Towards a better understanding of the potential of interactive whiteboards in stimulating mathematics learning

Abstract

This research explored the stimulation of mathematics understanding and learning in an Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) environment. IWB affordances appear to be best used when mathematical tasks engage students in mathematical reasoning and when all students are involved in the discussion. The intent of this project was to design and implement, together with a small group of teachers, a series of lessons for the purpose of developing a useful framework for effective IWB use. In a first phase, the potential of the IWB in pursuing high-level mathematical tasks and promoting classroom interactivity was discussed in depth by the teachers and the researchers. Lessons were also planned in detail. In a second phase, the planned lessons were taught in the presence of the researchers, audiotaped and subsequently analysed by the researchers and teachers. The analyses highlighted the usefulness of the IWB in (a) improving high-level mathematical tasks and (b) creating a dialogic interactive discourse for better mathematical understanding and learning. Two main patterns in productive IWB use emerged from the study. The first pattern was that the IWB promoted problem-solving activities through intensive use of geometrical or other mathematical software. The second pattern was using the IWB as a notepad with links to external sources, geometrical and other mathematical constructions, problems and activities, which the teacher, in collaboration with the students, ‘tailors’ following a thread. For both patterns, developing a strong synergy between the IWB affordances and students’ interaction with it seemed critical. The IWB appears to be a powerful tool that allows students and teachers to alternate between different points of view and different visualisations of the same topic.