Electronic Whiteboards
The Interactive WhiteBoard: Pros & Cons for Classroom Use.
by
Raúl Gastón
Summer 2005
Contents |
Introduction
I have chosen to write about this product for various reasons. The primary drive for my interest is due to the fact that I just acquired one this summer. I received a grant from Ameren’s Power Up Program and should have my own interactive whiteboard by the end of this month. I needed to do research for this paper and for my own benefit that would show how others are using the board and what were the pros and cons to the use of the whiteboard. My research took me to several interesting places around the world including areas of the US and the UK.
What is it?
The interactive whiteboard is a presentation tool like no other. It is a whiteboard that is touch sensitive. A projector, computer, DVD, VCR, and other devices are connected to it. The instructor can then control everything from the front of the room. The sky is the limit when it comes to powerful presentations. Instructors can display a PowerPoint presentation, use their finger as a mouse and close the presentation to open a video or get on the Internet or a host of many other activities. The whiteboard also comes with a tray with virtual pens and eraser. These pens can be configured to any color or width. When a pen is used on the whiteboard, it displays virtual ink that is feed through the computer to the projector. The teacher and students can then write notes and pictures for a lesson. The software that is available with the whiteboard can then take the virtual writing and transform them to printed text. The entire lesson can be printed, saved, loaded online, e-mailed, and a host of other ways to share the information with students.
The Benefits
There are some clear and some unexpected advantages for the students and the teacher that uses an interactive whiteboard. Some of these advantages were very interesting to me. I felt that looking at them as advantages to the students and advantages to the teacher would help me to see how the benefits would impact both involved in the classroom setting. This would also help me to determine some of the best practices to use in my classroom later. Although I split these two areas, there is also an overlap between them. What was is an advantage for students may very well be as beneficial to the teachers.
Advantages for the students
Students respond very well to the board, it accommodates many learning styles, it can be adapted to many age groups, it can accommodate students with limited motor skills, and it's interactive (Bell 2002). The use of colors attracts students' attention to the board and the presentation. A colorful presentation brings in the visual learners and helps others see the information in a new way. Different learning styles are accommodated as the board is a tool that you can see, touch, and sometimes hear. Several senses are involved in the lesson. Students’ age does not limit the whiteboard. From young children to adults, it is a very user-friendly tool that all can use. Students that have special needs can become engaged with the board. Limited mobility, LD, and other special situations can have an impact on how kids work with the material. As Mary Ann Bell (2002) put it , "the board is a kid magnet" due to its high interactivity. Kids can brainstorm and input information at the board or at the keyboard.
Advantages for the teacher
All of the advantages for students can be huge advantages for the teacher as well. There are other advantages for the teachers that are interesting to look at. Teachers reported that the board was easy to use, kept the class together and focused, and made lessons clear and dynamic (Smith 2000). In addition, the board lessons helped absent students catch up, lessons became more highly motivating, lessons were more organized, and behavioral issues were diminished while the board was in use (Adrian 2004). The advantages gained from the use of the board are wonderful. The potential to share your lessons with others outside of the classroom is a powerful concept. As teachers create, save, post, and share lessons a library of knowledge can be created to tap into by peers and students for future use.
It works very well with other peripherals and across subject mater (Bell 2002). A science teacher can use a document/microscope camera, photo, or graphic and label scientific terms over the image. An English teacher can display writing that needs to be edited and group of students can brainstorm and edit material on the board then save it for future use. ESL and second language teachers can get students actively involved in vocabulary, sentence structures, and cultural norms of the target language. The history teacher can display maps, pictures, and videos of places from across time and space to engage students’ attention. The potential for teachers is great and the uses of the board in the classroom are infinite.
Resources for electronic whiteboards are abundant on the internet. There are many groups set up for users of the various types of electronic whiteboards. Lessons can be downloaded and used by teachers from all subjects and grade level. Links to various websites that take advantage of the whiteboard capabilities are shared on these sites as well.
The Drawbacks
As with everything in life there are disadvantages. The interactive whiteboard is no exception to this. Although some of these drawbacks do not prevent most educators from using the system, it should be something to consider. As with any tool a comparison of the advantages versus the disadvantages will validate the use of it or the rational for not using the tool.
