Using interactive whiteboards in pre-service teacher education: Examples from two Australian universities

Research indicates that when interactive whiteboards are used well they can increase student engagement and learning (Glover, Miller, Averis & Door, 2007; Schuck & Kearney, 2007, 2008). This means it is important to educate future teachers in how to use interactive whiteboards and how to incorporate them successfully into their teaching. Current research indicates that a teacher’s pedagogy or ‘how they teach’ has a major influence on the quality of student learning outcomes. Thus ‘how teachers use ICT’ has a great effect on student outcomes. A range of pedagogical models concerned with the concept of authentic pedagogies are commonly used within Australian classrooms. Training designed for pre-service teachers dealing with the pedagogical application of interactive whiteboards is designed to guide and assess the implementation according to these pre-existing and widespread pedagogical models. This paper examines examples of how IWBs can be used in teacher education as well as how to integrate their use across courses that pre-service teachers undertake.