subject: Interactive Whiteboards Can Allow Teachers To Focus [print this page] One of the best things about interactive whiteboards is that they allow pupils to carry on with their work with little need for supervision. It may take a while for children to gain confidence in using these machines but once this has been obtained, they will quite happily play and interact using the boards. It is not as if teachers should leave the room for the entire lesson but having some members of the class using the board can allow teachers to provide specialist or more focussed teaching to certain members of the class. Not every pupil learns at the same rate and some pupils will need extra attention or more detailed schooling to help them get their head around the problems or topics they are studying.
This has been one of the biggest issues in teaching since teaching began and this is where interactive whiteboards are playing a role in changing life for many pupils. One of the biggest problems that teachers face is not having the time they require to help their class and this means that the pupils who need the most assistance can sometimes lag behind. A teacher has to look after the majority of her class but there will be some pupils who after initial instructions can work away quietly by themselves for the most part. Being able to determine who these pupils are can help teachers make the most of their time by providing the right level of assistance to the pupils who need more help.
The opening example highlighted the fact that some pupils can be helped by the teacher while others work away on the interactive board but of course, the opposite scenario can also be played out as well. Sometimes the pupils who need a little bit more encouragement in their work can benefit from working through problems on the interactive whiteboards, perhaps by themselves or with other pupils while other pupils can carry on with their work quietly at their desks. Interactive whiteboards provide a great degree of flexibility which is crucial in the modern classroom. There is no doubt that the pressures placed on teachers in the modern era are bigger than they have been before but this is balanced out by the support of technological products like interactive whiteboards.
Sometimes having the chance to separate the class into smaller groups will yield better results for a teacher and the use of interactive whiteboards ensures this can happen without anyone missing out on the educational fun.
