A primary teacher's experience with an interactive whiteboard and reading instruction

Solvie, P.A. (2004, February). The digital whiteboard: A tool in early literacy instruction [Teaching Tips department]. The Reading Teacher, 57(5), 484-487. Available: http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/elec_index.asp?HREF=/electronic/RT/2-04_column/index.html
Retrieved March 14, 2008

This article written for the "Teaching Tips" section of The Reading Teacher (see citation above) deals exactly with what I am interested in concerning using an interactive whiteboard to improve reading instruction in the primary grades. Pamela Solvie writes about what she discovered when using an interactive whiteboard with her first grade readers. Solvie did find that her students were very motivated when they were using the interactive whiteboard by manipulating work or creating activities. Solvie also mentions the students are more attentive when the lesson includes the interactivity such as writing on the board and illustrating on the board.
Another area that Solvie speaks of is how the use of the interactive whiteboard and computer allows her to prepare lessons in advance, work with them in the classroom, save the work students have done and revisit the work for additional instruction and reinforcing skills. An area that interested me was the ability to take text apart even to the phonemes. This is a way for young students to recognize the connections of complete text made up of smaller parts. The students can manipulate the words and word parts using the interactive pens and highlighters. Solvie does remind us that interactive whiteboards are not to replace books and reading, but to better engage students with the lessons. I can only wonder, with the future holding more and more information on the web, does working with reading on an interactive whiteboard better prepare students to the future of books online? Even with the tech online classes I am taking, I find myself printing articles to read and highlight, but I know more computer savvy students are used to working exclusively on the computer. This may have nothing to do with my inquiry, but I know my young students are not at all intimated with technology.
The article also mentions the use of the internet with the interactive whiteboard. Solvie liked the way her students can use the tools to highlight, overwrite and illustrate on the board with the internet page. She also liked using the video and audio Solvie's research found that the interactive whiteboard "did not result in a significant improvement over traditional skill instruction" but she "found it (the interactive whtieboard) to be effective in other ways" (Polzie, 2004).