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Interactive whiteboards have brought significant improvements in the education sector by simplifying the learning processes. The technology has been integrated in all levels of learning including primary school, high school and institutions of higher learning. Though the technology has been around for more than two decades, its use has only grown exponentially over the past few years. An interactive whiteboard can be in the form of a standalone touchscreen computer or a connectable apparatus with touchpad used to control other computers from a projector. The benefits of using interactive whiteboards in the classroom affect both the students and teachers positively. The article below explores some of the benefits of integrating interactive whiteboards in the learning curriculum.
Main Benefits of Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom Are As Follows:
1. Makes Review or Revision of Lessons More Convenient
One of the greatest benefits of using interactive whiteboards in the classroom is that it allows students to save lessons for later playback and/or review. ezTalks Meetings whiteboard features offers the teacher an opportunity to share screen, text , audio and video files with students in real-time. Students can also record full lessons and share them with friends who weren't able to attend classes. Recorded lessons also provide a more convenient reference point during revision, which makes grasping important points quite easier. That will result in better understanding, quicker learning and improved performance.
Alternatives to Interactive Whiteboards Blog. The blog or use the Feedback Form to share your thoughts and suggestions or contribute your effective curriculum ideas! Assistive technology (AT) can be of tremendous benefit to students with learning disabilities (LDs); AT can compensate for a student's skills deficits, needs and/or area(s) of disability. The key to effective AT is finding the right match between the AT tool, the learning disabilities, and the task. Students with LDs will most often require AT that assists with reading, language.
2. Makes It Easier for the Teacher to Structure Lessons
With interactive whiteboards, a teacher can easily formulate and plan for the lesson beforehand. He/she can schedule for specific learning tasks like labeling parts of a picture and matching words with their respective meanings. This is where the benefits of interactive whiteboards in the primary school come in handy. Students can understand how to handle naming tasks quite profoundly as the images are displayed right in front of them. While on the hand, teachers will have an easier time delivering on what they have on their lesson plan.
3. Makes the Learning Process More Fun
The days of using dry chalkboards with powdered erasers or whiteboards with inky felt pens are long gone. Nowadays, teachers in learning institutions are using LCD monitors displays together with shared whiteboards to deliver lessons. With such technology in class, every student will be anxious to try out how the board works. That can spur the students'enthusiasm to get involved in learning process using the interactive whiteboards. Images and presentations are delivered in full HD display accompanied by interactive computer capabilities. Students in such learning environment will find syllabus coverage more fun and most of them won’t miss school or skip classes.
4. Increases the Level of Engagement between Teachers and Students
Instead on making the often boring one-way presentation, a teacher can use interactive whiteboard to engage every student in class. Whether it's learning vocabulary, pronunciation or exploring a research, students will find a lesson engaging if it integrates text, images, videos and/or audio files. For instance, a teacher can play an audio file to demonstrate the pronunciation of a word displayed on the board. Students will then be given a chance to pronounce other words to see whether they are correct. Use of videos footages in teaching can also trigger students to think outside the conventional classroom environment. That triggers a creative and fresh perspective to learning, which can lead to students contributing in their ideas in class sessions. In the long run, lessons will be more vivid, more engaging and certainly more productive.
5. Allows Students with Various Disabilities to Learn Better
Each student in a class enjoys learning in different ways. While some are good auditory learners(able to learn better with audio), others are great visual learners. So including text, images, audio and video in a presentation allows everyone, including those with learning disabilities, to enjoy the lesson. Another benefit of using interactive whiteboard in the classroom is that it helps students with hearing impairment to benefit from visual presentation. Those unable to see partially or completely can also learn more about a given topic using audio presentation. Hence the use of interactive whiteboards ensures the learning needs of every student are met sufficiently.
6. Brings Convenience and Flexibility in Learning
With the increasing use of video conferencing systems, many schools have adopted e-learning options in their curriculum. That means students can attend classes from anywhere at any time. ezTalks Meetings provides a robust platform for conducting real-time online classes with several students. The software comes with interactive whiteboards that allow teachers to share notes and other learning tools over a video conference for free. Up to 100 people can participate in a class from different places at the same time, all free of charge. With such a platform, a student can cover the entire syllabus for a given term or semester from the comfort of the home.
