Interactive Whiteboard - Criticisms

Criticisms

According to a June 11, 2010 Washington Post article, "Many academics question industry-backed studies linking improved test scores to their products. And some go further. They argue that the most ubiquitous device-of-the-future, the interactive whiteboard -- essentially a giant interactive computer screen that is usurping blackboards in classrooms across America -- locks teachers into a 19th-century lecture style of instruction counter to the more collaborative small-group models that many reformers favor." However, there are now collaborative interactive whiteboards that may address this shortfall. The same article also states that according to Larry Cuban, education professor emeritus at Stanford University, "There is hardly any research that will show clearly that any interactive whiteboards will improve academic achievement."

An article posted on the National Association of Secondary School Principals web site details pros & cons of interactive whiteboards. A report on interactive whiteboards from London's Institute of Education said:

• Although the newness of the technology was initially welcomed by pupils any boost in motivation seems short-lived. Statistical analysis showed no impact on pupil performance in the first year in which departments were fully equipped.

The report highlighted the following issues:

• Sometimes teachers focused more on the new technology than on what pupils should be learning.

• The focus on interactivity as a technical process can lead to some relatively mundane activities being over-valued. Such an emphasis on interactivity was particularly prevalent in classes with lower-ability students.

• In lower-ability groups it could actually slow the pace of whole class learning as individual pupils took turns at the board.

Additional problems with Interactive White Boards is that they emit electromagnetic radio frequency radiation, which is a class 2b possible carcinogen according to the World Health Organization.