Every school year students walk into a classroom to find the standard blackboard, chalk, and erasers that have been around since schools were first developed. Teachers would write on the blackboard and students would copy information from a blur of white chalk dust. These blackboards did not bring much interaction between the students and the teacher and easily lost students attention on a lesson. A new innovation, the interactive whiteboard, has changed the way students and teachers alike view the common blackboard.




What is an Interactive Whiteboard?
Wikipedia defines an interactive whiteboard as a dry erase board that can electronically capture writing and work. Interactive whiteboards are now invading classrooms in both the elementary and upper level grades. The most common brand of interactive whiteboard is SMARTBoard. Instead of the good old blackboard, chalk, and erasers, classrooms come equipped with a SMARTBoard, LCD projector, and computer. The interactive whiteboard has sensors in it that allow the teacher and students to manipulate what is in the screen, save work, and rewind to show a process of thought. These interactive white boards make learning more hands-on and increase the focus and participation of all students.

How do you use an interactive whiteboard?
An interactive whiteboard requires a lot more then the common blackboard and chalk. To successfully incorporate an interactive whiteboard the teacher must be trained in and have access to an interactive whiteboard, a computer, and an LCD projector with a USB connection between the two. The user must put the material to be presented on the computer then connect the computer to the LCD projector and the USB cable. Once the USB connection is established the user must activate the whiteboard by touching a series of sensors. Once this is done objects on the screen can be manipulated though a simple touch of the screen.



How is it used in the classroom?
The sky is the limit when it comes to incorporating an interactive whiteboard in the learning environment. When entering the SMART Technologies website educators have a whole page devoted to resources that assist with incorporating SMARTboard into the classroom. The teacher can choose a grade level and curriculum area from the drop down menu and immediately be presented with pre-made lessons on such topics as the author’s purpose, main idea and detail, polygons, and telling time. Through the use of pre-made lessons or a blank sheet up on the screen, a student or several students can engage in a multitude of activities; whether it is categorizing vocabulary words, solving a multi-step math problem, or showing the stages of a food chain. An interactive whiteboard can also be hooked to a DVD or tape recorder to eliminate the need of a television to show educational videos. Just one of the many examples of how an interactive whiteboard can be beneficial in the classroom is when trying to demonstrate a concept such as telling time. The teacher can bring a large clock up on the screen and manipulate the hands to show various times by using his/her finger to drag the hands of the clock to different locations. It is much easier and more beneficial to do this then try to show a classroom of students how to tell time with a wooden model clock. Students can also manipulate the hands of the clock and give the teacher a quick assessment of his/her progress.




Why are teachers using interactive whiteboards?
One benefit of the interactive whiteboard in the classroom is that it allows a teacher to capture his/her work and print it out for the students to use as a study tool. This is of great benefit from students who require repetition of a concept to be successful. Teachers can also print out interactive whiteboard lessons to help students who were absent succeed with a concept. These are not the only benefits of using an interactive whiteboard. Research has shown that the use of technology in the classroom in forms such as an interactive whiteboard provide greater access to learning, improve student learning, build stronger literacy skills, and encourage active learning. Teachers find that students are more engaged and focused when they are able to interact with the technology and have more of a hands- on approach in their learning. It also caters to multiple learning styles and allows the teacher to differentiate learning to meet the needs of all students.

Resources and Citations
(2006). Correlate lesson activities. Retrieved July 17, 2006, from SMART Technologies Web site: http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Ed+Resource/Lesson+activities/Notebook+activities/Correlated+Search+us.htm
This site has drop down menus that allow a teacher to choose a specific grade level and content area. The site then offers a multitude of activities that go along with the specifications given. The teacher can choose the desired lesson, download it onto their computer, and they are ready to incorporate it into their lesson.

(2006). Interactive whiteboard. Retrieved July 17, 2006, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_whiteboard
This site provides an official definition of the interactive whiteboard. It also gives background on how to use it and research articles on the benefits of this technology.

(2005). Maximizing smart board. Retrieved July 18, 2006, from Kenton County Schools Web site: http://www.kenton.k12.ky.us/SmartBoard/smartboardindex.htm
This site is an awesome tool for teachers. It has training documents, lesson plans, and templates all at the tip of your fingers.

(2006, June 14). SMARTBoard Templates. Retrieved July 18, 2006, from Center School District Web site: http://www.center.k12.mo.us/edtech/SB/templates.htm
This site has teacher developed templates to use with the SMARTboard, which are broken down by grade level and content area.

(2004). Smarter kids research. Retrieved July 17, 2006, from Smarter kids foundation Web site: http://www.smarterkids.org/research/index.asp
This site provides research done on how SMARTboards have proven to be a beneficial tool in the learning environment.

(2006). SMART training center. Retrieved July 17, 2006, from SMART Technologies Web site: http://www.smarttech.com/trainingcenter/tutorials.asp
This site has tutorials on exactly how to use the SMARTboard products. It has a breakdown of all software available and gives a brief and easy to follow tutorial of all areas.