Infrared interactive whiteboard are large, touch-sensitive boards, which control a computer connected to a digital projector. Because of their relationship to a standard computer, the facility to manipulate various sources and media are major benefits of IWBs across the curriculum. Furthermore, teachers report finding IWBs to be a flexible and versatile teaching tool across age groups and settings. Using IWBs speeds the pace of instruction because teachers can easily maneuver through various sources and media without much effort. This integration of aural, visual and kinesthetic learning is a way to make the learning experience more relevant and engaging. For example, social studies teachers can use a virtual museum tour and an audio clip of someone speaking about a specific event from a personal point of view.
When thoughtfully employed, electromagnetic interactive whiteboard can be a valuable tool in teaching critical thinking skills both explicitly and within the content areas. Unfortunately, most teachers use interactive whiteboards as an extension of the traditional whiteboard and do not take full advantage of its capabilities. While teachers often recognize motivating students as one of most important advantages of IWBs, it is the teacher’s desire to improve her teaching that leads to the greatest benefit.
Teachers have an ethical responsibility to teach from different perspectives and should develop the ability to ask good open-ended questions that stimulate critical thought. Therefore, they should draw from a multitude of reliable sources and give considerable thought to what questions would appropriately engage students in the process of analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating the content of the lecture. Students should be taught from an early age to monitor their own thinking, and doing so is an important task in language acquisition, reading comprehension, self-control and a host of other tasks necessary to normal development and learning.
A core skill in critical thinking is mapping out arguments. Arguments are a body of evidence in relation to a proposition expressed as a claim. The more complex reasoning is, the more necessary it is to analyze its parts. One easy method of doing so is through mapping with reasons linked to the argument. By visually representing the argument, students can see an argument as being supported, containing faulty logic or needing additional analysis. Using the optical interactive whiteboard program that is used for writing on IWBs, teachers can either prepare and share PowerPoints or walk through the process of creating such a map more efficiently than using a simple whiteboard and markers. Additionally, because student work can easily be displayed for the entire class, IWBs facilitate discussions arising from analysis so that the teacher does less correcting, and the students benefit from critiquing each other’s work.