Interactive Whiteboards and Flipped Classrooms

Interactive Whiteboards

In recent years, the use of interactive whiteboards has definitely been growing, especially in higher education. I think that the majority of us are more familiar with (or at lest have heard of) Smart Boards. These are the most popular brand/type of interactive whiteboards. I think that interactive whiteboards have the potential to be great resources in the classroom, if they are being used effectively. I know that the use of interactive whiteboards in the classroom is still fairly new and not many educators have mastered using them. Many of my own professors do not take advantage of the Smart Boards in our classrooms because they are unsure of how to use them. I am very interested in learning more about how to use interactive whiteboards in the classroom because they have so much more to offer than a traditional whiteboard. Interactive whiteboards can be used to facilitate multi-sensory learning and can accommodate visual, kinesthetic, tactile, and auditory learners.

As a special educator, I am very excited about the rising trend of interactive whiteboard use in the classroom. I think that this tool is beneficial for all learners, but could be especially helpful in a special education setting. Many children receiving special education need interactive, hands-on activities and instruction. Interactive whiteboards are the perfect tool for this!


Flipped Classrooms

Another rising trend in education is the implementation of flipped classrooms (again, especially in higher education institutions). I am interested in the concept of the flipped classroom but I do not know if it is something I would ever implement myself. I took a math class here at GVSU that was a flipped classroom and at first I really liked it, but as the semester went on it became harder to motivate myself to do the work outside of class. I liked having time to do homework in class, but learning the content at home was difficult at times. I became frustrated when I did not understand the lesson and had to wait for my professor to reply to my email before I could continue on with the material. This classroom set-up is great for students who are independent and motivated and will actually put time into the class. This is a terrible set-up for students who are more dependent on teacher instruction and have difficulty motivating themselves to stay on task. As a special educator, I don't think I would ever consider doing a flipped classroom with my students. Many children in special education require accommodations and support that are not available with flipped classrooms.

Fair Use

Copyright law provides copyright holders with exclusive rights to the works that they have created for a limited period of time. When the copyright term expires, the work moves into "the pubic domain" and the public has unlimited access to the material. But what if individuals want to use copyrighted material before it moves into the public domain? This is where fair use comes into play. Fair use can be viewed as a sort of "loophole" when it comes to using copyrighted material. It is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without obtaining permission from the author or rights holder.

So, what's the point of all these laws? Copyright laws give rights holders exclusive rights, which provides incentive for them to contribute creative works to society. Fair use laws are in tact to help minimize the tension between copyright law and freedom of expression. Below is a list of types of uses that have been recognized as "fair".

• Commentary & Criticism
• Parody
• News Reporting
• Art
• Scholarship &Research
• Time-Sharing
• Search Engines

STAT: Experts estimate that industries reliant on fair use contributed $2.4 trillion to the U.S. economy in 2008–2009, or approximately 17 percent of the US GDP.1 In comparison.
Retreived from: http://fairuseweek.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ARL-FUW-Infographic-r4.pdf

The Library of Congress (LOC) provides teachers with materials and tools that they need in order to effectively use primary sources in their classrooms. The LOC assesses all of their materials for legal considerations before placing them online. As an educator, I would feel very comfortable using this site to find primary resources for my classroom, without having to worry about copyright laws.

LOC website: http://www.loc.gov/teachers/
FAQs: http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/copyright.html


Additional Sites Used
https://www.teachingcopyright.org/handout/fair-use-faq
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/what-is-fair-use/

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