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Interactive Whiteboards Professional Practice. What is an interactive whiteboard?. Special screen that can be written on and used to control a computer Works rather like a tablet Various types Range of prices Large companies include Smartboard and Promethean
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What is an interactive whiteboard? • Special screen that can be written on and used to control a computer • Works rather like a tablet • Various types • Range of prices • Large companies include Smartboard and Promethean • Generally more common in primary and secondary schools.
Why are we interested in them? • Language schools and institutions have taken to them. • Sometimes for marketing reasons. • Sometimes because of government or institutional policy. -Examples in the UK under the 1997 labour government, Mexico, Spain, Malta etc. • Great for creating content and ready-made content. • Publishers using them to create materials
OUP-Video • This is a useful quick video about using an IWB which comes from OUP. It talks about ELT and gives some good ideas around the use of text. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIHg3F3C56I
What features does the board have? Too many to list but some key ones would be.. • Everything controlled from the board • Create as many pages as you want • Save your files for sharing • Make use of amazing number of images provided free • Curtain, Magic Pen, Double Screen • Control by using finger or pen • Lots of visual uses. Coloured pens, highlighters, shapes, fills, • Quick access to the internet • Lots of additional games and activities • Create content in advance • Get to internet • Manipulation of text is very good
What does the research say? Positive feedback • Helps with integration of lessons as teacher can do everything at the board. • Can allow for flexible lessons as easy to change, use the net, grab pictures and innovate while teaching. • Content can be saved and re-used and even printed out • Lessons more fun and engaging-more visually engaging-caters to different learning styles. • Lots of games and activities that allow students to interact with the board. • If well used can lead to increased interactivity. • There are claims it leads to increased control of a class because the teacher is looking at the students all the time
Negative aspects • Teachers need a lot of training and it needs to be continual. • The technology often goes wrong and this creates frustration from both teachers and students. • Most teachers use it in a very teacher centred way. • Students are frustrated because they can’t use the board much ( only one person at a time). • Students get frustrated because teachers often lack the technical knowledge and make mistakes. • Many of the benefits can come from just having an computer and a projector. • Very expensive ( though e-beams are cheaper).
Conclusions • Negatives might outweigh positives • Used as a marketing tool • Only well-trained teachers seem to make effective use of them • Most things can be done on a projector/screen • Can be exploited when making materials • May lead to greater interest in technology
1-Research articles to read Yanez, L & Coyle, Y. Children’s perceptions of learning with an interactive whiteboard. ELT Journal 65/4 October 2011 • Students found the visual element important • Found using the board motivating but didn’t use it enough • Most teaching tended to be very teacher fronted • Technology often went wrong
2-Research articles to read http://smartboard-hat.wikispaces.com/file/view/wtrs_whiteboards.pdf • A nice summary of the benefits of using an interactive whiteboard and simple introduction to IWBs. • Focuses on the interactivity , motivation and visual benefits but does not explain that this requires training.
3-Research articles to read Slay, H, Sieborger I , Hodgkinson, C. Interactive whiteboards: Real beauty or just lipstick? Computer and Education 51 (2008) pg 1321-1342. • This is a long article and you only need to read the conclusion. • Goes into detail about many of the benefits as well as limitations of the board • Suggests that many of the benefits can really come from a laptop and projector • Points out that a lot of training is need before teachers can really enjoy the benefits of a board.
Additional Content on-line • The JISC website provides a useful PDF with links to additional content http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/Interactivewhiteboards.pdf • Article on student motivation http://mandymc.myweb.uga.edu/iwb%20synthesis.pdf
Videos • This is something we generated in the class using LinoIT. It is a collection of the most interesting on-line videos that provide information about IWBs. There is lots of content here. http://linoit.com/users/russell/canvases/iwbvideos
Russell’s help videos • These videos show you how to use an interactive whiteboard. http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/iwb2/index.html http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/smart2/index.html http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/smart4/index.html