Tech Evaluation

The technology I evaluated was the usage of StarBoard during my CT, Mr. Battle’s 8th grade CP U.S. History class. Mr. Battle uses the StarBoard on a daily basis, usually just as a projector in conjunction with PowerPoint, but for the particular lesson on 10/12/15, it was being used in a much more involved way.

The lesson itself was a discussion on the difference between the American and British points of view of the Boston Massacre using Paul Revere’s famous engraving to represent the American point of view and a more recent (and more realistic) painting in combination with a letter from British General Thomas Gage to represent the British point of view.

Overall, judging from my own set of evaluative criteria for technology (listed below), I thought the use of the StarBoard was justified. For examining the two pieces of art, the StarBoard proved extremely useful, and provided new ways of looking at the art that otherwise might have been much more difficult to have students do individually. It also helped students to summarize the letter from General Thomas Gage, which was written in somewhat archaic English and gave some of the students a hard time. Below is a piece-by-piece evaluation of the StarBoard and its usefulness.

Q.1: Is it user friendly?

A: Yes. Mr. Battle or I are the only ones using the StarBoard during class, both of whom know how to operate it quickly and easily. If you don’t know how to operate it, it is something you could learn within 5-10 minutes before class.

Q.2: Does it meet a need?

A: Yes, especially for this particular lesson. The StarBoard allowed Mr. Battle to use features like the spotlight or drawing on the pictures to look at specific portions very closely and analyze the different art styles used by Paul Revere to emphasize the differences between the British and the Americans.

Q.3: Can it/how can it be abused or misused?

A: Not really. As mentioned before, Mr. Battle or myself are the only ones using the StarBoard. The students themselves don’t really have a chance to abuse it or use it for anything inappropriate.

Q.4: Will the technology increase student engagement or participation?

A: Yes! Again, this was especially true for this lesson. Using some of the features of the StarBoard in a tactile way allowed students to more easily see Paul Revere’s ‘point’ or what he was trying to show. When analyzing the letter of General Thomas Gage, the highlighting feature allowed Mr. Battle to highlight portions of the text that students recommended. I think this helped to make the students feel like they had valuable input to the lesson. It also allowed Mr. Battle to model (in a very effective way) good study skills and the ability to dissect a dense text.

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