Interactive Whiteboards

So… interactive whiteboards is the new topic. 

From what I have read about interactive white boards, it seems to be quite advantageous and useful to both the teacher as well as he learner. This forms part of the various aspects of the digital pedagogy system. It makes teaching much easier and in some ways convenient as it alleviates the factor of the teacher having to stand in front of a computer screen for a whole lesson and allows for much more natural movement from the teacher’s side, within the class room. These interactive whiteboards, as I have read, are a must have in K-12 schools (K-12, a term used in education and educational technology in the United States, Canada, and possibly other countries, is a short form for the publicly-supported school grades prior to college. These grades are kindergarten (K) and the 1st through the 12th grade (1-12)). 

Moving on (as I hope South Africa does as well, with regards to technology in schools and maybe protesting), it is said that the fundamentals of the interactive white board include a dry erase whiteboard, with an LCD projector which has been mounted to a wall, or floor stand. It becomes computer screen viewable to the entire class. Bear in mind that anything that can be done on a computer, can also be done on the white board. Teachers who might have a concern with regards to privacy, (for example, the thought of not being able to hide anything inappropriate you have saved on the computer from the class) can be set at ease. Mr/Mrs teacher, you control the content with literally a tap of a finger darling! So fear not, you’re still in control. Awesome! 

Aaaaand… the not so awesome part is the pricing there of. If the government can possibly offer some extra funding to direly needy schools (those that are found in poverty stricken and rural areas for example) then it would have many advantages for the children and teachers, who make use of the legendary black board and chalk (not that I have anything against this method, it still rocks, but seems to be a bit out-dated with regards to/as compared to contemporary digital pedagogy practices in schools worldwide).