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10 Ways to Use Interactive Whiteboards in Your Classroom 

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10 Ways to Use Interactive Whiteboards in Your Classroom 

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This article is about ten different ways that interactive whiteboards can be used in the classroom. It lists ways that whiteboards can be used tin the classroom to make learning fun and motivate students. One of the ways listed even involves classroom management. If looking for ideas on how to use interactive whiteboards in the classroom this is a great place to start.
- Alicia Travis

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1) Signing in. When students come into class in the morning they can sign in through your interactive whiteboard. Students click on their name if they are in class today. These attendance boards are a fun morning routine for students. They also free up much needed wall space. Download the, Free Star Attendance Board, to get started.

2) Music in the classroom. Your interactive whiteboard is great for listening to music. Music is perfect to listen to during work time, as brain breaks, and for relaxing at quiet time. The two websites that are popular among teachers are Spotify and Pandora. These websites have hundreds of songs that are appropriate for young students. Now you can listen to music throughout the day.

3) YouTube. There are great videos on YouTube that are perfect for learning. These videos can be displayed on your interactive whiteboard. They are awesome for introducing concepts and reviewing tricky concepts. Check out the, 10 Best YouTube Channels for Kindergarten, to get started.

4) Noise Management. Your interactive whiteboard is great for visual displays. Two websites in particular are perfect for monitoring the noise in the classroom. Bouncy Balls is a website that connects to a microphone. If the students are too noisy the bouncy balls go crazy. The students have to keep the bouncy balls from moving. Too Noisy Lite also monitors classroom noise through your microphone. There is a meter on the screen that goes towards red when the class gets louder. The screen also changes with noise level to alert students.

5) PowerPoint Games. Interactive PowerPoint games can be played on interactive whiteboards. They are perfect to use as a class reward, when there are a few extra minutes, and during whole group instruction. PowerPoint games also help introduce concepts, and teach key skills. But, the best thing about PowerPoint games is that students absolutely love them. Try out PowerPoint games in your classroom and see how they work for you. You can download the, Free Night Owl Word Problems, to get started or check out other PowerPoint games.

6) Brain Breaks. Go Noodle is an awesome tool for the classroom. The website has brain break videos you can use in your classroom. Access Go Noodle through your interactive whiteboard to play these videos for your students. These videos provide students with much needed movement activities. Now you can get up and move everyday with Go Noodle.

7) Read Alouds. If you are a teacher you can use Epic for free in your classroom. Epic is an online website that gives you access to thousands of children's books. These books can be displayed on your interactive whiteboard, then you can use them as whole group read alouds. Some of the books are recorded readings and others you will have read to your students.

8) Anchor Charts. You can display your anchor charts through your interactive whiteboard. Take a picture of you anchor chart, then display them on your whiteboard. This is great if you have limited space to store or hang your anchor charts. You can also use the pen tool to write on the anchor charts and save the notes for future use. If you don't have anchor charts in your classroom don't worry. There are interactive anchor charts designed for interactive whiteboards. Check out the, Short Vowel Interactive Anchor Charts.

9) Hook it up to an iPad. There are great apps on the iPad that are perfect for the classroom. You can display these apps on your interactive whiteboard by connecting the iPad to a VGA adapter. It is also great if you have classroom management apps you can only access through your iPad. Watch the video on the post, 10 Terrific Ways to Use One iPad in the Classroom, to learn how to connect your iPad. Note: You will only be able to display the apps. You still have to use the iPad to work the apps.

10) Websites. Do your students have fun websites they access through your classroom computers? During whole group you can have them use these websites on the interactive whiteboard. They are perfect for a fun reward or to work on key math and reading skills.

Your Turn:
How do you use your interactive whiteboard in your classroom? Add your answers in the comments below. I would love to hear your tips and tricks.

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10 ways to use your Interactive Whiteboard - Early Core Learning

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1) Signing in. When students come into class in the morning they can sign in through your interactive whiteboard. Students click on their name if they are in class today. These attendance boards are a fun morning routine for students. They also free up much needed wall space.

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I found this video online discussing Google Jamboard, a feature of Google I had never explored before. Jamboard is very similar to a digital whiteboard tool but has different ideas of incorporating digital media for your classroom. I like that you can change it from a white canvas to a graph paper background. It's compatible with especially Google Classrooms, a program that many schools use.
Mackenzie Akin

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How to Use Google Jamboard for Remote Teaching

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I thought to myself, "It would be great if Microsoft had something like Twiddla." Well, they do! This is a link to download their app that has very similar features to Twiddla, Tuzzit, and Explain Everything but with an interface aligned to Microsoft Office. I think this is useful because we are still trying to prepare students to be literate with Microsoft, so this application combines newer digital tools with other relevant programs.
Mackenzie Akin

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Digital Online Whiteboard App | Microsoft Whiteboard | Microsoft 365

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The intelligent whiteboard and infinite canvas for creative collaboration that’s included with Microsoft 365.

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Using Interactive Whiteboards in Special Education Classroom 

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Using Interactive Whiteboards in Special Education Classroom 

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This is a great blog post about the different ways digital whiteboards are beneficial in a special education classroom. It discusses how using them accommodates many different learners easily meeting their unique needs. It is also great for engaging students and encouraging socialization. another benefit is that interactive whiteboards address different sensory needs and make teaching lessons to everyone more accessible.
- Alicia Travis

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I love the use of interactive whiteboards in the classroom! The Council for Exception Children states, "Whiteboards Engage Autistic Students in Social Learning - Although touchscreen tablets work well as personalized tools, they cannot be a replacement for interactive whiteboards, which help autistic students with social learning in a group setting." I feel this is not only true for children on the spectrum but for all students when it comes to learning to work together! When hooked up to a computer, the whiteboard's screen becomes an active computer desktop, which can be touched to pull down menus, highlight, and move or open files. Users can circle relevant sections on the projected image, draw figures, and underline text. Special needs students can often manipulate the whiteboard with more ease than a traditional computer/mouse set-up. With Ablenet's Jelly Beamer and receiver you can pair as many beamers to one receiver as you want making the whiteboard now

accessible with switches.

The large fonts and bright colors might be helpful for both visually impaired students and those who have trouble staying on task, while students who respond well to kinesthetic learning will benefit from touching the board. Instructional best practices for students with disabilities and special needs include employing those multisensory methods and relevance to teaching. Integrating visual, auditory, touch and movement into the learning environment gives teachers the interactivity needed to provide engaging lessons.

Lessons can be completed by using sounds, videos and images that are much more interactive and engaging. Allowing your students to and move and become a part of the visual information allows them to be Multi-sensory tools, such as the interactive whiteboard, allow students to attend through visual, auditory and tactile means bringing in much more focus all around. Students are engaged in what they're learning, rather than just watching and it Some more active in their learning.

brings in all of their learning styles.
added tools to consider when using the whiteboards:

freehand shape and freehand text tools reinforce fine motor skill development for those with a dexterity disability

note taking for review of key concepts

recorded assignments that can be used to review lesson content and be saved, printed and taken home for additional reinforcement

Audio or video supplements make information more accessible for emerging readers and ELL students

Copies of board work and student/teacher notes can be captured and shared across the classroom or taken home for additional practice and review

Research has proven that interactive whiteboard use raises awareness in children with special needs and helps them to socialize better with their teachers and peers in class.
Interactive whiteboards brings in

Smart Inclu sion is a Wiki site full of resources. This is listed first as I find this site to be so rich and worth exploring.

Promethean Planet offers lesson plans broken down into ages and subjects. Be sure to check out their special education section

is a site full of information and resources but you might want to spend some time in the section designed for interactive whiteboards.

offers free educational interactive resources for elementary schools, free to use fun games for kids plus links to free interactive, image and software resources.

Global Classroom's Interactive resources is jammed packed of links, categorized by subject and age. You can spend days, months on this site and its links alone.

Designed for safe Internet use with children, provides a rich website full of resources perfect for use on the big screen.

LearnZillion offers 2,000+ lessons by top teachers - all built from the Common Core State Standards.

The Literacy Center Education Network delivers free, professionally-designed, education material appropriate for our children who need clean, clear materials.

Mrs. Gebauer's Smartboard Resources is laid out in a very friendly way so that it is easy to find what you need. Very rich site with just about everything one could need.

NASA has various interactive sites worth exploring.

NeoK-12 offers videos, lessons and games for K-12.

Smart Notebook Express allows you to view, interact and save with Smart Notebook files online, at no cost. Free!!! This program can be downloaded right to your computer for easy access. One click on express.smarttech.com and anyone, anywhere can open, edit and share lessons and other content created using SMART Notebook collaborative learning software. This lightweight version of SMART Notebook software is accessible online anytime at no charge. With the SMART Notebook Express web application, you don't need to log in and there's no software to download - all you need is Internet access.

South Carolina Department of Education has a PDF booklet designed specifically for the use of Interactive Whiteboards with special needs students. You will find it to be rich in visuals, accessories discussion, how-to guide, websites, and more. A must!!

Sites to Support Students with Special Needs , on this blog, offers many sites perfect for using with the full class. Look for activities that are rich in visuals, require responses and encourage participation.

A resources that talks centers around inclusion and the use of an Interactive Whiteboard SMARTInclusion provides many helpful hints, links and information worth getting lost in.

Marilyn Western's site: Stuff for Classroom Teachers , is jammed full of Internet resources, not with highlights in each section on "Smartboard Activities". Be sure to explore this site.

A little step-by-step video tutorial to help you visualize this approach:

Classroom Suite and are perfect programs to use with Interactive Whiteboards. By using and Classroom Suite you then have access to their activities from their exchange sites. Using these programs also makes it easy to hook in your switch users to allow them to participate more fully. Mayer-Johnson and Don Johnson both carry a number of titles with switch access so you might want to shop their sites. (Be sure to use their sites that offer shared activities! See individual blog entries on both for more information.) Boardmaker Plus! or Studio

There are also plenty of switch sites on-line (see posting on Switches - Internet Activities ). Then use a attached to the teacher's computer and position the student close to that computer with their switch or (the best approach would be) invest in a switch interface to attach to the switch interface. wireless switch

(usually presented as a teacher tool but can be turned around as a student access tool.)

allows students to turn their iPad into an interactive whiteboard. Once connected to the computer over Wifi, they can watch Flash media with fully synchronized video and audio, control favorite applications all from an iPad.

iPad interactive whiteboard and screencast recorder with sophisticated tools for hand-drawn graphics and remote desktop control.

A few favorite sites used by Special Education Teachers:

Boardmaker Online Community provides activities developed by others. You must have a Boardmaker with interactive capabilities to use this on a whiteboard.

animated educational site broken into subject matter topics offers a free trial (also explore )

Edheads is an online educational resource that provides free science and math games and activities that promote critical thinking. Choose from Simple Machines, Virtual Knee Surgery or Stem Cell Heart Repair, among others. All activities meet state and national standards.

Literactive provides you with stories, activities and other learning to read activities.

is Connecting students to the world. Each week, students connect with the world through symbol-supported news articles and dozens of worksheets, games, and activities. News‐2‐You stands alone as the national newspaper for special education.

Sheppard Software for use with younger students

SMART Exchange is not geared specifically for special education but is full of useful resources for all students.

Thinkfinity has an interactive classroom section. You can refine your search by grade level and subject matter. This is a search tool that will direct you to great sites elsewhere.

Topmarks has an Interactive Whiteboard section: teaching resources, homework help and educational websites for use in the classroom.

TumbleBooks - which is a site full of wonderful ebooks for kids (Some free, some with subscription only.)

(which is
Vizzle not a free program but well worth purchasing if your budget allows) is a means by which special educators can share and create evidence-based interactive visual lessons. It is a web-based service that gives users access to thousands or peer-reviewed lessons. These lessons are easily customizable to meet your own needs and enable you to add your own media. There are a number of templates available for creating your own lessons including matching boards, book-building, games, schedules and various boards. If you need a program that will help you to gather data_ this is the program for you! Vizzle lessons are perfect for interactive whiteboards. There is a free trial option offered that is worth trying out. (Vizzle staff are willing to come out and share their program and to provide training if you decide to purchase!)

When shopping, be sure to explore the TAP-it or before purchasing your interactive whiteboard as they can be a perfect classroom tool if you have students with physical impairments or autism. This interactive monitor screen has the ability to change positions (up, down, tilt to any angle) so that ALL students can access it either with direct touch or by using any type of pointer. It will distinguish between intentional versus unintentional touch, allowing students to lean on, rest or balance themselves on the board while using it without disrupting the purposeful touch. It will even withstand hard blows and the all mighty drool factor. No additional wall space is needed as it can be easily moved and used wherever you need it at that particular time. These devices provide a very unique ability to be used with individual students, small group or full classes.

You have been told that, " we can't afford to get a whiteboard," then use about $50 of your classroom budget and build your own! This TED talk will provide you with the basics. A Google search provided me with many more resources. This how to is in video and in print.

The interactive whiteboards are great in a special education setting and in a general education setting! "Sadly, students with special needs often become isolated from their peers," says Lisa DeRoy, education advocate. "Mainstream teachers are also special needs teachers. They have a classroom with a smorgasbord of student needs they have to accommodate." McClaskey believes that the iPad works well as a personal tool but that it doesn't further the fundamental goals of learning in a group as whiteboards do. "Kids develop a respect for each other," says Kathleen McClaskey, president of EdTech Associates and a member at large of ISTE SETSIG, a special interest group on special education technology. "They take turns and increase their attention span by nearly an hour through the visual components."

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Interactive Whiteboards with Special Needs

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I love the use of interactive whiteboards in the classroom! The Council for Exception Children states, "Whiteboards Engage Autistic Students in Social Learning - Although touchscreen tablets work well as personalized tools, they cannot be a replacement for interactive whiteboards, which help autistic students with social learning in a group setting."

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Using Interactive Whiteboards in Special Education Classroom

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Using Interactive Whiteboards in Special Education Classroom

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Nearpod: 10 Ways to Use it in YOUR Classroom

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Nearpod: 10 Ways to Use it in YOUR Classroom

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Nearpod is an amazing resource for both teachers and students. This article by the Nearpod Team directly addresses the effective uses of Nearpod and IWB's in the classroom. I personally love using Nearpod for differentiation, as well as assessments (formal and informal), and modeling. Reading this article will give you a more rounded idea of how Nearpod could benefit you and your students.

