Interactive White Boards? What are they? 

(Chelsea)

Interactive White Boards are an amazing tool that teachers can use in their classrooms. They can promote learning in the classroom with students. There are Four Main Components of the Interactive White Boards: A computer, a projector, the actual white board, and the program to run it all. 

There are two different kinds of Interactive White Boards.

1. The first kind is an electronic version of the dry boards that we grew up using, only it is on a computer. This computer enables students in a virtual classroom to view what the instuctor, or whoever else, writes and draws on the board.
2. The second kind is a large physical white board like the ones we used as kids, and it can function as just a regular white board as well. But it can also work as a projector screen, an electronic copy board, or it can be a computer projector screen where the computer image can be controlled by touching the surface of the white board, instead of using the computer.

Pros:

• Since they are similar to regular white boards, and have some the same features, it can put a teacher who is not technologically savvy at ease.
• They enhance presentations by intergrating multiple programs at once such as a picture from the internet, a word document, or a spreadsheet all on one board.
• They allow students to interact and participate by moving arounds things and playing with the board as well.
• Allows teachers to create their own customised learning activities over a wide range of subjects.

Cons:

• They more expensive than regular, conventional white boards and projector/screen combinations.
• If the surface gets damanged in the classroom, it is very expensive to fix
• If too much data is on the screen at one time, it can cause the information to become "jumbled"
• If there is remote access allowed, some students might be tempted to put up something disruptive on the screen. 

Uses:

• Save lessons to students who are absent
• Digital Storytelling
• Use in Kidspiration and Inspiration 
• Teaching steps to a math problem
• Teaching vocabulary
• Present powerpoint presentations created by teachers and students  

Resources For Future Learning:

Video of Use in Classroom:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NzL1NYi3Y8&feature=PlayList&p=874C0CF3A98710F1&index=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUVbv6mwUxg 

Sites for Use in Classroom: 

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/smart_board.htm

http://smarttech.com/Trainingcenter/material.asp

Application To Future Teaching: 

http://www.fsdb.k12.fl.us/rmc/tutorials/whiteboards.html 

http://its.leesummit.k12.mo.us/smartboard.htm 

http://www.juliethompson.com/SMART.html  

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/15.cfm?s=15&p=243,index&zs=n  

http://www.crayola.com/coloring_application/  

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks1/science/body_parts_p/english.htm

References:

(Marcela & Brandie) 

Birmingham City Council (1999). Birmingham Grid for Learning. Retrieved from http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks1/science/body_parts_p/english.htmBrown  

Brown, S. (2002). Interactive Whiteboards in Education. Retrieved from 

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/Interactivewhiteboards.pdf

Crayola. (n.d). Digi-Color. Retrieved from http://www.crayola.com/coloring_application/