June 29th, 2010 at 15:23 T is for Training. Teachers need to learn how to use IWB’s so they don’t become WMD’s.
My first (untrained) experience with one was when I didn’t realise it was any different from a regular whiteboard and used a marker pen on it. Now that was embarrassing!
My ongoing experience with them here (in Taiwan) is that only local teachers are taught how to use them, while Westerners (us) muddle along without any PD, and with operating systems, software and instructions written in Chinese, while being expected to use them as if they are second nature.
My advice: don’t wait for training to be offered, look through all the great resources in the A to Z here, experiment, practice and make some creative use of them. After all, they are not just fancy projection screens and they won’t explode upon first use.
Posted 29th June, 2010 at http://edition.tefl.net/articles/teacher-technique/abc-iwb/comment-page-1/#comment-12523