ICT Current Trends: Interactive Whiteboards

There is currently an increasing focus on technology and its use in the classroom. Teachers are presently being encouraged to better utilise available technologies in order to meet current policy requirements (on both a federal and state level) as well as prepare students for the workforce. It can be seen that this is currently achieving mixed results. Some teachers are embracing current technologies such as interactive whiteboards and the increased opportunities for student engagement they provide whilst others are reluctant to embrace current information communication technology (ICT) trends. I believe this reluctance to be perhaps a little selfish as, in my opinion, using the most up-to-date technology in classrooms is akin to using the current edition of a textbook as opposed to an edition published thirty years ago. Using current technologies is about using the best available resources and equipment in order to achieve the best student outcomes. This is supported by Gage (2006) who comments that one such technology, interactive whiteboards, allows class time to be used more effectively.


Interactive whiteboards provide a myriad of advantages for students. These advantages include encouraging student participation as well as promoting understanding rather than just memorising of the content being taught (Kent, 2010). Furthermore, interactive whiteboards provide an opportunity for teachers to appeal to visual, kinaesthetic and auditory learners that might not be available using traditional pen and paper teaching methods (Gage, 2006). Whilst some may claim that technology makes teachers redundant or allows them to slacken off and not do any planning, the simple fact is that interactive whiteboards may help to make good teachers great but will not make an average teacher good. Teachers are still required to plan their lessons and this perhaps becomes even more important in the case of interactive whiteboards as the flipcharts themselves must actually be created. In order to achieve better student outcomes, teachers must plan their lessons with interactive whiteboards meticulously, ensuring that they fit within one of the four categories of interactive whiteboard activities e.g. labelling activities, sorting activities, ordering and sequencing activities and puzzle, game or stimulation activities (Kent, 2010).


In order for teachers to use current technologies to the best of their abilities and thereby increase student outcomes, professional development and training should be provided by schools. This will assist the enthusiastic, motivated teachers to utilise the technology more effectively whilst encouraging the more reluctant teachers to use the technology more readily in their classrooms. If technologies such as interactive whiteboards are utilised effectively they can be amazing learning tools within classrooms.




Interactive whiteboard cartoon [Image] (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk/acl/eMagArchive/RSCeMag0910/FunctionalSkillsResources/interactive_whiteboard_resources.html





Works Cited

Kent, P. (2010). Secondary Teaching with Interactive Whiteboards. Australia: Macmillan Education Australia.
Gage, J. (2006). How to Use An Interactive Whiteboard Really Effectively in Your Secondary Classroom. London: David Fulton Publishers.