Interactive Whiteboards

I actually do have some previous experience with interactive whiteboards. I volunteer at Northwest

Middle School and we use the boards quite a bit. I think they are a great tool to have in the classroom and I hope that I am lucky enough to have an interactive whiteboard in my classroom when I become a teacher. I think they can offer so much to students and they provide students with a fun, more hands on learning experience.

When reading the handout on the boards I learned that different studies on interactive whiteboards have show different results. Some say that students are benefiting from having the boards in the classroom, but others say that there is no difference between those who use the technology and those who do not. Obviously not every school is lucky enough to be provided with these boards. Teachers that don't have them are still using effective teaching skills to teach their students and that is why I think some studies don't show much difference. In my opinion, I think every classroom should be equipped with one of these boards. Features such as matching, dragging and dropping, and hiding and revealing can be fun lessons that allow students to learn by going to the board and performing the lesson that you have set up for them. As the handout says, these features can enrich instruction by increasing student attention, motivation, and participation. However, as the article mentions I do believe that every teacher should be properly trained with these boards so that they will be most beneficial to the students.

I would definitely use an interactive whiteboard in my classroom. I think they are fabulous, especially for younger students. They get the chance to go up to the board and perform an action themselves instead of just watching you do it. So many fun lessons can be planned with these boards, and students can really learn a lot from them! I plan to use the board in every subject; whether it be working out a math problem, structuring a sentence, labeling the parts of a planet, or playing interactive games. Sometimes technology can be a little tricky, but I think that interactive whiteboards are wonderful and that they can really help enhance a lesson.