Interactive Whiteboards Brings Visual Learning to Life

[Timothy Gangwer]

It can be difficult to find ways to inspire children and bring learning to life but using a visual approach can often bring many benefits to the learning process. If a teacher is continually droning on it is easy for pupils to lose focus and perhaps start to daydream. Similarly, they are continually reading from books, it can often be difficult for children to maintain their focus and continue through the chapters.

Both of these learning styles are the traditional way to learn but they can pose problems or difficulties for many children. With so much technology available these days, it is understandable that more and more children prefer a visual approach to learning. Some people will raise the point that this shows a decrease in standards but many educators have decided to embrace the technology and at least try to interact with children in a manner that the pupils will embrace.

Although the final information presented to the pupil will be the same information that could be learned from a book, there is a greater chance of them taking it on board and remembering it if they are presented with the information by means of visual representation. This is where interactive whiteboards can definitely have a huge impression in schools, colleges or universities. A perfect example would be a class based upon the solar system and the way that planets revolve around the sun.

This could be an interesting topic to read about but it could be dry in certain places. However, the fact that the movement of the planets in relation to the sun can be represented on screen would be of much greater interest to the children. Not only that, but the interactive whiteboards can be used to test the children's knowledge of the names of the planets. Younger children may be faced with different names of the planets and then asked which one related to each planet. Older children may be asked to write the name of the planet in next to it with a special interactive whiteboard digital pen.

This is a great way to gauge how much the children are learning, which is the most important aspect of the learning process. Allowing children to interact with the screen ensures that their concentration levels will remain higher and they should have the confidence to interact with the screen and in turn learn more. After all, this is the same scenario that is being played out in homes across the country with the latest video games so the concept of this kind of interaction should be easy for children and young adults to pick up.

 

- Phil Adams-Wright

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