Interactive Whiteboards

Since being developed in 1991 the Interactive Whiteboard has become the gold standard in classrooms worldwide. Providing an immediate, interactive experience, it is proven to motivate students to learn and produce improved learning outcomes. In Scoil Iósaf we are very fortunate to have an interactive whiteboard in every classroom from Junior Infants to Sixth Class.

Students engage with the interactive whiteboard very quickly. The large surface gives them ample space and encourages them to work together. By writing with a pen or their finger, they can draw over any application or website to highlight key points, record observations and brainstorm ideas. They have the entire resources of the universe at their fingertips including:

  • websites
  • video and audio clips
  • interactive teaching programs
  • interactive software such as digital flipcharts
  • use of additional peripherals such as electronic microscopes or digital cameras and scanners

The benefits of an interactive whiteboard in the Classroom are many.

Research studies have found:

  1. Interactive whiteboards support a range of learning styles; visual, auditory and kinaesthetic.
  2. The use of the interactive whiteboard in the classroom leads to consistent improvements across all subjects.
  3. Interactive whiteboards have very positive impacts on the attention, attitude and motivation of all pupils and produce a co-operative, ‘community of learning’ ethos in the classroom.
  4. Interactive whiteboards help with teaching abstract and difficult concepts and complex ideas – visual tools help pupils concentrate for longer and understand more fully.