The Interactive Whiteboards, Pedagogy and Pupil Performance ...

were aware of this dimension and had consciously set aside time to reflect on the
most appropriate use of the technology in this context.
5.7 Can IWBs Enhance Learning Through the Use of
Multimodality?
In many of the case study classrooms the teachers’ use of IWBs did not significantly
change the modes of representation in the classroom. Writing continues to dominate
the board with some static 2D diagrams. These kinds of resources are easiest to
make or obtain and are consistent with teachers’ existing pedagogic aims.
However, some teachers’ use of IWBs in the case study classrooms was beginning
to facilitate the production of a range of new kinds of texts. These included:
• Combining image, sound and writing in a variety of media (including digital
and the internet);
• Allowing the manipulation of texts in new ways;
• Supplementing writing with imported images (photographs) and the use of
drawing tools;
• Hyper-linking to internet based dynamic texts;
• Incorporating short episodes of animation, using dynamic subject specific
software (e.g. Geometer Sketchpad).
Illustrative Case Study Example: Multimodality and Learning
In the text discussed in section 5.4.3 (student slate text) about algebraic equations,
for example, the potential of the resource lies not in the attractiveness of the
multimodal representation or the pleasure of being able to move the shapes on
screen. What is important for learning is how the design of the text reshapes
curriculum knowledge. What is to be learnt and how it can be learnt become clearer.
The images do not reinforce the algebraic representations offered in the lesson -
rather the images and the opportunity to manipulate these images dynamically offer
the students a different representation that is central to the learning task. This
representation offers the possibility of making connections between the specialised
knowledge of Maths and the everyday knowledge of space and design. It also
enables them to draw on other knowledge and experiences and to connect them with
mathematics, which in turn repositions them in relation to the production of
knowledge.
However, our data suggest that this aspect of teaching with IWBs is to date little
explored. There are few clear criteria in place for assessing when which kind of
combination of resources works best to enhance which aspects of subject teaching
(Jewitt, 2006).
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