Interface Magazine - Q and A
What's the secret to success with an interactive whiteboard? An enthusiastic and trained teacher, believes Laurence Huntley.
New Zealand - August 2010
What difference can an interactive whiteboard make to a
classroom?
It enhances the learning experience by bringing alive subjects, such as
reading, mathematics, history, geography, science, etc., with
imaginative visual and interactive lesson plans. It involves the students. The key, however, is having an enthusiastic and trained teacher who teaches the curriculum using the full benefits of this technology.
What are the main challenges to effectively using IWBs?
They need to be easy to use, have content relevant to the curriculum,
and have computer-literate teachers who must be trained and
committed to using the technology everyday in the classroom, not
just occasionally.
If you could offer one piece of advice to teachers about using an IWB system, what would it be?
Get trained and use the support provided. Let your students
participate in learning and let them use the technology to solve
problems and learn.
You're now involved with Mimio. How does the system work?
A Mimio'bar' is attached to any white surface. A stylus sends signals
via ultrasound and infrared so it that knows where the pen is and
what it's doing, thus turning the surface into a computer screen. A
laptop and a projector are required, and Mimio provides the hardware,
software, content, and initial training with the base product.
Why should schools consider using
Mimios?
Mimios are portable, affordable (why
pay double for a fixed board solution?),
and are full featured. They're designed
to allow teachers to 'simply teach' and
not get distracted by the technology. The
new Mimio Classroom consists of
MimioTeach with stylus, MimioView an exciting document camera, and MimioVote an assessment system that enables a teacher to ask all the class the same questions and for the students to reply using a
handset. The teacher can see immediately who understand and can
put the results automatically in a report/ grade book. There is also a
large online community of educators who communicate via
MimioConnect, sharing lesson plans and ideas for teaching better.
Any last thoughts about IWB technology?
Increasing evidence is indicating that students can be ahead by a
couple of months a year when taught with this technology, compared
to those who are not!
LAURENCE HUNTLEY WAS RECENTLY APPOINTED MIMIO'S GENERAL MANAGER. HE HAS 25 YEARS' EXPERIENCE IN ICT AND
TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INCLUDING CABLE & WIRELESS AND
PROMETHEAN. EARLY IN HIS CAREER HE SPENT A YEAR TEACHING IN GHANA WITH THE VSO PROGRAMME.