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From BECTA: a review of research literature which looked at Interactive Whiteboards in schools

General benefits

• versatility, with applications for all ages across the curriculum (Smith A 1999)
• increases teaching time by allowing teachers to present web-based and other resources more efficiently
  • (Walker 2003)
• more opportunities for interaction and discussion in the classroom, especially compared to other ICT
  • (Gerard et al 1999)
• increases enjoyment of lessons for both students and teachers through more varied and dynamic use of resources, with associated gains in motivation
  • (Levy 2002).

Benefits for teachers

• enables teachers to integrate ICT into their lessons while teaching from the front of the class
  • (Smith H 2001)
• encourages spontaneity and flexibility, allowing teachers to draw on and annotate a wide range of web-based resources
  • (Kennewell 2001)
• enables teachers to save and print what is on the board, including any notes made during the lesson, reducing duplication of effort and facilitating revision
  • (Walker 2002)
• allows teachers to share and re-use materials, reducing workloads
  • (Glover & Miller 2001)
• widely reported to be easy to use, particularly compared with using a computer in whole-class teaching
  • (Smith H 2001)
• inspires teachers to change their pedagogy and use more ICT, encouraging professional development
  • (Smith A 1999).

Benefits for students

• increases enjoyment and motivation
• greater opportunities for participation and collaboration, developing students’ personal and social skills
  • (Levy 2002)
• reduces the need for note-taking through the capacity to save and print what appears on the board
• .students are able to cope with more complex concepts as a result of clearer, more efficient and more dynamic presentation
  • (Smith H 2001)
• different learning styles can be accommodated as teachers can call on a variety of resources to suit particular needs
  • (Bell 2002)
• enables students to be more creative in presentations to their classmates, increasing self-confidence (Levy 2002)
• students do not have to use a keyboard to engage with the technology, increasing access for younger children and students with disabilities
  • (Goodison 2002).

Factors for effective use

• sufficient access to whiteboards so teachers are able to gain confidence and embed their use in their teaching
  • (Levy 2002)
• use of whiteboards by students as well as teachers (Kennewell 2001)
• provision of training appropriate to the individual needs of teachers
  • (Levy 2002)
• investment of time by teachers to become confident users and build up
• a range of resources to use in their teaching (Glover & Miller 2001)
• sharing of ideas and resources among teachers (Levy 2002)
• positioning the whiteboards in the classroom to avoid sunlight and obstructions between the projector and the board
  • (Smith H 2001)
• a high level of reliability and technical support to minimise problems when they occur
  • (Levy 2002).

The above information is taken from ‘What the research says about interactive whiteboard’, from BECTA: document wtrs_whiteboards.pdf accessed on February 7th, 2004