Blog from Chapter 1

Chapter one from Engaging Learner with Interactive Whiteboards was a really interesting introduction to IWBs. It begins by talking about what an IWB is and three popular companies that sell IWBs. It then goes on to describe the ways to effectively use an IWB in a classroom. It strongly emphasizes the importance that an IWB is MUCH more than a glorified projector and should be used as such. Then it discusses the instructional benefits to using IWBs and how important it is for teachers to understand this new technology.
The next section in the book focuses on how how IWBs can impact student achievement. There is inconclusive conclusions about how IWBs can be beneficial for students. However three aspects that are linked to student achievement are student response systems, graphics and videos, and reinforcer properties. (p.5) The next section is over the instructional challenges associated with IWBs. The biggest cause of these challenges is that many teachers do not know how or simply do not use the IWBs effectively. The last section focuses on the importance and implementation of teacher training so that IWBs can be used to their greatest extent. The chapter ends with a quiz to test how well the reader retained the information from the text.
Overall, this was a very informative text that provided interesting information about IWBs. I learned a lot!