Interactive Whiteboards in Today's Classroom

Whiteboards have been something that have emerged in technology greatly over the last couple of years. I honestly can't remember the first time I saw a whiteboard. Overhead Projectors were used until at least 6th grade, and I think seventh grade was the first time I was introduced to one as a student. There are many debates on whether or not whiteboards increase student engagement and increase student learning. From my own personal experiences and the articles, Some Educators and Interactive Whiteboards, we read in class on Tuesday, I can tell you what I think.

When I was growing up in school, everything was done on an overhead projector or on a computer projected on a screen. Whiteboards did not become real popular in our school district til high school. I would have to say that maybe a little over half the classrooms had whiteboards. What was the point of having a whiteboard if students were rarely (if ever) allowed to use them or interact with them?

Basically the point of the whiteboard was for the teacher. Almost all the math classes had them but we never did any activities on them that engaged students. To us high school kids we were bored with the whiteboard real fast because to us it was viewed as another screen that teachers could project notes or other lessons on. The only difference was that the teacher could write on it. I never viewed the whiteboard as anything special since we were not trusted enough to touch them. I think Mr. Giere is the only teacher I can remember that let us interact with a whiteboard when we were reviewing for a test the next day. We could come up and write the answer to his review problems and show the class how to do them. To little kids these days the whiteboards are special, but to junior high and high school kids, you have to let them engage with it not to get bored.

In my opinion I think it would be hard to differentiate a lesson with a whiteboard. You have the whole class doing an activity together, but if you put the whiteboard at a station during station time you could differentiate a lesson that way. The only problem would be you would have to have your main attention on the group at the whiteboard and therefore not paying attention so much to the other stations. I'm up in the air about whiteboards in general, but if used properly, I think they can be great for classroom use.