Journal Review 2 – The use of interactive whiteboards to support pupils with learning disabilities
Le Lant, C. (2015) Interactive whiteboards, students with intellectual disability and oral language problems. Available at: https://www.aare.edu.au/data/2015_Conference/Full_papers/469_Carol_Le_Lant.pdf
This journal focuses on the impact and the use of interactive whiteboards (IWB) in a study by assessing how students with intellectual disabilities engage with IWB in early reading lessons. The research was conducted via a detailed coding of video recordings of lessons which were carried out during a thirty-second interval, across ten lessons in each of the IWB and traditional desk-top lessons. The research analysed levels of engagement with IWB in comparison to a traditional desktop style for children with intellectual disabilities. The journal discusses and compares findings on the extent of oral language production during lessons which differed between the use of IWB and a traditional desktop approach. The study states evidence of a higher level of relevant verbal elaborations in the lessons taught away IWB’s. This result was vital as the production of language, in particular, elaborated language which helps to build knowledge and deepen understanding of tasks within specific subjects.
The research highlights three key considerations;
1. Benefits and challenges of incorporating interactive whiteboards into classrooms for pupils with an intellectual disability
2. Engagement and interactive whiteboards
3. Implications for the teaching of reading to students with Intellectual Disability and lesson design
Slay, Sieborger, & Hodgkinson-Williams, 2008; Tanner & Jones, (2007) discussed the use and benefits of IWB such as providing opportunities for students to physically interact with, control the display in relation to similar multimedia and development of their multi-sensory. Therefore, this links to what pupils know in comparison to what they enjoy doing. Multisensory features of IWBs appear to enhance student’s memory, as an IWB can be adapted to support auditory, visual and kinaesthetic learners (Smith, Higgins, Wall, & Miller, 2005). Recent studies show IWB appears to have a significant potential to provide an effective medium of instruction for students with intellectual disabilities. IWB also provides advantages for pupils in terms of presentation via covering the content of the curriculum and helps students to visualise images and content (Whitby, Leininger, & Grillo, 2012).
Visualising content helps pupils with intellectual disabilities to develop their receptive language capabilities via concrete visual examples of abstract concepts which allow the consistent representation of an activity (Goldsmith & LeBlanc, 2004). The combination of visual and aural information helps to facilitate the learning process, assisting learners to make connections between what they see and hear, enhancing pupil’s memory (Smith et al., 2005).
On the other hand, it is important to take caution when pairing images with words, as the pairing alone does not guarantee an improvement in learning outcomes (Sakar & Ercetin, 2005). According to Fossett and Mirenda (2005), pupils should perform exercises such as word building, close and rebus tasks to endorse in cognitive engagement. The use of IWB in lessons appears to motivate and engage pupils in the learning process. Reports show that pupils attention spans when using IWB often exceed what would be normally expected in particular with young, deaf and visually impaired students (Carter, 2002 and Slay et al., 2008). In order to gain students attention, it is essential to help increase their concentration span, an interactive whiteboard does this by providing students with the opportunity to use the hands-on device whilst delivering a range of conceptual links in the development and understand of more abstract and complex ideas (Learning development centre, 2008).
Although, there are benefits of using IWBs in schools the journal looks at problems which are caused such as a drift away from the whole-class teaching approach. This leads to a reduction in terms of access to a differentiated curriculum to which students with special needs are entitled to (Martin, 2007). This is supported by Somekh et al., (2007) who states students with special educational needs show enthusiasm when using IWBs, but they may not necessarily be supporting their learning. Therefore, teachers have the duty to ensure intellectual involvement is actively integrated into lessons which include new technologies such as the IWB (Jones et al., 2011). Le Lant (2005) highlighted student engagement as the primary focus of the study, as supposed positive outcomes on student engagement could lead to positive academic outcomes. Effective student engagement leads to adequate and cognitive engagement in school and learning (Finn & Zimmer, 2012; Fredericks, Blumenfeld, Friedel, & Paris, 2003). Moreover, integration on the use of interactive whiteboards as a technical feature within a special education classroom can cause teachers and pupils to be easily distracted and lose focus on the objective of the lesson (Cogill, 2003; Sakar & Ercetin, 2005). In some cases, teachers include unnecessary information on interactive whiteboards which can be confusing and a lot of information to take in for children with learning disabilities (Cutrim Schmid, 2008; Tanner & Jones, 2007; Wall, Higgins, & Smith, 2005). An overload of perceptions from teachers can lead to pupils with learning disabilities to struggle to understand the difference between what is important to the learning task and what isn’t (Sweller, 2005).
Overall, the article places emphasis on the consideration which should be given to the teaching and production of oral language. This will aid students to develop an oral vocabulary which could then be used to develop phonological skills e.g. greater reading and comprehension (Fielding-Barnsley & Hay, 2012). The journal analyses the need to apply cognitive strategies such as setting goals, making a plan, reviewing progress and ‘thinking aloud’ in order to assist pupils in monitoring their understanding of concepts (Westwood, 2007). Cognitive strategies would help students to become more independent in their reading, offer opinions, thus increasing pupil’s capabilities across the curriculum. Cognitive engagement features elements such as verbal elaborations which can be taught to improve learning (Ertmer & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, 2013). Nevertheless, it is essential for teachers to select, recall, organise and understand the material before students in order to teach them effectively and guide them towards the context of tasks (Jonassen, 2013).
The Use Of Interactive White Boards To Support Pupils With Learning Disabilities 