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is integrated into the learning and teaching processes in the classroom (pedagogy).
This makes for a complex and multidimensional process that can change the dynamics
of the classroom, as briefly considered with respect to the different types of interactiv-
ity (technical, dialogic, cognitive) that can be utilized with the interactive whiteboard.
When first introduced into the classroom, teachers have to learn the technical
functionality and also consider the various pedagogical instantiations of that tech-
nology. For teachers, what is known to help with this process of integrating technol-
ogies which are new to them are the following: familiarity , if the technology mimics
existing classroom practice, such as a board at the front of the class; if pupils act as
co-learners to help navigate the new functionality and applications; and, if trial and
error is encouraged within a collegial environment of support (Higgins et al. 2005).
With respect to interactive whiteboards, the issue of familiarity is important. The
willingness of teachers to engage in deploying interactive whiteboards may be due to
the similarity of the technology with a 'normal' whiteboard, which lessens teachers'
reticence. Then, the journey 'to travel' is smaller between the technology and teach-
ers' practice, which with interactive whiteboards was shown to be the case. As Hig-
gins et al. (2005) argue, it is precisely because the interactive whiteboard is so suited
to supporting whole-class teaching that it has been adopted so rapidly in comparison
with other technologies, which leads to the technology 'merely being used to rein-
force current teaching approaches, rather than supporting a transforming pedagogy'
(Koenraad 2008: 19). However, research by Hall and Higgins (2005) and Pearson et al.
(2004) found that the occasions when teachers forgot how to use the interactive
whiteboard, while annoying for pupils, did provide a learning opportunity for every-
one. Pupils enjoyed the increased partnership with teachers when pupils were able to
help solve the technical problems and offer advice. This model of pupils as co learners
was also found to be highly effective by Morris (2010).
It is well known that effective forms of professional development involve strate-
gies that foster informal cooperation and a collegial approach (Cuthell 2006; Leask
and Younie 2001). As Moss et al.'s (2007: 59) research on interactive whiteboards
found, by having an exploratory, trial-and-error approach, where experiences were
shared and coordinated by an enthusiastic colleague, training was found to be highly
effective. Koenraad's (2008) systematic review of the research also highlighted that
implementation is more successful if the possibilities of interactive whiteboards are
explored in a spirit of collegial collaboration. Younie (2007) found this to be true, not
only of interactive whiteboards, but of all technologies that staff encountered in her
longitudinal research of 116 teachers integrating technology into professional prac-
tice, from 1998 to 2006 across 12 schools.
With respect to specific interactive whiteboard training, training should be linked
to educational theory and practice (Miller and Glover 2007) and it is for this reason
that Somekh et al. (2007) regard accredited training programmes for teachers as indis-
pensable. Overall, continuing professional development is successful if it supports
teachers' exploration of their current pedagogy, and helps them identify how interac-
tive whiteboard use can support, extend or transform their practice (McCormick and
Scrimshaw 2001). However, teachers' 'learning' is not necessarily instantaneous, but
rather has been found to evolve through 'stages'.
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