Are interactive whiteboards necessary?

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Permalink Reply by Cheryl Tice on June 18, 2009 at 6:50pm

when used properly, interactive white boards can greatly enhance student interactivity in the classroom. Your students and you can:

1. play interactive games;
2. sort items into groups/containers;
3. play with software you already use (PowerPoint, Kidspiration, TI-Smartview....) and interact with it on the board;
4. demonstrate how to use software (much easier to point or tap where you want students to click as they learn the software or website)
5. graphically organize information
6. hide and reveal information in a variety of ways to maintain student attention (i.e. - ActivStudio magic revealers)
7. label diagrams and maps
8. use student response systems, i.e., activotes, to do formative and summative assessments
9. use interactive websites - kids can tap the board to explore them
10. use virtual manipulatives available in the gallery (SMART) or resource library (ActivStudio), such as the ruler, compass, or protractor - zoom in to learn correct placement of those tools and to easily read measurements
11. interact with streaming video
12. print and save notes for kids; or save as a pdf and post to the web
13. use colors and larger fonts, streaming video, sound, actions (ActivStudio), and other features of the board to help special needs students
14. have students create a presentation to present on the board
15. allows teacher to be "guide on the side" instead of "sage on the stage"

obviously, whiteboards aren't the only beneficial educational technology - variety is key (and it sounds like you're using a variety of technologies!). use what works for you! however, interactive white boards can be used with a wide variety of other technologies and are extremely engaging, particularly when students frequently get to interact with the board.

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Permalink Reply by Mike on June 18, 2009 at 8:29pm

To Charles and others considering IWBs:

Please don't do it - for your students' sake. There is almost no evidence that directly links IWB use to student achievement. More often than not, teachers just use them as nothing more than a glorified projector. Stop spending money and start spending some time investigating this. If you have tech money to spend, buy ipod touches or netbooks. It puts the technology into the hands of more students and isn't a waste of money.

I respect what Julie has to say about the perceived impact the IWB has on her students, but I think that her statements reflect many of the flaws inherent with IWBs and why other alternatives are much better. Cheryl also makes a nice list of things that you can do with your students. Not a single thing on her list, however, requires an IWB to be successfully implemented in the classroom.

The first issue I'll address, that Julie brings up, is that not all students get a chance to use the board. In fact, only 1 or 2 get to use it at a time. I don't doubt that the activities she has the students doing at the board are engaging and beneficial. It's also true that many (up to 10 a class she says) students get to use the board throughout the period. Wouldn't it be better if 10 students at a time could do the same activity at their own station? For the price of an IWB, you could purchase 10 netbooks or 15 ipod touches. They'd still be manipulating content the same way as before and wouldn't have to worry about the second issue Julie brings up - getting in front of the class. The student who is too shy to get up and do the activity at the board, can still do the activity in the privacy of her own station. (Though I think it is important for all students to get in front of the class to present).

The second issue is Cheryl's list. With a projector and any number of free web applications you can do everything she discusses. For all the money spent on the IWB, she could have outfitted her room with a bunch more computers. I have 8 old, clunky computers in my room and rotate my students through them to do everything from virtual labs (genetic manipulation, owl pellet dissections, electrical circuits, etc) to review games (example 1example 2, example 3). During whole group instruction I carry around my wireless mouse and keyboard (can be purchased as low as $19). My projector can put up any webpage or application on my computer (items 1, 3, 9, 11, and 14 from Cheryl's list). Students or I can use the wireless mouse or to highlight, move, click, or otherwise manipulate whatever is on screen. Cheryl talks about the wonderful manipulatives in the Smart or Active software. There is another great place to find all these manipulatives - the internet. Need a protractor - google it. I do this frequently and put the "manipulatives" into Kindlelab, which is free and open-source. Want to save it as a pdf, take a screenshot of it.

When I have students take notes on something in class, I give the wireless keyboard to one student and have him type it. Some days, I just have them go to my computer cart and type on the laptop. Every note we take is on google docs, so it automatically updates. If we have a diagram or drawing from Kindlelab, I take a screenshot of it and import the image into the google doc (see example). Doing this takes the downloading and uploading of a pdf out of the equation. Most web 2.0 apps have an embed option, so something like a bubble chart (bubbl.us) can be easily linked or embedded on a blog or webpage without uploading or downloading a thing. You could use the accompanying IWB software to do these things, but it makes it more complicated to publish.

The same ease of embedding applies to screencasting. You can use software that comes with the boards to record your screen, but then you have to download it, convert it to a web format, then upload it to another site to view on the web. With free screencasting apps like Jing, Screencast-o-matic, or Screentoaster you can do it all in one step. For math related things or diagrams, try Imagination Cubed or Sketchcast.

Another great advantage of not having a clunky board attached to the "old-fashioned" whiteboard in your room is the freedom to use regular markers on the screen. It's a lot easier to draw on maps and circle certain parts of a diagram or webpage with a dry-erase marker than it is to start notepad software and change pen colors with an IWB. You can't save the dry erase marks, but most of the time there is no need to do this. If I want a student to circle where the Andes Mountains are on Google Earth, I don't need to save his circle, but guess what - he still got to "interact" with the screen.

