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Interactive Whiteboards

Are interactive whiteboards effective tools to use in the classroom?

Becta published a booklet Teaching Interactively for primary schools in 2006.

Consider the following views;

• From a 238 page Becta 2007 Report, ‘Evaluation of Whiteboards initiative’ it was found that interactive whiteboards benefited averagely attaining pupils of both sexes and high-attaining pupils of both sexes in that they made greater progress with more exposure to interactive whiteboards in maths. Based on an expectation that pupils will on average progress six points (or one national curriculum level) in two years, it was possible to calculate their increased rate of progress. This ranged from two and a half months for girls of average prior attainment to five months for boys of high prior attainment.

• SMART Technologies announces that researchers at the University of Virginia have concluded that SMART Board™ interactive whiteboards can reduce teacher nervousness, increase lesson effectiveness and improve student learning outcomes when used with appropriate pedagogy and digital resources.

• Different forms of engagement are possible as IWB use involves auditory, visual and kinaesthetic learning approaches.

• Using an IWB in small time slots assists attention span since, according to Tony Buzan, attention span reduces the longer the activity runs.

• The tools available with IWB software enhances clarity, for example shapes are accurate not approximations the new SMARTBoard software converts freehand shapes to actual dimension accurate shapes).

• From my regular school visits I am of the opinion that an IWB provides an excellent delivery platform and offers interactive opportunities as long as the pupils are active rather than passive participants (Jim Birney).

Fife Education's learning and teaching site holds a range of SMARTBoard resources and the SMART site has its own set of research papers,

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