Claudia Wickham here, reporting to you from my 7th grade reading classroom at Andersen Middle School. I am beginning my tenth year of teaching. That just doesn't seem possible! My room is still packed up in boxes, and I'm just dying to start unpacking, organizing etc. However, I must first take care of this assignment.
Last spring I was introduced to my new friend Mobi. 
In telling you a little bit about how he works I will be reminding myself of what a great companion he is in the classroom. This is one box I need to be sure to unpack so that I'm actively using this technology on our first day of school next week! Mobi works directly with my SMARTboard to add pizzaz to my instruction. Together they work to support student-centered, collaborative learning.
One thing in particular that I have found that I love about the Mobi is that it allows me to teach using my SMARTboard but not be tied to the front of the room, next to my board. I can use the Mobi device as a portable mouse. If we're viewing a website on-line I can walk students through the site from anywhere in the room. Another feature I love is that when I write on the tablet, my message appears on the SMARTboard! This allows freedom within the classroom. No more turning my back to the kids!
I also have an additional set of 3 student Mobis. This is where the kids really have fun! I can split the SMARTboard screen into sections that each Mobi communicates with. I can have different questions in each section and the students can pass the Mobis and write their response for the class to see.
The Mobi also works directly with my set of clickers. That's another blog post in itself. But for now I will share that I can view students' results directly on my Mobi. My student's names appear on the screen and I can see if the answer they entered into their clicker was right or wrong. What a GREAT way to check for student understanding!
As I wipe the dust of the Mobi box, unpack it, and find a place for it on my desk. I know that this website will be helpful to me, especially if I need additional training or review.
I'm looking forward to my first full year in the classroom with my Mobi friends! Let the fun begin!
I remember in first grade, back in 1988-’89, and Apple IIe’s were brand new to the classroom. My teacher had a bunch of different educational programs and puzzle games on floppy disks, and many of my “nap times” were replaced with the option of being able to play on the computer. So much fun! So I can understand the thrill and potential that Mobis seems to have for your reading classroom. I’m not too familiar with SMARTboard technology – I’ve just never seen it used, although it’s been explained to me before. Sounds intriguing, especially since you have the students working with them and using them during lessons.
ReplyDeleteI was in Scholar Bowl (or Brain Bowl, to some) back in school, and it was one of my favorite extracurricular activities – mostly because we got those handheld buzzers to buzz in answers, just like on a game show. When you wrote, “My student's names appear on the screen and I can see if the answer they entered into their clicker was right or wrong.” To me that sounds like that’s another thing Mobi can do, provide for student comprehension checks that are fun and even entertaining! I like this video that was in your link: http://www.einstruction.com/media/mobi/
I enjoyed seeing this enhanced level of interactivity that is shown in the video – that students can use the handheld Pulse device to submit answers electronically. I’d be interested to see what adaptations it could be used for in an Language Arts setting. Neat stuff, Claudia! Thanks!
When you receive the answers from the students, do they show up on the SMARTboard as well? or can you program it to just show up on your mobi? I would hope you can do the later because if the names of those who got it wrong were displayed on the SMARTboard I could see that resulting in some embarrassment from the student especially if they are the only one who got it wrong.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ladd, there does seem to be a lot of potential in this small machine. I think this could be very useful when teaching Spanish. It could allow for a lot of different games. It would also be wonderful in allowing any special education students to participate, who might not be able to otherwise because they can't up to the board easily.
I feel like we talked about something like this in our Special education class....hmm
No doubt, all student responses are kept confidential. What is cool is that you can show a graph of student responses on the SMARTboard so the students can get a general idea of how the class as a whole responded.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great tool for an interactive classroom. I loved hearing how you can see students who are participating and understanding the material right away. I am curious if this was purchased by the school? Is it available for every teacher? I was just thinking this seems like it could be a pricey classroom tool so i was curious!
ReplyDelete