Week Five - Smart Board Training

In this session, we were introduced to using a Smart interactive whiteboard in the classroom. IWBs are becoming more and more common in classrooms nowadays and are replacing blackboards and white pen-boards. They bring many opportunities for active learning in the classroom - there can be opportunites for the children to come out and write on the board, take part in different interactive activities or it can simply be used to display certain text or images to promote thinking.

Barber, Cooper, and Meeson (2007, page 32) stated the following: "The IWB is an engaging and potentially powerful tool. However, as with any tool, it is only of any benefit when it is used appropriately and in a way that adds value to your teaching. This is a consideration that should inform your use of the IWB, but even the most careful planning and the most imaginative development will count for nothing if certain organisational matters are not addressed."

As demonstrated in the quote above, an IWB is a fantastic tool to have in a classroom. However, it is only valuable when it is used correctly and the teacher using it must be familiar with it's functions. As teachers, it should be our priority to be well organsied and to have planned exactly how we are going to use the board in our lessons. For example, are the children taking part in a whole class activity and taking inidividual turns to use the whiteboard or are they working on different activities in groups one of which includes using the whiteboard? Or are you going to use it simply to display an example and to promote further thought.

In this session, I was able to gain a good insight into just how many different ways the smart board can be used in the classroom. We were given demonstrations, starting with the basics, and were able to try the software out for ourselves using laptops.
It was demonstrated in the presentation that if you are not aware of the full potential of the whiteboard and are not aware of it's uses, you will not be able to use it to benefit the children in your class.

By the end of the session, we were each able to begin creating our own flipchart which related to a previous topic we had been working on for the early years stage. The session benefited me greatly and I would now feel much more confident going into a classroom and making good use of the Smart interactive whiteboard.

References

Barber, D., Cooper, L. and Meeson, G. (2007) Learning and Teaching with Interactive Whiteboards - Primary and Early Years. Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd.