Turn That Frown Upside Down!!!
A DonorsChoose project: Viewsonic Interactive Panel
Help Me! I'm Dying!!!
Our school has old style interactive whiteboards mounted in every classroom. These old boards also require a ceiling mounted projector. They are all 10 years old or older. Bulbs fail, get dim, the projectors are old technology with poor contrast, hard to see, some have yellowish stains burnt in the lenses making the projected image hard to see. The electronics in the boards are failing and the electronic pens won't work on some.
Click Below to donate, scroll further to learn more about this project and its potential.
I recently attended the Virginia Symposium for Technology in Education (VSTE) conference and I entered every drawing in the vendor's hall. I always do. But I always end up leaving the conference saying I never win. Well, this year I can't say that. I won an iRover mobile cart for an Interactive Panel. Yet, sadly I have no panel. This project is designed to give a purpose to this mobile cart. Check out this video to see what these boards can do.
Classroom On The Move!
Life In The Lab
Having this panel on the iRover cart I won means I can position the panel in an area much more visible and accessible to the students when working in the lab. The students can walk up to the board, connect their device up to it and present their work, the results of their research. Show the class what they created in Minecraft and how it relates to their learning targets.
The Learning Garden:
I also work with students in our Learning Gardens in the courtyard. There are electrical outlets out there so we could be out in the courtyard holding discussions on life cycles, geometry in the real world, uses of common plants in the courtyard. find birds, animals, plants and lock them up and show the whole class what they have learned about this new discovery. Giving the students a voice and an audience all without leaving the courtyard. Just in Time learning is far more effective, while the excitement is still there, their minds are still worked up over it.
In The Atrium
The panel would be available for the rest of the staff if they have a need for it and I don't. If they want to take their class out to the courtyard on a nice day and do their math lessons in the great outdoors or something then this would be an option increasing the impact of this investment.
Bottom Line
The bottom line is that this is the largest project I have ever attempted on DonorsChoose.org. The total project cost is $4700.69. Some of the staff have teamed up with me to capitalize on promotional offers where Google has teamed up to offer up money for teachers to have their students do things like Animate Your Name, Hour of Code and Be Internet Awesome. They have donated the money they got to this project rather than using it on their own projects. I am very grateful for their help and show of support.
But it is not enough. We need more support to make this dream come to life. Any donation helps whether it is $1 or $300. If you are unable to support through a donation, then please consider passing this along to others that might. Maybe your employer or your church would be interested in helping. Its an awesome opportunity to bring the concept of classrooms without walls to life at our school.
We currently sit at $2895.16 to fund. and 118 total donors supporting it.
What is DonorsChoose?
Once funded, the materials are ordered by DonorsChoose and sent to the school for the teacher.
Kevin Rickard
Instructional Technology Specialist
Newtown Elementary School
Email: Kevin.Rickard@vbschools.com
Website: https://www.donorschoose.org/Kevin.Rickard
Location: Virginia Beach, VA, USA
Phone: 757-648-3120
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Transforming-The-Learning-One-Project-At-A-Time-157821478399025/
Twitter: @KevinRickard4