Interactive Whiteboards - Pros & Cons
As interactive whiteboards can be considered a paradigm for new media and due to their increasing importance in teaching, I have decided to give further thought to them and create a mindmap listing the advantages and disadvantages of SMART Boards and Co. with respect to Foreign Language Teaching.
As can be seen from the above mindmap, the pros outweigh the cons in my opinion. Moreover, as more and more devices find their way in our classrooms and further teaching material customized for interactive whiteboards will be available in the near future, the benefits will skyrocket. Nonetheless, interactive whiteboards should not become the only point of reference for language teaching and rather be used as tools and aids. Furthermore, teachers need to have a backup plan in case the device is out of order. Sticking to old-fashioned and traditional teaching methods, lot of teachers still refuse to use interactive whiteboards, probably from fear or laziness. I can understand people arguing against SMART Boards, this is a matter of taste and conventional approaches can equally do the trick. Yet I am sure that the current generation of students and future teachers is more tech-savvy and aware of the potentials interactive whiteboards offer.
PS: The video below really impressed me deeply and proves that interactive whiteboards are versatile tools that can level up the work with atlases, for instance. Since I am also going to teach Geography, I will certainly try to use this software in my lessons.