Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards are a recent helpful technological advance created for the classroom. The boards are similar to traditional whiteboards, but they also combine aspects of a projector and computers. There are different models and companies, but the main 3 that our reading covered were SMART, Promethean, and Mimio.

    There are a variety of uses of interactive whiteboards in the classroom. Some of these include: highlighting, coloring, and zooming, and use of multimedia content like pictures and videos. These practices can help keep the students' attention in ways traditional whiteboards or projectors can't.

    Some of the benefits research has shown include: active learning, classroom management, lesson organization, and flexibility in handling lesson materials. In general, this leads to increased interactivity, efficiency, enhanced interaction, and generally better instruction.

    Research has not revealed very consistent correlations between interactive whiteboards and student achievement. However, I think most notably, there have been positive correlations found between the use of student response systems and student achievement. These devices allow students to contribute and answer questions through other handheld devices like laptops, iPads, or clicker devices.

    Like most technology-related additions to the classroom, there are some challenges to overcome. Research has shown that some teachers are not utilizing the whiteboards in the ways they should. Even students with a lot of technology experience sometimes don't actually use the whiteboards in the way they're intended, but instead just use them as projectors. However, through effective and comprehensive training, a lot of these problems could be easily fixed. The training should be done initially, but should also be ongoing as more updates and developments become available.

    I think interactive whiteboards are great additions to the classroom. Almost all of teachers used them in high school, and I know it is becoming even more prominent in all classrooms nowadays. I do think there are some limitations when teachers don't know what they're doing. I think the boards have the potential to engage students if the students are allowed to use them, but in my experience, teachers rarely let the students use the board. With the proper training and instruction, I think interactive whiteboards are a great classroom tool.