There has been a lot of money invested in Technology in Schools in the last two decades. Research has shown that much of this technology has made little difference to what takes place in the classroom. This is not surprising when you consider that many schools still support the “transmission model” of teaching so putting a few computers in a classroom or setting aside a room as a computer laboratory where sessions for learners must be booked well in advance does nothing to change pedagogy.

Support for teachers new to the use of digital technology is, of course, the key to successful uptake of the technology by the most powerful influencing presence in the classroom. Teachers are the gatekeepers in terms of what becomes the dominant tools for learning in schools and they are, for the most part, unaccustomed to using technology for Whole Class Teaching on a day to day basis.

Any school administrator with responsibility for managing limited funding for the needs of a large number of staff, will tell you that there is great range of Professional Development Options for Information and Communication Technology and not all of them are effective. Interactive Whiteboard training is no different. Many IWB vendors offer what we describe as “How and Where to Click” training that often insults the intelligence of the teachers by simply demonstrating the tools and the features of the Interactive board, much like in a sales presentation. We think that software should be intuitive and we hope that, if a teacher has not already found out how and where to click, our training will inspire them to spend some time on their own, finding out for themselves.

We, on the other hand, use qualified teachers to show pedagogical examples of how the boards might be used in learning situations to deliver engaging and inspirational lessons that motivate learners to want to be creative, clever and confident in a modern, connected classroom that prepares them for the digital world that they will need to thrive in beyond schooling. Teachers generally leave us inspired to want to empower learning not trying desperately remembering if it was the right or left mouse button that they had to click!