The following advice assumes you have made the decision to use interactive whiteboards. For more information go to - The Decision

Interactive Whiteboard Implementation Strategy and Plan

First and foremost you’ll need an implementation strategy and plan to guide you through what will be still largely uncharted waters.

If you want whole of school embracement of the use of interactive whiteboards it is essential the strategy be woven in to the overall school development program.

The strategy should be comprehensive and address the many human and technical variables necessary to achieve the desired take up.

We’d strongly suggest you forget any notion of using a conventional ‘strategic plan’ where you lay out the desired outcomes and attach a time frame for the realisation of each outcome.

You will be moving into uncharted waters, where only a few as yet have ventured - never mind succeeded.

Every school’s implementation will be different.

Adopt a strategy that:

• Identifies the desired big picture
• Flags the many variables to be considered
• Provides you direction and a general time frame
• Can be adjusted as the need arises.

Acquisition of the Boards

Check the Options. Consider both the desired selection criteria and the various offerings – IWB Directory, The Options

Opt for Quality. Buy for the long haul. Note the boards have a significantly longer life than personal computers. Expect an increasing number of less expensive boards to come on to the market. Examine their educational functionality carefully.

Normally Go with One Brand. At this stage there are no software standards for interactive boards and thus it is usually not possible to share material with multiple brands. One could however consider using one brand in the junior school and another in the senior.

Look to Ease of Use and Reliability.

Check the Software. It is fundamental. With virtually all of the offerings, you can download the operating software free of charge and test it beforehand. Invariably you will find a PC and Mac OSX version. You'll find you'll be able to work much of the software without having a board.

Mac Users Be Aware. If yours is a Mac school, or has a large number of Mac users, check which boards are Mac compatible and most importantly which have software designed to maximise the functionality of the current Mac operating system. For more information go to – Apple Mac Users

Opt for Larger Boards with Senior Students. If the funds permit opt for larger, 70" boards for Year 5/6 students upward. The larger boards are particularly important if split screen use is envisaged.

Buy in Blocks. Try if possible to buy in blocks so a group of staff can then support each other. Opt for example to go with the early childhood staff, a faculty or if relatively small, the total school. In general terms forget singleton purchases, except when you’re adding to your stock of boards.

Do Your Homework

Acquiring the technology is the easy task. The challenge lies in getting all the human elements in place. This is where your interactive whiteboard strategy and associated plan comes into play. Use it as a checklist. Identify those tasks to be addressed before the boards are used for the first time.

The School Leaders IWB Guide provides in-depth advice on the variables to be addressed.

The Role of the Principal. The principal must be wholeheartedly behind the initiative. Without that support and despite the best of efforts there is little chance of whole of school take up. This need is elaborated in the advice written specifically for principals.

Teacher Training. It is suggested you leave the actual training of the staff until they have their boards, ready to use. If you opt for a provider that makes its software available free, get staff to check it out. Try to budget somewhere in the vicinity of 50c to every $1 spent on hardware for teacher professional development.

Promote the Use of the Boards. Use the planning time to promote the intended use of the boards, with the students, staff and parents and to provide the vision associated with the boards. Appreciate you will have a generation of parents who expect the school to be using PCs. You’ll need to explain the shift.

Curriculum. There will probably be no need to vary the present curriculum, particularly if it has in-built flexibility. What teachers will find is that they will move through their program faster and in greater depth than before.

Resource Collection. Use the planning time to begin accumulating digital teaching materials. Some you might already have, such as word and maths games, but others might need to be acquired or indeed assembled in conjunction with the library. Much of the material can be obtained in various forms from the web, but don’t forget the place of the ‘old fashioned’ but excellent educational software.

Room Configuration. This needs to be addressed before you install the boards. Work out the best location for each classroom. While the units do not place the kind of demands on power points as personal computers, nonetheless you’ll need to check ready access. The younger children invariably need a couple of solid steps to enable them to readily reach the boards. Use the ‘littlies’ to check the height required. They should be able to reach the top icons, at least with a pen.

Attuning to the Context

Every school’s implementation will be different.

While the generic variables will be applicable in all settings how you opt to apply them will depend on your context, your culture, personnel and indeed the nature of your architecture.

Most important will be the ICT base you will be building upon. Your particular strategy will be influenced by the ICT expertise and pedagogical style of your teachers, your proposed use of personal computers and indeed the nature of your intranet.

Who will be your ‘chief information officer’ – your project manager? This person must be first and foremost an educational leader and not a ‘mechanic’. Click here for more advice.

Start Up Staff. Who will be the first staff to be allocated the boards? Why? Don’t vacillate and try and share the boards. Make the decision and go with the enthusiastic people.

Is it best to use a staged or whole of school approach? While the state of readiness and size of the school will impact on this decision, in most schools, even those with the resources, there is much to be said for using a phased introduction and learning from that experience.

Should you include from the outset a special education class? The immediate impact upon both those kids and the teachers can be very high.

Identify Your Threats. In a sense do a SWOT analysis. Identify your likely threats and factor into your strategy ways to remove them. The reality is most of the threats will come from staff wanting to retain their power.

The Physical Set Up

Be conscious in your set up of potential occupational health and safety issues. The areas to watch in particular are the beam thrown by the data projector, the possibility of loose connecting cords and portable electrical connections.

