How to use interactive whiteboards in the classroom?
Connect your interactive whiteboard to additional technology
Interactive whiteboards (IWB) can be used to increase student engagement by enabling teachers and students to connect directly to the displays. By connecting to IWBs on Chromebooks™ or other one to one computing devices, students are empowered to interact with the boards without leaving their seats.
Create dynamic lessons with team collaboration
On the days that teachers reserve for breaking students up into workgroups, multiple IWBs — also known as interactive flat panel displays (IFPDs) — can significantly enhance collaboration. To save money, rather than buying multiple boards for each classroom, you can have teachers get on rotating schedules to share IFPDs regularly and take advantage of these highly-collaborative opportunities.
Group workshops can be very effective when students who are reviewing a peer's work are connected to the IFPD — allowing them to offer constructive criticism by annotating documents displayed on the board from their one-to-one computing devices. Every student connected to the display can also interact with the board by:
Making notes
Highlighting key points
Uploading videos
Sharing documents
To add another level of interactivity to group discussions, teachers can control the displays with tablets or smart devices, allowing them to walk around the room and interact with students while maintaining control of the displays. Plus, during classroom presentations — delivered in groups or by individual students — IFPDs with Windows® 10 controllers support preferred apps like Microsoft® Office 365®, and enable presenters to work with documents they’ve already created.
Let remote guest speakers teach a class via video
Guest speakers who have videoconferencing tools can connect to IFPDs remotely to share ideas with students. Additional perspectives on school subjects can help with student comprehension — especially when they come from experts in their fields. Using IFPDs in this way also helps school districts save on travel costs.
Empower students to study abroad while in class
Some IFPDs enable multiple schools to connect up to eight displays with interactive controls. This makes it easy for schools that use videoconferencing equipment, or are on the same network or VPN, to work together remotely — letting students study with international teachers and students without leaving the classroom.
Move away from traditional teaching methods
Need more ideas to enhance classroom collaboration with interactive whiteboards? See how BROWNS English Language School increased student engagement by moving from teaching with traditional whiteboards to creating a more collaborative learning environment with IFPDs.
“The quality of the teaching and the quality of the learning is much better in my experience since we’ve had IFPDs.”
— Michael Bostock, Director of Studies, BROWNS English Language School