The power of interactive whiteboards for secondary mathematics teaching: Two case studies

Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) offers a high-potential innovative tool in mathematical educational environments, in which teachers’ modelling processes and students’ exploring activities can easily be executed. Nevertheless, these affordances are not self-evident. There is a gap between the potential claims of the tool and its actual use in the classrooms. This study investigated, through two parallel case studies, the IWB potential in view of optimising the exploitation of the IWB, improving conceptual understanding and fostering interactivity in secondary mathematics classrooms. Two main patterns for a productive IWB use emerged: i) a problem solving pattern, consisting in IWB supporting problem solving activities; ii) an organizer pattern, consisting in using IWB as a kind of advanced organizer, stimulating students’ reflection and mathematical contributions. The two patterns were used to design and teach lessons that were analysed through the Instrumental Orchestration framework elaborated by Drijvers et al. (2013). Analysis showed how the IWB acted as a useful instrument for students’ discussion and collective construction of mathematical knowledge.status: accepte