subject: Could We Return to a Time Before IWB? [print this page] Could We Return to a Time Before IWB? Could We Return to a Time Before IWB?
Interactive whiteboards are one of the most convenient and effective pieces of technology to enter the classroom and, for people who have gotten used to having them around, imagining what it's like going back to a time before them is no easy task.
What's so useful about interactive whiteboards is that they're incredibly handy for any situation. Whether you're teaching a group of primary school kids, delivering a lecture to university students or taking a training session in an adult workshop, the interactive whiteboard has a plethora of uses that makes each and ever teaching session all the more effective.
Interactive whiteboards are perfect for creating lesson plans in advance that are used to ensure you stay on track with minimal effort. They connect to the internet so you can browse online before or during class - the latter possibly as part of an exercise involving your students, which leads us to one of the best parts about interactive whiteboards: their interactivity!
One of the most basic functions of the interactive whiteboard has allowed us to revolutionise the way we teach, creating opportunities for teachers to really get their classes involved in lessons, from using the whiteboard's innovative technology in order to identify the correct answers to questions on the projection surface to having their own questions, answers and ideas input directly onto the wall for further discussion.
While the idea of using a whiteboard is nothing new to the classroom - after all, white and blackboards have been used for decades - the enormity of functions that interactive whiteboards have really set them apart from these two classroom staples. Even on their most basic level, interactive whiteboards allow teachers, lecturers and trainers to eschew the slow task of writing up items on the black or whiteboard; today, many people type far faster than they write, so the laptop link means that lessons are written up far quicker on computer than they would be by hand, which means there is more time to really make sure that lesson hits home!
So the question really is can you go back to a time before interactive whiteboards. Do you use yours to its full potential or is it more of a speedier blackboard for you? If it's the former, the chances are you'd have a hard time adjusting to life without your IWB - but, if the latter, you just might manage it. Just.
