If you look back through the past decade or two at the technology that’s been used in schools, you’ll see a combination of items that have become staple to an effective learning experience and items that although were used regularly for a certain period of time, soon faded into obscurity for whatever reason.

And with more and more technology being developed as time goes by, it’s only becoming increasingly popular to see items go through the process of either staying in the classroom and being a vital piece of equipment or being popular for a short period of time, never to be used again.

With one piece of technology that’s particularly popular at the minute being interactive whiteboards, today we want to look at which path they’re going to go down and ask are they a fad or a necessary piece of equipment?

Look around the majority of schools at the minute and chances are you’ll see interactive whiteboards in at least some of the classrooms. Extremely popular, they basically allow for the teacher – and the class – to engage with what’s being displayeed on the screen in a way that hasn’t been possible before.

For example, a Word document could be displayed on the whiteboard, notes could be added to it by writing directly onto the whiteboard in pen and then the document can be saved – with the notes.

Undoubtedly a fantastic development in future learning, it does have to be questioned how much novelty value there is in it. Although it’s obviously great for creating a more engaging learning experience, in a way it takes us back to a time before technology was really used in the classroom, when pupils would all face the front, looking at what the teacher was saying / writing.

Whether this is a positive or a negative is another debate entirely, but it could definitely be included within the argument both for and against whiteboards.

What’s also worthwhile taking into consideration is the investment aspect, as with any piece of technology, there comes a financial investment that could be more than you want to pay.

Sure, the investment is for the long-term and it could be minimal compared to what you’ll get from it, but again, the cost aspect can be classed as a negative and as such, it may make the whiteboards a passing fad.

However, whilst we genuinely like to provide information for both sides of any discussion about technology, so you can make the most informed decision possible, when it comes to interactive whiteboards for schools, we think they’re anything but a fad.

Integrating themselves within the classroom setting arguably better than any other piece of technology ever has, we’re fully aware they may not be a perfect piece of equipment, but in our decades of experience, they’re the closest thing to perfect in all respects that we’ve ever seen – and we’re certain they’re going to be here for years to come.