Job Discussion Forums

[Google Eyes]

Hi,

I was at IATEFL a few weeks ago and saw a presentation on interctive whiteboards. They looked really good in the presentation and I've been thinking about them ever since.

How do you use them practically in class though? Are they just to impress students or are they actually useful? And any thoughts on how to convince my DOS to buy one - or if it's even worth it?

Thanks!

[saint57]

It sounds interesting. Can you describe it a bit?

[MELEE]

Mexico is in the process of installing them in primary schools. Basically its a way to spend money to improve teaching without ever actually training any teachers!
I think in the right hands they could be great. But here them come with a gov. curriculum that the teacher just presents, so far I haven't seen it do anything a good teacher alone couldn't do. Sort of like those CD-Roms that are just grammar exercises, just a book, but now its on a computer screen.

I'm not saying it couldn't be great, just like there are some great uses of CALL out there. Likewise there is a lot of fluff.

[SueH]

We had them at an FE college I was teaching at in the UK, but not in the rooms I used. Can't remember much about the training session I went on (or was that Moodle), but perhaps not as much use in language as in some other subjects. There were some very creative uses demonstrated though, and a few thoughts occurred to me at the time.

As an ex-systems analyst I'm not scared of technology but nor do I use it for its own sake. To use well would take some experience and practice. I'm sure there are components of a lesson which could be useful and where materials could be reused (bearing in mind the time to develop them). As I never seem to get groups of the same level or interests, and every lesson is different prep time could expand. In a more homogenous environment such effort could be worthwhile. To do it half-cock would be a waste of time, in my opinion.

[Glenski]

Never seen one in Japan (the land of electronic technology), although I've heard of them. I've worked in a private high school, a conversation school, and a university. The only place I've heard of them here is in a company.

Why the question, if you don't mind? I mean, if your employer has one, you'll be using it. If he doesn't, you won't.

[Justin Trullinger]

[Google Eyes]

Hi,

After writing that post I went home and did a little bit of research on interactive whiteboards and here's what I found out:

(1) What are they? (To answer your question, saint57)

Basically they're whiteboards with a touch sensitive screen. You hook up your computer to a projector and then project your computer screen onto this touch sensitive screen. But instead of operating your computer through the computer itself, you can operate it all through the BOARD using a special pen.

(2) For Glenki - I don't have an Interactive Whiteboard, but I saw one demonsrated at a conference and it looked pretty cool. I'd like to have one but I'm not sure how much they cost (interactive whiteboard, plus projector, plus anythign else???) or if they're actually useful (methodologically) or just... flash looking!

(3) What I've found out so far

There are lots of companies who make them. Like Smart, promethean, ebeam,panasonic blah blah blah. And they all have different prices. I found a good overview of prices at http://www.wedgwood-group.com/whiteboards_by_price.htm and a site that shows you what kind you can buy for your budget at http://whiteboards.becta.org.uk/ - I guess you just use the projector you've already got???

I also found this website which shows how they're being used in secondary school English (not ELT, just English) classrooms in the UK http://www.schoolzone.co.uk/resources/IWB/subjects.asp (you have to choose English)

After reading this secondary schools PDF I really want an interactive whiteboard! Maybe I should show THAT to my DOS!

Does anyone use them right now in their ELT classroom? What do you actually DO with it on a day to day basis?

[tedkarma]

My experience teaching in five different countries (one country not EFL) is that tech fails just when you need it most. As a teacher trainer - I always teach my trainees to have their lesson ready in a non-tech version - just in case.

Slowly tech is improving - and I LIKE it!

But schools don't always put money into maintaining their systems.

I have seen demos of these boards and they may be very good in the long run.

[darkside1]

I use an interactive whiteboard extensively to teach humanities. Some benefits (which could be transferred to efl/esl) are the following:

-you can project your DVD/ video player onto the whiteboard screen (mine is 130cm by 85cm so the images are much bigger than regular tv) and then switch from image to computer screen and viceversa via a handswitch to do activities on scenes in the video (obviously I am teaching humanities content but it could work with scenes from films).

-students can highlight errors in text projected onto the screen and then re-write them as a group; they do this via electronic pens which appear to 'write' in black/blue/red and green, which are also handy for another technique called 'traffic lights' where students highlight parts of text they feel are correct/ incorrect/ unsure about.

-you can use font styles (eg Verdana, Comic Sans) and sizes which are easily understood (not always the case with a regular whiteboard).

-it cuts down on the photocopy bill massively and work sheets can be updated/ customised.

-you can project video content from websites (eg bbc news, UN webcasts etc) and use it for activities.

The downside is that it can become an extension of 'chalk and talk'.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

You can do most of these things with a normal projector and computer with a DVD drive. I've got a projector and computer in the front of the room, and I use it to show CNN clips (which are followed by a worksheet displayed on the screen), PowerPoints, and movies, among other things.

While it would be handy to be able to control everything by touching the whiteboard, I can't see that convenience justifying the price (especially considering that you would have to buy a projector if you don't already have one).

It seems like the device is more useful for travelling business people than for teachers (unless you're leading a distance-learning/online class). I hope someone can persuade me otherwise, because it is an intriguing bit of technology!

[MELEE]

Yeah, I project onto my regular white board anyways. I admit, I rarely use the computer projector even though I have it available to me. I often use the OHP, mostly because I'm starting to get old and set in my ways and I have many already prepared transparencies and making them into power point or other computer slides would take time (but I admit it would probably be time well spent.) I love projecting on to the white board then I can write things on the board as we go along which become part of the image being projected, and not have to erase any part of the transparency for my next class. I know the computer would make this even easier once I got up and running on it. Its just that getting up part that is hard!