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Interactive whiteboards are some of the “coolest” new technology tools being used by classroom teachers. In simple terms, an interactive whiteboard is the connection of a computer, an LCD projector and a whiteboard. The main difference between the different models of boards is design. SMART Technology’s SMARTBoard™ is a touch sensitive board that allows a person to use his / her finger like a mouse to manipulate text, objects, and menus. Numonics’ Intelliboard™ uses a fiber optic pen to control a computer environment. The mimio Board™ uses electronic circuitry and sensors within its frame to activate its board, while the Promethean Activboard™ relies on an electromagnetic grid to sense touch.
Most boards come with their own interactive software and a gallery of resources to enhance activities used with them. These resources can include pictures, maps, learning games and interactive tools like transparent rulers for measuring. Some of the boards come with built-in short-cut keys and on-screen keyboards. Tammy Gregory’s second grade students at Switzerland County Elementary in Vevay, Indiana, find practicing handwriting strokes on their Intelliboard very helpful. Students receive tactile reinforcement that is so important in early development. Beth Ditto, a third grade teacher at Union Elementary in Zionsville, Indiana, uses her mimio Board to involve her whole class in the writing process. Her students use different colors and editing tools to revise the writing pieces she displays. First grade students in Felicia Gray’s classroom at Muncie’s Storer Elementary love to “make words” with virtual letter tiles and interactively practice grammar skills.
Interactive whiteboards allow teachers to make annotations on Internet sites and maps and to display steps of a math problem. Kristy Thompson, a math teacher at Southside High School in Muncie, Indiana, uses a graphing calculator program for the SMARTBoard that allows students to see a problem in three different formats simultaneously. Some of the boards’ software records all of the activity done on the board so that it can be shared later. Thompson explains, “As we are going through examples, I can easily refer back to other examples we have done to clarify any misconceptions students may have.” Other teachers use additional software applications in conjunction with the whiteboards, such as Inspiration™ and MSWord™, seamlessly integrating technology into their teaching.
These teachers agree that interactive whiteboards are assets to their classrooms. “Anytime the students are able to complete work on the interactive board, they are much more engaged,” says Jennifer Dettmer, a third grade teacher at Mt. Healthy Elementary, in Columbus, Indiana. And students agree! One student explains, “[They’re] amazing because we can see it happening while we are listening to the lesson.”
Check with your technology coordinator to see if your district has interactive whiteboards in any classrooms. If not, are they in the technology plan for a future purchase? Don’t miss an opportunity to put some “cool” in your school by effectively integrating interactive whiteboards soon.
Great sites to use with Interactive Whiteboards:
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