-Valeska LaPlanche

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Nearpod helps educators make any lesson interactive, whether in the classroom or virtual. The concept is simple. A teacher can create interactive presentations that can contain Quizzes, Polls, Videos, Collaborate Boards, and more. You can access thousands of premade K-12 standards-aligned lessons or upload your existing lessons and make them interactive using Nearpod in the classroom. Nearpod makes teaching easier with the interactive tools, resources, and content teachers need, all in one place. You can sign up for a free account today and learn 5 ways to use a free Nearpod account.

The students can access a teacher's Live Participation presentation through a code, and the teacher then moves the class through the lesson and lets students interact with the media as they go. Teachers can also opt for Student-Paced mode, where the student controls the flow of the lesson. This mode is perfect for remote learning, hybrid learning, sub days, homework assignments, or independent work. The app is web-based and works on any device with an internet connection.

10 ways to use Nearpod in the classroom

Below are just ten simple ways you can utilize this multiple-solutions-in-one tool:

1. Simple presentation delivery

At its most simple, you can use Nearpod as a substitute for other presentation tools. Instead of running a Powerpoint or Google Slides, you can utilize Nearpod and make the lesson more interactive. You can even 'drag and drop' your existing Google Slides, PDFs, and PowerPoints into the app for it to instantly create a Nearpod presentation. Then you can select from countless interactive activities and formative assessments. The presentations will be beamed to each student's device in the classroom. You also do not have to rely on students being able to see the board.

2. Personalized provision and differentiation

Following on from the idea of using Nearpod as a simple presentation tool, you could isolate the use of the app to one student or a small group. It could be that you are beaming extra teaching provisions to particular pupils during a starter. This could be the missing link that provides more support for a child with visual impairments. It could provide that extra bit of help for a low attainer in your class. You can also duplicate the lesson and modify to deliver differentiated content to your students. You can edit these lessons with personalized formative assessment activities, collect feedback, and inclusive accessibility.

3. Distributing student resources

Using the app to distribute resources is another simple way of using it in the classroom. You can fill your presentation with images or worksheets and ask the students to use the Students Notes feature to save the presentation to their drive to access the information later when studying for an exam or completing homework.

4. Live formative assessment

The app can become even more useful if you insert one of Nearpod's many formative assessment activities into your presentation. As a teacher, you can create customized Quizzes, Polls, Open-ended Questions, Matching Pairs, Draw It activities, and more. Use these tools to view their responses and check for students' understanding in real-time. The teacher can instantly gain insights into the classes' overall understanding and make adjustments on the fly.

5. Interactive gamification and activities

One simple way to implement Nearpod into your daily instruction is to have students do an interactive activity. Add interest and excitement into everyday learning with Drag & Drop, Draw It, Time to Climb, Matching Pairs, and Collaborate Board. To review a unit use the gamified multiple-choice quiz, Time to Climb. With Collaborate Board, teachers can host classroom discussions with students using an interactive board to share ideas in real-time.

6. Self-assessment

It is common practice in Primary and Secondary schools for students to assess themselves and evaluate their own confidence levels. This is usually achieved through a traffic light system that children are encouraged to draw in their workbooks. Red indicates a poor confidence level, amber indicates a fair understanding and green indicates a very good understanding of any given learning topic.

Nearpod contains the option of inserting a 'Poll'. In this situation, students' opinions are questioned. This makes the 'Polling' tool a perfect feature to use when 'traffic lighting' in the classroom. The information is then saved in the aforementioned reports!

The app also has a feature called ' Draw It' that can be built into your presentations. This beams an interactive whiteboard to the students' devices. The teacher's device will display all of the students' 'drawings' and the teacher can then 'share' individual whiteboards with the entire class. Hitting share will cause the chosen 'drawing' to appear on every device. This enables teachers to share good work and model good progressions.

8. Open-ended tasks

Nearpod in the classroom allows for creative flexibility. The 'Open-Ended Questions' feature allows the teacher to pose a question or set up a scenario for the students to respond to. With this tool, you can facilitate creative writing tasks. As a result, the advantage of using something like Nearpod for this kind of activity is that the 'Open-Ended' answers are then automatically logged in the reports.

9. Setting homework

All of the above examples revolve around the idea of using Nearpod in a Live session, but students can also engage on their own time. You can provide a Student-Paced code and they can access the Nearpod lesson at home, or anywhere with an internet connection.

10. Sharing and using pre-made resources

One way of using Nearpod involves almost no work at all. Once you log on, tap on the ' Nearpod Library ' button on the left side and it will take you to a library of pre-made Nearpod lessons. You can find interactive presentations on almost anything for K-12 made by reliable subject experts. Near down your search by using the filters on the left side, typing into the search for, or browsing around our featured content. You can search by lesson type, standards, subjects, grade levels, and keywords.

Get started using Nearpod

The customizable nature of the app means that it can be applied to any age range and teaching context. It saves you time with real-time formative assessment and session reports and helps build a connected culture in and outside of the classroom.
Sign up for free!

Interested in downloading a PDF version of this resource? Download to access at any time and share with colleagues!

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Nearpod is a student engagement platform that can be used to amazing effect in the classroom. It's as useful as it is simple to use.

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Get the Most Out of Your Digital Whiteboard

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Get the Most Out of Your Digital Whiteboard

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The Cult of Pedagogy provides a friendly outline to the use of interactive whiteboards in the classroom. Jennifer Gonzalez puts  an emphasis on the fact that there is a 16 percentile point increase of students who's teachers effectively use IWB's. While most teachers in today's classroom utilize some form of IWB, only those who utilize this tool effectively will see this change. This article gives concrete suggestions on how to use your IWB effectively.

-Valeska LaPlanche

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Dear Cult of Pedagogy, I walked into my classroom this week and saw that I've been given a Smartboard (No warning! No training! Tons of expectations!). I'm not concerned about learning how to USE it, but more how to capitalize on its interactive nature. I teach high school English. Do you know of any resources?
So your school just spent an insane amount of money on interactive whiteboards without much forethought, and at the expense of other needs. Awesome!

All snark aside, some teachers have done amazing things with interactive whiteboards (IWBs), adapting their teaching to really take advantage of what IWBs can do. Others basically use them to show videos. How do you get the most out of your board? Since you asked about English, and that's my background, I'll share my own ideas at the end. First, here's a summary of the best advice I've found online.

d tech columnist Ben Stern advises teachers to Treat the board as one tool, not the focus of the room. E use whiteboards selectively. If a task doesn't really lend itself to IWB use, then don't use it for that task. "Often I hear teachers say that they're using it to prove to their principal that they've used it," he says."Make sure that you're using it for the students." One of the best uses I've seen for IWBs is as a station: Students rotated between independent seat work, hands-on manipulatives, a teacher-led activity, and a small-group task done on the IWB. Which leads to our next item...

Have the students use it.Critics say that IWBs put instructional focus right where it does not belong: on the teacher, in front of the room. But if students are using it to really engage with their learning, that board starts earning its keep. For tons of solid, specific ideas for getting kids on the board, take a good look at this presentation from Candace Hackett Shively: Hands Off, Vanna! Giving Students Control of Interactive Whiteboard Learning. A lot of her ideas would work very well in an English Language Arts classroom, and not once does she ask you to buy new software.

Remember...it can do everything your computer can. Stern's article also reminds us to think way beyond the software that comes with your IWB. If we limit ourselves to those tools, we're missing out on a lot. Whenever you get stuck, remember that anything online that your school allows access to can now become part of your classroom: This means Skype calls, webinars, online discussion boards, and up-to-the-minute news articles are just a click away. And the tools you have on your computer are there, too: presentation software, word processing, and games can now be built into your instruction, for your use and the students'.

conducted by Marzano & Haystead found a 16 percentile point increase in achievement in students whose teachers used IWBs Go easy on the bells & whistles. A 2009 study effectively. Teachers who used lots of non-relevant visuals and virtual applause, rather than focusing on the content, actually got worse results with IWBs. If you find yourself falling in love with features, be careful not to let them take over.

Learn more with the right search. Since there are several brands of this kind of board, online research will be most fruitful if you search with the term interactive whiteboards. This covers all brands and will most likely yield academically based results not sponsored by one brand or another. Be wary of "research" published by the manufacturers of one particular board - their primary goal is to sell you more product.

And for the English class...Since my background is in English Language Arts, I'll throw in my two cents. I would use it first for writing. Teaching students how to brainstorm, draft, revise and edit is complicated and challenging. Teacher and student modeling is an essential part of this process. Editing text directly on the IWB is one of its most basic features, and it's one that would be invaluable for writing teachers. I used to do this on an overhead, but IWBs allow you to save your work, move things around, and just do things much more cleanly. My other main use would be for demonstrating all the online tools that allow students to brainstorm ( Xmind), collaborate ( Google Docs), and publish their work ( Scribd). And I would have students do most of that demonstration: They pick up on technology much faster than we do, so if they are aware of something new and better, let them teach the rest of the class how to use it.

I hope this helps get you off to a good start. Come back later and tell us how it's going!

Readers: What other advice do you have? I'm excited to hear what you have to say. Add your own experiences in the comments section below.

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Are You Making the Most of Your Interactive Whiteboard?

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Interactive whiteboards are a fixture in many classrooms, but are teachers taking advantage of all they have to offer? Here are some ways to improve your use.

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Resources for PE use of Digital Whiteboards!

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Resources for PE use of Digital Whiteboards!

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Although this isn't the typically article describing what a digital whiteboard is or how to insert it into the classroom, this tool is incredibly helpful for the integration of the technology into the classroom. This tool includes multiple different interfaces for learning in PE. Each tool gives its own description of what it is and how to utilize it. The interfaces range over a variety of topics and range from free to under $10. I believe this is an incredibly useful resource because it applies the use of a digital whiteboard into the classroom.
-Carol Walkley

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Physical Education Interactive Whiteboard | Teachers Pay Teachers

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Browse resources on Teachers Pay Teachers, a marketplace trusted by millions of teachers for original educational resources.

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This website serves as a great resource for teachers planning to utilize a digital whiteboard in physical education. Included in the website are videos related to posting content and keeping it interesting for students. Thus tool also supplies examples of how to incorporate physical education using a white board. Included in the example section are free templates for lesson plans to include on the board. This website also includes a section for the most recent update, this is helpful to see how relevant the information is. Currently the last update on this tool was May 2020, so we can tell this information should be fairly current.
-Carol Walkley

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In trying to push my creativity and teaching to the limit, I decided to upgrade my white board. To me, presentation is important. In addition, I wanted to give my students who could not read yet the ability to "see" what we were doing in class. To that end I've created (with some help from the app "Comic Life 3") a digital white board that could be used with a flat screen TV or projector. Below you will see the board as well as all the pictures that I am able to insert into the main board and then project. All of the "Warm-Up Time" and "Fitness Time" activities I came up with and I use them throughout the year. All of the "Practice Time" activities are based on the SPARK curriculum. Please feel free to use them as you wish. Suggestion: Another way to use them are as station signs! Enjoy!

Over the past 4 years, I have created several versions of my digital whiteboard invention. Below you will see the various versions in both 45 minute classes (4 sections: Warmup/Fitness/Focus/Closing) and 30 minute classes (3 sections: Warmup/Focus/Closing). Where you see empty spots is where I put the various pictures and GIFs.

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In trying to push my creativity and teaching to the limit, I decided to upgrade my white board. To me, presentation is important. In addition, I wanted to give my students who could not read yet the ability to "see" what we were doing in class.

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Why Use A Digital Whiteboard to Teach Early Literacy

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Why Use A Digital Whiteboard to Teach Early Literacy

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This is another great article that I found simply by googling the benefits of using a digital whiteboard in your classroom for education. I highly recommend taking a look at this if you’re pursuing early childhood education because it contains a great section that focuses on how you can utilize this tool for organizational purposes in your classroom. The author, Pamela A. Solve talks about student engagement with digital whiteboards and makes the argument that this tool for teaching creates enthusiasm from the students when it comes to learning the curriculum! If you want to learn more about how you can make the most out of working with a digital whiteboard in your classroom then I must say that this is an article for you!
-Meghan Murray

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Introduction

Throughout years of working with primary-level students, ongoing coursework, and continual reading, I have attempted to remain abreast of current research and to employ methods of instruction that effectively address the diverse learning needs of my students. My desire to create a positive learning environment to engage young children while at the same time recognizing their developmental needs has continued to guide instructional practices in my classroom. This desire to improve my practice and meet children's needs prompted me to acquire a digital whiteboard for use in my first-grade classroom.

Because I believed that student acquisition and application of early literacy skills would increase if students' attention to task could be gained and maintained during early literacy skill instruction (Adams, 1990), I felt a digital whiteboard would help me to better teach reading. I applied for and received a research grant to investigate the whiteboard's effectiveness. I acquired the digital whiteboard and the stand to support it with part of the funds.

While my research indicated that the digital whiteboard did not result in a significant improvement over traditional skill instruction, I found it to be effective in other ways. It proved to be an organizational tool for lesson preparation and an effective way to follow up on instruction. It also scaffolded learning for students within the literacy lessons, providing support to model and guide reading efforts (Tompkins, 2003). Finally, it engaged my primary students in literacy learning. In what follows, I will share what I have learned about the whiteboard and how it can be used for early literacy instruction.

The digital whiteboard and how it works

The digital whiteboard is an electronic version of a dry-erase board. I connected my digital whiteboard to a computer and installed the accompanying software. (Software to configure the board is available for both Macintosh and PC.) I configured the whiteboard so it became the computer's monitor. The board could be mounted either on the wall or on an adjustable, portable stand.

The digital whiteboard can be written on with regular dry-erase markers. Because it's electronic and is connected to a computer, electronic "virtual" markers or pens can be used. The markers are virtual in that they contain no ink, and they function by responding to their movement on the surface of the board.

The virtual markers are color-coded but the colors and marker line widths can be reconfigured easily from digital whiteboard software menus. I reconfigured the markers, making some write with thin lines and others with wider lines. I configured one of the markers to serve as a highlighter, leaving a wide fluorescent yellow line. The varying widths and colors were used to code text and conventions of print, sort and classify information in charts and Venn diagrams we created, and make revisions on drafts of stories.

For example, the first graders decided during one writing lesson to identify in red all describing words in our interactive writing exercise. Naming words would be in blue. Coding the text with color allowed students to discuss ways in which the story was made more meaningful with use of descriptive words. I was able to model writing and reading tasks on the large screen and to have some work prepared ahead of class. The digital whiteboard encouraged students to read, highlight, add, and remove print from the text.

The virtual markers were activated when lifted from the pen tray that held them on the digital whiteboard frame. Only one virtual marker could be used at a time. Students quickly learned to replace a marker before selecting another.

