Interactive+Whiteboards

**What is an interactive whiteboard?**
It is a large interactive display that connects to a computer. It is an instructional tool that allows computer images to be displayed onto a board using a digital projector. Items on the board can then be edited using your finger or a pen as pointer or as a writing tool. Hand-written notes can be transformed into text by writing them onto an interactive whiteboard. click on the link below for a demonstaration of an IWB in use Interactive Whiteboard Demonstration

There are different types of interactive whiteboard available:
 * Infrared touch (IR Touch)
 * Resistive-Touch Based
 * Electromagnetic pen based
 * Portable ultrasconic- IR pen based

Infrared touch is the most common type of IWB, it can be made of any material and the use of drywipe markers are not required. It is found in many places including various levels of education, sports centres and broadcasting centres.

**What is it used for?**
===//An interactive Whiteboard is a tool that allows computer images to be displayed on a board using a digital projector.//===

//It **is a powerful tool in the classroom adding collaboration and interactivity amongst the students. It is used as a pedagogical tool adding creativity to teaching and motivation to students. It can accomodate all the different learning styles in a classroom** .//

//**It is ideal for demonstrating all types of software.**//

**How would a teacher use it effectively?**
The interactive White Board is just one of the many techonological and software developments which if used effectively can adhance the learning experience. The interactive whiteboard which provides a large image for collective viewing can be used collectively by the class teacher to encourage group discussion and the " fleshing " out of ideas. The use of the white loard is intrinsically linked to the use of ICT and looking at the VAK representational system it can encompass all of the modalities.

**How could a learner use it effectively?**
**A learner can effectively use a whiteboard as a large touch screen tablet there is no need to use a mouse so the learner has more control over what is displayed on the screen**

An interactive whiteboard (IWB) is a large touchsensitive display panel that can function as an ordinary whiteboard, a projector screen, an electronic copy board or as a computer projector screen on which the computer image can be controlled by touching the surface of the panel instead of using a mouse or keyboard.