catherine.macmillan

I know there are mixed feelings about the use of interactive whiteboards, but from my experience of using a promethean activboard in the pre-five unit I have found it to be a fantastic asset for both staff and pupils.

I have been using the board now for about a year and a half but still get amazed by the children and what they can do! Overall it has been really good for encouraging children to work co-operatively compared to using a desktop computer. The size of the board has been good for developing both gross and fine motor skills. I also feel that a Promethean board is better for using with young children because it is good for them to be learning to use a pen and the board is not touch sensitive so when groups of children are working together it doesn’t matter if another child starts pointing at something on the screen. During our HMIe inspection last November the inspector praised the influence the activboard has had on children’s confidence in using ICT equipment, their fine motor skills and their overall development. The children just love showing each other (and adults!) what they have been doing.

It has been beneficial across the whole curriculum. We have used science simulation and infant toolkit by 2simple, Beep by Q&D Multimedia, Musical Monsters also by Q&D Multimedia, talking stories to name but a few. The activprimary software is fantastic. To begin with I though it would be ‘too much’ for the children. There were so many different tools etc, but they took to it like ducks to water. To begin with I put digital photographs of each child on and they disguised themselves to make guess who pictures. They were so motivated by the whole thing. They loved the special ‘torch’ and ‘blind’ tool which they used to reveal themselves. We then used backgrounds to make pictures and develop early handwriting skills. It was much more appealing to the whole group compared to using ordinary pencils and paper.

More recently we have been using it to make our own interactive stories. The children record their own voices, we type what they’ve said and we can add photographs and movie clips. The last story we made included photographs and movies from our bear hunt in Kilnaughton woods/beach. It was an exciting way to re-tell familiar stories and reflect on their outing.

I think it has excited parents as much as the children! We had a parent workshop last November and they had a great time. They were not only amazed at the equipment but could not believe how well their children could use it.

Myself and Trisha Boyd did a presentation at a Promethean Early Years Event in Stirling in February this year so if you are interested in finding out a bit more have a look on the promethean website.  It includes a short clip of the children using the board.

We have also been using activote for the past year and have found lots of positive uses for it in the pre-five setting but I’ll talk about that another day!