The board engaged students through kinesthetics as they used markers or their hands to respond to the text, highlighting with color or drawing boxes and circles with the tips of their fingers or the palms of their hands. The first graders loved writing with the markers and their fingers on the board. Fingers could be used when someone held the marker, leading the board to recognize and create the line width and color of the missing marker. Writing with fingers allowed the children to feel the shapes of words they outlined, feel and see letter components that created sounds they uttered, and experience a true "hands-on" approach to creating and erasing text.

While these features of the board were fun to work with during the literacy lessons, the efficiency and usefulness of this tool - as opposed to traditional dry-erase boards or chart tablets and markers - was enhanced because everything was saved to the computer. Work could be revisited, revised, printed, and shared - either electronically or via hard copies - immediately and within the context of the lesson. The first graders often decided they would like a copy of the story we created. At other times, I chose to print copies for small groups to continue the work we had begun as a large group.

The digital whiteboard worked with other software I had on my computer. When I opened another program while running the whiteboard software, we were able to write over or illustrate on whatever was displayed on the digital whiteboard. I used PowerPoint to create slides of vocabulary we studied in connection with stories we read. The "vocabulary slides" let us highlight letter combinations, inflectional endings, and graphemic components of the words in our study of phonics and sight vocabulary. This exercise made interaction with text fun and engaging. With the touch of a finger on the board, we could move to a new slide and a new word. Touching the board functioned in a similar way to clicking mouse buttons. Students manipulated the slides to move from word to word-quickly when known words were displayed and more slowly when studying individual word parts.

The digital whiteboard allowed me to incorporate the Internet with my literacy lessons in more useful ways. The visibility of the 60-inch digital whiteboard was useful, but being able to draw on the illustrations and underline, circle, or highlight text found on the Internet sites really engaged the students. This helped to create meaning, make connections, and develop understanding during literacy lessons. Anything we created or re-created through such investigation during the literacy lessons could be saved or printed out for further work.

The board as an organizational tool

I prepared slides with lesson components ahead of time. I could use the whiteboard software to rearrange slides that I felt would lead to connections for my students regarding lesson components. The slides allowed me to frame lessons, moving from whole to part in our language study. In other words, we could begin with story text and move to parts of the text, to individual word study, and then to graphemes and phonemes within words. Lesson order could be negotiated within the presentation on the basis of students' needs. Slides or components of the planned lesson could be skipped if not needed or revisited with groups of students who needed additional work later within the context of guided reading sessions or small skill groups.

While the digital whiteboard software displayed work on the screen, smaller frames displayed the other slides on the right side of the screen. Such organization benefited me as a teacher because I was able to more accurately prepare and present lessons while making more effective use of time I had with the students. In addition, the ability to print copies of lesson text immediately for the students allowed the lesson to flow smoothly from large-group to small-group and independent work.

Creating an environment for early literacy learning

I wanted to create an environment for natural learning in my first-grade classroom (Bertrand & Stice, 2002; Cambourne, 1991; Cambourne & Turbill, 2001). Specifically, I worked to create a print-rich environment in which to immerse my students. I demonstrated reading and writing in ways that would lead to development of skills and strategies my students needed for independent reading and writing, and I created opportunities for them to approximate, take responsibility, and begin to use skills and strategies we studied. Through use of the digital whiteboard I modeled the ways in which readers and writers interact with text. I not only shared effective strategies with my students but also created an environment where students would interact with me and with others in their reading and creation of text (Tompkins, 2003). Mini-lessons, guided reading, and writing tasks were possible through use of the board in my primary classroom.

The digital whiteboard allowed me to prepare lessons that included morning messages, cloze activities, vocabulary exercises, daily oral language sentences, phonetic activities, graphic organizers, and text narratives. With the board as a tool for literacy instruction, I was able to interact with the class, demonstrating and modeling, and manipulating what was on the board by touch. I was not confined to, or focused on, a computer that separated me from the class. Proximity was important for me in creating an environment of being and working together as a community of learners.

Using the Internet along with the digital whiteboard, I made use of video and audio clips to develop background knowledge and provide information on authors, characters, and settings, as well as appropriate background information on places and artifacts not found in our rural community. Students used their fingers on the board in lieu of a computer mouse to navigate to links. The video and audio clips provided sensory data, prompting engagement in the language and literacy lessons. While students were engaged with text and the board, I was able to monitor students' understanding and adjust instruction as needed.

At the conclusion of work with the board-before and after reading of books and students' written work-changes were saved to any print or graphic constructed, and copies of the group-constructed lesson text were printed so each student received a copy of the lesson for follow-up work in small groups with peers or the teacher. Such follow-up work could be reworked and reread, encouraging further engagement in the lesson. The "saved" work remained on the digital whiteboard for review and further follow-up if needed. Statements such as "Remember that day we worked on..." prompted the class to revisit, review, and reread text. Continual efforts were made to help students make connections between work done on and with the digital whiteboard and literacy activities done without the whiteboard (Lankshear & Snyder, 2000).

Student engagement, the digital whiteboard, and early literacy

The digital whiteboard was novel and created enthusiasm for learning. Students commented that their "fingers were magic" and "the board made the lesson work easier." Visual display in the form of diagrams, webs, and pictures, as well as use of colors and shapes to highlight text, prompted engagement. Reviewing text to identify phonemes and graphemes in word study, reading aloud, and modeling reading and writing strategies were facilitated through use of the digital whiteboard, which made manipulation of text fun and engaging work. Such activities helped to create meaningful links from activity to application and from activity to other reading and writing tasks in literacy instruction.

When I touched the board and manipulated text while modeling writing and reading behaviors in shared reading and guided writing (Dorn & Soffos, 2001; Fountas & Pinnell, 1996), my first-grade students were interested and contributed to the lesson. However, when students themselves manipulated text on the board, their enthusiasm increased, and they were immediately engaged in the lesson. This prompted me to use the board not only for whole-group lesson presentations but also for small-group and one-on-one instruction.

Students also were actively engaged in the preparation of slides with graphics and text to demonstrate their understanding of thematic material. These theme projects were shared with classmates and with parents. Students spoke about their slides while touching the board to move to other slides.

Students viewed work done on and with the digital whiteboard as being fun. At the same time, they saw it as another learning tool. They made suggestions as to how text could be created with the board. They also began to use accurate terminology to describe menu items and graphics tools. When the board was bumped and needed to be "realigned" in order to correctly respond to movement on its surface, they recognized this and described it in a manner that reflected their understanding about the use and care of this technology.

Respect for the technology was evident, but students also recognized its limitations when they wished to perform functions the board was unable to perform, such as retrieve text they had not saved or recognize marks they placed on the board when the board was out of alignment. The fun they had did not overpower their respect for the texts that were the result of their work with the board.

The board facilitates beginning reading instruction

This technology has much potential for early literacy instruction. For me it became an extension of my right arm, in that I was able to point at, rearrange, and re-create text quickly, while still maintaining good eye contact and communication with my students. This connection with students maintained their involvement in the lessons. The digital whiteboard let me prepare and present literacy lessons in a manner that allowed for easy navigation to lesson components. The board allowed use of multiple senses, leading to increased levels of engagement and greater understanding. Color and visual display drew attention to concepts about text and conventions of print. These advantages, as well as the ability to manipulate text, were all important considerations for me for use of the digital whiteboard.

While all of these factors greatly influenced my enthusiasm for use of this technological tool, as a teacher of young children I continue to be cognizant of the need to vary activities, use authentic reading and writing materials and experiences, and incorporate movement and change of location. Play, art, music, and movement were necessary components of the new technology. In other words, while the board served as an extremely useful tool for literacy and language instruction, the developmental levels and thus the developmental needs of young children must be kept in mind.

In the future I will work to increase student engagement during literacy lessons through use of the board in small-group settings where students may more frequently respond to text through manipulation of it. It's important to keep the focus on literacy and language learning, and not on the tool. My goal is to model this through my attitude, words, and actions.

The process of learning to read is truly complex. As educators we continue to learn more about this process and to seek ways to help young children become successful readers and writers. Incorporating the digital whiteboard in our practice as a tool to teach early literacy skills may help us reach young children in many positive and powerful ways. The students' involvement with and demonstration of skills when the digital whiteboard is used may prompt continued use and research of this tool. As we persist in learning more about the reading process and effective instructional practices, this tool may assist young learners as they become excited and ever more proficient readers and writers.

About the author

Solvie teaches at the University of Minnesota, Morris, Division of Education, 600 East 4th Street, Morris, MN 56267, U.S. E-mail: psolvie@mrs.umn.edu.

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The Digital Whiteboard: A Tool in Early Literacy Instruction

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Learn the basics of how a digital whiteboard works and potential benefits of using the technology in early literacy instruction. Results of a research study in a first grade classroom reveal that digital whiteboards are effective as an organizational tool for lesson preparation and followup instruction; provide opportunities for scaffolded learning; and stimulate greater student engagement.

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This is a must read for people who are not familiar with interactive whiteboards and provides you with detailed descriptions of five different whiteboards. Richard Risitano  has written a great article that I enjoyed reading because he goes into detail about each of the interactive whiteboards that he has found to be the best and even includes examples and pictures of each of the products.  Learning about the different interactive whiteboards that are out there will assist educators in deciding which one will work best for them and their students. If you are interested in learning about some of the best interactive whiteboards that you can utilize for and in you classroom then look no further and check out this article!
-Meghan Murray

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The new school year is right around the corner, and there's no better time to take your classrooms into the 21 st Century by replacing that dusty, chalk-stained slab of slate at the front of the room with an interactive whiteboard solution. There are a lot to choose from, but hopefully this list will help you narrow it down.

Projectors

Epson's BrightLink series of short- and ultra-short-throw interactive projectors make a good choice for educational use. The 710Ui, for example, uses a laser light source to output up to 4000 lumens of brightness, with image sizes up to 100", making it suitable for use in most classroom settings. With its 0.22 to 0.44:1 throw ratio, you can use the included wall mount to install the 720Ui directly above your screen or whiteboard to virtually eliminate the possibility of shadows being cast onto the screen when projecting, and protect the teacher's eyesight in the process. Two interactive pens are also included to jump-start the learning process.

The ViewSonic PS750HD might be better for larger classrooms, as it can project images up to 120" from just 9" from your screen or whiteboard; with its 3000-lumen output, though, it's a bit more susceptible to room lighting. In addition to the wall mount and two interactive pens, it includes vBoard interactive software, which enables you to write on, highlight, edit, and otherwise manipulate documents and images in real time. Additionally, it features a PortAll compartment that hides an MHL/HDMI port and an integrated micro-USB cable for discreetly connecting and streaming from various devices.

Maxell has some offerings available, as well, like the MC-TW3506, which sports 3700-lumen brightness output with a 1280 x 800 native resolution and an ultra-short 0.3:1 throw ratio, which can project images up to 100" while wall-mounted just 27" from your screen. Two interactive pens are included for out-of-the-box whiteboard operation.

Displays

The 10-point touch functionality of the 80" Sharp AQUOS BOARD allows up to four people to write on it at the same time using their fingers or touch pens thanks to IR touchscreen technology. One pen is included and its settings and functions can be adjusted via the Pen Software user interface Handwriting recognition allows the AQUOS BOARD to convert handwritten notes into standard text to provide a neater look.

Ricoh's 65" D6500 lets you use your own educational applications, allowing for simplified integration into a school or university that requires use of their own proprietary software. It lets teachers and students annotate, draw, paint, and more, and can even save annotations for future sharing.

What do you think is right for your school or classroom, a projector or all-in-one display? Are there any other features you're looking for in an interactive whiteboard solution? Let us know in the Comments section, below!

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Back to School: The Top 5 Interactive Whiteboard Solutions for Schools

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The new school year is right around the corner, and there's no better time to take your classrooms into the 21 st Century by replacing that dusty, chalk-stained slab of slate at the front of the room with an interactive whiteboard solution.

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How to Use an Interactive Whiteboard in the Classroom

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How to Use an Interactive Whiteboard in the Classroom

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Technology has given educators the tools and resources to make education engaging and create a positive learning environment. One of the biggest benefits of an interactive whiteboard is creating engaging lessons for the students. Being an educator, when the students are engaged in the lesson you get their full potential out of them. This article discusses the benefits of using an interactive whiteboard and the obstacles in using interactive whiteboards. According to the article, the biggest benefits of using a whiteboard is engagement, flexibility and accessibility.
-Cassidy Chapko

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Educational technology has given teachers many opportunities to improve their teaching process and create a friendly learning environment for students. One may say that there are too many tools, apps, and methods to try out, there are technologies that all teachers should introduce in their classrooms. One of the educational technology that is irreplaceable and must-try is an interactive whiteboard.

Creating Engaging Lessons

Interactive whiteboards are a marvelous invention that revolutionized the way teachers design study materials. Educators are able to build engaging lessons that include videos, images, and recording of the explanation.

The interactive whiteboard is an effective method for laying out ideas and explanations in a visible and accessible format. When teachers or students want to describe a problem, they can easily record themselves while writing down details of the issue.

Building a Database of Lessons

One of the greatest benefits of using interactive whiteboards in the classroom is the opportunity for students to playback and review the lesson whenever they want. Once a teacher creates many tutorials it's a good practice to organize them either in courses or folders. The teacher can catalog their works and keep it organized on year-to-year or topic bases.

Many schools create platforms where teachers can upload their lessons. It's an efficient way to keep all of the study materials from one school in one place.

If your school has not established the library of video lesson, create your own cloud! There are many ways to store videos, slides, and other materials. You can upload it all to such platforms like Google Drive, Dropbox, ShowMe and create a playlist for easy viewing!

Entertaining Homework

Using an Interactive whiteboard has changed the way we approach creating lessons and conducting classes, but it can also have a prominent impact on homework. Teachers have struggled for centuries with the solution to make the idea of homework entertaining. Undoubtedly, it takes a great effort to encourage students to fulfill the task and submit it afterward.

Luckily, educational technology is here to rescue! Many apps that are interactive whiteboards also provide excellent homework features. Asking students to create a video tutorial with an explanation of a problem, or record a presentation on a topic would be way much interesting that dull homework!

Benefits of Using an Online Whiteboard

The interactive whiteboard brings plenty of benefits in the classroom. The tool improves learning and teaching processes that positively affects both the students and teachers.

Engagement. Thanks to educational technology lessons are more engaging and suits to all of the students learning styles. The lesson built with an online whiteboard is more attractive to students since it includes many different types of materials: images, videos, and text. Videos created with interactive whiteboards keep students' attention for a longer time and keep them more involved in the topic.

