48 things to do with an interactive whiteboard
You can find a list of 48 things to do with an interactive whiteboard compiled by colleagues at the North West JISC Regional Support Centre.
Just in case of bit rot and web server changes, I have taken the liberty of copying the list at the end of this article – it is the work of other people! Compiled by Helen Walmsley, RSC Northwest, from ideas submitted by ILT Champions
Exercise for the reader :: how many of these activities could still work just with a projector? What actually is the ‘value added’ of an interactive whiteboard bearing in mind that it adds £1200 to £1400 onto the cost of a projector and networked PC (around £1400 depending on installation cost)? What I am saying is that in FE we have limited budgets and I can almost get two classrooms with networked PCs and projectors for the cost of one room with the full monty.
The list follows….
Using an Interactive Whiteboard in the presentation stage of a lesson
1. Demonstrate chemical reactions by moving molecules around… I set up pictures of a benzene ring, a methyl group & three nitrate groups… (Set up as Word images, just drag them into view from ‘off screen’ as they are required.)
2. Our Foundation Skills Department used theirs as a karaoke machine screen for their Christmas Party last year. As you can imagine, great fun was had by all!
3. I would use the whiteboard to help me present just what the students will be doing, so helping me to demonstrate.
4. Good for explanations to learners with a very low level of literacy
5. It can take a picture of the screen which can be useful.
6. To present the aims and objectives of lesson
7. Present hyperlinks to files/internet pages of new material
8. Use the Multimedia features – play music, video, pod cast, radio etc
Using an Interactive Whiteboard in the closed practice stage of a lesson
9. Try ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ (the famous PowerPoint version) or Blockbusters
10. In a beginners IT class or E1 class to demonstrate how to use basic functions, such as log on, open Word, and basic functions within word.
11. Presenting new (foreign) language
12. Demonstrate phonic blends, digraphs, suffixes prefixes etc using different colours and grammar and tense examples in similar way
13. Checking answers off worksheet instead of OHP, more accessible in class – can go through points and not have to rub them off unlike usual white board
14. Cloze exercises
15. Introduce sequencing of actions/information
16. Demonstrate particular steps, sites, strategies, hints etc. to groups
17. Look at spreadsheets together and show how to manipulate data
18. A Childcare teacher prepares slides in the notebook with just headings on them (a good aide-memoir); she then adds the teaching points as discussion develops in the session and saves the whole sequence to print or publish on the VLE.
19. Teachers here who work with student with learning difficulties are very fond of displaying Quia activities on the Smartboard. The students like to come out and touch the board.
20. Get a picture showing the usual colour combinations (red green blue overlapping) e.g. from: http://display.engin.brown.edu/Engin_Main/Colors/colors_english.htm Borrow from physics department polarising filters, hold in different parts and rotate (keeping filter parallel to screen). Try this in the 3 primary colours and ask students to predict what will be seen in the others.
21. Drag and Drop Exercises – create something like a flowchart in PowerPoint, create text boxes with the ‘answers’ and position these to one side of the diagram, then during the session run the presentation in editing mode rather than presentation mode, and drag the boxes into the correct positions as you teach.
22. For Hair and Beauty see: http://www.ukhairdressers.com/New_makeover/index.asp Also works with personal care (Business Admin) and self awareness (Foundation)
23. Any one of these http://www.bmesonline.com/interactives.htm can be turned into an interactive learning episode (phew) for Caterers, Early Years students, Health and Social Care, foundation – you tell me. Oh and don’t forget any number of the NLN materials can be used effectively with an Interactive Whiteboard
24. Let the learners decide how to use the board (after you’ve shown them the ‘stuff’ of course).
25. Work through examples together
26. Demonstrations of experiments (using Crocodile Clips http://www.crocodile-clips.com/index.htm for example)
27. Create quizzes with Hot Potatoes, drop down in Word, etc
28. Cover an image in Word with filled rectangles. Add a question to each rectangle and the student who answers the question gets to remove the rectangle on the screen. Gradually the image will be revealed.
29. Students create quizzes and present on the board for each other
30. Work together on organising ideas in text boxes in Word by moving them around the page until they are in the best structure.
31. Student presentations of work
Using an Interactive Whiteboard in the open practice stage of a lesson
32. Good for putting up students ideas while class is going on
33. Using a gyroscopic mouse the teacher can be in with the learners and get them interact without leaving the desk. Thus ensuring that everyone is involved.
34. Display a summary of task
35. Display useful information required for the activity
36. Display reference material
37. Display previous lessons
38. Display a clock with timings for the activity
39. Play relaxing (or motivational) music or images whilst students work
Using an Interactive Whiteboard in the plenary stage of a lesson
40. Pass round a wireless keyboard and students add ideas to the board
41. Display a summary of the learning
42. Save objects you have created on the board
43. For disabled learners (and many others) the ability to record the key points of lessons frees them up to concentrate on participation rather than note taking. If using the IWB encourages more multimodal lessons with discussion, collaboration, movement etc then it can only be a good thing for everyone.
44. Mind mapping – a tutor got special needs students to do a mind map using it to redesign an animal care area using their own handwriting so showing the group contributed to the discussion (good one for all you key skills people out there ).
45. Use PowerPoint to enable students to make presentations.
46. Interactive voting
47. Quiz/game
48. Save lessons to VLE/intranet
Compiled by Helen Walmsley, RSC Northwest, from ideas submitted by ILT Champions. www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk