NATIONAL MATHEMATICS DAY

HOW TO TEACH A LESSON USING INTERACTIVE BOARD?

         

INTRODUCTION

          Interactive whiteboards have become popular over the last few years, and it appears that their use will continue to grow exponentially. Indeed, books like The Interactive Whiteboard Revolution (Betcher & Lee, 2009) attest to the depth and breadth of change that this tool can promote in classroom practice.

Uses of Interactive Whiteboard

          Interactive boards (also known as smart boards) can be described as instructional tools which allow for computer images to be accurately displayed a board with the help of a digital projector. The elements on the board can then be manipulated by the instructor using a mouse, stylus, pen or his finger and this is done directly done on the screen. It allows items to be clicked, dragged, copied and even the handwriting of notes is possible. The handwriting can then be easily transformed to text before being saved. The board is usually mounted onto a wall or even to a floor stand. It can be used in work places as well as in classrooms of different levels of learning.

The education system has experienced tremendous changes in the past few years as the traditional heavy textbooks are being replaced by convenient eBooks while notebooks are replaced by devices such as interactive whiteboards, Tablets and iPads.

Today, there are many uses of interactive whiteboard in education. The main ways on the use of whiteboard in teaching are as outlined below:

Display

Interactive whiteboard in the classroom can be used by educators to improve the presentation content. This can easily be achieved by developing an array of material into a lesson e.g. a picture from the internet, text derived from a Microsoft Word file, graphs from spreadsheets and teacher and student annotations on the objects. Interactive whiteboards are used in display because they engage students far better compared to chalk boards or even the conventional projector-screen and whiteboards combination.

Record Lessons

One of the uses of interactive whiteboard in education is to record lessons. Interactive whiteboards have a software such as the top notch video conferencing software -ezTalks Meetings which allows users to take notes and create presentations. Educators can use this feature to record their notes and lesson activities. Teachers can also encourage students to come up so that they can jot down few works that can be saved for purposes of future reference. In addition, the teacher can later print the saved works and publish them for their students. Several interactive whiteboards softwares comprise of screen recording tools that educators can use to capture and provide previous lessons to students whenever necessary.

Resources

Using interactive whiteboards in the classroom is encouraged because there are many flash files available on the internet that can be used by teachers and lecturers to deliver effective lessons. The use of such resources is beneficial in education as it functions to save both effort and time while enhancing learning outcomes.

Sharing Resource

The use of whiteboard in teaching allows the computer to become some sort of shared resource. This eliminates crowding or jostling of students around a small screen in an attempt to observe a demonstration by a teacher. This means that the interactive whiteboard can enable students to easily access material from the comfort of their seats.

Learning Styles

Among the top uses of interactive whiteboard in education is to successfully accommodate the different learning styles. This is because recording tools can be utilized for audio learners, the board can be touched and manipulated by tactile learners and visual learners can easily track whatever that is happening as a lesson proceeds. Facilitating the different learning styles is a superb way of demonstrating the use of whiteboard in teaching.

Internet Access

Using interactive whiteboards in the classroom allows for the immediate access to all the content that the internet has to provide. This is beneficial because queries can be answered instantly through a Google search as audio, video and images are all easily accessible.

Interactivity

The use of interactive whiteboard in the classroom allows pupils to actively engage with material, receive instant feedback on current projects and to manipulate learning objects. It enables the lecturer to sit at the computer with a student at the whiteboard and the class contributing ideas and offering suggestions. It basically promotes interactive teaching.

Preservation

One of the uses of interactive whiteboard in education that is usually taken for granted is its capability to preserve lessons, notes and discussions. Such material can easily be accessed afterwards. Saving concepts and ideas that had been extensively covered in a previous lesson means that students can easily access the content so as to refresh their knowledge. Furthermore, students who were absent when the lessons were covered for one reason of the other can get an opportunity to access the material to go through what was previously covered.

Games

Games is also a way of how to use a whiteboard in classroom. Education via games such as rearranging jumbled texts/ objects or drag and match is possible. This is mostly applicable for the education of very young students. The games can be properly prepared and varied by the teacher so that they are effective.

Emphasis

Interactive whiteboards have different patterns that can be used to lay emphasis on a single word or even group of words. It uses movements and color among other techniques to do this. Furthermore, the distractive part of the interactive whiteboard's screen has an effective hideaway feature.

Group Interaction

Interactive whiteboard in the classroom is perfect for the purpose of group participation and discussion. It is a highly effective tool for brainstorming because notes that are made on the screen can be transformed into text and consequently saved for later sharing and distribution. It is an ideal when collaborative learning and a small group work is being aimed at. This can be achieved by students huddling around the board as they develop bright ideas, the work can then be saved for sharing via email or over a network. A good example of a software that encourages group interaction is the video conferencing software -ezTalks Meetings. The above points do not exhaust how to use a whiteboard in classroom as they are limitless but one thing is very clear, using interactive whiteboards in the classroom is a necessity.

HOW TO USE INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARD?

          Fundamentally, an interactive whiteboard combines a dry erase whiteboard with an LCD projector and is usually mounted on a wall or floor stand. Powered by easy-to-use software, the whiteboard becomes a computer screen viewable by an entire classroom. The projector projects the content from a computer onto the surface of the board while the teacher controls the content either with a pointer or a touch of the hand instead of a keyboard and mouse. The combination of software with the projector results in much more than simply a projected image.

Anything that can be done on a computer monitor, can be replicated on the interactive white board. A teacher can create engaging lessons that focus on one task such as a matching activity where students use either their fingers or a pen to match items. Another teacher might integrate multiple items into a lesson plan such as websites, photos, and music that students can interact with, respond to verbally or even write comments on the board itself. Image size and placement can change with a simple touch to the screen. This technology makes the one-computer classroom a workable instructional model. Imagine taking a class on a photo safari to Africa complete with embedded videos, animal sounds and mapping software.

Conclusion

The interactive whiteboard in the classroom is a cost saver as the technology demonstrates how a single computer can provide an appropriate learning stimuli for an entire classroom. It is also more cost effective compared to equipping every student with a laptop or even an entire IT room. The flexibility it brings to education is why it is common in primary schools and universities all over the world. All the above insightful information comprehensively shows how to use a whiteboard in classroom.