Accessibility. Online whiteboards simplify and shorten the distance between student and teacher. Many students need their teacher's support and extra help once school is over. Video tutorials recorded with an interactive whiteboard provide with the opportunity to rewatch the lessons anytime anywhere. Teachers can prepare lessons for more advanced students or for those who need extra explanation. Moreover, many apps enable to add subtitles to videos, so non-native students or students with disabilities can fully understand the topic!

Personalization. Including text, images, audio, and video in a presentation allows everyone, including those with learning disabilities, to enjoy the lesson. Each student has its own preferences regarding the type of materials to use while mastering the topic. Some students prefer text over the video, and some of them prefer audio over the visual presentation. Creations build with an online whiteboard combines all of these materials allowing each student to find what works best.

Flexibility. Studying has never been as flexible as it is with interactive whiteboards. Created and uploaded videos can be reachable from anywhere anytime. Students can watch them when they are sick or skipped a day at school. Students are able to re-watch lessons, rewind them, have a look at a specific part, or skip it.

Environment-friendly. One of the biggest benefits of introducing educational technology in the classroom is undoubtedly the impact it can have on the environment. Switching from a traditional method to digital solutions reduces the use of paper, and improves the way study materials are reusable.

Saving time. With an online whiteboard, it's very easy to introduce a concept of flipped learning. It means that students watch the lesson at home and then come prepared to work in the classroom. It saves a lot of time for teachers that are not forced to explain the topic. Instead of that, they can focus on spending more time on practical activities and involving students one-on-one.

Obstacles in using interactive whiteboards

Introducing interactive whiteboards brings many benefits in the classroom, but every solution has its cons. Teachers can meet some obstacles while using modern whiteboards. Below we described a few that should be considered while planning the strategy.

Access to technology. Many students simply do not have computers or iPads at home. Teachers need to make sure that all students have access to their lessons before they decide to implement only video lessons instead of traditional materials.

Price. When it comes to planning using an interactive whiteboard in the classroom the cost of it is always pointed out as a con. Providing each student with a tablet or a notebook is an enormous investment, that not every school is able to afford.

Technical Inability. Many teachers are not comfortable with modern technology. Old school teachers find using an interactive whiteboard difficult to use, while others complain about having to change their style according to the device. Even though there are still teachers who refuse to change their teaching styles, changes are necessary, and students wealth should be a priority.

Teacher Training. Once a school decides to invest in such a modern device as an interactive whiteboard, it needs to make sure that all teachers are prepared to use it. To take the full potential of educational technology each teacher need to complete the training on how to properly use it.

Best interactive whiteboards

ShowMe is a free interactive whiteboard that allows teachers to create video tutorials and share them with students in an easy and seamless way. The app is also integrated with Google Classroom, Google Drive and Dropbox. Lessons are uploaded on the platform and reachable from the browser. With the app, teachers are able to generate subtitles to their videos, so lessons are more accessible for students with special needs. Moreover, teachers can track the progress of every student with the Analytics feature. It is possible to see how many times students have seen the video and which parts have been rewatched. It gives an idea of what content has been mastered or where students are still gloving over.

The app is an online and mobile whiteboard for collaboration and learning at a distance. The app enables to turn an infinite canvas into a mixed-media playground of videos, images, text, and sketches that captivate, engage, and inspire others. Explain Everything has a variety of features like special sets for schools, group activities, tutorials, and interactive experiences.

Educreations is a unique interactive whiteboard and screencasting tool that's simple, powerful, and fun to use. It allows to annotate, animate, and narrate nearly any type of content. With the app, the teacher can create powerful video lessons that students and colleagues can access any time, as needed. Created concepts can be instantly shared with others via many different channels.

The app provides with the option to create and send templates to students. The whiteboard can be used as an alternative to paper-based graphic organizers, have students fill them out and share them using the app. When planning a project or answering questions, students can brainstorm digitally and even make collaborative presentations by creating pictures to add to a slide show. Students can work independently or with a peer to create original drawings or work off of an assignment shared by their teacher.

Wrap up

Educational technology such as online whiteboards increases teacher-student engagement and boost performance in the long run. Students become independent learners, with high problem solving and technology-related skills that can benefit them in the future.

Interactive whiteboards take teaching and learning processes to another level with flexibility and accessibility that are provided both for teachers and students. Teachers are able to have all their content organized, accessible and reusable, without worrying about preparing copies and printing handouts. Interactive whiteboards can bring so many benefits to the classroom, that this solution should not be ignored by any school!

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How to use an interactive whiteboard in the classroom

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Educational technology has given teachers many opportunities to improve their teaching process and create a friendly learning environment for students. One may say that there are too many tools, apps, and methods to try out, there are technologies that all teachers should introduce in their classroo

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5 Benefits of Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom

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5 Benefits of Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom

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This article discusses the benefits of interactive whiteboards and how students' learning experience is becoming more dynamic because of interactive whiteboards in the classrooms. In the article, the main learning benefits from an interactive whiteboard are: accommodate multiple learning styles, encourage student engagement, reduce classroom costs, digitize the lessons and improve student career preparation. Interactive whiteboards offer many benefits to enhance education.
-Cassidy Chapko

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The learning experience is becoming richer and more dynamic, thanks to tools like interactive whiteboards in the classroom. Their steady introduction into classrooms across the country is part of a greater tide that is changing the nature of education. Education technology, or EdTech, helps campuses rethink the way teachers present their lessons to create more effective learning opportunities for students.

Interactive whiteboards are already popular in the business world. There, they are driving collaboration, engagement, and new levels of productivity among teams. Interactive whiteboards benefit both lower and higher education establishments in countless ways.

Enrich the Learning Experience with Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom

The days of blackboards are long gone. Even the era of dry erase boards is coming to an end. Interactive whiteboards are fundamentally changing what education looks like in the 21 st century. Case studies like that of Promise Academy show that interactive whiteboards enhance a student's learning experience significantly. A classroom equipped with an interactive whiteboard can:

1. Accommodate Multiple Learning Styles

Education has overwhelmingly favored a particular learning style, putting many others at a disadvantage. An interactive whiteboard helps students learn in a way that best suits them. The many apps available to these devices allow learning in multiple styles. Audio, visual, and kinetic learners can watch and listen to material or even follow along on their own synced devices in real-time.

Materials can be easily modified to be accessible for both students and teachers. For example, users can increase the text size or color on an interactive whiteboard to help with visual challenges and access the material in a format that works best for them.

2. Encourage Student Engagement

Interactivity has been well studied across many industries, including education. This 2019 study showed that interactivity, engagement, and student performance are positively linked in a classroom environment. The more interactive the lesson, the more likely that students will engage with and learn the material effectively.

If the use of technology does not get students' attention, then the interactivity will. Interactive whiteboards inspire student engagement in several ways. For example, interactive whiteboards can:

Support styluses that allow students to write, draw, and edit directly on the screen making it simple for students to interact during a lesson

Foster real-time collaboration and idea-sharing in a digital environment within the classroom or offsite location

Leverage interactive apps to illustrate concepts and further teach interactive lessons

3. Reduce Classroom Costs

Budgeting for schools can be tough, and teachers are often asked to do more with less to maintain a strict budget. However, that can result in sacrificing education quality, causing everyone to suffer.

In contrast, a thoughtfully placed interactive whiteboard in a major lecture hall or critical classroom can help reduce operating expenses. With digital solutions, an educational institution will spend less money on papers, printing, or supplies for a lesson. Likewise, interactive whiteboards come loaded with numerous apps plus access to an app library. Rather than paying costly subscriptions to digital education resources, teachers can use these free apps to build their lessons. That means less time fretting over money spent and more time spent on teaching.

4. Digitize the Lessons

The world is speeding towards a hyperconnected, digital environment where information and resources are available on demand. However, schools have notoriously lagged in technology, but interactive whiteboards can help bridge this gap.

With an interactive whiteboard, a teacher can effortlessly digitize lessons to make them easier for students to follow along on their own devices. Materials can be uploaded to cloud storage, where these interactive lessons are always accessible. Together, a more centralized and streamlined learning environment is created, where students can rapidly ask questions and access the answers they need in real-time.

5. Improve Student Career Preparation

According to the Brookings Institute, at least 40 percent of all career fields require "medium digital skills." These workers need to be comfortable navigating digital technology. Likewise, between 2002 and 2016, the number of careers requiring advanced digital knowledge rose from 5 percent to 23 percent.

Today's students will be expected to have full familiarity with modern digital tools when they reach their careers. An interactive whiteboard can be one of the many tools that helps a student gain that critical familiarity required to prepare them for the future.

Introducing Ricoh Interactive Whiteboards with RJ Young

Interactive whiteboards in the classroom deliver many significant benefits for both higher and lower education. It is a modern touch capable of inspiring engagement, excitement, and inclusivity for students with different learning processes. As schools look for ways to bring the learning environment into the future, many are turning to interactive digital solutions like interactive whiteboards.

These modern, sleek, and powerful devices enhance education quality and send a strong message about an institution's commitment to preparing its students for the future. Available in a variety of sizes from 21.5" to 86", RJ Young offers a size to fit whatever your specific needs are no matter the size of the establishment. Thinking about putting interactive whiteboards in the classroom? RJ Young can help!
RJ Young is pleased to partner with Ricoh to offer some of the most advanced interactive whiteboards available. Contact RJ Young today to discuss if an interactive whiteboard is right for you.

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5 Benefits of Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom | RJ Young

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The learning experience is becoming richer and more dynamic, thanks to tools like interactive whiteboards in the classroom. Their steady introduction into classrooms across the country is part of a greater tide that is changing the nature of education. Education technology, or EdTech, helps campuses rethink the way teachers present their lessons to create more effective learning opportunities for students.

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Implementing Interactive Whiteboards: What can we learn?

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Implementing Interactive Whiteboards: What can we learn?

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Arthur Winzenried and Mal Lee developed an article to provide information regarding what we can learn from digital whiteboards. It discusses what digital whiteboards are, their history, and the benefits they bring to the classroom. They have concluded that these whiteboards, used purposefully and strategically, make a significant contribution to effective teaching and learning in schools.
- Carlyn Beaver

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Interactive Digital Activities for Special Education

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Interactive Digital Activities for Special Education

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Brie Holtrop created a video on YouTube for others to gain insight into interactive digital activities for special education. These digital activities are all accessible on digital whiteboards, making it easy for students to access, use, and develop skills with the software. This is an opportunity for students with exceptionalities to have additional accommodations including the use of assistive technology.
- Carlyn Beaver

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Interactive Digital Activities for Special Education

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This video shows how an interactive smart board and other technology is utilized in this physical education teacher's class. In his class, technology is implemented everywhere and includes the smart board (with a cart and special secure box in the back to store a laptop), Loud speakers for music purposes, and a video delay app on an iPad that allows students to view their skills and how they can correct them if needed.
-Jacob Hardy

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The Growing Use of Interactive White Boards in Schools

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The Growing Use of Interactive White Boards in Schools

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This article defines what an interactive white board is and why it increases student engagement in class. It talked about how teachers are struggling to connect with students in class due to the lack of technology and relying on chalk boards and paper-based lessons. The article highlights five ways teachers teachers are engaging with students using this technology including presenting additional content and highlighting important information.
-Jacob Hardy

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Education is at crossroads in the United States. Teachers are struggling to connect with students using old, outdated technology. Students grew up in a smart, connected world. They have access anywhere and anytime to knowledge and digital services. Yet schools and teachers are still trying to engage them with a chalkboard.

Static chalkboards and paper-based lessons don't connect with students in the digital age. Teachers forced to rely on chalk to reach students are doomed to fail. Forcing lessons into lectures or on chalkboards in the classroom will lead students to tune out before the class starts.

Interactive smart boards invite students to engage with the lessons. Teachers aren't limited in what they can present to students. Movies, PowerPoint presentations, and graphics can be used in addition to standard text-based lessons. In this blog, we'll take a look at smartboard technology in the classroom and how teachers can better engage with students.

The Definition of Interactive Smart Boards

An interactive smart board, also known as an electronic whiteboard, is a classroom tool that allows images from a computer screen to be displayed onto a classroom board using a digital projector. The teacher or a student can "interact" with the images directly on the screen using a tool or even a finger.

With the computer connected to the internet or a local network, teachers can access information around the world. They can do a quick search and find a lesson they used previously. Suddenly, a wealth of resources is at the teacher's fingertips.

For teachers and students, the interactive white board is a powerful benefit to the classroom. It opens up the students to collaboration and closer interaction to the lessons. Multimedia content can be shared and used in lectures, keeping students engaged.

Interactive White Boards in the Classroom

According to a recent article from Yale University, interactive lessons presented on a smart board or white board increased student engagement. The technology encourages active learning in students. Students asked more questions and took more notes, enabling more effective group activities like brainstorming and problem-solving.

More and more teachers are using smartboard technology in the classroom. Here are five ways teachers are engaging with students using this technology:

1. Presenting Additional Content on the Whiteboard

The whiteboard shouldn't replace teaching or lecture time in the classroom. Instead, it should enhance the lesson and provide opportunities for students to better engage with the information. The teacher has to prepare additional materials that can be used with the smart technology before class starts - such as short videos, infographics, or problems the students can work on using the whiteboard.

2. Highlight Important Information from the Lesson

Smart technology can be used to highlight essential information as you work through a lesson. Before the lesson begins, you can outline the sections to be covered in class. As each section begins, you can break down the key topics, definitions, and critical data for students on the whiteboard. This can also include graphics and videos in addition to text. This will help students not only with note taking, but also to review future topics you will be covering.

3. Engage Students in Group Problem Solving

Center the class around problem solving. Present the class with a problem, then pass over the interactive whiteboard to the students to let them solve it. With the smartboard technology as the center of the lesson, students can better collaborate in the classroom. The digital technology unlocks the internet as they work, allowing students to connect the lesson to technology they use every day.

4. Answer Student Questions

Engage the students using the interactive whiteboard and questions from the class. Look up additional information or data using the smart technology. Write the question on the whiteboard and then work through the answer with the students. Let them see how you answer the question or pull in additional or data. When you are finished, you can save the results of the question and send it to the student in an email for later reference.

Smartboard Technology in the Classroom

For schools struggling to connect students to classroom lessons, or keep students engaged, smart technology like interactive whiteboards is an ideal solution. An interactive whiteboard in the classroom provides students with the technology they know and understand. It enhances collaboration and invites interaction with the lesson. Afterwards, students can see how the technology they use connects to the lessons they learn in school.
Want to learn more about smartboard technology in the classroom? Contact Donnellon McCarthy to discover how technology can unlock lessons at your school.

