Interactive Whiteboard Training
Enhancing Teaching with IWBs
Right at the heart of the discussions during the Enhancing Teaching with IWBs training was the promotion of effective teaching and learning and how IWBs could enhance these. The course explored how careful questioning could be used to promote thoughtful discussion among pupils, along with greater attention to developing pupils' independence and understanding of mathematical ideas. Good use of IWBs involves selecting appropriate models and images to reinforce teachers' instructions and explanations. All planned lessons included work with the IWB and concrete activities to ensure that pupils' understanding, knowledge and skills were successfully developed.
Between the training sessions teachers worked on the ideas explored and developed their own lessons to use with their classes. These were then shared with the whole group and evaluated for their effectiveness. A frequent observation was that teachers were able to tackle concepts successfully that would otherwise have been very difficult in a conventional setting.
Another set of training is being run currently, based on the same lines as these other successful sessions. This will include six out-of-school training days and subsequent in-school visits by the course leader to prepare and teach a mathematics lesson, with time to discuss the issues arising and evaluate progress. Any school interested in this training should please contact the Sage Office.