Research into whiteboard use in classrooms

The study by the Learning Technologies Team at the Midlands Leadership Centre aims to develop guidelines for teachers and other practitioners who use whiteboards in primary and secondary schools across Europe.

The research for European Schoolnet involves working closely with four of the 13 countries from within the Interactive Whiteboard Working Group. Experts will visit Ireland, Italy, Portugal and UK and observe lessons and classroom practice. Data will also be gathered from a practitioner questionnaire and focus groups with various users of interactive whiteboards.

Diana Bannister MBE, Project Director at the Midlands Leadership Centre, said: “We are delighted to be leading this project for European Schoolnet. It is crucial that we can build on effective practice that has been evident in the UK for some time now and hopefully help to address some of the barriers to effective use of interactive whiteboards.”

The project, titled EuSCRIBE (European Schools and Classroom Research of Interactive whiteBoards in Education) has been commissioned by the European Schoolnet Interactive Whiteboard Working Group. (www.europeanschoolnet.org)

The Learning Technologies Team at the University has a long history of working with this technology across the UK, but this is the first opportunity for them to undertake a development and research project in Europe.

The Midlands Leadership Centre at University of Wolverhampton will collate the findings in a report, Guidelines of Effective Use of Interactive Whiteboards within Schools and Classrooms. This will be presented to European Schoolnet at the end of April.

For further information about the project, please contact Diana Bannister, email DianaBannister@wlv.ac.uk  or call 01902 518967.

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