Interactive White Board - For a Better Learning Process

Interactive whiteboards are a type of display which is connected with a projector and computer. It is known as IWB also. The desktop of the computer is projected on the board's surface by the projector and the person uses a pen or other similar device to control the computer. Generally, the board is attached to the wall. The interactive white board has applications in classrooms, in corporate industry, broadcasting studios, rooms for training of sports and many other areas. The basic uses of the board are operation of software that is preloaded in the connected computer, to control the computer and some white boards come with a special facility so that the user can conduct polls or quiz and the feedback is stored on the board.

The interactive white board uses a USB or Bluetooth to connect itself to a computer. Driver software is loaded onto the connected computer. Then, any image is projected on the board's surface through the computer. If there is a requirement of text input, the user can use the on-screen keyboard or use the handwriting recognition. To make maximum use of the board, most of them are provided with software which includes various tools. Through this software, the user can create virtual flipcharts. Various options of using compass, protractor, scale, highlighter etc can be used. There are many types of interactive white boards. One of them is touch-based one. In such systems, simply a finger or a pointing device is used to control the projected material. In this, a special layer is expanded on the surface that deforms when any kind of pressure is applied thereby making contact with the back plate. The location of touch or point is then determined electronically. The touch is accounted as a mouse event. Another type is the pen-based interactive whiteboard that uses electromagnetism. It includes a collection of wires that are embedded behind the IWB. These wires, together with the coil present on the top of the stylus, determine its coordinates on the screen. When the stylus is pressed on the board, a switch is activated in the pen and a mouse click is signaled to the computer. This type of IWB is used by designers and digital artists. Besides being so advantageous, IWB has one major problem. The use of permanent markers can ruin the surface of the boards as it is made of melamine. Interactive whiteboards are available in two forms. One is called the front projection. It has a video projector placed in front of the board. The major disadvantage is that the user cannot stand in front of the screen as it will produce a shadow on the screen. The other form of IWB is the rear projection. Here, the projector is placed behind the screen. But, this is costlier than the front projection and they are larger in size.