Review of "Engaging Learners with Interactive Whiteboards" Chapter 1

An IWB (Interactive Whiteboard)

In this post, I will be reviewing the first chapter of Engaging Learners with Interactive Whiteboards" written by Blanche O'Bannon. This chapter introduces the basics of the IWB (Interactive whiteboard), how it is used effectively in the classroom, and statistics of student success in regards to the usage of the whiteboards in the classroom. In addition, it discusses the instructional challenges for teachers attempting to use the IWB in the classroom.

What is an IWB?
An IWB is a classroom tool used by teachers to help increase student awareness and participation in the classroom. There are many different types or brands of IWBs, but the three most common are made by Promethean, SMART, and Mimio. A large number of resource packs can be found on Promethean Planet. These packs contain different pull tabs, magic revealers, and containers, which are useful while creating lessons on the IWB. Although these three are different brands, material that is downloaded from the online internet resources can be used by any of the three systems.

Effective Usage
Although the IWB cannot solely make a lesson perfect, and sound instructional strategies must also be used for the lesson to be success, there are a few different features that are most effective when using an IWB:

• highlighting and coloring
• hiding/revealing text of photos, matching items, and dragging and dropping information
• importing pictures
• using muiltimedia content
• shared reading, peer teaching, and class-wide problem solving
• audio or visual feedback
• student response systems

Instructional Benefits
Studies show that IWBs are highly effective when being used, especially in the following instructional areas:

• active learning
• classroom management
• lesson organization and flow
• flexibility in handling lesson materials
• increased efficiency
• versatility
• multi-modal presentation
• interactivity
• enhanced interaction with the board or peers
• drawing attention
• facilitated learning
• remembering using visual media

Other studies have added to this list by including an increase of students' attention, motivation, participation, and collaboration in the classroom.

Student Achievement
The benefits above are quite beneficial to the classroom, but research also shows a positive relationship between IWB usage and overall achievement. One study done in 2008 showed an increase in literacy, math, and science. But, the increase was also related to the amount of time the IWB was used in the classroom, and showed little to no effect on already low performing students, while showing more effect on average to above average learners.

In 2009, a study was done on eighty-five teachers, who taught a series of lessons both with and without the aid of an IWB. The studies showed that there was a 16% increase in achievement when using the IWB. Also, during the study, research indicated that student response systems, graphics and videos, and reinforcer properties were the most effective tools usable on the IWB.

A type of student response system

Student response systems, which link to the IWB, are a way for students to stay involved in a lesson, by responding to different activities throughout the lesson. These are also a way for teachers to be able to assess the students' progress throughout the lesson, both efficiently and effectively.

These types of devices ares shown to have a 26% increase in achievement, as well as the usage of videos and graphics. The use of reinforcer properties (dragging and dropping, revealing, matching, etc.) on the IWB showed a 31% increase.However, there was also a 23% increase when teachers did not use the IWB, but the reason for failure was an incorrect usage of the board.

Although some statistics say that IWBs are very effective, there are others that show little to no proof of this being the case. In a two-year study done in 2007, evidence showed no significant differences in the test scores of students who were taught using IWBs versus students who were not. This was later supported by another study done in the U.K. by Schuck and Kearney, also in 2007.

Instructional Challenges
The main instructional challenge faced with IWBs are the proper usage of the tools. Most teachers do not have the technical proficiency to use the boards effectively, and the ones that do may not have the most effective way to use them. This typically results in the teachers resorting to older uses of the IWBs, which is a glorified projector or a plain whiteboard. These older uses do not help the students learn, and actually decrease the overall ability of the teacher to manage the classroom as effectively.

In addition, if technical issues occur, teacher confidence in themselves and the usage of the technology go down, which also frustrates the students, decreasing their likeliness to focus fully and learn. If the students are unable to see the board, this creates another issue with using the board in the classroom. Technical support, training, confidence, and time are all important factors in the usage of IWBs in the classroom.

Teacher Training
There are many challenges facing teachers when trying to use IWBs, anywhere from the basic uses of the technology to how to incorporate it effectively into a lesson. Training teachers is the only way to help and improve these issues.

Research shows that teacher training and professional development are essential to the success of the usage of IWBs, and this training should happen both during new-teacher training and after being hired. The training may include online manuals, webinars, and videos. Newer teachers should enroll in classes on how to use the technology, and older, more experience teachers should provide helpful information by way of presentation to others in their school and district.

Ultimately, if teacher training happens initially, and professional development continues throughout one's career, the usage of IWBs in the classroom can only get more and more effective for both the student and the teacher. 

Blog post 4: Wiki Wisdom

What is a wiki?

A "wiki" is a type of website that is used for collaboration inside and out of the classroom in which anyone with access to the internet can edit the page. One of the most common wiki type websites is one called Wikipedia in which many people from around the world have collaborated to create and share information about different topics, ranging anywhere from historical facts to biographies of fictional book or movie characters.  

Who uses wikis?

Wikis are currently most commonly used in the college/university systems. However, the largest potential source for use in the academic systems is in the K-12 age range, due to the continued involvement of the students in the creation and exploration of a topic being discussed in wiki. Outside the classroom, wikis are used by those who travel, professionals looking to keep up communication and information from past experiences at events or conferences, or anyone with common interests looking to share experiences and expertise on a subject.

Wiki vs. Blog?

What is the difference between a wiki and blog? In a blog post, the post is edited by the blog writer, and is then published to be viewed by others. These other viewers can then comment on the blog post, but cannot edit anything about the blog post, which can be useful in the classroom if a post only needs to be commented on. However, wikis allow you to edit others' writing, as well as comment on certain aspects of a post, allowing for a much more open and adaptable structure for discussion. 

How do we use a wiki?

Wikis can be used in variety of ways. Some of these ways are:

• Having students list vocabulary words and their usage in sentences
• Having a student collect different information related to the class while on a family trip
• A travel log made by the students after a field trip about what they saw while on the field trip
• A collection of different information seen in the real world by the students (i.e. fractions, abbreviations, shapes, colors, democracy)

Other more specific examples can be found here. 

Why use wikis?

Wikis have many benefits to the learning process of students:

• They increase the connections made between the newer material recently learned and the older material learned a while back. 
• The help creativity by allowing students to see what others are thinking and writing, which could lead the students to explore a topic at an even deeper level. 
• Engagement of the students also increases, as a project seemingly never ends, but can always be refined and worked on within the group, without taking much time out of the students' normal routine. 

• Interpersonal skills of the students who use wikis increases due to the need to communicate with one another, not only verbally, but by way of typing/writing, which is another skill in and of itself. If the students want to achieve a task at a high level, they must work together to achieve this common goal, and without communication, that is almost impossible.

Wikis are a beneficial resource that can be easily accessed and used within a classroom. Teachers, especially those in the K-12 classroom, must continue to try and find ways to explore new ways of teaching, and wikis are a promising future in the world of education.