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The Growing Use of Interactive White Boards in Schools

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Education is at crossroads in the United States. Teachers are struggling to connect with students using old, outdated technology. Students grew up in a smart, connected world. They have access anywhere and anytime to knowledge and digital services. Yet schools and teachers are still trying to engage them with a chalkboard.

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Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom

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Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom

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If teachers have the technology, they can use interactive whiteboards in the classroom to motivate students to learn and reach students who need a different way of learning content. The image below is a teacher using an interactive whiteboard to engage students to review content. In a classroom, I would also like to use interactive whiteboards to introduce topics in reading to give students prior knowledge on a topic the book will feature.
-Ajanee Cade

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I found a link that brings me to a website that gave examples of teachers using interactive whiteboards. It also talked about how interactive whiteboads have generally impacted classrooms. This has made me see how to use online whiteboards to show another strategy when problem solving for math, phonics, and projects by collaborting with others and using resources posted. Afterwards, teachers can showcase their work on a padlet board.
-Ajanee Cade
https://www.neamb.com/work-life/interactive-whiteboards-enhance-classroom-instruction-and-learning

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Use Interactive Whiteboards the Right Way in the Special Education Classroom

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Use Interactive Whiteboards the Right Way in the Special Education Classroom

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This article is a great read for special education teachers. The article gave great list of do's and don'ts for using interactive whiteboards in the special education classroom. The blog post also also gives ideas to try while using interactive whiteboards.

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Can we talk seriously about interactive whiteboards in the special education classroom?  I have a big love-hate relationship with them.

I soooo love their potential.  But I am so tired of seeing them used as giant TVs.  So often they aren’t used as interactive tools. Instead, they just play YouTube videos.  Videos are, by their nature, usually NOT interactive.

Can you tell this has been bothering me for a while?  I know how much everyone pines for an interactive whiteboard.  It is, after all, the 21st century and it certainly does seem like we should be moving toward using technology throughout the day.  But just showing a video on a whiteboard isn’t advancing us to the future. It’s bringing back the past with a bigger screen.

That’s not to say you can’t use it to show videos and that some videos are useful.  They are great for showing video modeling. But then we stop and have the student follow the model–not just watch it passively.

Let’s face it, most of our students are not passive learners.  Well, except for those video game and cartoon phrases you hear repeatedly, right?  But just watching a video in morning meeting of a song is not teaching them a concept.

So, today I’m talking about the Dos and Don’ts of interactive whiteboards in the special education classroom.  It’s based on what I often see when walking into classrooms and ways you can use them effectively with your students.

Trust me, there are a whole lot of ways we can use them and they are dynamite tools to have in our arsenal.  And they have even more potential because our students are often so drawn to watch the screen. The key is to make it a learning activity, not just watching.

Do and Don’ts of Interactive Whiteboards in the Special Ed. Classroom

Don’t

1. Don’t just watch videos without engaging with the board

The whole point of the technology is for it to be interactive.  Passively watching a bunch of videos that no one expects you to engage with is not interactive.

2. Don’t use interactive activities above the level of most students.

I see this happen most frequently with morning meeting and calendar time. Only one student in the classroom might know the calendar well enough to put the right day and date in the right place so that student operates the whiteboard each day.  And the rest of the students watch but don’t really learn how to do it for themselves or even what it means.

3. Don’t lose time cueing your programs up.

Instead, put this task into your zoning plan so the whiteboard is ready to go when your students get there. Remember that downtime is not your friend, and when students have to wait for you to get the software running, it’s downtime for them.

4. Don’t use programs only the teacher controls.

I see this one frequently when the whiteboard is used in situations like preschool classes.  If only the teacher is interacting with it, the interactivity is not really benefiting the student.

5. Don’t use the whiteboard just to fill time.

Make sure that your plans for your interactive whiteboard activities align with the goals for the students. Integrate them into your lesson plans.  Don’t just use them as time keepers or presentations.

DO

1. Do use manipulatives to augment interaction with the students.

The fact is that not every student can interact with the whiteboard at the same time.  And our students typically do best when they have something tangible to engage with during the activity.  So, even though you are using the whiteboard, have actual manipulatives, like visuals for songs or books, for the students to use.

2. Do make videos of your own for video modeling.

Video modeling is an evidence-based practice. Interactive whiteboards can be a great way to present the video model to the whole class or just to one or a small group of students.  Let them watch it multiple times, rewind it and use it as they want. If you have a tablet hooked up to the whiteboard, you might consider giving a student access to it to control the video.  You can get tips on how to use video modeling here.

3. Do use it for interactive programs the students use.

For instance, if you use Unique Learning System, present the lesson on the whiteboard.  If you use Teachtown, use it with the white board.  Use it to demonstrate lessons. Use it to present the model of the art project.

4. Do have multiple students interact with the board.

Interactive whiteboards are tough because only one person can touch them at a time.  So, in a group activity, plan out multiple “helper” opportunities for student to interact with it.  Set it up so that each student answers questions on it, makes choices on it, and / or writes on it to interact with it in some way.

5. Do use it to present group lessons in limited quantities.

They are great for brain breaks for 5 minutes or so of exercise and movement.  But use it sparingly this way or it becomes just like a TV. And if you do that, consider having students make choices on the board by touching a picture or word.  This makes it more interactive than passive.

Ideas to Try With Interactive Whiteboards

I am not the expert on interactive whiteboards and I haven’t spent a ton of time with them.  However, I recognize the potential they bring to the classroom if we use them well. Some strategies that I’ve seen that have worked well in special education classrooms include:

Using them to show the model art activity for the ​​​​student to follow

Demonstrating processes like math problems for the class

Presenting the Unique social studies or science lesson and then having the students follow with the activity for comprehension.

chevron-circle-rightUse them to present News2You lessons

chevron-circle-rightVideo modeling and then practicing or role playing the activity

chevron-circle-rightHaving students look up things online using the tablet or computer and sharing it with the class

chevron-circle-rightUse it as an interactive choice board for activities where students put their names or pictures on the activity of his/her choice

chevron-circle-rightPresent PowerPoint interactive social stories to the class (have students interact to change the slides / page, match picture to picture)

chevron-circle-rightUse books from Tarheel Reader to have students take turns reading from the projector.

Not all of those examples are interactive, but they do serve an interactive purpose within the classroom.  I know there must be lots of great ideas out there about how to use them effectively for instruction. Share them in the comments!!

Looking for visuals to supplement Your Whiteboard?

Click the images below to check them out in my store!

Until next time,

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Use Interactive Whiteboards the Right Way in Special Ed

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Interactive whiteboards are awesome tools to use in the special education classroom, if we use them effectively.

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Benefits of Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom

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Benefits of Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom

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This article speaks about seven benefits of using interactive whiteboards in the classroom. The article focuses on benefits that will stimulate education and learning.
-Rebecca Goldstein

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benefits of interactive whiteboards in the classroom

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benefits of using interactive whiteboards in the classroom

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benefits of interactive whiteboards in the primary classroom

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using interactive whiteboards in the classroom

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Benefits of Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom | ezTalks

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The benefits of using interactive whiteboards in the classroom affect both the students and teachers positively. The article below explores some of the benefits of integrating interactive whiteboards in the learning curriculum.

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Benefits of Using Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom

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Benefits of Using Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom

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This article covers several of the many benefits of using interactive whiteboards in the classroom. This article talks about how whiteboards can be used to enhance students' learning experiences, increase test scores, increase comprehension, and allow for technology interaction.
-Gabriella Giaimo

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Technology in the Classroom: the Benefits of Smart Boards - TeachHUB

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Technology is a great way to engage today’s modern students in learning. Learn about the benefits of Smart Boards in the classroom.

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Ideas for Using Interactive Whiteboards to Engage Students

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Ideas for Using Interactive Whiteboards to Engage Students

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This article provides teachers with 6 ideas for using interactive whiteboards in engaging and educational ways.
-Gabriella Giaimo

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By Kelly Smith

Interactive Whiteboards, or IWBs, started out as a small experiment in classrooms. They caught on quickly, and now many educators have easy access to this technology.

Most teachers were left to their own devices to determine the most effective ways to make use of an interactive whiteboard in their classroom, and many have been successful in developing foolproof ways to maximize lessons with this technology.

Use these ideas to make the most of your interactive whiteboards-you and your students will have fun.

1. Take Virtual Field Trips

Scheduling a field trip is costly and complicated. This limits the amount of field trips a teacher can plan for students throughout the school year. Using an interactive whiteboard to take a virtual field trip will drastically reduce the costs and amount of preparation necessary to provide your students with an immersive experience. They'll have something to get excited about, and feel more connected to the lesson.

2. Explore the World

If you've ever used tools like Google Earth in the classroom, you know that it's easy to get caught up exploring for long stretches of time. Looking at landmarks, areas where ancient civilizations once thrived, and taking in the views of different landscapes is not only fun, but also educational. Teaching geography, history, or even natural sciences is easier when you pair an interactive whiteboard with Google Earth.

3. Turn Lessons into Competitions

This works for both team and individual competitions. An interactive whiteboard serves as a scoreboard, as well as a question prompter. It's more fun than a quiz, and you can award small prizes, such as candy, for correct answers. The interactive whiteboard will make a simple exercise feel more like an episode of a game show.

4. Create Permanent Notes

It doesn't matter how fun or engaging your note-taking process is-you'll have nothing to show for it after the fact when using a traditional whiteboard. Use an interactive whiteboard as a collaborative tool for note taking; allow others to contribute and create a class study packet.

When the lesson is over, you can print (or post online) and distribute the notes that everyone contributed to for review later. If they feel as though they were a part of designing their study guide, they'll also feel more connected to the lesson.

5. Allow Students to Prepare Lessons

Giving students the opportunity to play teacher will not only motivate them to take the project seriously, it will also give you an opportunity to see how much they understand the curriculum. Using your interactive whiteboard, allow students to provide short lessons for the entire class. Assign students, or pairs of students, a small portion of the assignment to cover and give everyone a chance to teach each other.

6. Make Videos in Class

The majority of interactive whiteboards come pre-equipped with audio and video capabilities. This can capture things that go on in the classroom, like important projects or presentations.

You can use these tools to record lectures of yourself and record moments with your students. Important events that are recorded can then shared with parents, leaving a record that students can be proud of.

There is no shortage of pre-prepared material for interactive whiteboards that is both fun and effective. While there's nothing wrong with using these materials, don't be afraid to pursue bold, new ideas of your own. No one ever became an innovator by accepting what was handed to them.

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6 Creative Ways to Engage Students With Interactive Whiteboards

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By Kelly Smith Interactive Whiteboards, or IWBs, started out as a small experiment in classrooms. They caught on quickly, and now many educators have easy access to this technology. Most teachers were left to their own devices to determine the most effective ways to make use of an interactive whiteboard in their classroom, and many have been successful in developing foolproof ways to maximize lessons with this technology.

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This photo talks about the great advantages that interactive whiteboards have

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This photo talks about the great advantages that interactive whiteboards have

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-Anna Zibro

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Interactive Whiteboard has become increasingly popular and common in classrooms especially in developed countries such as in the United Kingdom. In almost every classrooms, teachers are given the opportunity to interact with their students in a very interesting way and students have the chance to get themselves hook with the lessons. A research by Marzano (2009, p.4) indicated a result that the usage of Interactive Whiteboard has risen student achievement by 16 percent.

The video below shows how lively lessons can be made possible in the classrooms

(5) Depiction of Interactive Whiteboard

Smart Technologies Incorporation (2006, p. 5), listed several functions of Interactive WhiteBoard in its White Paper as follows:

Other advantages of using this technology will be further elaborated subsequently.

BENEFITS OF USING INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARD
Unlike any other teaching tools, Interactive Whiteboard is definitely the most interactive tool used in the classrooms.

Compared to normal PowerPoint presentation slides, teachers and student are given the chance to interact during lesson in

a more casual way. The word 'interactive' does not only means 'speak with each other' but also 'do together'. Teachers

can always invite their students to the front and ask them to write or draw on the board, drag and drop words or images into

specific locations on the board and numerous more.

The ability of the tool to sense touch and different colours input makes it attractive, easy and effective for the students to

use and experience. In an Interactive Whiteboard study by Higgins (2005 cited by Balanskat, Blamire & Kefala, 2006, p. 39)

the findings suggest that the board makes a difference to aspects of classroom interaction where there are more

interactions between teachers and students in the whiteboard lessons compared to the non whiteboard lessons. Similar

result, a s cited by Smart Technologies (2006, pp. 6-7) is found by Solvie (2001, 2004); Reed (2001) and Cunningham,

Kerr, McEune, Smith, & Harris (2003); Kent (2003) and Lee and Boyle (2003) in United States, United Kingdom and

This is very beneficial in language classrooms as students are more encouraged to voice their opinions during lessons and

are more confident to communicate with their friends or teacher in educational context. This could improve their speaking

skills. With an advantage of encouraging students to 'do together', students will be more ready to involve in classroom

activities, reducing the possibility of getting bored in language classrooms. Prensky (2010, p. 127), however, asserted that

in order for students to benefit from the usage of the tool, it is far better used by the students than teachers. He also

claimed that unless interactive whiteboards are used thoughtfully, they can easily devolve into just another fancier version of

traditional "writing on the board"

Often PowerPoint is being blamed for the death of creativity, but with Interactive Whiteboard, PowerPoint can be very

interesting, unique and helpful in lesson. Undeniably PowerPoint limits creativity to certain extents but the ability of this

board to allow the users to draw or write on it allow the teachers to make changes of the slide based on their own

preferences. Teachers for examples, can create their own bullets, write on the board using different colours, and draw

image of their own preferences using a specific board pen. Active learning and teaching will easily take place and it will

be fun and interesting in cohesion to how teachers want it to be.

Below is an illustrative case study describing possible type of activity that can be done using Interactive Whiteboard (taken

Unlike other softwares such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Bridge and Readiris, where the readers need to be familiar with

numerous action tabs and tools before the application can be utilised effectively, interactive whiteboard can be very

beneficial although the knowledge of the teachers to use this tool is limited. The most important thing in languag e

classrooms are mostly to know how to change colour or slides, erase words or slides and know how to use the pen to

make lesson interesting and interactive.

In 2009, SMART Technologies announces the SMART Board™ SBD600 n which comes with dual touch function which means
two students can work simultaneously and this gives more flexibility for teachers during lesson and allow collaborative

work becomes easier and fun.

