Faculty of Education Competitive Grants

Project Title: Investigating teacher professional development for using interactive whiteboards in secondary schools

Chief Investigator: Associate Professor Anne McDougall

Funded by: Faculty of Education Competitive Grants

Project Summary: Education staff have been approached by a rural secondary college to undertake a collaborative research project involving the introduction of interactive whiteboards (IWBS). The college has installed IVBs at strategic locations. The supplier is providing basic training to all staff, and advanced training to selected staff.

For this project researchers will survey teachers about their perceptions of teaching with IWBs and the professinal development (PD) they have received, will observe and video lessons, and will interview teachers. Outcomes from the project will include: guidelines for PD to ensure appropriate adoption and pedagogical practices; a model characterising classroom contexts that enable effective use of IWBs; a taxonomy of teachers' IWB uses across different subjects, topics, year levels and student special needs.