My Fulbright Year in Taiwan

Yilan County’s education department decided that every school in the county needs a SMARTBoard. For those who don’t know what a SMARTBoard is, it’s a special white screen that is touch-sensitive. You can control the computer by touching the screen. In addition to clicking and dragging, you can also write on the board with virtual pens. There are lots of other functions of the technology, such as the ability to save a marked-up screen as a graphic file to a USB flash drive. There are many educational applications of SMARTboards.

Last week, I sat in on a workshop for classroom teachers, which was intended to prepare teachers to use the technology effectively. The workshop covered very general topics such as effective teaching with technology, and gradually led up to specific tips and examples of using SMARTboards in the classroom. The workshop was five days long, and featured guest speakers from across the county.

It was interesting to see professional development in Taiwan, and reflect on the the similarities and differences between Taiwan the US. Unfortunately, the boring parts of workshops (listening to an academic speak from the ivory tower) are just as prevalent in Taiwan. Teachers want practical information that they can take back to their classrooms the next day. Academics want to explore the theory behind the practical.

During the theoretical discussions, the teachers in the workshop were doodling on their papers or nodding off. During the practical demonstrations, the teachers wanted to get copies of the Powerpoint files and games that the presenter was showing. It was so much like a workshop presentation in the US, that if the workshop had been in English instead of Chinese, an American teacher would have felt right at home.