Interactive Whiteboards and Implications for Use in Education

Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) have increasingly become a technology tool used in the educational field. IWBs are touch-sensitive screens that work in conjunction with a computer and a projector, and which are used to display information from a computer. As a qualitative case study, this study investigated the SMART Board-infused instructional practices of four teachers who participated in a specialized SMART Board professional development. The purpose of this research was to capture the most commonly used instructional strategies of those acquired by the participants who attended a series of SMART Board professional development workshops, and to discover which tools and features of the SMART Board they were implementing. Within these instructional practices, the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning modalities being deployed were sought. Furthermore, participants\u27 perceptions of factors that enable and hinder the use of the acquired strategies tools, and features were included. These 4 participants were hand selected to attend the training based on their advanced level of technology skills and the value they place on technology in the classroom. Six themes emerged from the data: 1) teacher- vs. student-centered instruction; 2) rationale for use of instructional strategies; 3) patterns of use for SMART Board tools and features; 4) reasons for participants\u27 use of SMART Board tools and features; 5) perceptions of integrating visual, auditory, and kinesthetic (VAK) learning modalities; and 6) enabling and hindering factors for use. Developing a sense of how these participants used the SMART Board in the classroom can help in planning future professional development related to the SMART Board and other technology. The implications for this research are informative to teachers, professional development coordinators, school administrators, technology staff, and teacher educators