Besides, a number of applications can be embedded within it such as music, images and most importantly PowerPoint

slides. Teachers can make adjustments directly on the board without having to use the host computer and this makes this

Although Interactive WhiteBoard is one of the most recent ICT tools being used in educational context, where possible,

refinements have been made to improve or to suit better in different settings or purposes. Smart Technologies Inc.

provides comparison chart of how six versions of SmartBoard differ from each other.

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Interactive Whiteboard - ICT and The Secondary Classroom

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Interactive Whiteboard has become increasingly popular and common in classrooms especially in developed countries such as in the United Kingdom. In almost every classrooms, teachers are given the opportunity to interact with their students in a very interesting way and students have the chance to get themselves hook with the lessons.

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This article talks about the use of interactive whiteboards in classrooms.

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This article talks about the use of interactive whiteboards in classrooms.

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https://www.dme.us.com/2018/06/12/the-growing-use-of-interactive-white-boards-in-schools/

-Anna Zibro

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A MUST WATCH! -- Interactive Whiteboard Activities

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A MUST WATCH! -- Interactive Whiteboard Activities

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This video demonstrates how to create and use a variety of interactive whiteboard activities that can be use in the classroom and at home.

- Michael

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How to create interactive exercises using the Lessons activity tool - SMART tutorials for teachers

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This is a tutorial video for an app called LAMP: Words for Life. This app was recommended to me by a speech therapist who teaches grades K-2 at one of our local school districts. The teacher who recommended this app stated that it is by far her favorite app to use because of the impact that it has on the lives of her students.

- Michael Audi

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This is an article that showcases the beneficial impacts of using SmartBoards within classrooms.
- Tyler Gleason

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Like a snowball gaining in size and momentum, bright, white, digital SMART Boards are on a roll taking over K-12 classrooms. These powerful visual tools have revolutionized the way teachers run their classrooms, including how they handle simple record-keeping tasks, engage student interest, demonstrate complex information, assess learning and prepare students for an increasingly digital world.

Here at Concordia, knowing what's new and what's helpful for classroom instruction is something we keep in mind whenever we create curricula or are just simply chatting with students. That's why if you're able to snag a SMART Board for your classroom (which is awesome!), we want to help you make the most of it. You could use it to:

1. Improve classroom management

SMART Boards in the classroom at the elementary level are incredibly helpful for start-of-day routines such as taking attendance and lunch count.

For example, before class every day, a first grade teacher could post large, colorful icons marked with individual student names. The board could also show pictures of the day's lunch choices. Then, instead of waiting for roll call and lunch count or checking in on a magnet board or pocket chart, the students could use their fingers to guide their icons to their lunch choices. Once the record-keeping is complete, the teacher could report attendance and lunch counts.

This process also helps young students become comfortable with the touch process that is becoming so important in using Wi-Fi digital tools, such as computer notepads and e-readers that some schools are adopting for instructional use.

2. Minimize the need for eyes on the back of your head

As you well know, teachers often jokingly say that it takes a few years to develop "eyes" on the back of their heads so they can detect misbehavior when facing away from students. SMART Boards change classroom management by minimizing the amount of time teachers need to turn their back to the class to write on dry-erase whiteboards or chalkboards.

By connecting a computer to a SMART Board, you can stand face forward and attract student attention to a particular topic by sharing PowerPoint presentations, software lessons, or interactive websites with the entire class in one sitting-and you could do this before students begin small group or independent work on the same topic.

3. Provide academic and digital learning

During SMART Board lessons, you could help students gain digital and presentation skills by give them turns manipulating the equipment. Think of this practice as the digital age equivalent of going up to the blackboard to solve a problem.

Academically speaking, at the same time, SMART Boards can enhance your teaching of various lessons. Examples include:

Fourth grade fractions made more comprehensible by viewing the movement of virtual tools, such as pictures of cubes, pie graphs, and other objects.

Civil War history for middle school students, who enrich textbook learning by taking a fictional tour of the Underground Railroad in which the class makes choices and sees where those decisions lead.

Virtual dissection of a frog in high school biology.

4. Build motion into kindergarten lessons

Young children have short attention spans and respond better to instruction if it includes movement and hands-on action, such as getting up to answer a question or demonstrating how to use a tool.

Not surprisingly, the Australian journal Teaching Science notes that kindergarten students enjoy touching SMART Boards to answer questions and participate in lessons. They also respond well to the colorful graphics that are much easier for a large group to view on a large screen.

Using electronic pens to circle items or moving virtual objects with their fingers, kindergarten students can sort items on a SMART Board to show what they know about a particular subject. For example, you could ask them to separate objects that require electricity from those that don't.

5. Multiple choice tests

If you teach upper elementary or higher grade levels, consider asking your students to demonstrate their knowledge by taking multiple choice tests with the help of SMART Boards. They could also participate in interactive test review sessions before the final test near the conclusion of a learning unit.

If your school has the right software and equipment, students could even respond to questions on the screen by using individual, handheld remote clickers that record their answers for later review and grading by the teacher.

Waking up students with smart technology

A good reminder: the objective of using a SMART Board isn't to take traditional book learning, hands-on experiences, or paper testing away from students. Instead, they're designed to reinvigorate and engage students up by adding variety to instruction, getting them moving, and providing cool ways to respond to questions.

Especially in one-computer classrooms, SMART Boards are smart choices because they quickly provide a big picture of learning. Connected to computers, they offer whole-group access to colorful, educational websites, powerful assessment software, and teacher-made materials tailored to a class's needs. Enjoy yours!

Learn More: Click to view related resources.

Tags: Educational Technology, Engaging Activities

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5 Examples of SMART Boards in the Classroom

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Like a snowball gaining in size and momentum, bright, white, digital SMART Boards are on a roll taking over K-12 classrooms. These powerful visual tools have revolutionized the way teachers run their classrooms, including how they handle simple record-keeping tasks, engage student interest, demonstrate complex information, assess learning and prepare students for an increasingly digital world.

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This is a short video explaining why modern day teachers prefer using SmartBoards within their classrooms and why they believe it improves student's overall learning abilities.
- Tyler Gleason

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How SMART Boards improve learning outcomes

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This short article discusses the benefits of incorporating technology into a classroom and specifically interactive whiteboards.
- Ashleigh Shanks

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If you are "Up with the times," then you may be so lucky to have a Smart Board in your classroom. This interactive whiteboard is replacing the overhead projector in many classrooms across the United States. Smart Board technology in the classroom can enrich your curriculum by taking a typical lesson and turning it into a fun, more interactive one. Here are a few more of the amazing advantages to utilizing technology in the classroom by having a smart board in your classroom.

In classrooms all over the country, Smart Boards are being installed because this amazing technology not only enhances the way teachers teach, but it also enhances the way students learn. It can provide students with an enriched learning experience by projecting visual elements. It also makes differentiated learning much easier because teachers are able to accommodate different learning styles. Visual learners are able to observe the whiteboard, while tactile learners can learn by touching the board. The touchscreen option allows teachers to run programs with the tap of their finger. This makes it not only makes it easy to navigate for the teacher, but for the students as well.

In addition to that, a student's learning experience is enhanced by this technology because of its ability for students to view diagrams, charts, videos and more, right on the huge screen in front of them. Their learning comes to life, and many students find it more fun to learn than ever before.

Smart Technology is Interactive

Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of Smart Boards is their ability to be interactive. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that students learn best when they are fully engaged, and hands-on learning is one of the best ways to do that. With this technology, every child in the classroom has the ability to utilize the Smart Board at the same time. For example, advanced Smart Boards have the ability for students to use their finger and write directly on them. Most Smart Boards have the separate workspaces so several children can utilize the smart board at once. This interactivity provides students the ability to write, draw, or take notes via a tablet as well.

They are Low Maintenance

Smart Boards are very easy to use and require very little maintenance. The boards do not use chalk or markers (which can be messy) -- you only use your finger or a special pen. You will also find that they very easy to clean as well as maintain.

You Have Access to Online Resources

Smart technology offers learners easy access to online resources. They can be set up in the class so all students can view any website or video through a computer application. Teachers have access to a slew of knowledgeable databases that which can help them reinforce their lessons. Students can easily access a wide range of resources to help them complete a project or conduct any research.

They are Environmentally Friendly

If you are looking to "Go green," then here is your chance. Smart Boards are environmentally friendly because it eliminates the need for any worksheets and papers. There will be no need to photocopy and print a class set of papers. These interactive boards will help the environment in eliminating the tons and tons of wasted paper and ink that are dumped each year.

Smart Boards Allow for Technology Integration

One of the many benefits of Smart Boards is the ability for technology integration. Teachers are able to attach their computers, video cameras, digital cameras, microscopes and pretty much anything else that you can think of to help aid in instruction.

Proven Success Rates

Studies have shown that using smart technology in the classroom has proven success rates; it raises test scores, improves student learning, enhances literacy, boosts attentiveness, and increases comprehension, to name a few.

Teachers report that the number one benefit that they see in their classrooms that use Smart Boards is an increase in student engagement. These interactive boards provide an extraordinary opportunity for teachers to create a classroom environment where students with different learning styles can learn from each other. This easy-to-learn technology ensures that both teachers and their students are developing the 21st century skills that they need in order to succeed in today's world.
Do you have Smart technology in your classroom? What do you think the biggest advantage of having a Smart Board in the classroom is? Please share your thoughts with us in the comment section below, we would love to hear what you have to say. Janelle Cox is an education writer who uses her experience and knowledge to provide creative and original writing in the field of education. Janelle holds a Master's of Science in Education from the State University of New York College at Buffalo. She is also the Elementary Education Expert for About.com, as well as a contributing writer to TeachHUB.com and TeachHUB Magazine. You can follow her at Twitter @Empoweringk6ed, or on Facebook at Empowering K6 Educators.

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Technology in the Classroom: The Benefits of Smart Boards

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If you are "Up with the times," then you may be so lucky to have a Smart Board in your classroom. This interactive whiteboard is replacing the overhead projector in many classrooms across the United States. Smart Board technology in the classroom can enrich your curriculum by taking a typical lesson and turning it into a fun, more interactive one.

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This is a video that talks about different smart boards and how they can be useful with the classroom, conferences and simply to bring engagement to academics.
-Ashleigh Shanks

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Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom 1d2

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Starfall is a site that I used a lot with the kindergarten special education class.  The one thing I used on their daily was the interactive whiteboard calendar.  The students are able to add in birthdays, the date, and special events.  They are also able to add a picture for the calendar.  The students I used this with loved it because they could go up to the smartboard and take turns.  There are also educational games that the students can play on the site.
-Leah Scher

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Starfall Education: Kids Games, Movies, Books & Music for K-5 and above

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At Starfall, children have fun while they learn - specializing in reading, phonics & math - educational games, movies, books, songs, and more for children K-5 and above.

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SmartBoard and WhiteBoard Interactive Digital Lesson Plan Sampler

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SmartBoard and WhiteBoard Interactive Digital Lesson Plan Sampler

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I liked the idea of using digital whiteboards for lesson planning.  I feel that it would be fun to have the students learn on the whiteboard instead of just using paper and pencil.  I found this youtube video that shows how to create digital lessons plans for teaching.

-Leah Scher

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SmartBoard and Whiteboard Interactive Digital Lesson Plan Sampler

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Who doesn't love family feud?  I can see this being used with A digital white board as a review for unit. For example you can ask "What it is the first food group the teacher's ( insert school) put on their my plate "  and have students buzz in to play - having them recall their food groups. This could be used with several topics across curriculum. They could earn bonus points for a the test, or many different reward systems.-Amber Frasier

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How to make a Powerpoint Family Feud template game tutorial

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I enjoy this idea of a whiteboard book widget for the health care classroom. The educator has the ability to post pictures and have students diagram and label it. Also, it gives students the opportunity to turn it in the teacher for review. You can place a picture of an empty plate and have students draw their " my plate" or have them upload a picture of their dinner and compare it to my plate to see if it meets all guidelines of my plate! -Amber Frasier

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A digital whiteboard for in the classroom - 6 fun lesson ideas

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In my previous job, I taught students as young as 3 years old.  At times, it could be difficult to fill our 40 minute class time with new and engaging ideas for such young students.  This link is for a product that you can purchase and then use on an interactive whiteboard.  It is a fitness themed escape room that  combines fitness and academics.
- Ken Lancto

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Description

Imagine how great it would feel to have movement activities that can easily be used in instructional time!

Not only would you have a great option for learning, but you could feel confident knowing that your kids are getting in physical activity that is so important for learning! You will have activities that combine movement and learning that you and your kids love.

You will have fun activities for your brain breaks, morning meetings, home or therapy sessions. Your kids will BEG to do it over and over!

You won't have to worry about how you are going to get in physical activity and brain breaks as well as all the instruction that is required!

You won't have to be spending time searching and creating your own resources, it's all done for you!

You will be saving time, money, and effort when buying all these activities in the bundle!

The Escape Room Brain Break Bundle consists of alphabet, number, and pattern activities that combine moving and learning.

The fitness escape room bundle includes three different themed fitness escape rooms. Videos are included below of each escape room.
Alphabet Themed Fitness Escape Room Number Themed Fitness Escape Room Pattern/Code Themed Alphabet Escape Room
The escape rooms can be played digitally on your tablet, computer, or interactive whiteboard. The digital escape room files are in PowerPoint format meaning you must have PowerPoint to play these games digitally. There is a free PowerPoint app available on tablets.

When you purchase this product you will be given each escape room in digital format (PowerPoint file) and in hard copy format (downloadable PDF file). There is also an instructions file and hard copy awards available for each game.

If you do not want to play digitally the hard copy file will allow you to put the game together using envelopes and stations. The hard copy will also allow for recording sheets for the digital games if desired.

The Escape Rooms

There are 10 different "rooms" for each game. There is a problem to solve to get the code. When the correct code is unlocked the fitness activity appears. Once the fitness activity has been performed the kids can move to the next room and clue. Fun sound effects are included to make the game even more fun!

Downloadable PDF files are also available if you do not want to play digitally as well as hard copies of awards.

Files

When you purchase the escape rooms you will receive 3 zipped files containing the digital game (PowerPoint Show File) and the PDF file. You will also receive a downloadable PDF file with instructions and hard copies of the awards.

Use The Fitness Escape Games

Letter Recognition with movement

Number Recognition with movement

Coding and Problem solving with movement

Brain Breaks

Therapy Sessions - PT, OT, or Speech

Physical Education

Fitness Escape Room Previews
Fitness Escape Room - Numbers Version

Fitness Escape Room - Alphabet Version
Fitness Escape Room - Codes/Patterns Version
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.

