Interactive Whiteboard

The use of interactive whiteboard technology is becoming increasing more common in the classroom. Its use is intended to enhance teaching and learning. The use of the interactive whiteboards allows teachers’ to have creative and interactive lessons with the goal of making learning more fun and participatory.  The programs tools enable lesson to accommodate different types of learning all the while keeping students engaged in learning. The hands on applications permit student to physically get out of their classroom seats and respond with hands on applications. These interactive lessons utilizing a white board are creative and fun; encouraging students to be engaged, focused and learning. The program enables teachers to create fun quizzes, activities and lessons due the readily available resources such as maps and pictures

The use of this newer technology is relatively easy; I like to think of it as an interactive power point. Its advanced capabilities allow it to be interactive and fun. The ability for students to interact and answer questions far outweighs days of repetitive note taking. This newer technology is to the classroom what an over head projector was years ago to the classroom. It enhances the teacher’s ability to create lessons which make learning come alive. Learning the terminology connected to white board technology can be incorporated into lessons. Students readily adapt to this technology because of their personal use of other highly evolved technology. The use during lessons allows teachers to highlight important things enabling students to make connections within a lesson and utilize the program concurrently.

There are many pros and cons to the use of interactive whiteboards. The costs and installation are high; additionally the placement of the board is often difficult due to the differences in height. Easy access is important but can be difficult to attain in a class setting where several people of varying heights utilize the board. A shorter person will have difficult accessing the buttons if placed too high and a tall person will feel bent in half or block the display if too low. It also should not be placed in close proximity to a chalk board due to chalk residue damaging the board or a dry erase marker marring the surface. Additionally, like all technology it can malfunction and be unavailable for a daily lesson if inoperable.   It is important as whiteboards become incorporated into learning that the whiteboard be a supplement to enhance learning not be the focus of it. The pros far outweigh the cons; white boards integrate learning into the hands of students as they physically participate.  Additionally the many tools readily available making creating fun and interesting lesson much easier. It allows students to interact while learning; this helps develop an atmosphere where students want to participate. Whiteboards with practice are easy to use; they also enhance and diversify lesson types making them both more fun and interactive.

I wish I had had this technology in some of my past lessons. I would have enjoyed creating an interactive whiteboard lesson while creating lesson plans on the three branches of government the use of an interactive board to illustrate the connections between the branches and their powers would have enhanced and clearly illustrated my intended outcomes. The use of the whiteboard to demonstrate the passing of a Bill in the legislature would have enabled the students to interact with the process and step by step application of a classroom Bill. The ability to illustrate the movement of a bill from the house to senate and the president.  Some history lessons would benefit from the utilization of a timeline; a white board would enable this with demographics and pictures to enhance the experience and relevance. It would also allow students to form outlines relevant to their participation in interactive activities based in historical events, timelines and war battle specifics; such as war outcomes, occupation of territories or death totals.

In my dream classroom environment there would exist a whiteboard. It would provide me the opportunity to be even more creative and create interactive lessons. It would provide an additional avenue to explore history; one that would pop out of the pages of a history book and into an interactive lesson with students physically engaged. It would also allow kinesthetic learners to experience lessons that involved them; alternative learners of auditory or more analytical learners a more hands on learning experience. A whiteboard when utilized fully will benefit all students by enhancing a traditional formatted lesson into a creative and interactive lesson with many enriched resources.