Disadvantages for the students
Although reports have been made of the higher motivational increase on students, it is unclear if this effect wears off after familiarity sets in (Smith 2000). There are no studies or research to show if students lose that high interest gained from using the board. Do students lose interest and motivation after the board becomes a "normal" part of the classroom setting? Does the use of the board keep their attention for a large part of the school year? These are questions that need to be answered if the system is to be a valid instructional tool in the classroom. Not having good research on students' long term learning with the board will possibly hinder its potential use in some school districts.
Disadvantages for the teacher
Teachers' disadvantages were mostly with the setup of the board. Issues with too many wires, PC friendly not Mac friendly, and setup time in the classroom were some of the issues (Adrian 2004). If the set-up is a mobile one, so that teachers can share the resource, the wires can be a physical and hazard problem. It seems that the electrical and data wires that needed to go to all the different components created a large amount of wire clutter that was hard to ignore. The wires also presented a problem for Mac users as adapters were needed, since the whiteboard is designed for the PC, creating additional clutter. It also took some time and classroom space to roll in the large board and projector to then hook up all the components.
Another problem reported was technical. There were problems with frequent recalibrations of the system (Smith 2000). The board is very lightweight so if it is bumped or moved the accuracy of the board then falters and is inaccurate. The distance between the projector and the board is also very delicate. If the projector is moved in any direction, the board is not accurate. There was also the issue of casting a shadow on the board from students and teachers while using the board. Users had to adjust to using the board at a slight angle to reduce the amount of shadow interference.
Although all of these problems are valid, Anna Smith's (2000) recommendation is to have a permanent set-up instead of a mobile one. A ceiling mounted projector, wireless Internet, PC/Mac in a cabinet, and the whiteboard mounted to the wall would solve most of the problems. Wires can be fed through the ceiling and walls. The distance between the projector and the board would be permanent. The shadow problems would still exist, but would diminish from the projector casting down an image instead of table height. This limits the availability of the system to move from room to room, but the system can still be shared as a resource room or by having teachers switch classrooms and special dates.
A separate disadvantage for teachers, aside from the obvious wires, technical issues, and Mac compatibility, is the location of the board. With the board in the front of the classroom, a teacher can often feel trapped by the board. Because of it's touch ability, teachers need to constantly be within an arms reach, literally, of the board to keep pace. Therefore, the board might cause a classroom management snafu for some teachers that like to roam around the room or teach from a variety of locations. There is not a true solution for this problem, unless you purchase the SMART Slate.
Conclusion
The Interactive Whiteboard is a very powerful tool for the teacher, the students, and the class environment. It is without a doubt a wonderful way to engage students into the lessons. The high color, organization, and flexibility of the board will create advantages for all involved in the classroom. The disadvantages focus mostly on the actual setup and financial limitations of the school to dedicate a permanent room instead of a mobile unit. I look forward to beginning my adventure with the whiteboard this coming school year and I've taken this research to heart. It has helped me to consider what to expect from my use of the board and adjust my ideas of my classroom setup. The system will be a permanent setup in my classroom to avoid some of the problems described. The classroom will be a shared limited-resource since other teachers will switch rooms with me for a period or a day as it fits into our schedules.
Personal Testimonies
I used a Smart Board, an electronic whiteboard, in a classroom during part of my student teaching. It was great. It made presentations much more engaging for students and allowed a great deal of freedom and flexibility in instruction. It was like using a white board, PowerPoint presentation, and video all in one. --KK
I am a second grade teacher and have had the privilege of using a Smart Board for one year. I have really enjoyed using this technology in my room. I feel that my students are more engaged in learning when viewing the animated lessons, web sites and video. I have been able to expose my students to many interesting topics by using this tool. I have also enjoyed using the accompanying Smart technology Notebook software. This software allows the teacher to create and save lessons on the computer, enhance lessons with animations and simply make learning more fun! - Marcy Flessner
At the Siebel Center for Computer Science at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, the original plan for the building was to equip all of the classrooms with large screen displays with SMARTBoard overlays - even though the projected cost was considerable. However, when this idea was presented to the faculty, it was met with some resistance - many of them still relied on a conventional whiteboard and were not ready to abandon using them. The compromise was to instead equip the classrooms with a tablet monitor for the resident computer. With a stylus, the instructors can make "handwritten" annotations on the screen, and in the case of PowerPoint presentations, the annotations can be saved. And with the resident computer being displayed on the room's projector, the students can see these annotations on the large screen. Curiously, some instructors simulate a whiteboard by placing a blank sheet of paper on the room's document camera, and make notes with felt-tip pens - and since the document camera's image is also routed to the projector, the students can see that on the large screen, as well.
