Interactive Whiteboards

I think that any subject area can use interactive whiteboards. Some subjects are harder to incorporate, but it is definitely possible. My evidence is all of the subjects I have seen use them successfully. I have seen PE teachers us them to teach the rules of football, language arts teachers use them for grammar, and everything in between.

I have never personally used an interactive whiteboard. My charter school is just 2 years old, and we did not even consider this particular technology for our school because the technology committee felt that there were better, more up-to-date technologies available. For example, software that allows your iPad to communicate with your projector. With this technology, I can walk around the room and be writing on the board (via a stylus on my iPad) simultaneously. This is fantastic because it allows me to have proximity to my students that need redirecting and not be stuck at the front of the room teaching from the whiteboard. This helps my student engagement. My students are always very entertained by me “magically” writing on the board. This software and interactive whiteboard replacement is a fantastic program, but it takes a while and quite a bit of training to be able to use comfortably. There are just so many features to get to know.

         I have used clickers as a student in high school and thought it was a really cool program, but I have not used it as a teacher. I would think that it gives great instant feedback and it would work well as a paperless exit slip.