A ‘learning revolution’? Investigating pedagogic practice around interactive whiteboards in British primary classrooms¹

1. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference, San Francisco, in 2006.

Abstract

Interactive whiteboards have been rapidly introduced into all primary schools under UK Government initiatives. These large, touch‐sensitive screens, which control a computer connected to a digital projector, seem to be the first type of educational technology particularly suited for whole‐class interaction. Strong claims are made for their value by manufacturers and policy‐makers, but there has been little research on how, if at all, they influence established pedagogic practices, communicative processes and educational goals. This study has been designed to examine this issue, using observations in primary (elementary) school classrooms, and builds on the authors’ previous research on Information and Communication Technology in educational dialogues and collaborative activities.

Acknowledgements

The project team are very grateful to the staff and pupils of Malorees Junior School in Brent, London, whose data are presented in this article, as well as staff at Brent Local Authority. The project has also collected data from schools in Milton Keynes. The study was made possible by funding from the UK Economic and Social Research Council (grant number: RES‐000–22–1269).

Notes

1. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference, San Francisco, in 2006.

2. The authors are listed in alphabetical order.

3. Time mentioned along with each extract indicates the interval of the extract into the lesson, and also the duration of the extract. Transcription conventions for extracts: ‘could’ indicates emphasis; ‘(do)’ indicates partly unintelligible speech, with most likely speech noted; ‘(…)’ indicates unintelligible; ‘[’ indicates overlapping speech; ‘(intake of breath)’ indicates contextual note.