Still debating…
After writing the previous blog based on smartboards, I was interested to find out what my peers had discovered about the interactive whiteboards either through experience or research. Penny wrote an interesting piece based on her research through the article Interactive Whiteboards: Boon or Boondoggle? Her main conclusion was similar to what Loren discussed in her blog. The argument for smartboards is not actually whether they are useful technology, but rather if teachers are USING them effectively. I know personally that technology can be difficult to approach and I am a young student teacher who has grown up with more technological understanding than the majority of the current aging australian teaching workforce!! The provision of training and workshops can assist with the appropriate useage of smartboards in schools, but I think it would also require vigilance on the part of the teacher to constantly evolve in their use of the whiteboard so that it remains new and exciting for students and holds firmly with constructionism values.
