The Interactive Whiteboards, Pedagogy and Pupil Performance ...

2003). Whilst many of the factors that are assumed to help or hinder good uptake are
consistent with the principles of school improvement more generally (Jones, 2004;
Scrimshaw, 2004), there is a broad consensus that good quality training is important and
needs to provide teachers with a clear understanding of the pedagogical applications and
advantages that ICT can bring (Ofsted, 2004).
To-date, much of the literature on IWBs as a specific technology has been produced by
advocates of the technology, reflecting on the use of IWBs in their own classroom or
working alongside colleagues. Until recently this has drawn on a relatively modest
research base, comparatively little of which has appeared in peer-reviewed journals.
Nevertheless, there is a broad consensus within this literature on the contribution that
IWBs can make to improve teaching and learning. This can be summarised as follows.
IWBs bring the functionality of the computer into whole class settings and promise more
interactive and flexible use in that context through their touch sensitive screens allied with
handwriting recognition systems. This combination of features solves some of the
perceived difficulties associated with the previous deployment of PCs in schools and
particularly the disadvantages associated with their location in dedicated computer suites.
In addition, the technology seems easier to integrate into existing pedagogic practice and
may therefore aid the fuller use of ICT in subject learning. It can foster a more interactive
style of whole class teaching through features that encourage pupil participation in this
setting, through use of the touch-sensitive screen. It enables more flexible use of a broad
range of multimedia resources as well as dedicated software that supports or enhances a
wider range of learning styles. In some subjects, software that exploits the dynamic visual
dimension of the medium can make it easier to model abstract ideas. If the facility to
prepare and save materials is fully utilized, IWBs can increase the pace of teaching by
making it easier to move between texts on screen as well as revisit materials deployed
earlier. In line with the literature on ICT more generally, it is assumed that the adoption of
IWBs in a whole school or department setting will facilitate resource sharing between
teachers (see Annex B).
Whilst there is general agreement in the literature on the terms in which the benefits of the
IWB are discussed, Smith et al, (2005) caution that some of these benefits are not
peculiar to the IWB but could be achieved through other combinations of computer
technology that relay the contents of the computer screen to whole class settings through
data projection.
A more robust research literature that studies whether and how the potential of the
technology can be realised in more diverse settings is still largely in progress (Somekh,
2005; Kennewell, 2004; Higgins et al, 2005.). With the exception of Glover and Miller’s
study of Maths teaching and IWB (Miller and Glover 2004), which incorporated active
support for teaching with IWBs into its research design, initial findings from this work are
much more cautious about the likely impact of the technology in changing classroom
pedagogy.
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