Government spending on interactive whiteboards

According to Becta, "The DfES [now DCSF] has been encouraging the use of interactive whiteboards in schools. Interactive whiteboards are an effective teaching aid which can engage and excite children of all ages and abilities across the curriculum." In recent years the government has invested heavily in this new technology.

Interactive whiteboard training

So your classroom is wonderfully equipped with one of these new-fangled interactive whiteboards, a projector and a powerful multimedia computer that has a broadband connection to the internet - but how do you use it? The local education authority (LEA) will no doubt be running courses. Trainee teachers and newly qualified teachers (NQTs) will hopefully have had some input about interactive whiteboards at their ITT institution. However, the best type of training will be school-based. Perhaps an advisor can come in and run a session. Perhaps the supplier can provide training in school on training days. Perhaps the ICT coordinator can lead a twilight session on some aspect of interactive whiteboard usage. Better still, if you get the opportunity to 'play' with the whiteboard (before or after school, or perhaps at dinnertime) then you should take it. If a more knowledgeable peer is around to guide you then so much the better. If not, then "self-teaching" is often the best option. And if you really 'get stuck' then you could always read the manual! They can be helpful when all else fails.

You can always find plenty of help on the internet of course. If you have a SMART Board click here for free online training materials. Also, find SMART Board guides at the Stockton-on-Tees website and professional development materials at SMART Education. ACTIVboard users can download the latest training manuals for ACTIVstudio and ACTIVprimary from the Promethean site. The Promethean site also has free online tutorials (although you must register first) in using ACTIVprimary, ACTIVstudio and ACTIVote. QuickTime movie tutorials in using ACTIVstudio2 can be found at Atomic Learning. There are many Software Guides for Promethean's ACTIV products at the Stoke Grid for Learing site where you will also find SMART Software Guides too. A manual for ACTIVprimary is to be published on the website soon but a scaled-down version (but still 11 pages!) can be found at the Stockton-on-Tees site. A WORD document called "ACTIVprimary - Making your first digital flipchart" can be downloaded by clicking here. More tutorials, in the form of WORD documents, on how to use ACTIVstudio (Version 1), SMART Board and Easiteach software can be downloaded from the National Whiteboard Network website. Easiteach support (video tutorials) can be found at the Radstock Primary School website.

Another form of online help is the use of forums. Here you can get assistance from fellow educational users of the technology. At the Promethean Forums you can register for free and get access to help and resources posted by users of ACTIVboards nationwide. Becta have several general ICT communities that may be of assistance. Joining one (or more) of these online communities, whether of the email list or bulletin board variety, can be of enormous help to the individual struggling with whiteboard usage.

Tips for using the interactive whiteboard

If you want to know how to use your whiteboard effectively and how to avoid common pitfalls then a visit to Aclearn website is in order. They have compiled a list of fourteen useful hints and tips called How to use your interactive whiteboard effectively.

Becta have also produced a booklet entitled Getting the most from your interactive whiteboard: A guide for primary schools.

This publication is available free of charge and can be downloaded online in PDF format as can another publication Teaching Interactively with Electronic Whiteboards in the Primary Phase.

Also view Whiteboard Top Tips a Teachers' TV programme that includes advice on using whiteboards and how to get children participating effectively in whiteboard lessons.

Advantages of interactive whiteboards

There are many potential benefits of using an interactive whiteboard. They can:

• Allow staff and/or students to move around a screen without the use of a computer because the screen itself is sensitive

• Offer the same features as a traditional whiteboard such as writing directly on the board, circling things, highlighting or labelling elements on the screen and erasing errors

• Offer an on-screen keyboard that floats over the software allowing you to enter text or data into almost any application

• Enable editing on screen and recording any/all changes or additions

• Encourage often techno-phobic teachers to deliver lessons naturally using technology from the front of the room

• Enhance presentation content by easily integrating video/animation, graphics/text and audio

• Allow pupils to absorb information better and participate in classroom discussions by freeing them from copious note-taking (notes can be printed and disseminated to group)

• Save valuable preparation time through the use of ready-made content, resources and activities

• Act as an electronic flip chart (up to 99 pages), with all notes and diagrams saved as an HTML file for later use

• Allow notes to be stored and made available to students who missed the presentation/lecture

• Be used to communicate effectively with other locations using video conferencing applications such as Microsoft NetMeeting.

