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| The learning programs are limitless! |
Now, as always, there are pros and cons to this product. Let's start with the pros. According to an article from the The Journal, one of the pros that teachers note is the appeal to kids' multiple intelligences particularly for visual-spatial and bodily-kinesthetic learners that can be hard to accommodate in the print-based classroom. Another benefit could be the options of HOW to present the material or lesson. This could prove to be very helpful when differentiating your lesson to accommodate different learning styles, abilities, and interests of students. For example if you have physical learners who learn best while being active, coming to the board to answer a question or task could help them immensely.
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| Team learning could be used also. |
Onto the cons. Con number one is that children get bored very easily. Things are only new and interesting for so long. After using an interactive whiteboard for a year, William Ferriter, a sixth-grade teacher in North Carolina, said, "It just allows you to create digitized versions of old lessons. My kids were bored with it after about three weeks." Another major con is cost. These teaching tools cost thousands of dollars. Spending that much on one tool doesn't make sense to me when there are classrooms with not enough textbooks. In my children's high school, they can't take the books home, because there aren't enough. They use them in class, then put them back on the shelf. The Journal listed several consequences that are associated; usefulness might wear off, every classroom has to have one, everyone has to use it, and IWBs won't be enough.
All of these pros and cons factor into my opinion.. These IWBs are a wonderful TOOL for a classroom and teachers. But it is just that, a tool. The teachers are the facilitators.
I enjoyed reading your post, you didn't just put the pro's but you also put the con's of having the IWB's in the classroom. If someone didnt know what they were, they could read this post and know what the IWB's are and what good and bad they can do in a classroom. You had two relevant pictures that weren't just labeled to one type of classroom or a certain grade level. You also promoted differentiation with the pictures.
ReplyDeleteWow, I really liked this post. It definitely differentiates the pros from the cons, but you make such a good case for both the pros and the cons. I love that you incorporate your children into your posts. It seems like you put a lot of work into this blog post. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the cons section of this post. With the books vs expensive tools that don't get used. I like that you add a lot of information into your posts as well.
ReplyDeleteI liked that you listed the pros and cons of the interactive white boards in paragraphs. You post gives very detailed information about interactive white boards. I agree that the IWB help all different types of learners and the kids really do look forward to using them, especially at the elementary level.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this post. I have the same feelings about the interactive whiteboard as you. In my opinion I don't see how it can get old unless you do use it for every single lesson, and i definitely agree with your ending statement. The only way these kids can be getting bored is if they're turning to the board for the lesson and not the activity!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you used pros and cons about the whiteboard. Kids can get bored with the whiteboard if you use it for every lesson. Which we learned about in differentiation we need to teach to every child.
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