Running head: INDIVIDUAL WHITEBOARDS FOR INCREASED STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

Literature Review

Individual Whiteboards for Increased Student Engagement

Kassi Simeon

Bowling Green State University

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Introduction

Student engagement in every classroom is a necessity for every teacher. If

students are not fully engaged in their learning, then learning concepts would be

harder for both students and teachers. There are many educational articles that

prove how important student engagement in in learning and different motivation

strategies can be used to increase student engagement during lessons.

In Ferlazzo’s (2014) article Response: Ways to Cultivate Whole Class

Engagement, Jim Peterson states, “When trying to get all students on task and

engaged teachers need to consistently use basic motivation strategies” (par. 6).

Teachers use a wide variety of motivation strategies every day in their classrooms

to interest students and keep them engaged. The research conducted in this review

revolves around using individual whiteboards to increase student engagement in

lessons. Does using a mini-whiteboard help students to stay engaged during whole

group or small group lessons?

Research Findings

Whether teaching students in a whole group lesson or in a small group

setting, student engagement is key to ensure student understanding. Through

thorough research, individual whiteboards for each student to use is a good strategy

to ensure student understanding. Jim Peterson states that by keeping students on

task and engaged in a lesson, “you will notice a difference not only in the percentage

of your students who are engaged the activity but in the urgency of their attention to

the task” (Ferlazzo, 2014, par. 16). By using individual whiteboards and having

students interact with the content they are learning about, attention will increase as

well as student engagement.

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Individual whiteboards can be used not only to keep students engaged in

their learning, but also as a valuable tool for teachers to use for formative

assessments. Teachers need to perform frequent formative assessments to guide

their teaching and identify exactly where to go next with their teaching. Goodrich

has talked about many formative assessment ideas in previous articles. Goodrich

states in Classroom Techniques: Formative Assessment Idea Number Three (2012),

“Another formative assessment idea that engages the entire class and provides

evidence of student learning is the white board. Small, personal-sized white boards

are inexpensive and if each student has them at their desk they can provide answers

and information by simply raising them” (par. 2). By having students participate

individually using a whiteboard, students can share answers to problems without

feeling the pressure of raising a hand and their answer being incorrect. This

encourages all students to be active participants in their learning and takes the fear

of being incorrect out of the equation.

Another research proven technique that was discovered while researching

were techniques called Total Participation Techniques. According to Persida and

William Himmele in Response: Ways to Cultivate Whole Class Engagement (2014),

“Total Participation Techniques are teaching techniques that provide teachers with

evidence of active participation and higher-order thinking, from all students, at the

same time” (par. 18). The key word is higher-order thinking, which is not always

easy or natural for students. “One of the things to remember is that not all

participation is qualitatively equal. We don't simply want behavioral compliance. In

as much as we can, we want all students participating using cognitively intense

prompts that cause them to grow each other's learning” (Ferlazzo, 2014, par. 18).
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When students are challenged with using higher-order thinking skills and

explaining their thinking, their understanding and of the subject increases

drastically. Individual whiteboards help teachers to be able to challenge their

students with questions that use higher cognitive skills. Each student can represent

his or her own knowledge using their individual whiteboard.

Benefits

 Increased student participation: Individual Whiteboards are a great tool

for increasing student participation in lessons. They can be used throughout

a lesson to ensure student understanding throughout the lesson. They can

also increase student participation during lessons. “Mini whiteboards can be

used to guide a discussion and to encourage pupils to interact with each

other” (Skeet, 2012, par. 6).

 Individual students can represent their own knowledge: Instead of just

calling on students raising a hand, the teacher can have each student

represent his or her own understanding using an individual whiteboard

during each lesson. This ensures that all students are getting the most out of

each lesson and that the teacher can see exactly what each student knows

and understands about the concept being taught.

 Formative Assessment Data: By using individual whiteboards, teachers can

easily incorporate formative assessments right into their lessons. Using a

whiteboard as a mode for students to express their knowledge is more

powerful as a formative assessment than hand raising. Teachers can gain

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valuable information from the formative assessments given using individual

whiteboards.

