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be used to support traditional, didactic approaches or support more constructivist,
dialogic strategies. As Mercer et al. (2010: 207) argue: '...the effective use of the inter-
active whiteboard as an educational tool is not inherent in the hardware, software or
even the materials it displays. It is predicated upon the teacher's practical understand-
ing of how to engage users and to help them learn.'
To this end, the Cambridge research group, through their publications and web-
site, are outlining how teachers can develop dialogic strategies for learning and teach-
ing that utilize the functionality of the interactive whiteboard. Because interactive
whiteboards can display a wide range of digital resources that use different modalities
(film clips, photographs, poems, audio, diagrams, historical documents) these can be
pedagogically marshalled in various ways, from acting as a stimulus, to being anno-
tated by pupils, then saved, revisited and evaluated. This allows for the temporal devel-
opment of learning over a number of lessons, and through pupil interaction with the
digital resources and scaffolded discussions with each other, these interactions can be
understood as effective dialogic strategies for 'deeper' learning (West-Burnham 2007).
Applications to practice
When considering the interactive whiteboard as a pedagogical tool to enhance learn-
ing, the extent of adoption in any school depends on teachers understanding the
affordances of the technology. Interactive whiteboards provide a range of features and
have the functionality to support a more 'participatory pedagogy' (Kennewell and
Beauchamp 2007), but research evidence shows teachers may be more likely to con-
tinue with existing pedagogic approaches.
Consider the range of visual, auditory and text-based functions of an interactive
whiteboard and how these can be a stimulus for reasoning, encourage the testing of
provisional ideas and how individual and collective thinking can be captured, then
annotated, reformulated, saved and revisited so meanings are actively created. Devel-
oping a set of annotated resources that encourage evaluation and synthesis through
group discussion over time arguably supports the temporal development of learn-
ing (over a period of time) and generates a learning community, which Mercer et al.
(2010) argue are key aspects of dialogic teaching.
As a practitioner you may want to consider how you can enhance your practice
through using your interactive whiteboard. For example, you may be interested in
developing a more dialogic approach as outlined by the Cambridge research group
(Hennessy et al. 2010; Mercer et al. 2010; Warwick et al. 2010). For example, as a
practitioner, reflect on:
• Howdopupilsusetheinteractivewhiteboardwhenworkingtogetheron
activities?
• Exploreandconsider,isthereadistinctiverolefortheinteractivewhiteboard
to support productive dialogue and other forms of interaction amongst
pupils?
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