When I read this article last week, I was amazed at all the conflicting results derived from multiple studies about the effectiveness of teaching with interactive white boards.
As I was trying to figure out how to put text on the page (and then spending the next hour or longer trying to figure out how to remove text from where I didn't really want it) I just wanted to pack it in and leave. I watched many of those around me discovering the wonders of hidden answers, erase the stuff, pull the tab, and many other strange and exotic exercises while I sat there wondering how in the world you made anything appear on the page, let alone make it disappear. I must admit that I gave into a moment (ok, let's be honest- SEVERAL moments) of despair and finally gave up to go home and drown my woes- and my frustration with technology that is smarter than me- in a nice bowl of chocolate covered frozen yogurt.
Anyway, back to the article. It appears that there is not enough substantive evidence that agrees that the use of the white boards are any more effective than other types of interactive lessons the teacher teaches. The article also talked about teachers' lack of training and inability to fully utilize the functions of the white board as being a major challenge. After spending a few hours last week and not looking forward to spending another 3 hours tonight trying to understand how to make a page (whoops, I think I need to make several of them) I can see that for those of us who have not grown up with technology this is going to take a lot more training than what we are given in a few classes along the way. It is no wonder that teachers don't know how to use these. Plus, one of the points in this article is the challenge that is inevitable with technology- what to do when it doesn't work? It stated that it not only flustered the teacher and made him/her lose confidence, but it also diminishes the respect of the student for the teacher and it also takes away from actual teaching time while the teacher tries to figure out what is not working and why.
I think teachers need to find ways to engage students, most assuredly! However, I'm not so sure that all the newest and latest, greatest gadgets are the only answers to this. What happened to teachers connecting personally with the students? It seems to me that the more screen time we have the less face time we have and that is a real danger in the classroom when so many are already crying out for just a bit of attention.
I will continue to work to figure out this technology, but when it takes so long to put together a 2-3 minute presentation for class, it really seems that my time would be better used on more important, lasting things that could make a difference in students' lives.
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