7. Saves on Teaching Costs
Both private and government sponsored schools incur a lot of costs each on dry markers, erasers, chalks and even blackboard painting each year. Interactive whiteboards do not need any of these stressful tools. All that's required is an LCD touchscreen display and/or a channel through which the same content can be displayed on other computers. Everyone can connect to the main computer (usually the teacher's) to enjoy an interactive lesson. Most modern classrooms are Wi-Fi enabled, so there's no need to worry about internet connection. It's even not even necessary for students to take notes as the presentation can be saved or recorded for later playback and review.
Class assignments and student performance lists can simply be displayed on the whiteboard for every class member to see. That increases convenience of evaluating students and releasing their results. In the long run the school will save more money while improving the learning environment. On the other hand students will spend less on writing materials as they enjoy class presentations.
Conclusion
The benefits of interactive whiteboards in the classroom are so many that any learning institution can't afford to ignore. Apart from bringing convenience and flexibility in education, use of interactive whiteboards increases teacher-student engagement and boost performance in the long run. Adopting this technology can be great for any school or learning institution because it streamline areas that were a challenge before. While acquiring the interactive whiteboards and related tools might eat into the school's budget, the advantages will be greater in the long run. These whiteboards will not only stimulate learning but will also save on learning materials and inspire performance.
Check Out Related Articles
General Teacher Resources for InteractiveWhiteboards
TeacherLED – TeacherLED is a site dedicated to makingthe use of Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) easier and more productive. Thiscomprehensive site features resources to use with IWBs in math, English, andgeometry.
SMART Exchange – This SMART Board interactivewhiteboard site provides several lesson plans and activities for teachers touse in the classroom. SMART lessons are available for a variety of ages andsubjects.
Topmarks –With some of the best free educational materials for IWBs, Topmarks is a greatresource for finding IWB lesson plans and activities. This educational sitealso features teacher resources, educational sites for classroom, and homeworkhelp.
Eduscapes –This guide to interactive whiteboards explains different activities andresources that can be used with IWBs. Eduscapes is a good starting place forteachers who are just beginning to use this technology in the classroom.
Promethean PlanetTeaching Resources – Promethean also invites members of theircommunity to share their lessons and activities for their whiteboards.
MimioConnect Lesson Plans – If your classroom has a Mimio system, findlessons by searching keywords, sorting by grade or choosing your preferredsubject.
Interactive Whiteboard: Rapidlygrowing bank of free to use tools and resources created for teachers who areteaching with an interactive whiteboard (IWB).
Google Charts - Create charts,diagrams and graphs online.
Funbrain: Funbrainoffers several interactive educational games for use with InteractiveWhiteboards. These fun games cover a range of subjects and grades.
The Feelings Game: Fourgraduated lessons to help children learn about emotions .
SocialSkills Millionaire: Quizbased on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” - questions based on using goodsocial skills at school and with your friends .
InteractiveWhiteboard Games & Activities
PBS – PBS provides a collection of fun, interactiveSMART Board games. All of the games featured on this site are age appropriateand screened by educators.
MathFrame.co.uk – This site, created by a schoolteacher, houses several interactive math games specifically designed for IWBs.All activities are aimed at reinforcing mathematical concepts and skills.
BBC HistoryGame – BBC offers several interactive activities that can be used withinteractive whiteboards. This Famous People history game is a great way toteach elementary children about historical figures.
Scholastic –Scholastic provides interactive whiteboard lessons for phonics, math, science,and history. This site also features a search engine for finding more lessonsacross North America.
Crickweb.co.uk –Crickweb.co.uk provides 15 free resources for use with interactivewhiteboards. These math activities are designed to teach elementarystudents the basics of math.
Math Playground –The Math Playground offers interactive math activities for middle schoolers.These games and activities work well for teachers who want to engage the entireclass.
Classbrain – This game site features severalinteractive math games that work with IWBs. A fun game worth trying withstudentsis Regrouping.
