ABSTRACT
This paper focuses on the use of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) as a tool for encouraging and supporting classroom dialogue. Our concern here is with the promotion of ‘dialogic’ communication between teachers and students, which is now widely recognised as educationally valuable. In this study we investigated how teachers could use the technical interactivity of the IWB to support dialogic interactivity. The design of the study was predicated upon a partnership between the authors and three UK (primary, middle school and secondary) teachers of 8- to 14-year-olds; examples of practice reported here derive mainly from secondary history. Outcomes include illustrative examples of teachers’ effective strategies for using the IWB for orchestrating dialogue. Implications for teachers’ initial training and professional development are considered.
