Weeks 5,6: Interactive whiteboard

(7/10/15)(10/12/15)

This is the first week after the intership period. As there has been three days of holiday due to the festivities of December, we have only had one practical class of New Technologies. 

This class we have been talking about interactive Whiteboards. The corresponding group that presented the reading "Interactive whiteboards: boon or bandwagon? Critical review of the literature" informed us about the main advantages and disadvantages of the use of this ICT resource in the classroom.

An interactive whiteboard is an instructional tool that allows computer images to be displayed onto a board using a digital projector. The instructor can then manipulate the elements on the board by using his finger as a mouse, directly on the screen. Items can be transformed into text and saved. 

They are a powerful tool in the classroom adding interactivity and collaboration, allowing the integration of media content into the lecture and supporting collaborative learning. 

Some advantages: 

• Increases motivation in students
• They give flexibility and versatility to the teacher´s practice 
• They model ICT skills on students
• They give students the chance to interact and participate in lessons
• They are multimedia and multisensory presentations, increasing learning.

Some drawbacks: 

• They require a lot of teacher training and support
• There can be technical problems when using them. 

In addition, I´ve learnt some programs to use with interactive whiteboards, such as Notebook and Ebeam. 

 I find interactive whiteboards a really interesting resource that all classrooms should have, because it is very helpful for teachers and motivating for students. However, not every school have them in all the classrooms yet, because of a lack of economical resources. 

I´ve found this classes about interactive whiteboards really useful, because as future teachers we are going to use them in our everyday´s practice. It is important for us to keep on learning the new technological resources that being introduced in the classroom, in order to take profit of them. I really ejoyed learning about interactive whiteboards.