The Interactive Whiteboards, Pedagogy and Pupil Performance ...

On the negative side, a sizable minority of students reported disliking going out to
the front to use the board (18%). Roughly one third of pupils and teachers thought
IWBs often broke down and a similar number of teachers report it is hard to get help
when this happens. A small number of teachers appear to find the IWB to be quite
restrictive in the way they can interact with the class, reporting that teaching is likely
to be more didactic, that it is harder to improvise or that it is harder to constantly
keep an eye on the class when using the IWB. All these features are associated
with teaching from the front of the class, and difficulties associated with this role.
‘..a lot of stuff you end up preparing with an IWB is very teacher-led…[There is]
a little too much whole class teaching and perhaps that isn’t best for all our
students’ (Teacher).’
Nevertheless, more than two thirds of the teachers surveyed thought that using an
IWB would help them in their career.
Summary
Whilst overall the impression of the boards was generally favourable within both
groups, IWB use is most closely associated with a traditional, front of class
pedagogy in which the main gains are from the increased quality of the display. The
terms in which teachers’ and pupils’ perceptions of IWBs are discussed largely
repeat the perceived advantages of IWBs as recorded in the literature. The kinds of
issues the case studies raised through analysis of lesson sequences involving IWBs
are less immediately apparent to either teachers or pupils. This suggests a role for
CPD in steering a more focused discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of the
technology, built on direct experience of their use rather than their anticipated
benefits.
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