Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards are a great benefit to the classroom in many ways. I believe they enhance teaching and learning in numerous way. Here are some of the following ways they enhance it:

• collaborative way for all students to participate
• It is an active way for students to learn and generate ideas.
• Its a new way to present material to the class
• its a tool that can be integrated into any subject material
• It is great for visual learning and tactile learning
• Teachers can get very creative with communicating the material

I did not think the technology was very difficult to use. I was quite intimidated in the beginning when we were first introduced to it, but then i realized how easy it really was to use. I think it was easy to use because it reminded a lot of something familiar I've used which is  power point, but its a step up from it and a lot more fun to use. There are so many creative ways the interactive whiteboard can communicate and present lessons.
There are many benefits to having the interactive whiteboard installed in the classroom:

•  lessons could include something to hear and see using videos and listening graphics
• go on  field trips around the world by viewing documentaries
•  geographical maps can be zoomed in
• internet interaction can also be used while using the whiteboard
•  student projects can be displayed on the whiteboard.
• substitute teachers can just open it up and see what the lesson will be on for that day

The benefits are numerous and this list can go on and on and on, but there are also a few disadvantages or not so favorable things:

• quite costly for many schools
• a takes a bit of training for teachers and others to learn the different aspects of it
• it requires a bit of maintenance 
• doesn't accommodate well to individual needs of some students
• Some teachers like to move around the classroom and might find it distracting
• It can create a glare for students.

The Smartboard could have also have been used on some of the lessons i previously taught, but since I didn't know how to use a Smartboard at that time I didn't use it. Here are some of the lessons I had and how I could have incorporated Smartboard in the lesson:

• I taught a lesson on the phases of the moon- i could have used a matching game for them to link the name of the phase with the picture and also use the shadow slide to cover and reveal the answers.
• I taught a lesson on right, acute, and obtuse angles- I could have the students move the line to form each angles, I could also have them make one on their own
• I had a lesson on Chinese watercolor lanterns- I could have them watch a small documentary on lanterns and then try drawing the chinese symbols on the smartboard.

There are so many benefits to the interactive Smartboard, but there are very few disadvantages because for the most part the benefits outweigh the cons.