Whiteboards Improve Teaching

Getting Attention
1. Grab student attention with interactive whiteboard technology. Students come to a classroom having spent most of their out-of-school time surrounded by the wonders of technology.

 

In order to compete with the outside world, schools must embrace all forms of technology so that students remain excited, involved and interested in the learning that is taking place.

Interactive whiteboards provide numerous opportunities to improve teaching while also keeping students highly involved.

Performance Tool
2. Provide a stage for student work with interactive whiteboards. Allow students to share their computer-produced work on the interactive whiteboard by accessing a flash drive or shared folder from the computer the whiteboard uses.

Scan student work not produced by computer so that it, too, can be shared on the interactive whiteboard. Students learn more when they teach a subject to peers themselves.

Additionally, use student work as examples to the rest of the class and in so doing, boost self-esteem and an attitude of success.


Interact with Technology
3. Students interact with the subject matter easily when using an interactive whiteboard. Technology assignments they create, such as slide shows, project easily to the whiteboard, allowing students to share their work with a large group.

Interactive whiteboards also allow for direct, on-screen manipulation of the data projected with either a special pen or their hand. This interaction provides a significant student motivation for staying involved and learning.


Virtual Field Trips
4. Take virtual field trips effortlessly using an interactive whiteboard. An entire class of students can interact with the board as they view scenes from across the globe or across your city.

Bring once foreign content to life to your students by visiting the many online tours, field trips and webcams available. Teachers no longer have to search for posters and pictures to pass around when they wish students to see a particular object or location.

Teachers can access numerous sites about the same subject instantly, giving their students multiple views and a broader view of the world.


Modeling Device
5. Use an interactive whiteboard the next time you introduce a new piece of software or a new Web-based activity. The entire class can view your directions for new software or activities simultaneously.

This saves time and reduces the chances of confusion since all students hear the same directions or explanation at the same time.

Additionally, should reteaching or additional explanations be needed, they can be projected to the whiteboard for all students’ benefit.

Increase Efficiency
6. Let the interactive whiteboard be your class note taker. Save and print anything shown or written on the whiteboard.

If you create notes alongside a screen shot on the whiteboard, save and print them for your entire class so they no longer need to take notes.

This increases their attentiveness to your lesson, as they’re not attempting to write down every word you say. You may also save and share those notes with colleagues. Sharing with colleagues saves time and work while providing fresh ideas.

Adaptable
7. Adapt lessons in real time using the Internet. If the lesson is not going well or you realize the students need more help or a different direction, you no longer have to stop, locate new resources, drag them out and begin again.

You can pull up new resources from the Internet or your own computer that are instantly available to your students.

Variety
8. Vary your materials with a whiteboard. During a lesson, most teachers attempt to pull from a variety of sources. This usually means having multiple papers, overheads, books and charts.

With an interactive whiteboard, utilizing a variety of sources occurs quickly and smoothly. In addition, the entire class views multiple windows of information on your computer desktop all at once.

Comparing information in various resources also occurs easily when using the interactive whiteboard. Students become critical thinkers while judging the value of the many resources you’re able to show them at one time using word processing documents, photos, charts and graphs, as well as Internet resou
 

Author

ELT News

ELT News