The use of an interactive whiteboard or smart board in a classroom setting has proven to be an innovative and absolutely ingenious idea. This technological innovation helps children of all ages, educational background and learning styles to be motivated learners. In the past, the traditional learning style that mostly involved a notebook with a pen captured the attention and addressed the needs of some students but not all. With the interactive whiteboard, however, this situation has reversed. The process of learning has become revolutionized as this device serves as a motivator.
With this device, there are many ways to motivate students to learn. I find the interactive whiteboard to be a useful learning tool in each subject area I teach. I have fallen in love with this board as it allows me to motivate my students in the following ways.
1. Accessing the internet
Accessing the internet by use of this board is one of my favorite ways to help motivate students. By using the internet, I am able to access many websites concerning phonics and literacy. As these websites were developed to assist in student learning, the interactive whiteboard helps to enforce this intent. It allows the entire class to interact and have fun while learning. When students see blending sounds displayed on the screen and hear the blended sounds from the speakers situated on either side of the board, I enjoy the enthusiasm I see in their eyes. This is especially true of those who have difficulty reading. Due to the use of this board, students actually have the desire to learn and participate in reading activities.
2. Drag feature
Interactive whiteboards also serve as an educational motivator by way of its drag feature. Students love to use this feature to complete fill-in sentences or solve mathematical problems. To them, it is a game. To me, however, it is a clever educational tool that allows them to become motivated in reviewing old skills such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division while it helps to motivate them during the process of learning new skills.
3. Color feature
I have also found the color feature to be an excellent motivator for students. With the use of color, students are able to hide answers in an effort to allow other students to accurately guess the correct answer to questions. This works for math, history, literacy and science. This feature works extremely well in math as students use color to shade various shapes to create patterns. They also use color to help identify odd and even numbers. These are just a few of the vivid examples that come to mind.
The interactive whiteboard is an excellent educational tool that can serve as a motivator for all students. In my experience, it helps the visual learner as he or she can easily see the task at hand. For the tactile learner, he or she has the opportunity to experience learning through hands-on activities. For the auditory learner, speakers are a perfect asset. For all involved, use of an interactive whiteboard is a win-win situation.
What tips have you got for motivating your students through your interactive whiteboard?