Emma holds a Bachelor of Teaching with a Bachelor of Arts from Adelaide University. She teaches English and Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) to grades 8-11 at Waikerie High School in South Australia. She also serves as an SRC Coordinator and a member of the school’s Governing Council. After four years as a full-time teacher, she and three other teachers were asked to work in the SA High Schools Mimio Seeding Program. Her school had purchased several MimioTeach™ interactive systems in 2010, but they weren’t really used until the advent of the Seeding Program.
Emma says she was approached for the program because one of the school’s MimioTeach devices was in her classroom. She admits that she didn’t use it when she first obtained it. “I was a little bit worried that it would take a long time to learn or create work,” she says. “I only learned how to turn it on because of my involvement in the program.”
Once she got some Mimio basics under her belt, “everything came easily.” She started using the interactive system by playing around with the features. “I had fun while my students were working,” she says. “Then I let them have a go, too.” Her students enjoy learning about the new technology alongside her. “Any visual aid is a bonus for students,” she says, adding that “students want to continue to learn if they have fun.”
MimioTeach systems are now being used at Waikerie to teach Emma’s subject areas, as well as Math and Science. As the program participants learn, they plan to train other staff so that Mimio systems can be incorporated in all learning areas of the school.
Other MimioClassroom™ tools are available to Emma as part of the program, including the MimioVote™ assessment system and the MimioView™ document camera. She says the MimioVote system is her favorite product, and her students love to use it. Emma often pre-tests her students to see what prior knowledge they might have on a new unit, or to give them a sneak peek at what they’re about to learn. “And then to test them at the end for some units also works well,” she says. “They like to see their results in MimioStudio™ Gradebook straight afterwards. They check their own results and like to compete against others.”
Asked what she would like to share about using the MimioTeach system, Emma says her first tip would be to “turn it on and have a play. Once you have a good idea about some of the features of the MimioStudio Notebook and toolbar, you will pick up everything else easily.” She also recommends watching the tutorials and using what you learn so it sinks in.
Her second tip is to check out the MimioConnect® interactive teaching community on mimioconnect.com. “There are so many great lessons that teachers have prepared already. Save lessons you like the look of and use them as a template for your own lessons.”
Emma wants to continue learning how to use many types of technology in her lessons, because she believes “it is the way of the future.” She expects to find that interactive whiteboard technology helps to raise retention levels and grades, and makes it easier to teach students with special needs. The technology might also assist with behavioral problems, she reasons. “It is a privilege for students to use the Mimio devices, so if students don’t behave, they won’t get to use them.”