You may have come across some discounted electronics with this label. If you would like to learn more, watch the 3 minute video, Talking Refurbished Electronics, from David Pogue. He explains what refurbished means and provides some recommendations on purchasing refurbished products. I’ve purchased refurbished products (scanner, flat screen monitor) myself and agree with Mr. Pogue. You can get some good deals, but need to be careful where you buy.

Image Credit: nao-cha

I just read about the Interactive Whiteboard Challenge in The Edublogger. What a great idea! The purpose of the project is to:

To improve the use of interactive whiteboards in the classroom and to stimulate more discussion about how they can best be used.

The project, organized by Jess McCullock, includes 7 challenges to improve your Interactive Whiteboard (aka Smartboard) skills. Each challenge involves you using a Smartboard tool (cloning, transparency, recording, containers) to create something for your students to use. Once you’ve completed a challenge, you will compose a blog post reflecting on the experience. If you don’t have a blog, no worries. Contact jessATtechnoloteDOTcom for an alternative.

To get started, access the Whiteboard Challenge wiki to sign up and view the challenges. Even if you don’t want to participate, you can benefit from viewing the challenges, which demonstrate how to use various whiteboard tools. You will also find a Lesson Files page on the wiki for the sharing of files (notebook files, word, gallery, etc) by the participants. If you complete all the tasks, your name will be included in drawing for 1 Flip Video camera. The challenge has started and runs for 14 weeks.

The Willard Challenge

Willard Staff: If you participate and complete at least 3 of the 7 challenges, I will put your name in a local drawing for a new Flip Mino video camera to be used in your classroom. There will be 1 camera awarded per every 3 participants. So if we have 3 participants, 1 name is drawn and 1 camera awarded. If we have 4+ participants, 2 names will be drawn and 2 cameras awarded, etc. The deadline for completing your 3 challenges is December 8th.

If you need any assistance with the challenges or sharing your reflections, need to borrow a microphone or webcam,  just let me know. I’m more than happy to help.

If having easy access to a Smartboard is keeping you from participating, please note that there will be another Willard Challenge next month that might better suit you. (Thanks for the inspiration, Jess!)