In a recent study, researchers found that in 23% of cases, learners achieved better results when interactive whiteborads (IWB) were NOT used.
Okay, this was not the main finding of the study but it is an interesting one and one which I feel some people will latch upon. We need, however, to look at why the research found this finding. On examining the evidence, the researchers discovered that there were potential pitfalls in using interactive whiteboards, these included;
1. Not organising the content appropriately and/or presenting the content poorly – often the content was rushed through without allowing learners the time to interact or analyze the content.
2. Using too many visuals. Pages may be awash with imagery that it became difficult for the learner to identify the key content.
3. Inappropriate use of voting or feedback devices. These were often used to note how many students got the right answer without probing why wrong answers were given or explaining why one answer was more approriate than another.
So at first it migh be argued that this research suggests that inappropriate or poor use of the technology could be more damaging to learning than no use of technology. Even if the points above were corrected, however, I’d suggest that there would still be some learners who would learn better without the use of IWBs. The Interactive Whiteboard is essentially a visual medium or multimedia tool. There are some learners for whom a visual method is not the best method of presentation. I’m thinking here of those learners who may have a predominantly auditory or kinaesthetic learning style.
For learners with a preferred style of learning that is not visual, the use of interative whiteboards (or any predominantly visual tool) could be a distraction, a source of confusion or, at worst, a detriment to their learning.
I’d also suggest that there may be many learners who, though unrecognised or undiagnosed, are at some point along the Autistic spectrum. We know that autistic learners have difficulty combining senses and appear to learn better via one sense. Often this IS the visual sense but not necessarily so. For such a learner, a multi-sensory or multimodal approach could be confusing or detrimental.
So, the research suggests that at least a fifth of learners learn better without an interactive whiteboard being used. Their suggestion is that it is inappropriate use of the technology which underlies this. Correcting the inappropriate usage may reduce this figure. However, there may still be those learners for whom the IWB may not be the best technology to utilise because of their preferred learning style.
The research was carried out by Robert Marzano and reported in the paper Multiple Measures; Teaching with Interactive Whiteboards published November 2009. An extract of which can be found here on the ASCD website. The study appears to have involved Promethean boards but should also be relevant to other manufacturers’ products.
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Tags: Display technology, Educational technology, Interactive whiteboard, Learning styles, Robert Marzano
of course, any teaching aid can be used badly by a teacher. After all there are good teachers and bad teachers.
One difficulty for teachers, though, in respect of using IWB’s is that they are not given the time, space, or training to get to really understand how to use IWB technology (or indeed other digital facilities and resources) effectively whereas they are likely to know how to use otherb tried and trusted teaching aids.
This could well effect some of the research results.