New Smart Technologies, retrieved 3-17-08
http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/About+Us/News+Room/Media+Releases/2007+Media+Releases.htm?guid=%7B1532C3A3-2A10-4B71-88CD-2F2DA64D8F76%7D
Here is some recent research on the use of interactive white boards and student achievement. The research is from schools in the UK and is quite positive. I am interested that it discusses the gains in math over a two year period of 2.5-5 months. That is considerable.
Another part of the research was to evaluate the length of exposure to IWBs and the impact on student learning. The subjects most noted with improvement were math, science and English.
The summary report is at: http://partners.becta.org.uk/upload-dir/downloads/page_documents/research/whiteboards_expansion_summary.pdf.
One of the key components was that results were better when the IWB use was consistent and long term. Although the research is published by SMART Technologies, the maker of SMART Board™ interactive whiteboards, the report says that only 63% of the boards were their brand. Which , to me, gives the report more reliablity. I am anxious to read more about research in this area to compare results. I am looking for results in the US.
At the end of the report there is a list of advantages to the extended use of IWBs including addressing the multiple learning styles and better student motivation. Hmmm.
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4 comments:
Sue,
Had trouble with the link referring back to the research study.
Anna
I've read several places now that most of the research done on interactive white boards is from the UK. I'm not sure why this is. Maybe they've had them longer than we have. I did some study abroad though in 2001 and spent some time in some Oxford schools and don't remember seeing them (but I guess 7 years is a LONG time in technology years!).
I was suprised to see that they didn't see big gains in social studies. I use my board way more in social studies than in L.A. but that could also be because I don't like L.A. nearly as much!
Those are very significant gains in math. This type of research sounds promising. What I would really love to know is what types of activities the teachers did with the boards to increase achievement so dramatically. Did they compare to classrooms that were not using the boards? I wish I had access to one. I think that would help me understand the boards better.
I was exploring the website where your study was located and came across this link. Didn't know if you had seen it too.
http://partners.becta.org.uk/index.php
?section=rh&catcode=_re_rp_02&rid=14422
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