* Edited from "What are presentation technologies?" by Becta (2003)

Things you can do with an interactive whiteboard

What can you do with an interactive whiteboard? The short answer is "an awful lot!" However, you may find the following list of features helpful:

• Stay in front of an audience instead of behind a computer

• Turn a class into a group

• Show a class whatever can be shown on an ordinary computer screen

• Whatever can be done with a computer can be shared on a large screen (the pen/finger become the mouse)

• Exploit a never-ending set of whiteboard presentations, recall and reuse them

• Use different features e.g. Reveal, Spotlight, Magnify

• Use a large set of pen colours

• Prepare presentations

• Take snapshots of slides and incorporate then into PowerPoint shows

• Use clip art, photographs, animations, slideshows and videos

• Play sound clips

• Use a virtual keyboard or number pad

• Save different settings for different uses

• Undo and redo actions performed on the board

• Connect straight to the internet

• Annotate a picture or painting

• Display a counting timer (to count up or down)

• Run ticker tape-like messages

* List compiled by Alan Rodgers in an article called "Interactive whiteboards - some thoughts on their use" (in Primary Focus on New Literacies - NAACE April, 2004)

Health and safety issues

With any ICT equipment there are always going to be concerns about health and safety. Interactive whiteboards are no different this respect. There have, for example, been concerns voiced in the press recently that the projectors used in conjunction with most whiteboards may damage the eyesight of users. Headlines such as School whiteboards a danger to eyesight have appeared and this must be worrying for parents, pupils and teachers. However, if common sense measures are taken there should be no problems. A helpful section on health and safety with regard to interactive whiteboards can be found at the Becta website. They present four simple guidelines to preventing eye damage:

• Make clear to all users that no one should stare directly into the beam of the projector (a notice to this effect by the whiteboard is seen as good practice).

• When entering the beam, users should not look towards the audience for more than a few seconds.

• Encourage users to keep their backs to the projector beam when standing in it.

• Children should be supervised at all times when a projector is being used.

General health and safety guidance for ICT can be found at the Becta Schools and the E-Safety sites. A two-page document produced by Becta about interactive whiteboard health and safety issues can be downloaded by clicking here. The Early ICT (Kent) site has some helpful tips and a useful IWB safety poster that you can print off and display by your whiteboard. If you are particularly worried about this problem you could consider opting for a  a large plasma touch screen or an interactive whiteboard with rear projection technology. However, both these options are very expensive compared with front projection interactive whiteboards.

Another problem that teachers are coming across is the fact that small children (and small teachers!) are not able to reach the upper area of the whiteboard. Companies that produce software for interactive whiteboards are positioning toolbars at the bottom of the screen now which is all to the good. However, it does not solve the problem of reaching content that is situated at the top of the whiteboard. Steps or platforms offering a solution to this are appearing on the market to combat this problem. Promethean have introduced the ACTIVwand which is very useful - and must for Harry Potter fans!

THE NATIONAL WHITEBOARD NETWORK

Finally, a few words about the National Whiteboard Network. This was launched in May 2004 as part of the Primary National Strategy. The site is a marvellous repository of information, advice and guidance. Its aims are:

• To improve the quality of learning and teaching and raise standards through the use of ICT
• To provide professional development for key LEA representatives on making use of interactive whiteboards
• To provide training materials and examples of effective use for LEAs and HEIs to use with their Primary schools
• To build a professional learning community to develop, collate, share, improve and disseminate best practice more widely

It is always growing and evolving and should be your first port of call when looking for interactive whiteboard resources.