The Impact of Interactive Whiteboards on Teacher-Pupil Interaction Essay

The Impact of Interactive Whiteboards on Teacher-Pupil Interaction - Essay Example As per Reynolds and Ferrel, an inclusive approach towards education that encourages discussion is bound to enhance the quality of teaching (1996). Several experts and agencies have applauded the introduction of IWBs in the classrooms. Also a significant proportion of the teacher oriented journals and publications also testify to the efficacy of IWBs. The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA 2003) while reviewing the available literature on IWBs noted that the very fact that the usage of IWBs in classroom teaching stimulated the students to interact physically and intellectually with the media certainly improved the overall quality of learning. Levy also praises the visual appeal of the IWBs to the students and the ensuing possibility of a more physical interaction, which motivated the students to respond to the teachers' queries (2002). Ball regards the IWBS to be a unique media that makes the entire teaching process more student centric, thereby giving students a sense of control and confidence (2003). Glover and Miller noted that IWBs pleased the students as a majority of the students liked making presentations before the class (2001). In the study conducted by Levy, a significant number of students reported that the mutual sharing of views facilitated by IWBs furnished a better articulation of ideas (2002). IWBs are considered to be more acceptable to the contemporary students because they are already used to media images in their day today life (Richardson 2002). Also in a large number of studies, the teachers agreed to the relevance of IWBs because of the element of anticipation that they brought to a lesson (Glover and Miller 2001). As per Kennewell, IWBs enhanced the students' attention and engagement in a classroom scenario by extending them the opportunity to discuss their work and views before a group (2001). The focus of this article is to establish the level of veracity of the above mentioned views in the light of the empirical evidence gathered through research. "Given the lack of empirical evidence to support many of the assertions made about the benefits of IWBs in promoting teacher pupil interaction, this study set out to investigate their impact on the interactive core of whole class teaching in the NLS and NNS with Year 5 pupils. The study was therefore designed to test the claims that IWBs can be used as a pedagogic tool to promote interactive forms of learning and teaching, thereby changing traditional patterns of whole class interaction and discourse (Smith, Hardman and Higgins 2006)." Key Terms Successful Teaching - "Teaching that is discursive, characterized by high quality oral work and interactive, encouraging, expecting and extending pupil's contributions (Department of Education and Employment 19