The Boards

We strongly recommend Permanent Placement. Forget portables. You’re buying unnecessary hassles and wasting valuable teaching time with each set up. Aim from the outset to permanently locate a board in all teaching situations. In that set up and in the choice of boards and data projectors, aim to minimise or remove ‘key holing’ and the need for constant board recalibration.

Have the Packages Professionally Installed. Factor into the price the cost of professional installation. While the installation is not difficult let the professionals carry the responsibility for any glitches. However in so saying, be sure to get a set of installation quotes. The IWB provider does not need to be the organization handling the installation. If you are fortunate to have professional trades people on staff, consider using them, particularly if yours will be in time a large installation.

Locate – if possible – the boards out of the direct sunlight

Ceiling Mount your Data Projector. Install it out of harm's way and in a manner that avoids key holing.

Consider security cages or cables for the data projectors. Unfortunately the undesirables see the data projectors as desirable.

Mac or PC? Select an IWB that fits with the school’s current computer base. There is no need to vary that earlier decision. Simply ensure you opt for a board operating system that makes best use of the facilities within your current operating system.

Support Computer. Each board set up will require – depending on the software selected – a Mac or PC to operate the system. Your average, up to date, unit with CD and DVD playback facility can readily handle the task.

The Peripherals

We’d strongly recommend each set up having a cordless keyboard, with – most importantly – the mouse in-built or a wireless slate. At this stage Bluetooth enabled cordless keyboards will usually give greater flexibility than wireless keyboards. Both the keyboards and the slates give the teachers much more mobility and flexibility.

Quality Scanner and Still Digital Camera. We’d also suggest having with each set up a very easy to use, simple, inexpensive scanner, and easy to use, robust and reasonably priced digital camera. As the camera will be mainly used for digital images you will not need print quality, but rather reasonable optical zoom.

VCRs. The data projectors have the facility to handle input from any VCR. Their present cost makes them very attractive for each set up.

CDs, CD-ROMs, and DVDs. Consider a separate VCR – DVD combo unit, for while the ‘operating’ computer will have a DVD facility it is easiest for the students to work a separate unit.

Surround Sound System. You should install with every board a reasonable, ‘home quality’ surround sound speaker set up. The cost is negligible but the impact can be dramatic. Don’t make the mistake of installing a mono sound system. Consider installing the speakers on the wall at the same time as the boards are set up.

Printers. The need for a printer in each room is debatable. Give yourself time before moving on them.

Networking

Network the Boards. While the boards can 'stand alone' and make extensive use of local material, their power and the teaching opportunities are amplified markedly if they have ready, broadband access to the Internet.

Networking also allows the teachers to more readily share teaching resources, both within the school and indeed across the world. Ensure you have in place a storage and retrieval system that provides the teachers swift and ready access to all the teaching materials.

Room Configuration

Position the boards out of the direct sunlight.

Blinds that reduce glare will help and indeed will assist keep down the brightness of the data projectors required.

Try and avoid lighting over the board. If need be, remove some of the fluorescent bulbs.

The room set up will depend on the particular learning situation, but in general leave space near the front so the students can readily access the board.

In setting up opt for a font that can be read by all, even at the back of the room. Indeed err on the larger size.

Harness the Opportunities

Interactive whiteboards provide teachers the opportunity to very readily bring to the large screen any type of digital input – be it a video, pay TV, a CD-ROM, a DVD, the Internet, a computer program or material from a scanner.

Take advantage from the outset of those opportunities and think about how best to use the awesome power of the boards.

The interactive whiteboards make it very easy to adopt a multi-literacy approach to teaching. Use the multi-stimuli.

In the equation don’t forget the use of sound – and the increasingly easy facility for students at all levels to integrate sound and music in their work.

Also take advantage – if your school is networked – of the ability to prepare your teaching materials at home and to load them on to the system before the lesson.

Workload

Experience has shown that in the first year of use, when the teachers are developing their technical proficiency, the lesson preparation time will be much the same as before.

However from then on, the teachers will be to take advantage of the efficiencies made possible by the digital form – like no physical photocopying or cut and pasting – to reduce class preparation time.

Avoid placing undue pressure upon yourself. You don’t have to produce extravaganzas for each lesson, from day one. Follow the pattern you’re using now and as you become more competent gradually try new approaches.

Winning over the Staff

Aim from the outset to share the excitement and experiences of the boards with other staff. Most importantly play up the attainments of the kids and in particular the achievements of the more challenging ones. Let the excitement flow over. Invite the ‘non-users’ into your class and share what you are doing.

Remember teachers universally will embrace programs that manifestly enhance the learning of their kids.

Also stress the ready ability for each teacher to adopt a graduated take up and to move to the next stage when they feel confident. Don’t expect Steven Speilbergs from day one.

Reflection and Development

Institutionalise from the outset time, every couple of weeks, for those with the boards, a regular sharing and reflection session where the teachers can openly share their experiences, concerns and ideas. Look to involve the ‘chief information officer’.

Appreciate that as the teacher proficiency with the technology grows so will the expectations.

Recognise from the outset that while each teacher will grow at his/her own pace, every staff member will have particular expertise they can contribute to the overall team development. Build on that expertise. Capitalise upon an early childhood teacher’s pedagogy, another teacher’s video skills, the librarian’s information literacy and the musician’s sound expertise.

Keep aiming for the stars.

Watch the growth – and indeed the evolution – of each of the teachers.

Find time to celebrate the successes.