INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARDS

What are they?

Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) are used in many schools as replacements for traditional whiteboards or flipcharts or video/media systems such as a DVD player and TV combination. Users can also connect to a school network digital video distribution system using an Interactive Whiteboard.

The software supplied with the Interactive Whiteboard will usually allow the teacher to keep their notes and annotations as an electronic file for later distribution either on paper or through a number of electronic formats.

What are the benefits of IWBs?

Glover and Miller from Keele University highlight the following advantages of Interactive Whiteboard technology in teaching and learning contexts:

Where teachers have access to an interactive whiteboard in their classroom, and can base their teaching around it, their reactions are unfailingly positive. The boards are seen as technology that empowers them, affords them creativity and enables them to provide learning experiences that meet the needs of all of their students.

Glover D, Miller D, 2002, The Introduction of Interactive Whiteboards into Schools in the United Kingdom, http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/ed/iaw/


A research review by the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency reported the following benefits for students:

  • Increased enjoyment and motivation
  • Greater opportunities for participation and collaboration
  • Improved personal and social skills
  • Less need for note-taking
  • Ability to cope with more complex concepts
  • Accommodation for different learning styles
  • Increased self-confidence

British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA), “What the Research Says About Interactive Whiteboards,” ICT Research, Coventry, 2003


To see how CSI works on interactive whiteboards, click here.