Funbrain – Funbrain offers several interactiveeducational games for use with IWBs. These fun games cover a range of subjectsand grades.
Kerpoof – Kerpoof is an educational interactivewebsitefrom the Walt Disney Company that can be used with IWBs. This site is agreat way for children to create, discover, and learn.
Skeleton of the Beast – This interactive game fromDiscovery Education is a useful learning tool for IWBs. Skeleton of the Beastfeatures four skill level timed games that teach children about prehistoricanimals.
Xpeditions –Xpeditions from National Geographic provides an atlas that can be used oninteractive whiteboards. This atlas explores every region of the world.
Skeleton of the Beast: Thisinteractive game from Discovery Education is a useful learning tool forInteractive Whiteboards. Skeleton of the Beast features four skill level timedgames that teach children about prehistoric animals.
Bubbabrain: Bubbabrainallows teachers to create interactive review games.
Interactive Whiteboards Blogeffective Curriculum Ideas 4th Grade
ColonelKerfuffle in Calamity Castle – Fun game.
TunaTrapper - Fun game.
Jigzone: Online jigsaw puzzles .
Chess Kids Academy: Chess lessons,quizzes, games .
PlayKids Games: Online interactive educational games .
PrimaryGames: Lots of online gamesacross different areas of the curriculum.
More Unique, Cool Whiteboard ResourcesStudents Love
Scale of the Universe – This cool update to an oldtool lets you scroll from the size of a person and head out into space –viewing the solar system, galaxy and eventually the entire universe. Or zoomsmaller and smaller down to sub atomic particles. This new version is clickable– and tells you a litle more about the different planets and objects you cansee as you drag the slider to view bigger or smaller objects.
Stellarium – This free planetarium software is perfectfor astronomy lessons. Stellarium displays a realistic 3D sky, complete withplanets, major moons, more than 600,000 stars, and constellations from 10cultures.
Illuminations – Created by the National Council ofTeachers of Mathematics, Illumination provides more than 100 interactive mathgames and activities for students in grades pre-K through 12.
SheppardSoftware – Sheppard Software provides a wide range of free educationalweb games for students. Covered topics include animals, science, chemistry,health, history, math, and vocabulary.
Fit Brains – Designed by a clinical neuropsychologistand brain health expert, Fit Brains is an online gaming platform with puzzlesand other “brain games.” Players can track their progress and win trophies andachievements when they do well.
Tutpup – Tutpup is a competitive game site that allowsstudentsto play interactive web games with other children around the world.All of the games on Tutpup focus on math or spelling.
Spelling City – Spelling City is a free onlinelearning platform with 10 learning games and more than 40,000 spelling words.The site also offers how-to videos to help teachers integrate Spelling Cityinto the curriculum.
TheEco Zoo – The Eco Zoo is a 3D environment that can be used to teachstudents about environment, ecology, and eco-friendly living. Content can beviewed in Japanese or English.
NASA Space Place – This award-winning NASA website isa good place to find videos, animations, and games that teach kids about spacescience and technology. Nearly all of the materials on this site would workwell with an interactive whiteboard.
English
The MagicKey Adventure: Online games for English language and grammar.
Blending Dragon: Phonics game.
Rhyming Rockets: Phonics game.
Maths
Math Playground: The Math Playground offersinteractive math activities for middle schoolers. These games and activitieswork well for teachers who want to engage the entire class.
Find theShape with Barney: Maths shape game for infant classes
Shape Memory Game: Simplegame to help children learn shapes
Science Websites for Your InteractiveWhiteboard
Google Body Browser – This is Google Maps for thehuman body! Google Body is a detailed 3D model of the body. You can peel backanatomical layers, zoom in, click to identify anatomy, or search for muscles,organs, bones and more. At the moment this won’t work in most web browsers, youwill need to get the beta of the new Firefox or Chrome, but keep an eye outlater this year for an update.
ChemCollectiveVirtual Lab – The ChemCollective is a digital library of onlineactivities for KS3/KS4 chemistry teachers which aims to engage students in moreauthentic problem-solving activities than those found in most textbooks.
