TheInteractiveWhiteboardWhataMagicalThingOrIsIt?

JhodiLeong
80026115
Takeamomenttoenvisiontheidealclassroomstudentsactively
participating,volunteeringanswers,studentsengagedinalessonforanentire
period,andletsnotforget,lesstimespentonlessonplanning.Nowtakealook
aroundatthewalls,canyouseeit?Anilluminatedscreenwithvividcolorsand
brilliantimages,severalcolorsofinfraredpens,anInternetconnection,andbestof
all,asyouwalkuptothescreenyounoticethatyoucancontroleverythingwiththe
touchofafinger.Coulditbe?Couldthisoneobjectbemesmerizingallofthe
studentsintheclassroomatonce?Nowletsenvisiontheeverydayclassroomwith
aninteractivewhiteboard(IWB).Thenoveltyofanewtoyhaswornoff,onlya
selectfewareparticipatingattheIWBatatime,engagementslowlydecreasesasa
studentfeelslikehewillneverbechosen,thepotentialsensoryoverloadofvisuals,
audio,andtext,andworstofall,thecomputerglitchesthatthreatentointerruptthe
flowofalesson.

Letsstartatthebeginningoftheteachingprocessplanning.Intheory,IWBs
shouldmaketheplanningprocessgraduallylesstimeconsumingaslesson
templatesarereusedfromyeartoyear.Butwhoiscreatingtheselessonsinthe
firstplace?PurchasinganIWBdoesnotcomewithxamountoftraininghours.For
sometechsavvyteachers,thisprocessmayjustbeabumpintheroad;forotherless
techsavvyteachers,thisprocessmayseemlikeclimbingMountEverest.Sure,there
arewebsitesdesignedforsharingIWBlessons,butitstilltakestimetosearchout
lessons,lookatthedetails,andmodifythelessonstosuityourteachingstyleand
individualclass.Usingfeaturessuchasmanipulativesarethekeydifferences
betweenawhiteboardandanIWB.Thesearethefeaturesthatcaptivatestudents;
thatengagetheminthelesson;thatmotivatethemtolearn!Studentsareexpecting
endlessstreamsofmanipulativesandvisuals;ifallthatcomesispagesofnotes,the
studentsdisengageandresorttoidlycopyingnotes.Withoutpropertraining,the
IWBbecomesnothingmorethanaplainwhiteboardbeingusedtowritenoteson.
Inessence,allwehavedoneistradeinourdryerasemarkerforaninfraredpenthat
coststhousandsofdollarsmore.Butittakesacertainfinessetobalancethevisuals,
audio,text,colors,andmultimedia.Toolittleandthestudentsarenotengaged,but
toomuchandstudentscanbecomeoverwhelmedandfocusonthespecialeffects
ratherthanthecontent.

ByJhodiLeong


Toooften,thetoolsofanIWBareusedasdemonstrationsforaclassbythe
teacherorasachanceforaselectfewstudentstoparticipateatonce.Prompting
engagementistheabilityofstudentstoexperiencetheuseoftheIWBfor
themselves.AnIWBshouldsupportcollaborativeengagement,allowingmorethan
onestudenttointeractwiththeIWBatonce.Buttheprojectorshiesascrowdsof
studentsencroachonitssourceoflightpreventingtheimagesfrommakingittothe
screen.Thecomputerbecomesoverwhelmedasmultiplefingerstrytopushand
pulldifferentobjects.Soisitpossibletoinclude25ormoreparticipantsatonce?In
reality,thisisaveryhardtasktoaccomplishevenforthemosttechsavvyteachers
tryingtoaccommodateanentireclasswithonemachine.TheIWBbecomesa
teachersworstfearwithouttrainingthefearofacomputerglitchinterruptinga
lessonandhavingtofixtheprobleminfrontofaclassofstudentscanbeenoughto
scareteachersawayfromtryingtouseanIWB.
FromslatestoblackboardstowhiteboardsandnowtoIWBs,haveteaching
methodskeptupwiththechanges?IWBsengagestudents;motivatestudentsto
learnwhenusedeffectively.Thelackoftrainingprovidedtoteachersprogressively
turnstheIWBintoaregularwhiteboardasteachersdonotknowhowtouseallof
thefeaturesoftheIWB.

References:

Hennessy,S.&Deaney,R.(2009,October).Theimpactofcollaborativevideo
analysisbypractitionersandresearchersuponpedagogicalthinkingand
practice:followupstudy.TeachersandTeaching:theoryandpractice,15(5),
617638.Retrievedfrom
http://ehis.ebscohost.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/ehost/pdfviewer
/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=20&sid=bbc7fce7b5664e1793ec
dd075e18ea71@sessionmgr14

Smith,H.J.,Higgins,S.,Wall,K.&Miller,J.(2005,February4).Interactive
whiteboards:Boonorbandwagon?acriticalreviewofliterature.Journalof
ComputerAssistedLearning,(21),91101.Retrievedfrom
http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/spechtp/551/IWB_Boon_Bandwagon.pdf