Interactive Whiteboards

Turel, Y.K., & Johnson, T. E. (2012). Teachers’ belief and use of interactive whiteboards for teaching and learning. Educational Technology & Society, 15 (1), 381-394.

This research was a quantitative descriptive study of teachers in Turkey who regularly use interactive whiteboards (IWB). The authors investigated teacher’s perceptions about the frequency of their IWB use and their feelings of competence. The authors determined the most commonly used features of IWB’s in this group of educators as well as how they developed skill in its use and what training topics they felt were needed. Three themes were investigated, instructional effects, motivational effects and usability.

Not surprisingly, the authors found that teacher skill increased with their frequency of use. Most teachers agreed that IWB’s are motivating, engaging and enjoyable for teachers and students.  One of the problems of IWB use is the need for appropriate skills and knowledge. Because most teachers were found to have had only one training session provided by their school, or IWB vendor, the training is deemed superficial. The authors defined a range of use between using the device as a chalk board, to using hyperlinks, or incompetent to professional. Most of the respondents in this self-identified in the mid-range of the competent range, and revealed that most of what they know was gleaned from colleagues.

This article is helpful because not much is mentioned in the nursing literature about the use of interactive white boards.  Though the participants in this research study were K-12 teachers, nursing schools could benefit from the positive impact this technology has on helping students become active learners and engage. The IWB adds the benefit of reaching many different learning styles, such as visual, auditory and kinetic. Turel and Johnson point out that the more experience teachers have with IWB’s, the more features they use. As teachers become advanced users of IWB’s, they are able to “construct meaning using interactive and fluid lesson strategies” (p. 383). Research about effectiveness of interactive whiteboards is needed in the field of nursing education.