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Interactive Boards: A Classroom Revolution 1

Interactive Boards: A Classroom Revolution

Julie Lewis

EDUC 318

Dr. Sessoms

May 11, 2010


Interactive boards are changing the way that teachers educate children in our classrooms.

Replacing traditional blackboards and chalk in the classroom, interactive boards connect to a

computer that multiple users can write or draw on, allowing other tools to be integrated as well,

including audio, video, and text. Also known as whiteboards, interactive boards enable teachers

and students to interact directly with the board, supporting a student-centered approach to

learning.

Accordingly, interactive boards (IABs) provide educators with a number of uses in the

classroom to enhance student learning. Not only do interactive boards allow a multi-modal

approach to teaching, they also allow teachers to make cross-curricula connections for students.

In addition, students are exposed to a diverse opportunity to explore the world through virtual

field trips. Most importantly, interactive boards have made tremendous advances in the way that

students with disabilities learn in the classroom.

The ways that interactive boards have been used in the education field have grown since

their debut. For one, interactive boards have made extraordinary advancements in the way that

literacy instruction is provided in the classroom, that typical non-electronic whiteboards do not

allow (Shenton et al., 2007). They allow split screens for comparing texts, a variety of texts

including a children’s daily electronic newspaper, tools for drawing visual attention to print,

including enlargement with the magnifier, and experimentation with text as well (Shenton et al.,

2007). Also, they allow teachers to manipulate words and phonemes in phonics instruction,

incorporating specific sounds and pictures in instruction (Becta, 2006).

Secondly, interactive boards allow educators to use the technology to make cross-

curricula connections for students. They provide teachers with the capability of taking a simple


literacy lesson, and turning it into so much more for their students. For example, in a lesson on

explanatory writing, one teacher began the lesson by using a satellite picture of the world, then

zooming in on an area of Bangladesh (Shenton et al., 2007). The students were able to see and

discuss the area and the conditions that people lived in, allowing them to form written

explanations of social processes (Shenton et al., 2007).

Third, one of the primary achievements of using interactive boards in education is the

capability of distance learning. As with traditional chalkboards and whiteboards, interactive

boards are not limited to a single classroom, considerably expanding normal parameters and

transcending the distances between users (Geer and Barnes, 2007).

Additionally, interactive boards provide educators with a multi-modal approach to

teaching. Tactile, auditory, and visual learners benefit from the way that complex concepts can

be modeled for them with the technology (Liles, 2004). For example, young children gain

feedback by using the drag and drop facility of the board to engage with the abstract concepts of

number and letter sounds, which reinforces the skill visually, kinesthetically and auditorily

(Becta, 2006).

In a small-scale study focusing on seven teachers in six primary schools in the south-

west of England, interactive whiteboards provided teachers with a variety of multi-modal

learning opportunities in their classrooms (Shenton et al., 2007). One teacher used Google Earth

in a lesson to zoom in on Mount Everest, then displaying videos from the National Geographic

website to allow students to see and hear the conditions that climbers had to endure climbing the

mountain (Shenton et al., 2007). Children were able to read and reply to e-mails from a climber

that was actually on Mount Everest at the time, as well as using the video material as a stimulus


for their own drama, having to climb Everest (Shenton et al., 2007). Not only did this

incorporate multi-modal learning in the lesson, but students participated in a “virtual field trip”

within the walls and comfort of their own classroom.

Furthermore, interactive boards have also changed the way that vocational students are

taught as well. At Thomas Edison High School in Fairfax, Virginia, HVAC instructor Rob

Stringham uses SMART Board technology to explain the inner-workings of a refrigeration

system to his students in the classroom (Loschert, 2004). Stringham demonstrates the concept

through an animated diagram on the SMART Board, which he freezes as a still frame, dividing it

into smaller components, then invites students to the board to reassemble the diagram in the

proper order (Loschert, 2004).

Consequently, the outcomes from using the interactive board technology in education are

immense. In the United Kingdom, where interactive whiteboards are featured in 70 percent of

all primary and secondary classrooms, students in those classrooms made the equivalent of five

months’ additional progress in math (Philips, 2008). Multiple recent studies in the United States

suggest that schools that incorporate interactive boards in their classrooms boost attendance rates

and classroom participation (Philips, 2008). Furthermore, in the Dorchester School District 2 in

Summerville, South Carolina, after installing 1,200 interactive boards in its classrooms,

disciplinary incidents are down (Philips, 2008). Additionally, due to the interactive nature of the

technology, educators report that classrooms containing interactive boards reflect a “dramatic

increase in on-task behavior and a noticeable decrease in classroom disruptions” (Criswell,

2008).


Likewise, the effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction with SMART Board

technology for students with moderate intellectual disabilities is positive as well. In a case study

evaluating the effectiveness of SMART Board technology with a 3s constant time delay (CTD)

procedure for reading target grocery words and matching the grocery item photos with

observational grocery words, results indicated “increased correct reading and matching of each

set of target words using SMART Board technology with the 3s CTD procedure” (Mechling,

Gast, & Krupa, 2007). All of the students reached the criteria for each of their target sets of

words within 6 sessions for each set of words (Mechling et al., 2007). This study was also the

first to demonstrate its use as a tool to teach multiple students at one time and its effects on

observational learning of non-target information (Mechling et al., 2007). “One possible reason

for the positive effects of the procedure was the ability of SMART Board technology to present

information (in this study text and photographs) on a large interactive touch screen within a

group arrangement (Mechling et al., 2007).