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Fitness Escape Room Bundle - Alphabet, Numbers, Patterns | Pink Oatmeal SHOP

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The fitness escape rooms are the perfect way to add movement to learning, incorporate fun brain breaks and/or use as an intervention for PT, OT, or speech. They are also a ton of fun to use in your home. You must have PowerPoint to play the games digitally as the digital files are PowerPoint.

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This short video is a PE teacher demonstrating the advantages of a digital whiteboard over a traditional whiteboard in the gym.  He showed a great idea about how he used the whiteboard to differentiate his delivery of information to different grade levels.
-Ken Lancto

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Phys.Ed.Review (Digital Animated White Board)

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Video of how I created a digital animated white board so students can "see" what the plan is in Physical Education class. More than just a traditional white board, I created one that has small animated GIFs embedded into a powerpoint presentation that is projected on a TV or projector in the gym.

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Interactive Whiteboards used as an Assistive Tool
This is a short video on how one middle school took the use of an interactive whiteboard a step further to help students who are visual impaired. It is amazing how teachers can be creative and use regular classroom tools as assistive technology for students with special needs!
-Cassidy

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Interactive Whiteboards - Assistive Technology for the Blind

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Using SMARTboards in Special Education
This website tells the benefits to both the students as well as the teacher when an interactive SMARTboard is used within a contained special education classroom!
-Cassidy

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SMARTBoards are large interactive whiteboards that were invented in 1991 by SMART Technologies. The SMARTBoard uses touch technology to detect user input, as compared to mice and keyboards attached to personal computers. The computer's video output is displayed by a projector onto the whiteboard, which serves as a large touchscreen. For educational purposes, the interactive whiteboard mounts on a wall or sits on a floor stand. Instead of whiteboard markers, a SMARTBoard's digital writing instruments use digital ink to control input information for handwriting and drawing.

Advantages of SMARTBoards in Special Education Classrooms

SMARTBoards support inclusive classrooms by offering students many ways to learn information, express ideas, and demonstrate understanding. The SMARTBoard also allows teachers to address different learning styles - visual, auditory and kinesthetic. This technology engages all types of students and facilitates differentiated instruction. A SMARTBoard helps students with autism, for example, improve communication skills through group collaboration. The interactive whiteboard gives educators the ability to present things visually, and provide ease in creating and altering activities to control students' learning.

For students with physical disabilities, the SMARTBoard's touch-sensitive surface gives all students the opportunity to participate in learning. It allows all students, even those who cannot hold a pen, to write and interact with content using the finger-touch capability. For students who have trouble using traditional keyboards and mice, the touch and click ease allows them the opportunity to interact with a computer.
Benefits to Teachers
Teachers enjoy using the SMARTBoard to create visually engaging and interactive lessons. Since students with special needs frequently respond well to visuals, the SMARTBoard takes this one step further by projecting really large visuals. The technology provides teachers with an easy way to project worksheets, pictures for background knowledge, or any other visuals to share with the entire class.

Special educators like the fact that the SMARTBoard is flexible and gives the opportunity to change activities quickly. Teachers can create an activity and change it as students watch. This technology is very intuitive to use, too. While most users do require some training, most people can walk up and start using a SMARTBoard immediately. A SMARTBoard does not require any special software; software currently installed on a personal computer will work seamlessly.

Teachers who have used SMARTBoards report that students with special needs have made huge strides in learning. Many attribute these gains to teaching with these interactive whiteboards in their classrooms. If this technology is not available in your school, advocate for it today.

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SMARTBoards in Special Education Classrooms

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These interactive whiteboards allow teachers to create exciting lessons that reach students with different learning styles and needs. SMARTBoards provide students with large visuals and an opportunity to interact with a computer easily. Students with physical disabilities, even those who cannot use typical computer peripherals, can respond to questions using the large touchscreen.

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Insider's Peek at the Human Body Systems

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Insider's Peek at the Human Body Systems

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This app could easily be used on an interactive whiteboard in the classroom. It provides an interactive journey through the human body and its various complex systems on a simplified level. It allows the learner to drag different stimuli to the body and watch the nerves react differently to the touch of a feather or a bee sting, for example. This is a GREAT hands-on learning tool!
-Mariah Chang

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A "sandbox" app is one that provides "open" play to some extent in a given context, Minecraft being a very popular sandbox application these days. Within a sandbox app, students can make choices and experience interactions with the context. Many great sandbox apps such as MarcoPolo Weather are relatively language-neutral, with little audio disrupting the activity, and for language intervention this presents a great context to elicit talk. Also notable in sandbox apps is the pace: you set it. In their post on sandboxes and play, Toca Boca notes that "Some sandbox games are set in vast city environments or large natural settings, others in more limited realms such as homes, doctors' offices or hair salons."

Tinybop has been publishing apps that have these "limited" realms designed around specific curriculum topics (often but not exclusively related to STEM- Science, Technology, Engineering, Math- areas). Take The Human Body ($3.99 and well worth it as a specialized digital toy), which is "a working model of the body." Students can be guided to explore each system of the body and interact with it to see how it works. For example, the nervous system section allows you to drag different stimulants to the body (such as a stinging bee or feather) to see the effects of touch or pain, and smartly connects to the camera and microphone of the iPad to demonstrate the senses of vision and hearing.

I have benefited greatly by downloading the free handbooks that go with the Tinybop apps, as without these you might not know where all the interactions are hidden. I recommend printing the Human Body handbook, as within the app you have to access the adult dashboard to see it, and it's nice to have it on paper to the side so you can play with all the systems. You can download the handbook for this and other apps from Tinybop's website to make it easier to print.

The Human Body is quick to familiarize yourself with, and can be used for language-based activities when students are dealing with this curriculum material, such as:
-creating sentences about the cause-and-effect relationships within systems
-sorting vocabulary and concepts into categorical systems
-linking to real-world narrative, perhaps by taking photos and creating a book on our relationship with our body systems in Book Creator.
-pairing with a picture book related to the topic of anatomy and physiology for more narrative and expository instruction

I'll be taking a look at the other Tinybop apps in a future post or two!

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Tinybop's The Human Body and the Learning Sandbox

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A "sandbox" app is one that provides "open" play to some extent in a given context, Minecraft being a very popular sandbox application these days. Within a sandbox app, students can make choices and experience interactions with the context.

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While this particular scenario regarding pet insurance has nothing to do with health, it teaches a key lesson that is essential to understanding healthcare in a world full of medical jargon. My students often struggle with understanding the real-life implications of wordy statistics their doctors provide. This is an EXCELLENT interactive program that allows the learner to design fictional surveys while changing the sample population. I highly recommend it!
-Mariah Chang

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Data Sampling: Representing Many by Sampling Some

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Congratulations! You have landed an internship with the mayor of Statsboro, a small municipality with a population of 500. The mayor has pledged to spend the town's funds according to the will of the people, so she has given you the responsibility of gauging public opinion on four policy issues.

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This video is specific to SMART Boards, but many of the programs are fairly generic and likely exist in a similar form in other interactive whiteboards as well. I particularly like the dragging items into categories and sorting foods activities.
-Mariah Chang

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How to create interactive exercises using the Lessons activity tool - SMART tutorials for teachers

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Using Interactive Whiteboards for Anatomy Labeling

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Using Interactive Whiteboards for Anatomy Labeling

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While this video is actually an advertisement for a specific model of SMART Board, it showcases a way in which I hope to integrate digital whiteboard use in my health classroom (i.e. labeling reproductive anatomy, digestive system anatomy, etc.).
- Sara Krahnke

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A fantastic way to integrate whiteboard technology with any instructional content, this site allows users to customize games and even has a "buzzer" feature.
- Sara Krahnke

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For Remote or In-Person Classrooms

Factile is a free learning platform that lets teachers create engaging jeopardy-style quiz games for the remote or in-person classroom

Assess students' understanding of new topics or review the latest concepts using our simple, user-friendly gameboard template. Create and share your games with students, or search our database of already-created games. Use Factile with Google Classroom to easily assign games and flashcards to your class.
Play Demo Game

Four Team Review Games
Play in classroom or remote with Buzzer Mode

Two Individual Study Games
Self-paced learning in classroom or remote

Buzzer Mode

Buzzer Mode

Turn phones, tablets or computers into buzzer buttons for an engaging multi-player gameshow experience

"Factile is fun and exciting. Students enjoy the competition, the team-building, the camaradarie, the positive reinforcement, or all of the above. The standard, free version is very workable and click-driven, although I am sure the premium version contains greater functionality that may appeal to some folks. Your students will enjoy it as much as you enjoy watching them learn"

Bruce DuBoff AASL Best Websites for Teaching and Learning Committee Member

See more reviews

Are you looking to make your Factile game even more engaging? Let students BUZZ IN via their laptops, phones or tablets! Remote or In-Classroom.

Send a link to your participants and they can play at any time on their own

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Multi-language support
(English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic)

...and much more

Buzzer Mode for Remote or in-classroom

Flashcards, Choice and Memory Games

Add Images, Videos and Equations

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Double Jeopardy and Daily Double

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Add up to 3 Images in Question/Answer

Multi-Member Teams up to 3 Players Per Team

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For Remote or In-Person Classrooms

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Classroom Jeopardy Review Game | Buzzer Mode | Factile

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Create your own Jeopardy template online without PowerPoint, or browse the pre-made templates to play Jeopardy-style classroom games or quizzes in minutes.

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This project, easily imitated with digital whiteboards, was created by a local middle grades health teacher to foster community, build character, and grow self-esteem and self-worth for students in her classroom.
- Sara Krahnke

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The Compliments Project | Cult of Pedagogy

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If you want to build trust in your classroom, you need to see this video about a powerful activity where students give compliments in an unforgettable way.

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Chelsea Stevens

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Play educational whiteboard games for the classroom from PBS KIDS. Created by educational media experts and vetted by educators, PBS KIDS games are a great way to make learning fun!

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Everything You Need to Know About Interactive Whiteboard Technology

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Everything You Need to Know About Interactive Whiteboard Technology

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Chelsea Stevens

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An interactive whiteboard gives you the ability to use a display as a touchscreen device for everything from whiteboarding to collaboration. An interactive whiteboard is a tool that allows multiple people to engage in a collaborative experience using a touchscreen to take notes, annotate content, and more.

Many interactive whiteboards offer on-board programs that help to facilitate sharing and collaboration. They do things that an analog whiteboard simply isn't capable of. In the past, employees would write notes on analog whiteboards and would have to resort to taking photos of the board or slapping "Do Not Touch" signs on it to save their work. Interactive whiteboards remove that hassle - they take the analog notes we're used to and automatically bring them into the digital world. They allow for things to be written down on the surface, shared, archived, and saved as digital content.

Some interactive whiteboard solutions even allow for the integration of mobile devices like laptops, tablets, and smartphones. These devices can be connected directly or wirelessly, and you can easily annotate content that will be mirrored on connected devices. It works the other way around as well - draw on the device and see it mirrored on the display in real time. This allows for another layer of collaboration. Sharing content directly from devices easily allows meetings to progress more fluidly and reduces down time. Then you just send the annotated content back to the devices for later use.

Most interactive whiteboards feature internal processing and programs that allow you to draw over documents, images, and other content live during meetings. Most allow you to easily archive and share documents that have been uploaded or annotated throughout the meeting. These additional layers of interactivity can greatly enhance meetings.

When making up documents, being able to view and annotate on a large screen that everyone in the room can see is a useful ability. The return on investment for an interactive whiteboard comes from bolstering meeting spaces and facilitating collaboration. An interactive whiteboard allows for effective, collaborative efforts between the entire team.

When the meeting comes to an end, the surface of the interactive whiteboard can be saved as a jpg, pdf, or other document or content form to be emailed and shared with the entire staff. Archiving and sharing what was put up on the display - whether it be a marked up document or simply someone writing out ideas - takes only a few seconds. The electronic file is created and easily shared and duplicated. You can send this content to remote employees, or those that weren't in the office for the meeting for whatever reason.

Sharing ideas through an interactive whiteboard is a way that companies can take an idea to the next level. Companies find a real benefit in the ability to easily share ideas using interactive whiteboards. Not to mention, being able to share and convey ideas in such a short amount of time increases the speed that new initiatives can begin with everyone on board. Saving time saves companies money. Interactive whiteboards are also heavily utilized in the education space to enhance the learning process.

Writing an Interactive Whiteboard RFP

Since there are several types of interactive display board offerings on the market, it's important that your needs and wants be shared in the RFP.

There are two major types of interactive display whiteboards. First is a stand-alone display. This is a display screen that can be interacted with directly. The images show on the screen the same as they would on a computer display or digital signage screen. The difference being that touch is enabled. The other major type of interactive whiteboard uses an interactive projector - most commonly a short-throw projector that will be installed just above the display surface.

In some environments an extremely large display surface is required. In this case an interactive display using a projector-based system would be the best choice. In some cases real estate constraints will mean that a smaller area is allowed for the interactive display. In either case, share it in the RFP. Give measurements for the physical space in which you'll be installing the interactive whiteboard so that the integrator respondents can determine the best fit for your needs. In addition, mounting can become difficult in certain areas with physical limitations.

Share the ambient light situation of the space as well. In areas with high ambient lighting, a projector-based system may appear washed out and hard to see. In this case an interactive display is likely the only option you'll want to utilize.

Budget can also play a major role in choosing your interactive whiteboard. Most interactive displays are more expensive than their projector-based counterparts. If budget is a concern then make that clear - give the maximum you are willing to spend in order to determine what type of system you'll be able to afford.

Include any specific features that are important to you. If a solution without certain features is a non-starter then the RFP should say so. That way you're not being pitched solutions that don't fit your need.

Implementing Interactive Whiteboards

Most interactive whiteboard technology can be installed and implemented into a room in a reasonably short period of time. A full integrated interactive display that is not projector based can be installed in a matter of hours. Since configuration is quite simple these days, the organization or customer can have their new display up and running and ready for use the same day. Many solutions are stand-alone systems that won't require major programming or wiring. This means faster deployment of the technology.

Projector-based interactive whiteboards may require more time. The calibration process can be more intensive than mounting a display. The integrator will need to ensure that the image fits and that the touch capabilities are working as they should. Even so, in many cases these solutions can be installed in a day or so.

One of the most prevalent issues with these systems comes with ambient light in the room. It's not a problem that is easily solved - it's not a box to check or a programming error that can be fixed. This is why it's so crucial to investigate these issues prior to deploying the solution.

It is important that the wall where the solution will be mounted has sufficient room. Proper mounting and structural support in the wall for heavier displays is important. You want it at an optimal location from a viewing standpoint - if everyone in the room can't easily see the display then the solution loses its impact. Pick a location that is ideal for participants.

