Case Study: Texas School for the Deaf

Implementation 

With that in mind, the school purchased 10 Activboards with the Activstudio 2 software and placed these groundbreaking systems in classrooms across all grade levels.

This visually engaging and user-friendly group teaching system has clearly captivated the attention of TSD teachers and students, alike. Examples of grade-level specific uses abound.

Take Twyla Loftin, a veteran middle school educator who teaches Science to seventh and eighth grade students, who reported on the simplicity and fun of introducing the periodic table using the Activboard. According to Loftin, students could readily see how elements are grouped using a scanned-in periodic table and by using the highlight tool to distinguish between the various groups. Then, they searched the Internet and found an online interactive periodic table, which was used to show pictures of the actual elements so students could associate the name of the element with a picture of it. The students each took turns using the Activboard to review the information learned.

"Before the Activboard system was integrated into our science curriculum, my students were less than enthused with the learning process. Not to mention special adaptations had to be made for my visually impaired students. "Now all of my students are more motivated, drawn in, even inspired by the delivery of truly interactive material that allows them to work as a group and excel individually," said Loftin. 

Second–grade teacher, Sharee Darce used the Activboard to introduce animal groups. She said that the countless colorful graphics and pictures included in the software as well as those accessible on the Internet helped bring her lesson alive.

“I had my students group the animal pictures under the correct heading – mammal, bird, and reptile. Later, they had to move the various animal characteristics into the correct category. This provided a secondary pedagogic evaluation – aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards - of their individual reading skills,” said Darce.