The electronic whiteboard technology was not abandoned completely; there are four large screen displays with SMARTBoard overlays in one of the instructional labs, where students and faculty can meet and collaborate. - Scott Cimarusti
There are a number of portable solutions out there. While the teaching and learning center at FIDM has a standard SMARTboard, it has gathered dust since it is difficult to maneuver to different classrooms. Setup and calibration problems have left most instructors who have tried frustrated. We purchased two MimioXi units which adhere to standard whiteboards and capture dry erase notes via RF transmitters attached to normal markers. This has been more popular as it does not require a computer to take static images. Which a computer attached via USB though you can capture live recordings. This offers the basic advantages of an interactive whiteboard and the portability to set it up quickly and easily. - Dave Melone
SMARTBoards are one of the greatest things I have ever used. It is so amazing to have the students actually go up to the board and be able to write on websites or anything else projected from a computer. With my students having their own laptops, it is great for having the students connect the work that they have created on their laptop to the SMARTBoard and allow the students to go up and edit it. Mistakes are welcome in my classroom, so there is not embarrassment in this situation. Students actually get into the idea of helping each other out, especially when it comes to the use of technology. ~ R. Hayes
Interactive whiteboards can be extremely effective, and some of the drawbacks listed above can be fixed by having a more permanent setup. Having the board mounted on the wall and the projector mounted on the ceiling makes for a faster and easier setup. This is, of course, a bit more expensive. In my experience, teachers that have access to this permanent setup feel more comfortable with their interactive whiteboards and use them more often. -R. Foley
We have a number of SMARTBoards in our district. Besides using the SMART Notebook software and all of the lessons available for download from the SMARTBoard web site, we are looking at purchasing AirLiners. They are wireless tablets that can be used by students at their seats to interact with the SMARTBoard. More than one person can write at the same time and because it is bluetooth technology, the range is very good. It includes a battery-free tethered pen and a battery-free wireless mouse. This type of technology frees staff and students to interact from various places in the classroom. It can also be used without an actual SMARTBoard but with a projector and the SMART Notebook software. One of our buildings that has a number of classrooms with projectors but no SMARTBoards is comparing the use of the AirLiner to a cheaper alternative of a bluetooth wireless mouse and keyboard. Another thing we discovered is that, with the purchase of a SMARTBoard, you are entitled to a copy of SMART Ideas concept mapping software for use with the SMARTBoard. It is more powerful than Inspiration in that it allows for three dimensional mapping using layers. We've had some of our SMARTBoards for quite a few years and they continue to offer us new opportunities. Pam Olivito
I use a Promethean ActivBoard in my classroom and it has been such a GREAT addition this year. I conducted a survey in our department to see if teachers would like to use an ActivBoard in their classes and the feedback was positive, so our director purchased the setup to be installed in the classroom I use for my computer classes. By experimenting and reading up on all of the different features, utilizing resources on the web (Promethean Planet and Promethean Learning), I have really had some cool activities/interactions. The students LOVE using the board and it is an excellent and powerful tool! - J. Grady
I lost my classroom a couple years back while on maternity leave and have since been a traveling teacher. I teach Spanish in two different rooms, English writing in another, and I have study hall in a fourth room. At the beginning of this year I insisted that I be placed in rooms with SMARTboards for my Spanish classes. It has been SO convenient. I no longer have to worry about messing with the overhead projector and fumbling through my transparencies. (I used the overhead projector every day last year). Now I can prepare my agenda on my notebook page (complete with a bellringer assignment) and save it on the school's shared drive in the morning. I have a student open my notebook page for me in each room each day, so I don't have to worry about awful transitions when I'm rushing in the room trying to give directions to the students. I upload digital copies of the workbook, grammar explanations, transparencies, etc. from the textbook. I've also found that my students seem to understand the concept of conjugating verbs much easier when they get the visual movement and can actually go to the board and move the stem of a verb and connect it to a verb ending. I'm not sure if SMARTboards affect student achievement, I'm sure the novelty of the technology can be motivating. However my school seems to be getting more and more SMARTboards. Next year we will have more classrooms with SMARTboards than without. If the novelty of the SMARTboards is affecting student learning, I think that will wane soon. However, it's extremely convenient for me and is helping me improve my instruction.
