The acceptance of interactive whiteboards in intermediate phase educators' teaching practice

Abstract

Education is the front line for the growth and expansion of ICT and is therefore regarded as essential for national improvement. For this reason, modern educators are required to move away from traditional teaching methods and start progressing towards “smart” teaching and learning. This is to ensure that teaching and learning are understood and retained by Generation Z learners. The purpose of this study was to explore the acceptance of interactive whiteboards in intermediate educators’ everyday teaching practices. Two intermediate phase educators were selected from five different Quintile 5 ranked primary schools, each to participate in this study. The educators were chosen through convenient and purposive sampling. The approach used to acquire knowledge in this study was qualitative research. For this study, semi-structured interviews and lesson plans were used as part of the data collection. In the findings of this study I discovered that educators generally have an optimistic attitude towards the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB). The findings indicated that this attitude is due to educators finding the IWB useful and easy to use. However, for the IWB to be used to its optimal capacity, educators need to have structured, adequate, and differentiated training. Furthermore, educators should find a way to incorporate learner interaction with the IWB. Interactive whiteboard training and workshops need to happen on a continual basis for educators to use the board effectively and confidently. The School Governing Bodies should create an ICT budget to assist educators with the upgrading of IWB resources. Educators with more experience in using the IWB can offer brief workshops internally to incorporate learner interaction with the IWB.