Journal 7: Interactive Whiteboards

An interactive whiteboard is a digital device which uses the technology of a computer to display images on to a screen. It is the combination of a whiteboard and computer. Images projected on the screen come from the computer. However, the interactive touch screen whiteboard can be physically written on with digital ink or images can be moved around with your finger. Some types of interactive whiteboards are the SMART Board, Promethean, ActivBoard, eBeam, Mimio, and Webster. These are all basically the same, with the exception of a few different tools.

Teachers like to use these products because it helps engage the student in what is being taught. Students can watch video, PowerPoint’s, or play web- based activities on the iboard (Interactive Board). That is just a few examples. Teachers like it because they can take simple lessons and enhance them. Things such as brainstorming, grammar lessons and math lessons can all be more interesting for students because it is more interactive. Another great tool of the iboard is that it will save lessons that the teacher has written out that day in class. If a student is absent, the teacher will have access to that lesson. If it was on a regular white board, the information would be erased.

The concept of an interactive whiteboard is great. Any type of technology that helps engage students is a great idea in my opinion. Students these days are consumed with visual technology, from the time they watch their cartoons in the morning, to playing with their Wii or educational software after school. To make an impact on students, teachers need to conform to the students way of life instead of vice versa. Besides the fun things students can do with the iBoard, I think it is awesome that teachers can completely save the lesson. It would be nice to have a copy of something, so the next time the lesson was taught, their would be some sort of guideline of how you did it last. With that said, while the interactive whiteboard sounds great, it just doesn't seem practical. Working at an elementary school, I see the cuts that are being made constantly. The iBoard seems pretty expensive, and unless the budget crisis changes sometime soon or the companies lower their prices tremendously, I can't see the iBoards being something my students could use.