Economist, my bold:
… Frith Manor in Barnet, a London suburb, one of England's biggest primary schools. … When the new buildings opened earlier this year, each classroom was equipped with an “interactive whiteboard” (IWB)—a screen on the wall that talks wirelessly to a laptop tucked away to one side. There is even one in the school nursery, beside the climbing frame and set low enough for three-year-olds to reach. This technology is so useful that it would be cost-effective to kit out every primary classroom in the country with a screen, according to an independent evaluation of IWBs in primary schools, published on October 9th. Teachers were able to monitor children's progress more effectively, and spent less time planning lessons and marking papers. Difficult tasks, such as using a ruler or a thermometer, were easier to demonstrate. Children paid more attention, behaved better and, most importantly, learned more.
Until recently, it was not clear that the oodles of money the government has been spending on school computers was paying off. Too many schools put the equipment in separate rooms that had to be booked in advance, rather than integrating it into every lesson. And teachers hated taking classes where every child faced the wall and stared at a screen. An evaluation in January of the use of IWBs in secondary schools found no clear benefits.
But primary schools, it seems, may be different. Technology fits well with the sort of participatory whole-class teaching that predominates in the early years, the study found; in many secondary schools it is consigned to the odd power-point presentation, passively received. In primary classrooms, teachers who have used the technology for longest are seeing the greatest benefits, this latest review concludes.
More teachers use computers in the classroom in Britain than anywhere else in Europe (see chart). Almost every school already has at least one IWB, and quite a few have one in every classroom. And unlike most other places, Britain has put more computer technology in primary classrooms than in secondary ones. That now looks prescient.
At Frith Manor … pupils are motivated by being able to show what they know.
