The school with no blackboard
An interactive whiteboard is a large, colourful touch-sensitive panel that connects to a digital projector and a computer.
Can you solve this riddle? What modern educational resource is found in 86 per cent of UK primary schools and 97 per cent of UK second-level schools, but is only found in a handful of Irish schools?
The answer: an interactive whiteboard, a wonderful technology device that can enrich and enliven the work of any teacher, in any school, and make the classroom an engaging and stimulating place to learn.
What is an interactive whiteboard? An interactive whiteboard is a large, touch-sensitive panel that connects to a digital projector and a computer, displaying the information on the computer screen. It resembles a traditional whiteboard and is used in a similar fashion.
The computer connected to the interactive whiteboard can be controlled by touching the board directly or by using a special pen, allowing you to access and control applications on your computer or write, draw and highlight on the board. Depending on the brand, you may be able to choose from a variety of sizes and select a static or portable model.
Try and imagine, if you can, the old dingy blackboard you remember from your childhood years being replaced by a large, colourful, touch-sensitive screen on which educational content and exercises are displayed, but which you can also interact with. It shows drawings and photographs, plays movies and songs, and will even convert your handwriting to computer text.
You can colour in fractions, measure angles with a digital protractor, zoom in on maps and conduct virtual experiments.
And just imagine the potential of this device when it's connected to the internet: the whole world is at your fingertips, but not only yours, as the entire class can see it. And imagine your teacher projecting a page from your text book, in large vivid colour, in front of the class and being able to manipulate all the elements on that page, whatever they may be, using a selection of interactive tools.
And how disappointing it is when the bell rings to signal the end of class. Never mind, we'll just save where we were on the computer, and continue tomorrow.
What are the advantages? One obvious advantage (aside from the absence of chalk dust) is the facility to save any material written or presented on it, meaning you can call up anything you have ever written on it.
Additionally, resources can be easily shared among teachers in the school, again avoiding duplication, and allowing for the development of an increasingly sophisticated resource bank. Aside from that, one immediate effect is the substantially increased levels of engagement, interactivity and, consequently, enjoyment of lessons.
The large images, vivid colours and the presence of a focal point in the room support learning outcomes both in terms of motivation and understanding for children of all ages and ability levels. A further advantage is the increasing availability of free-to-download teacher-made resources on the internet.
It's a simple matter to locate and download activities created and used by other teachers around the world, but especially in the UK, where interactive whiteboards are found in almost every school.
Research studies (not Irish-based, unfortunately) are increasingly showing that the use of interactive whiteboards has many and varied benefits for children. They serve to raise the level of student engagement in a classroom, motivate students and promote enthusiasm for learning. In some cases, the addition of an interactive whiteboard positively influenced student attendance.
Interactive whiteboards have been shown to support many different learning styles and have been successfully employed in hearing and visually-impaired learning environments.
Research also indicates higher levels of student retention.
An illustrated history of the Internet and its impact on Ireland.