encourage
learning and therefore help students be more successful.
Description
With the installation of a SMART board and the H-ITT CRS, which comes with
free software, a huge improvement in the teacher’s ability to deliver instruction
consistent with student’s abilities and learning styles would be made.
The software can be used as a data collection and analysis software. It allows all
methods to engage students in learning. Questions during instruction, or pre
designed questions can b easily generated and displayed in Word, Excel, Powerpoint,Xml, text, Html, and other formats; Quizzes can be administered so that
students can answer at their own pace. It can be used in all subject areas. Wireless
student response systems—"clickers"—address two of the oldest and most
fundamental challenges in teaching: how to engage students and how to determine
if they are learning what you are teaching. Clickers are relatively low cost and easy
to use. Data show that when they are used well in large lecture classes, clickers
increase the engagement of students and improve their learning.
Related Literature
According to research, technology should b e used as a tool to enhance a child’s
educational experience by creating a variety of methods to meet special needs,
teach children how to manage information, and allow for opportunities to develop
higher order thinking skills. Brain research indicates that not all students learn in
one particular strategy. As Dr. Bruce Powell points out, t he teacher needs to
create a variety of learning experiences. Wireless student response systems are the
most helpful and exciting educational technology I've seen. They do things that
really matter in the classroom: let instructors and students immediately know if
they are understanding the material, rather than waiting for a test. More that that,
they engage and motivate making learning an active, rather than passive
experience. Extensive data shows students learn more and enjoy the engagement.
Dr. Douglas Duncan of the University of Colorado says” This is especially true
when the goals of clicker use are explained to the class before they're used, and
when clickers are used in peer instruction: when students are encouraged to debate
answers with classmates before answering." The changes that clickers produce in a
classroom are small if you only use them occasionally, but profound if you use
them more regularly and make them an important part of your class. The regular
use of clickers can transform the classroom in a very positive way. Students
become active participants, not merely passive listeners to a lecture. They ask more
questions. As described in the section 4, if students are allowed to discuss their
answers with their neighbors before responding, the impact is even stronger. At the
University of Colorado, astronomy, planetary science, and physics faculty found
that class attendance increased substantially after the introduction of clickers, from
60%–70% to 80%–90%. The Illinois Institute of Technology (Burnstein &
Lederman 2001) reported 80%–90% attendance in classes where clickers were in
use. Other universities have reported similar results.
Timeline:
The best possible timeline would have the equipment and software installed before
the beginning of schools in August. This would allow the teacher to become
proficient with the board and clickers before the students arrive.
August:
equipment and system installed
September: pre test are assess students in different subject areas (also keep a
log of any disciplinary problems)
September-December: use systems in classroom instruction
December: Assess student achievement according to test scores and grades,
Continue to keep log of discipline problems
January- April: increase use of programs
April:
Assess student performance on test and other assessments.
May: Compare data. Make comparisons and conclusions.
Assess use or ease of data provided by systems
Budget:
Item
Description
Total cost
-----------------------------------------------------------------------Everything needed to utilize H-ITT in a
CP- $1395.00
Colorful - K-12
single classroom: 32 RF remote
3000radio frequency
transmitters, 1 RF Base Unit, a 6 ft. USB
32
RF Class-Pack
cable, and a carrying case
SMART Board 600
interactive whiteboard system
$ 4,000.00
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Cost $5395.00
Accountability
Assessment scores as well as data generated by the software programs will be
used to study student growth.
Principal investigator:
The principal investigator for this project will be Donna Brown. Mrs. Brown is
the third grade teacher who will be instructing and observing students, recording
data, and assessing the results of the interactive technology requested in this
grant.
References:
 U.S. Department of Education Technology and education reform.
Retrieved June 24, 2008 from
htt://www.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech
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Clickers in the Classroom, by Dr. Douglas Duncan of the University of
Colorado
Clickers: A New Teaching Aid with Exceptional Promise
Rational for Using Technology and multimedia in the classroom. Retrieved
June26,2008 form http://coe.west.asu.edu/students/hcarter/techrationale.htm