How to use your interactive whiteboard effectively

The following is a list of practical tips on how to use your interactive whiteboard effectively in the classroom.

  1. Make sure there is plenty of space both in front and to either side of your whiteboard so that you can move around it and access all parts of the screen easily without standing in the beam.
  2. Make sure the whiteboard is positioned at a height that the learners can reach without over-stretching. You may need to have a sturdy step available for shorter learners.
  3. Install wall mounted speakers, rather than relying on the internal speaker within the projector. This means that sound is of better quality and carries better across the classroom. It will be cheaper if speakers are installed at the same time as the whiteboard and projector.
  4. Use a font type and size that can be easily seen at the back of your classroom - Arial, Comic Sans and Sassoon Primary are recommended fonts. Always check it out from the furthest position before the lesson starts.
  5. Use background colours other than white - pale, pastel colours can help improve legibility. If you have a problem with glare from windows without blinds, try using a high-contrast combination such as a black background with white or yellow text.
  6. Make use of full screen utilities within applications, such as when viewing a website using Microsoft Internet Explorer, press F11 on your keyboard to remove all of the toolbars at the top of the page, displaying your web page in a much larger screen, and making the page more visible.
  7. Place a wireless keyboard near to the whiteboard for times when you or the learners want to add text. This saves moving back to the computer each time you need to enter text.
  8. If you are going to use a website in a lesson, add it to your favourites/bookmarks in order to access it without typing in complex web addresses. Remember to check the content of the site regularly just to ensure that it hasn't changed since your last visit.
  9. Use 'floating tools' to add notes and annotations over any page on your computer screen; whether using word-processing software, presentation software or the internet, you can highlight text and use different coloured pens to add comments to any page that appears on your screen.
  10. Try and create documents where you do not need to scroll up and down - instead of three paragraphs on one page, add one paragraph to three pages. Space your work well to leave room for annotations and comments, which can be retained if you don't need to scroll up and down the document.
  11. If you are creating pages for learners to use, place text into the lower two thirds of the page. This enables pupils to reach the items they need more easily.
  12. If you have annotated work during the introductory phase of the lesson, save the file to the network drive using an appropriate name so that pupils can access it when they are working on it later. Teach them to save their files with appropriate names so that they can find and demonstrate their work during a review activity or plenary session.
  13. When creating your own presentations use copyright free images and sounds to illustrate teaching points and/or to provide a stimulus for a discussion. A picture can be worth a thousand words!
  14. Give consideration to the individual access needs of your learners. High-contrast colours, personal and mirroring devices, and different teaching practices can help ensure that all learners can benefit from the learning experiences offered by interactive whiteboards.

This content has been adapted from Tips for using your whiteboard produced by the REVIEW Project.