From a post-work perspective, most solutions are user-friendly and require little support. Factor in several hours for the installer to provide training once the interactive whiteboard is installed. Follow up training may be required, especially as new employees come into the organization. In this case, a yearly training contract may be a good way to ensure that new employees receive training. These solutions are designed to be easy to use, however, and training will likely be minimal.

Every solution will require a different level of maintenance. Projector-based solutions will require bulbs to be changed out and filters to be replaced or cleaned. They also may need recalibration from time to time. Display solutions won't have this requirement. All of this maintenance can be handled on an as-needed basis.

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Everything You Need to Know About Interactive Whiteboard Technology - My TechDecisions

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An interactive whiteboard gives you the ability to use a display as a touchscreen device for everything from whiteboarding to collaboration. An interactive whiteboard is a tool that allows multiple people to engage in a collaborative experience using a touchscreen to take notes, annotate content, and more.

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Colleen Burke https://www.pinterest.com/pin/798614946404230593/

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By Bethany Petty The classrooms of today have the potential to look vastly different than those of the past. Many teachers have access to a vast array

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By Bethany Petty The classrooms of today have the potential to look vastly different than those of the past. Many teachers have access to a vast array… By Bethany Petty The classrooms of today have the potential to look vastly different than those of the past. Many teachers have access to a vast array of technology too

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Colleen Burke
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/490962796862673811/

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Do you have an interactive whiteboard in your classroom? Then, these tips are perfect for you! Learn new ways to use your interactiv… | Classroom Tools | Interactive whiteboard, Smart board lessons, Smart board activities

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Do you have an interactive whiteboard in your classroom? Then, these tips are perfect for you! Learn new ways to use your interactive whiteboard.

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How to Use Interactive Whiteboards the Right Way in the Special Ed Classroom

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How to Use Interactive Whiteboards the Right Way in the Special Ed Classroom

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Colleen Burke
https://tinyurl.com/yygvp8nh

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Can we talk seriously about interactive whiteboards in the special education classroom? I have a big love-hate relationship with them.

I soooo love their potential. But I am so tired of seeing them used as giant TVs. So often they aren't used as interactive tools. Instead, they just play YouTube videos. Videos are, by their nature, usually NOT interactive.

Can you tell this has been bothering me for a while? I know how much everyone pines for an interactive whiteboard. It is, after all, the 21st century and it certainly does seem like we should be moving toward using technology throughout the day. But just showing a video on a whiteboard isn't advancing us to the future. It's bringing back the past with a bigger screen.

That's not to say you can't use it to show videos and that some videos are useful. They are great for showing video modeling. But then we stop and have the student follow the model-not just watch it passively.

Let's face it, most of our students are not passive learners. Well, except for those video game and cartoon phrases you hear repeatedly, right? But just watching a video in morning meeting of a song is not teaching them a concept.

So, today I'm talking about the Dos and Don'ts of interactive whiteboards in the special education classroom. It's based on what I often see when walking into classrooms and ways you can use them effectively with your students.

Trust me, there are a whole lot of ways we can use them and they are dynamite tools to have in our arsenal. And they have even more potential because our students are often so drawn to watch the screen. The key is to make it a learning activity, not just watching.

1. Don't just watch videos without engaging with the board

The whole point of the technology is for it to be interactive. Passively watching a bunch of videos that no one expects you to engage with is not interactive.

2. Don't use interactive activities above the level of most students.

I see this happen most frequently with morning meeting and calendar time. Only one student in the classroom might know the calendar well enough to put the right day and date in the right place so that student operates the whiteboard each day. And the rest of the students watch but don't really learn how to do it for themselves or even what it means.

3. Don't lose time cueing your programs up.

Instead, put this task into your zoning plan so the whiteboard is ready to go when your students get there. Remember that downtime is not your friend, and when students have to wait for you to get the software running, it's downtime for them.

4. Don't use programs only the teacher controls.

I see this one frequently when the whiteboard is used in situations like preschool classes. If only the teacher is interacting with it, the interactivity is not really benefiting the student.

5. Don't use the whiteboard just to fill time.

Make sure that your plans for your interactive whiteboard activities align with the goals for the students. Integrate them into your lesson plans. Don't just use them as time keepers or presentations.

1. Do use manipulatives to augment interaction with the students.

The fact is that not every student can interact with the whiteboard at the same time. And our students typically do best when they have something tangible to engage with during the activity. So, even though you are using the whiteboard, have actual manipulatives, like visuals for songs or books, for the students to use.

2. Do make videos of your own for video modeling.

Video modeling is an evidence-based practice.Interactive whiteboards can be a great way to present the video model to the whole class or just to one or a small group of students. Let them watch it multiple times, rewind it and use it as they want. If you have a tablet hooked up to the whiteboard, you might consider giving a student access to it to control the video. You can get tips on how to use video modeling here.

3. Do use it for interactive programs the students use.

For instance, if you use Unique Learning System, present the lesson on the whiteboard. If you use , use it with the white board. Use it to demonstrate lessons. Use it to present the model of the art project.

4. Do have multiple students interact with the board.

Interactive whiteboards are tough because only one person can touch them at a time. So, in a group activity, plan out multiple "helper" opportunities for student to interact with it. Set it up so that each student answers questions on it, makes choices on it, and / or writes on it to interact with it in some way.

5. Do use it to present group lessons in limited quantities.

They are great for brain breaks for 5 minutes or so of exercise and movement. But use it sparingly this way or it becomes just like a TV. And if you do that, consider having students make choices on the board by touching a picture or word. This makes it more interactive than passive.

I am not the expert on interactive whiteboards and I haven't spent a ton of time with them. However, I recognize the potential they bring to the classroom if we use them well. Some strategies that I've seen that have worked well in special education classrooms include:

Using them to show the model art activity for the ​​​​student to follow

Demonstrating processes like math problems for the class

Presenting the Unique social studies or science lesson and then having the students follow with the activity for comprehension.

chevron-circle-rightUse them to present News2You lessons

chevron-circle-rightVideo modeling and then practicing or role playing the activity

chevron-circle-rightHaving students look up things online using the tablet or computer and sharing it with the class

chevron-circle-rightUse it as an interactive choice board for activities where students put their names or pictures on the activity of his/her choice

chevron-circle-rightPresent PowerPoint interactive social stories to the class (have students interact to change the slides / page, match picture to picture)

chevron-circle-rightUse books from Tarheel Reader to have students take turns reading from the projector.

Not all of those examples are interactive, but they do serve an interactive purpose within the classroom. I know there must be lots of great ideas out there about how to use them effectively for instruction. Share them in the comments!!

Looking for visuals to supplement Your Whiteboard?

Click the images below to check them out in my store!

Until next time,

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Use Interactive Whiteboards the Right Way in Special Ed

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Can we talk seriously about interactive whiteboards in the special education classroom? I have a big love-hate relationship with them. I soooo love their potential. But I am so tired of seeing them used as giant TVs. So often they aren't used as interactive tools. Instead, they just play YouTube videos.

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Digital Whiteboards and Assistive Technology

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Digital Whiteboards and Assistive Technology

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- Jenna Morrow

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By Written by Cindy Perras, M.Ed., OCT
Introduction

Assistive technology (AT) can be of tremendous benefit to students with learning disabilities (LDs); AT can compensate for a student's skills deficits, needs and/or area(s) of disability. The key to effective AT is finding the right match between the AT tool, the learning disabilities, and the task.

Students with LDs will most often require AT that assists with reading, language, organizational skills and processing information. Examples of AT include computers, mobile technology (tablets, smartphones, iPods, etc.), specialized software programs, scanners, and interactive whiteboards.
For additional information on AT, click here to access an article on the LD@school website, "Assistive Technology for Students with Learning Disabilities: Information, Tools and Resources for Teachers".
One type of AT that is becoming increasingly popular, as an instructional tool for educators who teach students with and without learning disabilities, is the interactive whiteboard (IWB). An IWB is a presentation device that interfaces with a computer; computer images are displayed on a touch-sensitive screen by a digital projector, where they can be seen and manipulated. Examples of commercially available IWBs include SMART Boards, MimioBoards, Polyvision IWBs, Epson's BrightLink Pro, and the Promethean IWB. Various types of software and accessories are available for different IWBs.

How do whiteboards support the learning of students with LDs?

Students with LDs may require a variety of accommodations to access the curriculum, including technology. In the student's Individual Education Plan (IEP), accommodations may include voice-to-text software (e.g. Dragon Naturally Speaking), text-to-speech software (e.g. Kurzweil), touch screen technology, and interactive whiteboards. As Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is strongly linked to technology, teachers can use the framework of UDL in the classroom, not just for students with learning disabilities, but for all students.

The Ministry's resource document, Learning for All, notes the use of IWBs, in combination with UDL, as a recommended practice (Ministry of Education, 2011, p. 15):

Assistive Technology and UDL

The use of assistive technology, such as interactive whiteboards, for special education programs and classes provided a powerful starting point for focused discussions about equity, accessibility, and UDL.

Classroom teachers, special education resource teachers, and administrators were challenged and encouraged to think about the deployment of instructional tools to support students with special education needs in the context of school improvement planning. The resulting conversations often involved thinking about how technology might help to improve the achievement of both students with special education needs and students with a range of diverse learning needs in integrated settings.
Click here to access an introductory article on UDL, on the LD@school website.
It is important to understand how IWB technology supports the principles of UDL:

Multiple means of engagement - IWBs are highly engaging for students and assist in sustaining interest and focus, which is especially helpful for students with ADHD;

Multiple means of representation - IWBs provide educators with the ability to present information in a variety of linguistic and non-linguistic formats, e.g. graphics, audio, video clips, text, etc.; and

Multiple means of action and expression - IWBs provide students with options to demonstrate their understanding of concepts and options to interact with and manipulate learning materials; for example, a student with fine motor challenges can use a special pen or finger on the board.

According to Learning for All, differentiated instruction (DI) is based on the idea that it is necessary to adapt instruction to suit students' differing strengths, interests, learning styles, and readiness to learn. A key strategy in differentiated instruction is the use of flexible groupings, which allows educators to assign different tasks to students, individually or in small groups, based on strengths, interests, learning styles, or readiness. IWB technology allows educators to differentiate instruction and provide more individualized learning for all students, including those with LDs.
Click here to watch a YouTube video showing students using assistive technology to support differentiated instruction.
Lastly, the use of IWB technology promotes the inclusion of all students, with and without disabilities, through whole class, small group and individual instruction within the framework of UDL and DI.

Strategies for Students with LDs

The Blossom Learning Centre is a Canadian company, located in Richmond Hill, which provides online professional development for teachers. The resources section of their website provides the following strategies for using SMART Board technology:

Students with LDs in Reading (or dyslexia):

By adding colorful text, video clips, animation and images into SMART Notebook lessons, educators can supplement their oral instructions which can make it easier for students with reading LDs to grasp key concepts.

Educators can incorporate interactive phonics activities on the SMART Board interactive whiteboard into their lessons to help students build awareness of the letter sounds in words.

Educators can use SMART Response systems with their SMART Board interactive whiteboard to give tests and quizzes and keep track of how well students are learning. Points that have not been understood properly can easily be identified and revisited.

Classroom audio systems such as the SMART Audio system when used along side a SMART interactive whiteboard can help students hear the educator's voice better.

Educators can record processes on their SMART Board and then play them back to the class step by step, as many times as necessary.

The SMART Notebook "Spotlight" feature allows educators to block off certain areas of text on the SMART Board which they might not want students to see just yet. This blocked off area can then be revealed as soon as students have processed the necessary information

Students with Reading Comprehension Difficulties:

Enlarging text on the SMART Board to make it more legible

Highlighting parts of the text with digital highlighter ink or the SMART pen tools

Using the "Spotlight" feature to only reveal certain, relevant areas of text

Integrating a SMART Document Cameras to display textbook pages and other hard copy literature on the SMART Board.

Change text colors and backgrounds to make it more readable on the SMART Board.

Students with Fine Motor Difficulties:

Students using the SMART Board can write on it using a finger, a pen from the SMART pen tray or a soft object like a tennis ball or hacky sack to practice their handwriting. The SMART Notebook software can then convert these handwritten letters to text using its handwriting recognition capabilities.

Educators can show pre-lined paper templates on the SMART Board to make it easy for students to keep their writing on the SMART Board straight.

Educators can help students with constructing letter forms by asking them to trace over built in alphabet letters and numerical symbols that are included with SMART Notebook Software

Students can annotate over web pages, images and electronic documents on the SMART Board to practice their writing skills.

Students with ADHD:

SMART Board interactive whiteboards can help teachers to teach students with ADHD by getting them more involved with the lesson, while keeping the lesson structured.

Educators can allow students to manipulate the SMART Board screen with their hands, and interactive games and activities can be imbedded into SMART Notebook lessons to keep students engaged and focused.

Features of SMART Notebook software like "reveal" and "spotlight" that keep from too much information being displayed on the SMART Board screen at once can help students with ADHD to focus on key areas, and educators can encourage students to highlight these key points and ideas on the SMART Board by drawing on the SMART Board screen in digital ink.

English Language Learners who may also have LDs:

Audio can be embedded into SMART Notebook lessons to reinforce important or difficult learning concepts.

Students can practice their writing on the SMART Board with the SMART pen tools, which is then converted to text and spell checked by SMART Notebook Software.

Educators can use digital highlighter ink to emphasize certain things on the SMART Board screen. Notebook software features can be used to hide text and reveal it bit by bit.

SMART Response systems can be integrated with SMART Board interactive whiteboard systems and used to gauge student comprehension of topics covered.

References

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2011). Learning for All - A Guide to Effective Assessment and Instruction for All Students, Kindergarten to Grade 12.

Related Resources on the LD@school Website
Click here to access the resource chart, "Supporting Students with Learning Disabilities Through a Universal Design for Learning Approach to Technology". Click here to access the article, "Tiered Approaches to the Education of Students with Learning Disabilities".
Additional Resources
Click here to access the Research Monograph, "Assistive Technology Tools: Supporting Literacy Learning for All Learners in the Inclusive Classroom". Click here to access a Canadian research-based article, "Smart Inclusion for the 21st Century Classroom: Integrating SMART Boards with Assistive Technology".
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Interactive Whiteboards: An Assistive Technology Tool for Students with LDs

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By Written by Cindy Perras, M.Ed., OCT Introduction Assistive technology (AT) can be of tremendous benefit to students with learning disabilities (LDs); AT can compensate for a student's skills deficits, needs and/or area(s) of disability. The key to effective AT is finding the

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