Session 2: Interactive Whiteboard

What is an Interactive Whiteboard? Well nowadays technology has advanced so much so that they literally 'wiped' away the blackboard days. An Interactive Whiteboard is a large display connected to a computer or laptop, that projects everything from the computer.

It is an incredibly useful tool within the classroom and provides so many benefits.

'The Interactive WhiteBoard proved to be an exciting and fun bit of technology to integrate. It affects learning in several ways, including raising the level of student engagement in a classroom, motivating students and promoting enthusiasm for learning (Basmah Issa Ahmad Al-Saleem, p126)'. 

This is an extract from a journal 
The Interactive Whiteboard in English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom
outlining the use of an Interactive Whiteboard, promoting student engagement, and activities that can be used for EAL (EFL) pupils.

Some of the benefits of using an interactive whiteboard include:

• Developing discussion skills

• Developing thinking skills

• Developing literacy skills

• Edutainment

• Developing ICT skills

Futhermore, as Barber, Cooper, and Meeson outline that engagement and motivation can be increased because an Interactive Whiteboard has 

• 'the ability to combine different materials in order to make teaching more dynamic and stimulating
• the ability to move and manipulate objects;
• the involvement of the children in coming to the board and 'making things happen'.' (Barber, Cooper, and Meeson, 2007, p.42)

However, there are also some factors that need to be taken into consideration:

• positioning of the whiteboard – children need to be able reach the board, have easy access to ensure maximum learning success

• Clear slides; ensuring that texts are visible, fulfilling the children's needs

• Lessons should be interactive to engages children in the lesson

During our session we were taught how to operate the Smart Notebook and acquire and develop skills which are useful educational aids. Smart Notebook is designed to bring interactivity and engage students in the classroom. Smart Notebook is an amazing software offering a range of tools to ensure high quality teaching and high quality interaction in the classroom. I was familiar with the software as many of my school teachers have used it to support their teaching, however today's session taught ME how to use the great tools.

Here are some of the great tools that we learnt during this session.

Text

We learnt how to change the font and colour of the  text.

Background

We learnt to change the background colour of the page. The Smart Notebook allows experimentation with 'no fill', 'solid fill', 'gradient fill', 'pattern fill', and 'image fill'.

Shapes

There many types of shapes that can be created on this software, and can be used in a classroom to assist the teaching of shapes in a maths lesson.

My exploration with different shapes

• Circle
• Square
• Rectangle
• Triangles
• Heart
• Star
• Oval
• Regular Polygons
• Many more!

Pens

There are many types of pens within this software:

• Pen
• Crayon
• Highlighter
• Creative Pen
• Magic Pen
• Shape Recognition Pen

My exploration using the different pens

Techniques

Rub-and-reveal

One technique that we learnt was that we could hide the answers to a question and reveal the answer gradually by using the rubber. I think that this is a great technique as the answer is revealed gradually it will give children the opportunity to think about the possible answers. Thus, developing children's thinking skills.

Also an image can also be revealed gradually; by using shapes to cover up an image and dragging out each shape; this is a brilliant way of revealing the image; giving children time to think about their answers.

Magic pen spotlight

The magic pen spotlight is used to either focus on an area of a picture or enlarge an area of a picture.

By doing a circle the pen allows there to be focus on a particular part, and blackening out the rest.

By doing a square around a specific picture; the area is enlarged.

The Magic Pen can help to develop discussion questions and analyse a specific area of a picture.

Afterwards, in a group of three we created an activity that could encourage discussion; using a 'capture' tool we 'captured' a few pictures from a Peter Pan YouTube clip. We decided to use Peter Pan, as most children are familiar with the film or the story and should be more enthusiastic and hopefully will engage in the activity. The idea of the resource is to encourage discussion and allow children to describe their feelings and emotions, increasing their self confidence to discuss.

Peter Pan resource

We used closed questions to begin with, so that children can fully engage with activity.

We then included some open questions and questions which children can discuss about their feelings and emotion; which should help the shy ones 'open up'.







Smart Notebook is probably the best tool for teaching ever created! I would most definitely use Smart Notebook in the classroom as it comprises of many benefits and can be used across the curriculum. My aim will be to ensure full engagement in the classroom but also make sure that I do not become to reliant on this software and use it mostly for interaction in the classroom and not information overload, as it could become quite unexciting and tedious for children. 

Hope you enjoyed reading!

Reference List:

Basmah Issa Ahmad Al-Saleem, The Interactive Whiteboard in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom, Available at:  http://www.eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/viewFile/59/64 (Accessed: 27.03.14) 


Barber D. and Cooper L. and Meeson G, (2007) Learning and Teaching with Interactive Whiteboards: Primary and Early Years, Exeter: Learning Matters