The Interactive White Board (IWB) has become a well known attribute to the primary classroom. Gone are the days of black boards and chalk, the endless cables and numerous breaks while waiting for the projector to turn on. Now, everything is efficient and smooth, fast paced and wonderful. Or is it?

Even though there are good things about using an IWB, such as practicality, as you have everything you need in one place, there are some aspects of the the IWB that I personally question;

1.The constant exposure to light. Children spend a lot of time in front of different computer screens, and are being exposed to extremely bright light because of this. Do they need more screen time than what they are already getting?

2.The handwriting function on the IWB seems rather clumsy; learning to write properly by hand is something I consider as extremely important.

3. Group work and talk. If everyone is sitting facing forwards, there will be little room for talk in the classroom, something that is considered extremely important for optimal learning.

4. Some aspects of the IWB seems rather unnecessary, and there are several features that would take longer to operate than just writing by hand or doing it verbally or with physical resources.

However, there are aspects of teaching I personally feel that the IWB can contribute towards; Whole class projects. In our ICT class, we paired up and made the start of a project aimed at KS2 in Geography called: Contrasting Cities. The IWB aided in this project by offering hyperlinks and hotspots to create a visual context on the IWB, letting the children interact with maps, directions and distance, without having to change from the board, to a computer and searching for the right things. By one click, the children would be able to read about two contrasting cities: London, UK and Sitka, Alaska. Using hyperlinks and hotspots, live maps and flight radar apps, the project would further go on to explore three types of pollution: air, noise and light. The IWB would have been extremely helpful for this purpose.

So what I am trying to say is: The IWB can be very helpful in whole class projects, as it can provide a collective point for everything: visuals, internet links, and hotspots in an efficient way, possibly also engaging the children more and providing connections to real life in a way that “old fashioned” resources can not. However, everything should be used in moderation, and I think that the white board or black board, the hand puppet and the physical resources still has an important place in the classroom, and plays a role that the IWB cannot replace, yet.