Interactive Whiteboard Trends

The trend I had was the interactive whiteboard (IWB). This trend from what I see is going back and forth between loving it and hating it. More and more classrooms that can afford it will get IWB’s and other technological materials. This technology is there to help the teacher create engaging hands on lessons. While helping students learn the material in different interactive ways. On the other side I am seeing that IWB cost way too much and have many technological problems. Teachers do not have the proper training to use such a board at well which in the end defeats its purpose. Teachers and others can purchase other useful materials such as tablets, projectors, elmos and other technological things to promote the same results at a cheaper price.

           

            I am interested in this topic because my CT has a IWB sorta. She has a projector on the ceiling that but when it is projected on a regular whiteboard it is touchable. My CT can use the interactive pen to change between slides when presenting. I really like this style of IWB because it does not take up space. Also, it allows me to still use my whiteboard for other things. Online learning is very interesting to me. I see the positives that students can do homework online and in class on a chrome book, tablet, Ipad etc. The draw back I see though is that online learning cannot be done at home depending on the student’s home life and other reasons.

            

             Virtual schooling worries me though because if all the learning takes place online and out of the classroom wont that put me out of a job? I do enjoy taking online courses I am not going to lie. It works nicely with my schedule, I can work and take class when I want. For me going to school to be a teacher, it worries me that I will not have a job because students will not need to come to class if they can do their work and learning online. Also, I find it harder to adjust lesson plans and be able to evaluate students because you are not personally interacting with them.

            

              This trend with IWB does not affect my major or level of study. This trend would actually improve it! It would probably make social studies a bit more fun in a sense. I’m sure there are ways with a IWB that can engage students learning in socials studies. I am excited about possibly having a IWB in a future classroom. I would like to play around with it and really explore some of its uses and features. I am skeptical about it actually working. After reading about teachers having constant problems that could take time from learning is not good. The thing is though teachers take this risk with any technological device they use.

Groups that would benefit from IWB are students with special needs and even difficult students. They can be more engaged and get resources they need to help them learn. Difficult students could find IWB a way to stay engage with assignments and learning new topics. Special needs students there are features that the teacher could use on the IWB that could benefit their learning. Hands on lessons or games would help them to learn topics.