Becta, the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, has released a
practical guide of issues to consider when planning to purchase (and use!) interactive whiteboards.
The guide simplifies procurement of whiteboards for educational institutions, featuring the OJEU (Official Journal of the European Union) -compliant
Whiteboards Catalogue. Becta itself has moved to set standards in this area, ensuring that all suppliers featured in the catalogue meet the Becta
functional specification and service requirements. This should really help teaching staff and tech support people navigate the piles of PR guff from commercial providers.
But, having got your hands on one, how are you going to use it in the classroom?
Becta admits that "There is no specific funding for training and support for interactive whiteboards." Hmmm.
Support is available, but (like most of Becta's programmes) it is heavily targeted towards primary and secondary schools. This includes training already provided by suppliers, plus dedicated training from city learning centres, not forgetting the National Whiteboard Network (designed to support primary schools).
Pedagogical training? More, please. Becta offers a tantalising extra snippet of news on that front. In addition to the programme managed by city learning centres, a new element - Hands on Support (HOS), Teachernet
FAQ available here - has "been included in next year's (2004-05) ICT in Schools Standards Fund Grant 31a". That's a promising start. Now, how about some training for HE?