Their virtual lab will look slightly familiar to anyone who has ever usedCrocodile Chemistry. It’s a free simulation which allows mixing of differentchemicals and provides information such as pH and temperature as the chemicalreaction takes place. Comprehensive guides are available on the site whichexplains what to do.
As always, virtual simulations should notreplace actually doing the experiments for real. But sometimes, for revisionpurposes, or for times when a lab is not available, being able to access thesekind of online simulations can be very useful.
Science zone - interactive science games.
Interactive Whiteboards Blogeffective Curriculum Ideas 5th
MichaelMichael Go Recycle: Recycling game.
Edheads: Fun interactive site where one of thethings you can do is perform virtual hip replacement and virtual knee surgery.
4-H Virtual Forest: Colourful,interactive, animated site that teaches all about the ecology of theforest .
Interactive Whiteboard Activities to TeachMusic
MoodStream – Moodstream is a really interesting tool.It combines images (from Getty Images) and audio tracks to suit your mood.Would be good to investigate how different sounds and tunes affect our how wefeel. Choose from combinations of happy/sad, calm/lively, warm/cool etc. Isreally interesting to leave running for a while and see what it does.
Shaun the Sheep’s Bleat Box – Make music with Shaunthe Sheep of Wallace and Gromit fame. Click on a sheep to make them bleat!Great fun. Includes a free play mode or a memory game.
MakingMusic from Help Kidz Learn – Simply press a piano key or run yourfinger down the keys on a touch screen, to play the notes. Mouse users canclick on the keys. The keys are in different bright colours and marked with thenote they play.
Virtual Drum Kit – Ken Brashear has made a giant drumkit that you play simply by hitting the different hotspots on the image. Verytherapeutic.
Music Match Game – This game helps you learn how toplay the piano and read music. You can learn the notes, learn the keys or both.
DrumMachine – An interactive drum machine that lets you build up differentbeats to create your own drum track which you can then export as a swf file.
Muxicall – A collaborative “wall of music” Click onthe notes to play a track, but other people can also be using it at the sametime and play music between you!
SFS Kids: SanFrancisco Symphony Kids site where children can learn about all the differentsections of the orchestra.
Instruments of the Orchestra: “Who Wants to Be aMillionaire?” type quiz on the instruments of the orchestra.
MusicalMysteries: Designedto help pupils to explore basic musical concepts in sound, rhythm, mood andorchestra.
Musical Instruments: Game to identify themusical instruments.
Shaun the Sheep's Bleat Box: Makemusic with Shaun the Sheep of Wallace and Gromit fame. Click on a sheep to makethem bleat! Great fun. Includes a free play mode or a memory game.
Art & drama
Folk Tales: Interactivestorytelling of six folk tales.
Greek Myths: Interactivere-telling of well-known Greek myths .
Tate Kids: Tate Gallery for kids, includingideas for art, an online gallery and create art online .
IAm An Artist: Irishsite based on the different strands of the Visual Arts curriculum .
Pintura Art Detective: Solve The Case ofGrandpa’s Painting .
Crayola: Create colouring pages and watchvideos .
Others
Teaching andLearning Resources from Diane Hawkins -stimulating, interactive resources for children in Key Stage 2.
BBC SchoolsPrimary - Easy to navigate site, the primary history section isespecially useful.
Primaryinteractive.co.uk - Interactive activities and games forprimary students.
TopMarks - educationalresources which work well on interactive whiteboards in the classroom.
EducationalTechnology– SMARTboard resources.
LongwoodCentral School District – lots of SMARTboard lessons.
Interactive Whiteboards Blogeffective Curriculum Ideas Preschool
Teq - interactivewhiteboard lessons, resources, and mixed reality 3D content.
iPad video lessonoffer – short videos about how to use the iPad.
Interactive Whiteboards Blogeffective Curriculum Ideas Kindergarten
RCPS– technology integration resources (Math, English, Science and Social Studies).
SMARTBoard goodies – SMART Board interesting resources.
iboard isa superb educational website. I used this well designed website with very younglearners the whole year.