Hi everyone,

Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) are all the rage these days. Schools everywhere seem to be buying them as fast as they can, while many educators are caught up in a debate about their value and cost-effectiveness. (My friend and colleague Bill Ferriter offers one of the most passionate arguments against them that I have ever read.)

Personally, I have no interest in wading into that debate. My view is that since it’s a resource available to me*, I’m going to use it as best I can.

In that spirit, I offer you one of the very, very best of interactive resources I’ve EVER found: the TESiboard collection, “a purpose built library of visual, dynamic, interactive resources”:

What’s so special about this site? Several things…

1. The interactives are extremely high quality. The graphics are crisp and clean, the user interface is simple and logical, and the sound effects are pleasing and well thought out. I love how the site makes it easy for you to copy the URL of the activity you are interested in, even offering a thumbnail image for saving to disk. Handy!
2. Its depth and breadth are spectacular. You will find activities for math (numeracy), literacy  (language arts), phonics, science, ICT (technology – my world), geography, history, and more … for students in preschool (EYFS in the UK), Grades K-2 (Key Stage 1 in the UK) and Grades 3-6 (Key Stage 2 in the UK). [Click here for background on the UK's Key Stage education classification system.]
3. The site is completely free and there are no ads. Enough said!

Here’s a screenshot from one of the activities:

Like I said, crisp, clean, intuitive … easy to navigate and use, great graphics. What’s not to like?

This site’s resources can be used anywhere computers are available, with the proper guidance and scaffolding, of course.

We all owe Steve Rawlins and the good people at TES a debt of gratitude for assembling this collection. I’m sure it’s already in wide use throughout the UK and much of the rest of the world. Here’s to seeing it become even more popular.

Hope this helps,

-kj-

* – The IWB in my room, a superhuge 87″ 685ix, was given to me by SMART Corporation. Our district only had to pay the cost of installation. For more information about my promotion of commercial products on this blog, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you!