Interactive Whiteboards in the schools

Interactive Whiteboards are larger interactive displays which are connected to projector and computer. A projector projects the computer desktop on the active area of Whiteboard. User operates the computer with finger or pen. Interactive whiteboards are generally wall mounted. They can be put on floor stand. Interactive Whiteboards are used in classrooms at all stages of education as a replacement of traditional whiteboards or flip charts. They communicate with computer using USB (Universal Serial Bus) or serial port cable. Bluetooth device or RF (Radio Frequency) device is used for providing wireless communication. Teacher can operate computer functions with finger or pen. Using the supplied software, Teacher can write, draw and annotate on Interactive Whiteboards. The annotations can be saved as an electronic file in various formats such as Picture format, power point format, PDF, HTML (Hyper text markup language).These files can be used later for teaching purpose or send to absent student as an e-mail attachment. The software has a built in gallery of images on different subjects which teacher can incorporate into their lessons. Interactive Whiteboards allows teachers to record their session in video format which can be shared in to their classroom. Some companies provide educational content with Interactive Whiteboards. They have lots of tools for presentation like spotlight, snapshot, reveal etc. Spotlight shapes helps to focus attention on specific part. Reveal feature allows you to hide information and reveal in any direction. There are different types of Interactive Whiteboards in the market based on technology. An IR (infra red) interactive whiteboard uses infra red beam to make the board touch sensitive. A resistive membrane board consists of two resistive sheets separated by air gap. Electromagnetic Board is composed of grid of wires, operated with stylus.