Although learning the technology can be a challenge for some teachers, the benefits of

using interactive boards in the classroom for teachers are many. For one, complete lectures can

be saved and played, which include each word the teacher said, as well as strokes of writing and

touches to the board (Liles, 2004). This equates to a tremendous time savings for teachers using

these lectures in future lessons, especially once the learning challenge of the technology has

diminished. Also, this capability allows teachers to collaborate with other teachers and share

lessons, as well as posting the lessons online for students to further study or for students that

were absent to view.

Furthermore, a primary benefit of using interactive board technology in the classroom is

student engagement and motivation. This is likely the result of IABs “presentation capabilities,


their high level of interactivity, and their capacity to present and discuss students’ work” (Geer et

al., 2007). “Qualitative research currently suggests that the use of IAPBs has a positive impact

on student engagement and hence on student achievement (Geer et al., 2007). One study

suggested that there are three major features that encourage student motivation by using

interactive boards in the classroom, which include intrinsic stimulation, sustained focus, and

stepped learning (Geer et al., 2007).

Additionally, interactive boards assist teachers in teaching subject-area content

(Schweder & Wissick, 2008), including math, science, social studies, and language arts.

Coincidently, many publishing companies now offer online resources, such as videos and

images, to accompany texts, offering minimal preparation for teachers to implement these

resources into their lesson (Schweder et al., 2008).

Not only do interactive boards benefit teachers in the classroom, IABs benefit students as

well. They allow teachers to do anything on the IAB that they can do on a computer, making the

lesson much easier to view for all students in the classroom from the 4-by-5-foot screen (Borja,

2002). In addition, teachers can print the white-board content and distribute them to students at

the end of class, enabling students to interact and engage with the teacher, versus focusing on

note taking during class (Liles, 2004). Most importantly for students, interactive board usage

“has been found to increase student learning and retention, in almost every type of classroom and

discipline” (Criswell, 2008).

As a future teacher, interactive boards provide an array of opportunities for integration in

my classroom to assist instruction and meeting student objectives. For one, interactive boards

can be used in reading instruction to study story structure, including characters, setting, problem


and solution. Instead of using traditional graphic organizers, an interactive board allows for

increased student interaction and engagement, which is extremely important as an early

childhood teacher.

Secondly, interactive boards can be used in math instruction to study the concept of

greater than, less than, and equal to. Aside from traditional modeling and manipulatives,

interactive boards can be used to allow students to engage in interactive games on the whiteboard

utilizing the technology, further reinforcing the concept for students, yet in an engaging,

interactive manner.

Third, interactive boards can be used in creative writing. Particularly in the early

childhood years, IABs can be an asset in motivating students to write, allowing them to draw

pictures and write responses with the technology, as well as sharing their samples with the entire

class.

Interactive boards offer educators new alternatives for delivering instruction in the

classroom. Not only do they provide multiple benefits for students, IABs are beneficial to

teachers, administrators, and school districts as well. How teachers deliver instruction in the

classroom is ever-changing. However, with interactive boards, the technological revolution is

bringing a new facet of instruction to the classroom—one that will only improve with time.

.


SMART Board Lesson Plan Screenshots


References

Becta. (2006). [Article regarding interactive whiteboards July 10, 2006]. Interactive

Whiteboards and primary Literacy. Retrieved from

http://schools.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=re&catcode=fitsprimary_form&rid=

1189

Borja, R. (2002). Digital Whiteboards Outsell Traditional Chalkboards. Education Week,

22(13), 8. Retrieved April 25, 2010, from Academic Search Premier database.

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=8612961&site=

ehost-live.

Criswell, C. (2008). New Dimensions in White. Teaching Music, 16(1), 28-29. Retrieved

April 25, 2010, from Academic Search Premier database.

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=abh&AN=34231587&site=ehost

-live.

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http://schools.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=re&catcode=fitsprimary_form&rid


Loschert, K. (2004). BYE BYE BLACKBOARD. NEA Today, 23(1), 30-31. Retrieved


Mechling, L., Gast, D., & Krupa, K. (2007). Impact of SMART Board Technology: An

Investigation of Sight Word Reading and Observational Learning. Journal of

Autism & Developmental Disorders, 37(10), 1869-1882. Doi:10.1007/s10803-007-

0361-9.

Philips, M. (2008). It Makes Teachers Touchy. Newsweek, 152(12), 10. Retrieved April 25,

2010, from Business Source Premier database.

Schweder, W., & Wissick, C., (2008). Content Area Applications. Journal of Special

Education Technology, 23(1), 54-58. Retrieved April 25, 2010, from ProQuest

Education Journals. (Document ID: 1508636041).

Shenton, A., & Pagett, L. (2007). From “Bored” to Screen: The Use of the Interactive

Whiteboard for Literacy in Six Primary Classrooms in England. Literacy, 41(3),

129-136. Retrieved April 25, 2010, from ERIC database.

Smart Technologies. (2010). ABCs and Letters [Lesson Plan]. Retrieved from

http://education.smarttech.com/ste/enUS/Ed+Resource/Lesson+activities/Notebook+

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ABCs+and+Letters.htm

http://education.smarttech.com/ste/enUS/Ed+Resource/Lesson+activities/Notebook

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