Today, education technology has reached beyond the bounds of our imagination. Children write with pens on screens and teachers analyze and grade 30 student’s results in a few minutes at just the click of a button. Technology like Smart board interactive whiteboard and Interactive Projectors are widespread across the globe now and are even spreading in developing countries. This may seem like a promising prospect but as we all know, everything has its benefits and shortcomings as well.

From the teacher’s point of view, those who are not comfortable with using digital technology will have an aversion to using such devices. Those who are comfortable with giving verbal instructions and lessons will find it hard to spend time creating presentations and referring to infinite resources for data online. What is normal for some people, might be disastrous for others. A lot of teachers find it hard to manage the Smart board interactive whiteboard and end up wasting the resource. They get tired of trying to restart of trouble shoot the device when they face technical problems. A technician cannot be called in on all days and manuals aren’t always the best answer for impatient teachers who want to just get on with their work.

A lot of teachers, especially in developing nations lack computer competency and neither do the schools provide the essential training required for the same. Similarly, students also aren’t given proper training on how to use the devices. There is also the risk of young children handling the devices in a rough manner. Apart from this, most teachers do not use web-learning resources as they complain of lack of time. Insufficient interactive learning materials and supporting materials could also be a cause for this.

As mentioned earlier, some students may not have knowledge on how to use the device, but some students may have more knowledge than the staff. They can easily get around the software to move on to more interesting things for themselves and their focus may be totally lost. They can mess around with the settings to disrupt a class. This could impact the overall results and make digital learning redundant.

In order to overcome such issues and use Smart board interactive whiteboard to their full potential is to train both students and teachers how to use the devices accurately. Also, the importance of such technology should be repeated and drilled into the system. Teachers should encourage to change with the changing times, to keep up with the evolving structure of a new and improved curriculum.

With training, tolerance for innovation and a developed curiosity for learning both students and teachers can make the best use of their Smart board interactive whiteboard.