Interactive Whiteboards Investigation
In the past few years the government has placed great emphasis on the use of interactive whiteboards in the classroom. The Interactive whiteboards project run by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has used pilot projects in primary schools to establish best practise in the use of interactive whiteboards in numeracy and literacy. The government even announced £15 million for all London secondary schools to be provided with interactive whiteboards in all classrooms of English, maths or science.It is clear that interactive whiteboards are seen by the government to be a good thing, even a priority. The question is what can they really do for teaching and are they always the best solution?
The Learning Centre has been using large interactive whiteboards since early 2001. They have been used in a variety of ways and in a range of teaching situations. The main advantage of course comes from the use of the large format display. Everyone can see the board and the teacher can display anything from documents to video on to the screen. There are also an increasing number of applications becoming available for use with interactive whiteboards. They are very good when teaching ICT. It is a real advantage to be able to demonstrate the operation of software applications by pointing and clicking.
There are disadvantages of course and a few dissenting voices to the promotion of the interactive whiteboards. Having the teacher stand in front of the projector at the board will inevitably mean they block someone's view of the board. The glare of the projection may also be uncomfortable for some, indeed Becta suggest considering using a filter to reduce the brightness of the projection. If your board is fixed to the wall, as recommended, then you cannot roll the board down to write or operate click buttons at a more comfortable height.
With interactive whiteboards costing in excess of £1000 each, is it not worthwhile considering some of the options before spending hard-pressed budgets?
Let us consider the options:
Option 1: A computer on its own.
A single computer is useful for preparation of lessons but by itself is not much good for whole class teaching.
Option 2: A computer and a LCD projector.
A computer combined with a large format display such as a LCD projector becomes an effective presentation tool. Materials can be easily created, adapted and reused in many ways. If the teacher is using presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint then many projectors will have a remote control that will allow the teacher to advance the slides. But when demonstrating software the teacher will invariably be left sitting in the wings operating the computer whilst the class are watching the screen.
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