Interactive Whiteboards

So i came across Kevs blog on interactive whiteboards i am quite impressed with these interactive whiteboards these whiteboards allow teachers to extend beyond the usual chalk and talk. Last year when i heard about these whiteboards i was a little worried as i was unsure of where they left the teacher and what role will they play in the classroom. But i was fortunate to see one of these whiteboards on prac and i am impressed, they take learning to a complelty new level, Kev states that children demand interactivity and if we use these whiteboards to their full potential they can engage and motivate students to learn. Whole class room learning can take place, and demonstrations can be shown. I was amazed that websites can be linked to these programs through the whiteboard, and immediately my idea of what does the teacher do was abolished i realised that the teacher still faciliates but the children become alot more motivated and they create rather than passivly do.

I agree with Kev on the basis of no you do not need an interactive whiteboard to teach, in reality there is nothing wrong with a black board students still learn. But my personal belief is that there is more an interactive white board can do, children get really excited when their name is called to move something on the whiteboard to another place, this motivation is such an important factor when we teach, if children are interested they want to learn.

As a teacher i found that it was great it was so much easier to explain things i could link to pages, i could demonstrate and i could show children multiple perspectives and yes majority of it can be achieved via a blackboard, but kids want interactivity and this whole approach makes learning fun, and thats what we want children to see learning is fun.

Kev states that he is worried that teachers may become lazy, i don’t see this, you still have to prepare if anything it encourages teachers to up their standards, children want to be challenged and there is so much that you can achieve with these whiteboards that teachers will have to up their standards to reach the full potential of these whiteboards and meet the childrens standards.

In regards to the want or need debate, i unlike Kev see it is a need, if we want to motivate children, if we want to encourage interactivity, if we want to see new ways of doing things then yes an interactive whiteboard is a need. I don’t believe traditional methods will be lost by the introduction of these whiteboards, and i don’t believe we will ever find an era that will show computers teaching and teachers just monitoring.