This seems to be a popular subject for CTER cohort 11! I do not teach in one bulding, let alone one room, but I am fortunate enough to have access to interactive whiteboards. In fact, I have helped to get them into several of our schools, and now have one in the training room in the building where my office space is located. One teacher who I had to talk into getting one was initially very resistant. She wasn't sure about losing her chalkboard surface. I convinced her it was the way to go, and now she is one of the biggest proponents of this technology!
I am the "official" SmartBoard trainer for our district. Most of the teachers who have them, however, have been so excited to have one that they teach themselves before I can ever get there to train them!
The students love them. So far, at least at the elementary level, I haven't seen student interest wane. This is especially true when the teachers make sure to incorporate them into lessons in different ways.
We are currently working on having the teachers who have boards permanently mounted in their rooms save and post their lesson plans to a Sharepoint server that all teachers can access so they use the lessons, too.
Now that I've used these boards so often, I can't imagine going back to a classroom without one. I am constantly looking for ways to fund more boards, and teachers have even started hunting out funding sources. I look forward to the day when every elementary classroom has a permanently mounted board to use.--Susan Sheahan
I have limited access to a SMART board working with my high school special education students. Along with other new technology, student involvement in the class has increased. Being able to manipulate material and have students able be active touch the SMART board is fun. Even though there can be a lot of technological difficulties at times, it is worth the time to keep the students involved. C. Grice
I think it would be nice to have a SMARTboard in my art classroom. Right now I have an LCD projector as well as a document camera. This is nice because I can show my procedure or what my hands are doing nice and big up on the screen. I can also show example images and projects on the screen from my computer. I could probably do a live edit of something while using my computer, but it would be neater to do it on my dry erase board in front of the class. E. Bostrom
My school has two SMARTBoards for use that are stored in the library. One of them is mounted on wheels with a computer and projector on a cart so that it can travel from room to room. I have used it on a few occasions, but feel like it is sometimes a nuisance to either take my classes to the library or to bring the SMARTBoard into my room. There seemed to be a lot of wasted time with travel to and from the room and set-up. Currently, I have an LCD projector mounted on the ceiling that projects onto my whiteboards. I can make my PowerPoints somewhat interactive by writing on the whiteboards, but it would be really nice to save what I write. Instead I have to erase it and re-write it each time. There are also so many more applications available with the SMARTBoard. Interactive whiteboards are a great technology that I feel is underused because of cost, and I wish I were one of the lucky ones to have a SMARTBoard in my room. Maybe some day! - A Clow
Helpful Sites
Using Electronic Whiteboards in Your Classroom: Benefits
Engaging Learners the SMARTboard Way
Find Resources for your Classroom and Connect with Teachers
Interactive Whiteboard Resources Part 1
Interactive Whiteboard Resources Part 2
SMART Board, AirLiner, and SMART Response Activities
SMART Board Revolution Ning Notebook file sharing site
References
Adrian B.F. (2004). Incorporating the SMART Board for Smart Teaching. techlearning.com. Retrieved July 28,2005. Website: http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=51200657
Bell, M.A. (2002). Why Use an Interactive Whiteboard? A Baker's Dozen Reasons! teachers.net. Retrieved July 28,2005. Website: http://teachers.net/gazette/JAN02/mabell.html
Smith, A. (2000). Interactive Whiteboard Evaluation. Miranda Net Retrieved July 28,2005. Website: http://www.mirandanet.ac.uk/pubs/smartboard.htm
