Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs)

Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs)

One of the first things that I wanted to look at was how this technology has been implemented in today’s society. One of the closest representations of this was the interactive whiteboards (IWBs). This uses similar technology and would allow me to gauge how successful it has been, what-if any limitations there are, and future implementations

A company called ‘Future Lab’ (www.futurelab.org.uk) who develop innovations within education, carried out some extensive research on the impacts of the whiteboard technology, with a particular focus on its implementation in the classroom. Below are some of their findings that I found particularly relevant.



The aims of this report are to extract some key findings relating to the use of interactive whiteboards in the classrooms in UK classrooms from research literature.
Recent research reports reveal a very mixed picture. On one hand there are reports that identify how IWBs have been used to significantly improve and extend teaching and learning practices, through aspects such as better display facilities, greater ability to provide better clarification and visual representation, modelling and explanation of ‘difficult’ concepts, as well as engaging and motivating pupils more effectively, helping increase attention spans and improve focus within the classroom which creates a more captivating learning environment.

On the other hand, other research suggests that the mere introduction of such technologies is insufficient to promote greater interactivity in the classroom, from this perspective the assertion tends to be that IWBs have been appropriated to reinforce and facilitate more didactic approaches and increase teacher control and ‘ownership’ of classroom interactions. The majority of research, however, falls somewhere between the two and is far more nuanced, identifying some of the reasons underpinning both effective and less effective usage.

Overall, IWBs were felt to have the most significant impact facilitating activities that could not easily be replicated, such as interactive simulations, presentation of maps and diagrams, sharing of artefacts such as digital microscopes, etc.
The majority of feedback was that people had positive perceptions toward the use of IWBs and their impact on learning and teaching. In particular the quality of displays was thought to enhance key aspects of teaching, and more generally, there was a feeling that IWBs had “helped to bring teaching up to date”.

The research suggests that when there is a willingness on the behalf of teacher to create an interactive environment at the classroom level, and when this interacts with experience and understanding of the technology’s interactive components, that we are likely to see better and more dynamic interactions with IWBs.

I found this research material very informative. I thought that the way that the author didn’t just look at the positive aspects but also the negative ones was also quite refreshing. It would be naive to believe that everything about the technology is 100% perfect.

Its not just the technology, it’s the software- the method of teaching, implementation- there are many variables that would contribute to the success or failure to this technology.