Interactive Whiteboard Demonstration

When looking through the interactive whiteboard presentation, I thought I would post a different video I found on You Tube. I thought this video was rather good at explaining the concept of interactive whiteboards. I also thought that an Interactive Whiteboard would be an excellent idea to have in your classroom (if possible).

With regards to my personal opinion about interactive whiteboards, I think that they are an excellent too to have available to you in the classroom. You can not only do the normal things you would during the school day (writing down spelling words, math sums, etc.) but you can also engage your learners through the use of movement with just the touch of a button.

One of the main points that I find extremely interesting and useful for teachers is the fact that you can save the work that was completed during the day and give it to students that were absent. I believe this tool would be extremely useful for teachers because they do not have to remember work that was completed a day ago (or sometimes even a week ago) and there is a simple worksheet to follow for the student. The classroom teacher can even go one step further and have a worksheet page to hand to the student, and have an answer sheet that you may give to the student the same day, or the next day, which has all of the working completed within the class and the correct answers. This would be extremely helpful not only to the classroom teacher, but also to the student, as they can see where other students in the class are coming from and where they are going wrong, which may also be where the absent student is struggling with concepts, etc.

Other ways that you can use the interactive whiteboard in the classroom are as follows:

• Save lessons to present to students who were absent
• Create video files to teach a software application, a lesson, or as a review to be posted to the server or web. Example- How to create a graph in Excel or hoe to burn a projects to Cd's
• Use the built in maps to teach continents, oceans, countries, or states and capitals.
• Present presentations created by student or teacher
• Have students create e-folios including samples of their work and narration
• Digital storytelling
• Teach whole group computer or keyboarding skills
• Brainstorming
• Take notes directly into PowerPoint presentations
• Reinforce skills by using on-line interactive web sites
• Creating a project calendar
• Teach editing skills using editing marks
• Use in the 6 trait writing process
• Use highlighter tool to highlight nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.
• Use it with Kidspiration or Inspiration
• Teaching students how to navigate the Internet
• Illustrate and write a book as a class. Use the record feature to narrate the text.
• Use the Inter write software to create lessons in advance at home or at school. Then save them for future use or to be shared with other teachers
• Diagramming activities
• Teaching steps to a math problem.
• Have students share projects during Parent/Teacher/Student conferences
• Graphics and charts with ESL learners and special ed students.
• Teaching vocabulary
• Electronic Word Wall
• End each day by having students write one thing that they learned

(Resource materials and Technology Centre for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom, 2008, http://www.fsdb.k12.fl.us/rmc/tutorials/whiteboards.html, viewed 1 August 2009)

The following is the video I found in You Tube:

(Boomerpetway, Interactive Whiteboard, 2007, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjdNPMZJbLs, viewed 5 August 2009)

I believe that utilising a tool such as a video within the classroom is an excellent idea. The video takes some of the focus off the teacher, allows the students to view something different from the norm (teacher standing in front of the class and talking), and being the technology-based learners that students are now-days, video's get onto their level and engage with their way of thinking, etc.