The Interactive Whiteboard Experiment

The Interactive Whiteboard Challenge

Today the manager is coming over to attend a demo of the Interactive Whiteboard, which is basically a whiteboard that permits the instructor to control his PC right of the board. Additionally, it enable markup of the different elements of the board.

This is all part of my sinister scheme to rule the worl.. oh, sorry, I mean to convert the traditional classroom environment to a digital classroom environment.

There are several challenges. The first and easiest is that of digital content. If you don't have content, you can't deliver quality presentations. But that is hopefully solved because there are many companies providing stock digital video and images, which is the backbone of the content we need.

The second challenge is that of the traditional instructor. Although the shape and feel of the IWB is very similar to that of a traditional whiteboard, some getting used to is necessary. Furthermore, instructors will have to be proficient in at least MS Word and MS PowerPoint, especially the latter. Not to mention the basic application that comes with the board. A few of our instructors struggle with the basics of the PC and would prefer to stick to the old chalk and talk approach. Quite a few are very close to retirement and might not have the desire to change, and understandably so. They are transitioning into a different stage in life, and are preoccupied with their immediate future.

The third challenge is that of the system. Instructors have an average of 22 teaching hours a week, they cover for sick and absent instructors, they prepare their lessons, they mark homework and quizzes, and sometimes they are part of various teams. Also, they are bound by a tight pacing schedule that in some cases doesn't leave any room for creativity.

The solution is to tackle all these issues wisely.

We will have to make the content readily available before we start the project to give the instructors something to work with and not make their lives harder. And encourage collaborative efforts at the right moment.

We will have to train the instructors gradually, starting with high potentials, and using them to train other instructors.

And finally, we will have give instructors more freedom by creative by building a constructive dialogue with Training Services.

I hope I'm doing the right thing.

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