Interactive Whiteboards.

Hi everyone!

Interactive whiteboards are an amazing educational tool and Australian classrooms are rapidly filling up with them!  I thought it would be worth taking a look at the different aspects these bring to our Student's education at a grass-roots level and where the technology is going in the future.

Utility.

At the Michael Ymer PD in March 2012 it was interesting to see the reaction of those in attendance to his use of the interactive whiteboard.

On TV we are seeing the fancy versions of interactive whiteboards used in procedural medical shows, police procedural shows and the like.  From clicking remotes to make the next picture display, dramatically zooming in, showing some clandestine video taken from an ATM or enlarged MRI scans it's easy to see that it's leaning heavily towards the dramatic because viewers are looking to be entertained.

Not a huge deal is made of their capabilities as a whiteboard.  I will admit that not getting frequent access to one had prevented me from understanding the full applications and the grand visions ones were the ones that always stuck in my head.  But you know what?   The basics are beginning to astound me too!

Focusing on the class.

When my parents were in school, times tables were handed to you on a piece of paper.  You memorized them and you got it right on the test or else!  When I was in school though, I got handed a grid of numbers from 0 to 100 too.  When you counted by fives?  You put a counter on the 5.  A counter on the 10.  Then 15 and so on.  It was a step forward that gave us visual learners a big step up.  However there were always the individuals that struggled on their own.

Interactive whiteboards allow you to bring the learn by wrote and visual references together without alienating the strugglers;

The first time I found this video my 3 year old was standing next to me.  With the circles appearing on the board and the kids shouting with a steady beat?  She was engrossed.  Now she can count from 81 to 100 by ones!  It's clear that this sort of activity has marvelous benefits.

The astounding rate of technology.

Interactive Whiteboard Technology is coming along in leaps and bounds all of the time.  The previous two videos show dimmed rooms and darting hands to tools here and there.  The current technology is getting more and more user friendly all the time.  Take a quick look at this to see how close to a normal old whiteboard the technology is becoming;

Of course this is a company's own promotional video but notice the difference?  Rather than all revolving around the tools on them, they have truly concentrated on the board itself.  Brighter rooms.  Coloured pens.  Erase with your hands.  Closer and closer to a normal white board in use, closer and closer to a laptop in power and versatility.

It's even getting to the point where mainstream companies are venturing down this road and it's not the realm of specialist companies to produce them anymore.  Samsung's offering integrates true Touchscreen technology without the projector we normally experience;

Again, a company promoting itself but it won't be long before more and more companies begin to go down the same road.  No more bright light in your face when you turn around to address the class!

Further viewing;

If you are like me and don't get much of an opportunity to use Interactive Whiteboards, the following 6-part video series is an eye opener.  It was converted from an online presentation so the audio is a bit grating and the video is a little jerky but there's still a lot of information to absorb!

Cambridge University - Using Interactive Whiteboards.

Have fun everyone!

Mel.