ABSTRACT
The first interactive whiteboards were developed in the early 1990s but it took some time before their potential use in classrooms was realised. Initially the cost of the boards placed them out of the reach of most schools and so the slant in the sales was more towards business than a school environment. As developers became more aware of the possible application of such technology within education, the UK government also began a drive to increase the amount of ICT hardware in schools and to improve the effective use of computers in teaching and learning. Some teachers had already discovered that they could plug their computers into a large-screen television, but the visual images were not good enough to make this a regular tool in teaching. Using a data projector with a computer was being tried in many schools from 1997, but with just one projector in most schools, its use was still a 'treat' rather than a regular event. Substantial ongoing investment has changed this. The years 1999-2004 saw a huge rise in the amount of technology used in the classroom, with the interactive whiteboard now being one of the most sought-after items of technology for the classroom. This chapter investigates the way in which interactive whiteboard technology is currently being used, looks at some of the criteria for effective use and examines the positive and negative aspects of this technology.