 Data driven instruction: Teachers are being challenged today to use data to

drive their instruction. Using the data from formative assessments using

individual whiteboards is a great way for teachers to collect valuable data

from their lessons. Teachers can quickly assess, analyze the data, and present

students with skills still needed all in the same lesson.

 Multiple uses: Individual whiteboards can have more than one use in the

classroom. Students can use them in other aspects other than during lessons.

Students can use individual whiteboards to play and participate in games

with classmates. They can also use a whiteboard to work out problems or

express their thinking and to save paper in the classroom. Sometimes,

students do not like to write on paper when they know they are going to

make mistakes. Individual whiteboards fixes this problem. Gurung states,

“I’ve found students much more willing to make a start on mini boards

because it’s easy to make corrections and wipe out mistakes” (Using Mini-

Whiteboards to Transform Classroom Practice, 2012).

 Whole Group or Small Group: Individual whiteboards can be used in both

whole group lessons as well as small group lessons. When using them in

whole group lessons, all students can use their individual whiteboards to

respond at the same time. This is more engageing for the students and a huge

benefit for the teacher when it comes to gathering answsers quickly from all

students. The teacher can easily spot who didn’t answer correctly and who
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may need help learning the skill. Teachers can also use individual

whiteboards in small group settings to have all students answer at once.

Whiteboards are great for small groups in math. Skeet states in the article

Getting the Max Out of Mini-Whiteboards(2012), “You can also use mini-

whiteboards as ways to promote discussions in small groups, with pupils

swapping their boards with each other or adding to or adapting someone

else’s ideas in various ways” (par. 5). The teacher can help students discover

the right answer as well as classmates can help their peers work out their

answer on a whiteboard.

 Whiteboards using technology: Because we live in a technological world, a

traditional individual whiteboard is just a concept that can be applied to

different aspects of technology to get the same effect. For example, students

can use an iPad drawing app as an individual whiteboard. Students can still

write and erase just like a traditional individual whiteboard, the only

difference is it is on a screen. Another popular board that is being used as

whiteboards in a classroom is an LCD writing board, such as the brand

Boogie Board. These LCD writing boards are relatively cheap, are durable for

students, and last a long time. There is even a board called the Boogie Board

Sync that can save what you write, and syncs with multiple other devices. By

using this new technology, the traditional individual whiteboard has received

and upgrade and is now more engaging than ever with students.
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Conclusion

In conclusion, the original question at hand was the following: Does using a

mini-whiteboard help students to stay engaged during whole group or small group

lessons? After thorough research, yes, using an individual whiteboard for each

student does help them to stay engaged during lessons. During the research stage, it

was also discovered that using an individual whiteboard during lessons has many

more benefits other than just engaging students. Individual whiteboards prove to be

beneficial for teachers as well when it comes to data collection and formative

assessment. Whether a teacher is just starting a new skill or reviewing old skills in a

small group, using an individual whiteboard, or technology that acts similarly, is a

great way to engage students and amplify learning during lessons.

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References

Ferlazzo, L. (2014). Response: Ways to cultivate whole class engagement. Education

Week Teacher. Retrieved February 15, 2017, from

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2014/

04/response_ways_to_cultivate_whole-class_engagement.html

Goodrich, K. (2012). Classroom techniques: Formative assessment idea number

three. Northwest Evaluation Association. Retrieved February 13, 2017, from

https://www.nwea.org/blog/2012/classroom-techniques-formative-

assessment-idea-number-three/

Gurung, J. (2012). Using mini-whiteboards to transform classroom practice.

Retrieved February 13, 2017, from

https://stuffimlearning.azurewebsites.net/2012/10/using-mini-

whiteboards-to-support-teaching-and-learning/

Skeet, J. (2012). Getting the max out of mini-whiteboards. CLIL Magazine. Retrieved

February 12, 2017, from

http://www.academia.edu/6445527/Getting_the_max_out_of_mini-

whiteboards