Week 2: Interactive White Boards - the present, and future of education?

In ICT this week we had an introduction to the SMART technology on Interactive White Boards (IWB). It's been a long time since I was at school so I find this piece of technology almost overwhelming in regards to the potential it has. When I was taught in primary and secondary school we had chalk boards, or in the 'new' classrooms, white boards. I don't remember them being particularly engaging, in fact the only excitement would be when someone accidentally used a permanent marker pen on the whiteboards! Since I started the PGCE at Middlesex University  I've seen the IWB in action a few times, particularity in maths and I can see what a great teaching tool it will be.

The benefits of the IWB

The IWB is a learning tool with endless possibilities and we discussed in our ICT lesson the benefits that it might have to teaching:

Inclusion - Julie Coghill states in her research into primary school's use of IWB's that unlike other forms of technology, it is not intended for individual use. The IWB is for the teacher to use to interact with the whole class (Link to Julie's research). It's important to recognise this as it is a tool that will engage all children whilst being inclusive of their ability. Barber et al (2007) [1] looked into studies that support this notion. They cited Carter and Cooper (2003) who looked at the benefits of the IWB with deaf children, and how it can develop language, as the board can model language visually. I think as a teacher I would try to develop materials that engaged all my learner's needs but I can see how it may be difficult depending on the spectrum of SEN children I had in my class. Coghill suggests sometimes using the IWB with smaller groups in particular with EAL and SEN children to use its visual and sound elements to increase attainment and this is something I will build into my lessons.

Extensive resources - The IWB is so versatile, it allows you to bring the world to children as it has many fun and engaging elements to it. In the lesson we explored eight different application's that the IWB had. There are so many more and I've just downloaded the SMART software so I can start exploring them. As well as the endless amount of resources available the lessons developed on the IWB are easily stored and are paperless which must make it easier to organise lesson plans and it saves space! The other plus side is that once you have had the initial financial outlay on the technology it is then near enough free. Barber et al (2007) [1] echo these ideas and discuss how the IWB makes planning and teaching more efficient by; allowing resources to be saved to a hard drive; the ability to return to earlier learning screens throughout the lesson to show progression and links between ideas; and saving notes and ideas added throughout the lesson for future lessons.

It's fun! - I've only seen children use an IWB in one lesson but it was obvious to me how much they all enjoyed the experience. Nearly every child wanted to come up to the IWB and find the answers to the questions. Anything that can show children that learning is and should be enjoyable is extremely important in my eyes. I found some research carried out by SWEEP (Schools Whiteboard Expansion Project). They believe that children enjoy using the IWB as it was easy to see, they could access ICT easily and brought variety to their lessons. These are all positives in my eyes.

Raising attainment - The SWEEP report also shows that once teachers have embedded the IWB in their teaching and are skilled at using it there are attainment gains in primary aged children. The research is very detailed and explores the effect of IWB on girls, boys and different levels of attainment but if you have the time, take a look here (Link to research)
Collaboration between schools Dr. John Cuthell states that a key benefit of the IWB is that resources can be developed and shared between schools in the local area, and then modified in accordance with the needs of children in the class. This enhances collaborative work and speeds up the development of resources, and enables teachers to try different teaching ideas and methods (Link to research). I think partiucally in my NQT year I will welcome new ideas from my colleagues and neighbouring schools to ensure i'm using the IWB to it's full potential.

As well as my thoughts into why IWB are brilliant I found some anecdotal accounts of how the IWB has improved teaching. It's always good to hear from real life teachers so have a look at what they say... [Anecdotes]

1. The interactive electronic whiteboard is great for demonstrations....
2. The interactive electronic whiteboard is a colourful tool. Research indicates that students respond to displays where colour is employed...
3. The board can accommodate different learning styles...
4. All ages of students respond favourably to board use...
5. Distance learning is an excellent setting for interactive whiteboard use...
6. One-computer classrooms can maximize the use of limited computer access...
7. The interactive whiteboard is an excellent tool for the constructivist educator...
8. The boards are clean and attractive tools...
9. Students with limited motor skills can enjoy board use...
10. It is interactive...
11. It can interface well with other peripherals....
12. The board is great for meetings are lessons where the participants need printed copies...
13. It is a kid magnet! ...

Considerations

It's clear that there are so many benefits to the IWB but there are definitely considerations to be made when using it.

Technology fails - You can never rely on technology. In the school I spent time in ahead of this course the IWB was never used as the equipment was so temperamental. I have also been advised to always have a back up plan that doesn't rely on technology, particularly if you are being observed!

Proficiency - As I mentioned earlier the SWEEP report indicates that attainment willl only be raised in children once teachers have perfected their use of the IWB. I am a prime example of someone who is not particularly proficient when using the IWB. I currently can't draw in a straight line or move anything around with my finger! I think this is a case of practice makes perfect and I will endeavor to keep trying and improve my skills. In our lesson nearly everyone who had a go on the board lost control of it so I think we all need a bit more practice!

Not using the IWB to it's full potential -  For a lesson to be truly interactive it needs to be a 'constant to-ing and fro-ing of ideas between the teacher, the board and the children (Coghill 2002:31).  We referred to this idea in the ICT lesson that boards are being used for 'chalk and talk' and not enough interaction. As a teacher this is something I will have to be mindful of to ensure i'm using the IWB to its full potential. I think this will depend on my proficiency and I hope that with regular use my confidence and competance will improve.Teachers will always need some knowledge of the technology and good training but Coghill's research shows that this and confidence in using the equipment increases over time.

External factors - There were stories from my fellow PGCE students of issues with the positioning of the boards, either through the light at a certain time of day hitting the board so you couldn't see it, or the board being too high for children to use. If I am faced with these problems or others I will need to have some plans in place to tackle them so I can still use the board

Overuse - In my interview for Middlesex University we discussed at length that not all learning should take place inside the classroom. Although you could probably show children everything they would ever need to know on the board it is important where possible to get children experiencing things in the real world, which I will ensure happens in my classroom.

Exploring the IWB

The IWB skill I learnt in the ICT lesson was 'the magic tunnel'. The idea was to design a tunnel that a question could be fed through, and by cleverly using contrasting colours and tools such as 'send to back' as you moved the question through the tunnel the answer would appear out the other side. It took us a good 10 minutes to get to grips with the task, and then unfortuntely when we came to demonstrate to the class it all went wrong! The effect relys on the question and the tunnel components being grouped together, but for some unknown reason everytime we attempted to move the question everything became ungrouped! I think this trial proved that I definitely need to improve my competence on the IWB over the next few months and if I was going to use this on a real life class I would spend more time ensuring the tunnel worked.

To finish this blog entry I wanted to share the below video. We've been shown this twice now in our ICT lessons and it's a fantastic introduction to the IWB. It makes me really excited to get into a classroom for myself and start exploiring the potential of this amazing piece of technology.

Sources
[1] Barber, D., Cooper, L. & Meeson, G. 2007, Learning and teaching with interactive whiteboards: primary and early years,Learning Matters, Exeter.