Interactive whiteboards: Interactive or just whiteboards?

Abstract

Over the last decade, interactive whiteboards have become popular teaching and learning tools, especially in primary school classrooms. Research studies from recent literature report on high levels of student motivation, teacher enthusiasm and whole-school support associated with these technological tools. Much research to date has reported on the potential of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) to improve the quality of teaching and learning processes by enhancing levels of interaction, communication and collaboration. Whether these claims have been substantiated has not yet been fully investigated. This paper reports on the findings from a collaborative research project between university lecturers, school-based primary school teachers and principals, pre-service teachers and district education consultants who worked together on a small, school-based research project. The researchers involved in this project had three main purposes: (1) to investigate different ways that IWBs are used in primary schools; (2) to share ideas and expertise on the use of IWBs; and (3) to document teachers' current practice with IWBs. Field notes from professional development meetings and classroom observations were analysed using a grounded theory methodology. Findings from this research are reported in this paper and compared to other recent research. The paper concludes with recommendations for practice and future research.