Teachers’ Perspectives on Interactive Whiteboards as Instructional Tools in Four Jordanian Schools

Year 2014, Volume: 5 Issue: 1, 73 - 89, 01.03.2014

Atef Abuhmaid

Abstract

Cutting edge technologies are one of the main areas in which private schools compete so they can showcase themselves as pioneers In Jordan, as it is in other education contexts worldwide. The Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) is becoming one of the rapidly adopted educational technologies everywhere. However, while moving too fast to adopt new technologies, often decision is made without taking teachers’ perceptions into account. The current study focuses on teachers’ perspectives on two main aspects of the integration of IWBs in four Jordanian private schools: First, teachers’ perceptions of IWBs as instructional tools, and second, the presence of various supporting factors identified by the literature for the success of integrating IWB into schools. The study used a 26-item Likert scale which was administered to 200 teachers in the participating schools. The results showed that the participating schools spend extensive efforts and resources in integrating IWBs into their contexts; however, some supporting factors for the effective implementation might have been overlooked. In addition, in contrast to what some professionals might expect and some vendors might try to promote, IWBs did not make teachers’ job “easier” in terms of relieving teachers’ workloads, despite their values as reported by teachers.

Keywords

Interactive whiteboard, IWB, Instructional technologies, Technology integration in education, ICT, Educational technologies in Jordan

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• Correspondence: Atef Abuhmaid, Ph.D., Educational Technology, Faculty of Educational
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