I'll stop now - though there is much more I could say.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Baird on June 20, 2009 at 6:53am

This has been a good discussion. I think the key here is not the Smartboard but the teacher using it. Mike can have effective lessons without a SmartBoard by using other types of technology. I used technology before I had my Smartboard but I prefer presenting lessons and reviewing content with the SmartBoard. It works better for me and for my students.

One reason I like the students touching the Smartboard over having them use the keyboard or mouse is that they talk louder when they are manipulating items on the SmartBoard. When they do something with the keyboard or the mouse, they speak softer or they are looking down (when using the keyboard). I teach a foreign language and I want my kids to use the language and have the rest of the class hear them. For most subject areas, speaking isn't an issue when using technology. For me it is.

I also don't find that the kids sitting and observing are not learning. Some of my students need to see the manipulation of the content before they do it on their own. Most eyeballs are on the SmartBoard when one kid is up there. I knew that wasn't true when I simply had a regular board and wrote with chalk or whiteboard markers. How do I know that kids are watching the SmartBoard? I look at the audience while a student is up at the board. How did I know kids weren't looking at what I wrote before I had a SmartBoard? When I turned around about 1/3 of the kids hadn't even noticed I turned to look at them.

I concede that different subjects, different grade levels, and different teachers have different needs. Not every teacher needs an IWB to have effective lessons. For me, I feel that my lessons are more creative, more effective and more engaging with my SmartBoard.

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Permalink Reply by Johnathan Chase on June 19, 2009 at 3:10am

Great discussion!! In my school we have numerous classrooms with whiteboards. My room has a ceiling mounted LCD projector and I'm very happy with it.

There are so many interactive web sites available now and students just take turns sitting at my computer. Doesn't work for all students, but something about the larger image really helps to get their attention initially...keeping their attention is another matter!

Teach 8th grade social studies and this year we watched "To Kill a Mockingbird" and the students really got into it despite their initial complaints about watching a black and white film.

I have found the best way to engage students and have them interact with the course content is to give them a task, and we can share and view their finished projects on a big screen...

2009 Music Video Projects

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Permalink Reply by Maria Huot on June 19, 2009 at 6:13am

Has the glorification of SMART boards come from the vendors? The idea that kids without technology can't learn is a strong statement. Technology’s reality as a pervasive and ever changing part of our humanity is what needs to be embraced. Not the impulsive need to apply the same tool to very different needs or jobs. I will never use a hammer to cut or a saw to nail. Teaching is always happening in schools as long as we keep the kids engaged. Good teaching happens with many different tools. There is not enough reflection on what technologies should be used on each subject area. I like SMART boards but I prefer, like you expressed, technology that can be manipulated 100% of the time by the students. Learning is happening because our students are doing the grinding work. SMART Board technology is the glorification of the teacher centered classroom using a chalk board on steroids and our kids only drooling to use the technology...
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/johnny_lee_demos_wii_remote_hacks...

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Permalink Reply by Mark Schreiber on June 20, 2009 at 3:40pm

I'm not sure if anyone has given the link to the TED talk on the Wii remote control turned into a whiteboard but it is pretty neat stuff. Check out the video of the demo here.

We are going to make a couple this summer and test them out some more for classroom use.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Noah on June 24, 2009 at 6:51am

If you take a look at this youtube webcast, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s5EvhHy7eQ, Johnny Lee shows how you can create a low-cost multi-touch Whiteboard using the Wiimote using free software that he has developed. I know that a number of teachers in our school district are using this and love it.

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Permalink Reply by Sylvia Martinez on June 24, 2009 at 8:49am

This is a great project for students to build for themselves. Directions, videos, and software downloads are on this site.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Noah on June 24, 2009 at 8:54am

Absolutely. It's an affordable alternative.

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Permalink Reply by John Miller on January 16, 2010 at 9:08am

We have done this at our District. We found that we had to ceiling mount the WII controller since when you stand in front of it and the screen, it interrupts the signal.

The big problem is that it is not reliable. You constantly have to reset it and tweak it. It would only work in the hands of some very tech savvy teachers who can deal with those issue.

It is a lot of fun, and in the right hands, a good but high maintenance solution.

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Permalink Reply by Ian Grove-Stephensen on June 24, 2009 at 6:00pm

The big promise educational technology holds out is that we will be able, finally, to grasp truly individualized learning. IWBs, however, reinforce the 19th Century model of teaching and learning in large classes, with students forced to proceed in lockstep, whether or not they are successfully learning the material. I fear that they are seducing teachers away from the educational revolution that could, and should, be happening.

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Permalink Reply by bruce n on July 4, 2009 at 6:37am

Hi Ian,

IWBs do not have to reinforce any model of teaching. How teachers integrate technology into the class is partly dependent on their understanding of the affordances of the technology. With any 'new' technology there is a time lapse before we get confident to explore and be creative/innovative in it's useage.

"A key concern is with pedagogy and the processes of learning and teaching, rather than with technology per se….and this is vital not least because as Carey Jewitt and Gemma Moss remind us:

The value and impact of particular attributes of a technology depends on how it fits with existing pedagogic purposes, approaches and priorities.."


The above is a quote from the following link. The post shares observations by Professor Karen Littleton that emerged during a research conference in the UK examining implications when using interactive technologies in the classroom
http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics/interactive-whiteboards-uk

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