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Northwestern Connecticut Community College/Adult Education:
Resource Review: Hurricane Investigation with SmartBoard*
Teacher:
Mary Flynn Wilson, GED/ABE
Type of Resource:
Smart Board and Internet
Description:
The SMART Board enables a class to view images
simultaneously from many sources. Any number of items, such as
newspaper articles, photos, or documents, can be shown on the
SMART Board. Students can go to the SMART Board and use it “up
close and personal.” The instructor is able to underline,
to point, to mark. Best of all is the ability to use one’s
finger as a mouse, moving freely within the document or among
documents.
How the resource was used in class:
I used both technologies during this class.
I like to apply classes, when possible, to current events. Since
a major hurricane, Fabian, had been roaring through Bermuda, the
students did background research on hurricanes and read current
newspapers articles on Fabian itself. Some students are very unfamiliar
with the computer, and the Internet gives them a chance to learn
both the computer and subject matter at the same time.
The things I like most about the resource
are as follows:
Please note: Not all of the websites referred
to are now active. Nevertheless, they exemplify what can be done
in the classroom with the ever-changing Internet.
All the students were excited about finding
sources to share with the class. They searched eagerly through
the various different sites. One found an excellent satellite
map of Hurricane Fabian, being photographed at the moment she
was accessing the site, at
http://image.weather.com, (presently
inactive) and an outstanding photodisc display of various types
of hurricane-related storms, with descriptions and distinguishing
features of each at www.msnbc.com/news/961894.asp?0dm=W216W. They
were pleased at noting, by comparing their research and the articles,
that Fabian was almost twice the strength (winds 120 mph) of a
“normal” (74 mph) hurricane. Some were delighted to
find that they could subscribe, free of charge, to The New York
Times http://www.nytimes.com and did so on the spot.
I was most taken by the ability of the SMART
Board to show to the whole class a video of a hurricane in motion
www.cnn.am/specials/multimedia/vrml/hurricanes (presently inactive).
Everyone had a bird’s eye view of the clockwise and counterclockwise
winds swirling wildly around the eye of the storm. They exclaimed
over the astonishing sight and the almost symmetrical circle formation
of the hurricane. At another site, http://www.1upinfo.com/encyclopedia/H/hurrican.html,
they found in-depth information about hurricanes. In addition,
students were able to notice how some of these sites are funded,
since advertisements for hurricane shutters, wind meters, and
emergency preparedness supplies, as well as travel deals and vacation
escapes, adorned some of these pages.
Limitations and suggestions to overcome
shortcomings:
I find very few limitations of the SMART Board.
I love what it can do and having the students view the hurricane
video together was amazing.
The one limitation I found was in using the
CNN site; one had to download a program – which expanded
to two and then to three. It took longer than I would have liked
and I was hoping that the class would not lose interest. However,
the relatively small delay was more than worth it, since the clip
fascinated everyone. Unfortunately, I have no idea of how CNN
can overcome this shortcoming, but it’s a minor thing compared
to the results.
*from Technology Implementation —
End-of-Year Report as of June
30, 2003, compiled
by Denise Linden, Director
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