The Interactive Whiteboard...just a digital gimmick?

I really resonated with WhatEdSaid in his blog post Why Do I Need An Interactive Whiteboard?. 

Admittedly, it has been tough to find an educator that really resonates positively with the interactive whiteboard (IWB). One that uses it religiously and can not only engage and help students to collaborate and become active participants in their own learning, but actually model for other colleagues how the interactive whiteboard can effectively justify their chosen pricey brand of technology tools.

Maybe though it's simply a matter of framing how you view the IWB and where and how it fits into one's view of education and learning?

I wonder...

As a teacher, how often do you use and practice with your interactive whiteboard? Do you practice regularly? Do you want to improve your interactive whiteboard-savvy? Like any tool, using an interactive whiteboard effectively involves practice (lots of it!) and patience into order to maximize its full capability. It is requires developing specific skills. Don't we ask the same of our students as they learn new pieces of music, build a wooden sundeck chair, and learn the internal anatomy of a calf?

It is imperative to keep perspective. Any interactive whiteboard, like the SmartBoard, is just a tool that in and of itself serves no other purpose than aiding in the designs placed on it by its user(s). As Jeri Hurd mentions in her blog post on ed-tech myths, "technology is not the point; it's the tool". With the onus is on the teacher to make 'the point', the IWB is but one way to help.

The interactive whiteboard itself is not the heart nor the soul of the technology. It's only the spokesperson. In the case of the SmartBoard, it is the powerful Notebook software that allows for the integration of multi-media that can support "learning as active and social and best takes place through collaboration and interaction." And with practice and preparation, I believe that the interactive whiteboard can assist students with "meta-cognition and reflection", and at the same time require "learners to take ownership of their learning."

But if, after everything else, you don't believe in ghosts, than nobody can tell you anything different to change your mind...

It's all about mastery and teachers taking ownership of their own learning.

Hmmm...where have I heard that before...?