I am an avid user of the ActivBoard made by Promethean. Well, I truly have been putting the technology on my wish list for years. I originally promoted other similar technologies, but when my school system decided to go all out with an ActivBoard that included a permanent projector attachment and a wireless slate, I was gladly in for the long haul.
I cannot think of a better way to teach. ActivBoards are interactive white boards that work with an interactive pen. I am able to put worksheets that my students are working on in my 6th grade math classroom on the Activboard and can ask students to show their work right there on the screen. If I am promoting measurement, then I can have a student pull out an interactive ruler on the screen and allow a lesson to be born. The toolstore, which is a part of the software only adds to the excitement that my students and I have felt since I have been using the board for nearly a month now. The toolstore has everything from backgrounds to pictures and manipulatives.
There is more. The Activboard comes with optional items called Activotes, which allow students to vote on a concept that they are learning about in the form of a quiz. For example, if I want to create an "ad hoc" or on the spot quiz, then I can have students in the class vote on a multiple choice quiz that I write up on the screen. I can also prepare quizzes in advance.
The students vote by clicking a button (A, B, C, D) on the Activote. After all students click a response, I have several options, including showing a class graph, which allows me and the students to get immediate feedback. I cannot speak enough about the Promethean technology and what it is doing for the education of my students.
