A Study of Elementary School Students' Viewpoints on Interactive Whiteboard

Abstract

Problem statement: Introducing the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) into teaching is not only a current trend but also a major policy of education. Many studies indicated that IWB can increase the interaction between teachers and students as well as students’ motivation and enjoyment from teachers’ viewpoints. However, a study to understand and describe the opinion from children’s view is hardly found. Approach: This study combined methods of Beeland, Hall and Higgins. The questionnaire and group interview were utilized to conclude the children’s viewpoints of IWB. The questionnaire recreated by Beeland for enjoyment, anxiety, importance, skill and effect was employed to measure the extent what children’s opinion from 50 middle and 46 high grade students. The scores of middle and high grade students were additionally compared to analyze the differences between two groups. In order to understand students’ viewpoints on IWB, the discourse context after interview with students were moreover conducted. These discourse contexts were thus classified based on four main questions. Results: The results of this study indicated that there were significant differences of viewpoints on IWB between middle and high grade students. Conclusion: The teachers need to be aware of the potential questions that were revealed to teaching with IWB. Besides, the teachers should keep the feedback of students at group interview in mind and use this information effectively. The study can surely assist teachers to improve teaching with IWB and maintain student enjoyment on IWB.