WOULD YOU LIKE A MORE VISUAL WAY to present ideas to your students? Do you have difficulties captivating the interest of others at meetings? Visually stimulate your learners by using an interactive whiteboard. Interactive whiteboards are effective in improving the way we meet, teach, train, and present.

An interactive whiteboard is a product on which you display your computer desktop and then interact with the information. It allows the teacher or presenter to access and display information from the Internet, run live video from a camera, and deliver CD-ROM presentations and control software from a single location. Connected to a computer and projector, an interactive whiteboard becomes a powerful tool for teaching, collaborating and presenting. 

An interactive whiteboard hooks up to your PC and a projector.

An interactive whiteboard is touch-sensitive, where your finger can act as a mouse or a pen. With the press of a finger, you can access and control applications on your computer or write, draw, and highlight on the board using electronic pens and erasers.

Research shows that color can help learning (Dwyer, 1978). An interactive whiteboard is very visually enhancing. Both the teacher and learners can use vividly colored electronic ink to highlight important information and write notes on the board. Class or group notes can be saved and printed then and there, or saved for later retrieval. 

The interactivity of the board and the use of colored electronic pens focus the learners' attention.

From the Internet to educational software, there is an abundance of multimedia resources available to engage students' imagination and intellect. Delivering exciting lessons with these materials can be difficult if teachers and students have limited access to computers. 

Teachers can comfortably write, highlight, and draw to create visual and interactive computer-based lessons.

With an interactive whiteboard, teachers can combine a LCD or DLP projector and a computer with the board to create visual and interactive computer-based lessons that involve the whole class.
An interactive whiteboard makes the instructor's computer visible to the whole group, creates an interactive teaching environment, enhances computer-based instruction, and is time-saving. Students are eager to participate, and all eyes are where they should be, focused on the lesson material. Interaction appeals to every student, especially those with a hands-on learning style.
Whether in the school or business environment, an interactive whiteboard is a superb tool for communicating ideas.
The large image and a focal point in the room support learning outcomes both in terms of motivation and understanding. An interactive whiteboard provides whole-group access to a wide range of activities before individuals embark on independent work.

Peyri Leigh Ingrum, Student
SDSU Department of Educational Technology