What attributes distinguish skilful ‘IWB’ teachers?

What particular skills do they have that separates them from other good teachers?

What skills does a school or system need to address to get its teachers to develop to make the best educational use of IWBs?

While these are still early days the elements would appear to fall into three categories:

• The current core

• Significant variations to some core elements

• The new elements.

Perhaps the best way to identify and categorise the elements is to imagine you are undertaking an appraisal of a teacher making wise use of his/her interactive whiteboard. In that appraisal imagine which of the current core elements of good teaching need to be underscored or reinforced, which will need to be addressed somewhat differently and what new elements added to enhance the teacher’s best use of the new opportunities?

The following is very much a first cut of what is being found in the research and in those schools making extensive use of the IWBs. This will undoubtedly be an ever-evolving list that will be refined as more research is undertaken and teachers globally seek to move beyond the current boundaries.

We would very much appreciate your comments on the attributes at any time. Simply email info@iwb.net.au.

The Current Core

Within this category one would include:

• Curriculum objectives

• Desired learning outcomes

• Understanding of content matter

• Appreciation of the process skills to be developed

• Setting high expectations

• Suite of teaching approaches the teacher can draw upon to handle the range of teaching/learning situations

• Structuring of the teaching/learning experience

• Choice of when to work as a class unit, in small groups and individually

• Regard for time

• Classroom management

• Motivation - stimulating the group and cultivating their interest

• Use of reinforcement and feedback

• Use of teaching resources that have worked well

• Class interaction

• Studying material in depth

• Desirability of developing a set of learning and social development outcomes, in an integrated manner, at any one time

• Concern for each student’s holistic development

• Concern for equity and the individual

• Assessment of student attainment.

Significant Variations to Some Core Elements

The interactive whiteboard and related technology prompts the good teachers to rethink, for example:

• Their lesson conceptualisation. Approaches that were in the past unattainable now are very open to use. In many respects the major impediment becomes the teacher’s mindset.

• Proficiency with the interactive whiteboard. While the boards are simple to use they have an extensive and ever growing set of facilities that need to be understood to realise their potential as an educational tool.

• Proficiency in use of the associated peripheral technology, such as scanners, digital cameras, DVDs.

• The stimuli the teachers can now use.

• Their appreciation of Gardener's multiple intelligences.

• The learning outcomes and in particular their priority – and probably in some instances adding or indeed deleting ones from the list, conscious many of the current outcomes are related to the world of print.

• Their access to teaching resources and where they can draw them from in a digital world.

• Their networking and the importance of being aware of the packaged teaching resources available in their domain, locally and globally.

• Their preoccupation with the ‘set path’ and the need to be that much more flexible and to use the immediacy of the digital environment to vary the teaching/learning program when the opportunity arises, while still observing the learning outcomes.

• The importance of online student interactivity - both locally, regionally and globally.

• Communication – with other classes, the home, other schools and countries.

• The connectivity between the learning done at school, where it is primarily in groups and with the home where the ICT allows individual research.

• Student assessment and reporting and how it is best done with the digital tools available.

• The maintenance of the digital resources in ready working order for all staff to use.

The New Elements

If teachers are to use the interactive whiteboards as large screen, digital conversion facilities or indeed as digital hubs they will need to be able for example to:

• Exercise their professional control over the technology and design learning situations that make best use of the tools available. The teacher must be the educational architect.

• Conceptualise and map out a teaching program with a strong digital element.

• Employ sound graphic design principles and digital, multi-media compilation and editing skills.

• Swiftly access the most appropriate resources and readily convert them – if required – into a digital form.

• Readily tailor digital teaching resources for a particular context.

• Achieve the efficiencies in time and effort possible with digital technology.

• Prepare lessons in a digital form and to load them from anywhere on the ‘Net into the school’s network well before the scheduled usage.

• Prepare and deliver quality multi-media presentations.

• Employ, when appropriate, a punchy, high impact presentation style in keeping with the approaches the students now view as the norm.

• Take advantage of a range of integrated teaching, administration and communication software.

• Readily and appropriately store the digital teaching resources on the network, for ready future use by themselves and colleagues.

• Constantly ‘reach for the stars’ in their quest to make the best educational use of the opportunities available.

While one can debate the elements within the three categories and undoubtedly in time other elements will be added, the points remain that:

• The core elements of good teaching – “the basic motor” – remain largely unchanged.

• The boost – the turbo –charging – is provided by a combination of extra elements that need to be coupled to the existing skill set – or “the basic motor”.

The opportunity to enhance the pedagogy and hence the effectiveness and impact of all your teachers has immense ramifications for your school and student learning.

As you shape and implement your whole of school IWB implementation think carefully about how you will best enhance the performance of all your teachers.

The information included below sets out clearly those IWB skills that teachers need to become proficient users of an IWB. This information does not include the current core skills listed above as they are assumed.

Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) Skills

Teachers proficient in the use of IWBs have the ability to:

End point focus

• create and operate their own digital teaching hub for sound educational purposes, enhancing teaching and learning

Educational focus

• enhance the efficiency of their teaching by taking advantage of the new possibilities and stimuli made available by the IWB and other digital technology
• exercise professional control over the technology by being the education architect
• make the best educational use of the opportunities available through digital technology
• re-evaluate student learning outcomes and their priority and align them with the new IWB technology (rather than the old print technology)
• be flexible and take advantage of the accessibility of digital teaching resources to vary the teaching program when the opportunity arises, while still observing the agreed learning outcomes
• reflect on the effectiveness of their teaching with IWBs and related technology, particularly in improving student outcomes in the core learning areas
• use the discovery learning approach in their teaching rather than lock step tuition
• maximise student centred learning and interactivity both in the class and online
• conceptualise and map out a teaching program with a strong digital component
• use digital tools to integrate student assessment and reporting into the teaching program

Technical focus

• take advantage of the multi-media capability of the IWB to enrich their teaching
• interface the IWB with a range of third party digital software and hardware
• prepare lessons in a digital form and load them from anywhere on the Net into the school’s network well before they are required
• prepare and deliver quality multi-media presentations
• employ a punchy, high impact presentation style in keeping with the approaches the students are exposed to through the media
• employ graphic design principles and digital, multi-media compilation and editing skills in the creation of their teaching materials
• use core peripheral technology such as scanners, digital cameras, sound systems, television and DVDs and to integrate them with IWBs
• access, evaluate and capture packaged digital teaching resources locally and globally
• convert digital teaching resources into a form that can be used with the IWB
• use IWB based communications and conferencing technology encouraging interaction with other classes, the home, other schools and countries
• capitalise on the connectivity of the IWB technology between the school and home, balancing group work at school with individual research at home
• ‘customise’ existing digital teaching resources for a new teaching opportunity
• use a range of integrated teaching, administration and communication software

Organisational focus

• share their expertise with other teachers inside and outside the school and to work collaboratively in the creation or enhancement of digital teaching materials
• categorise and store their digital teaching resources on the network so that they can be easily accessed by themselves and by other teachers (down to the level of multi – media teaching elements)

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