Teachers’ Attitudes toward Using Interactive Whiteboards in English Language Classrooms


  •  Amani Gashan    
  •  Yousif Alshumaimeri    

Abstract

Educational technology plays an increasingly important role in the teaching and learning process. Successful integration is the goal of any new educational technology. The interactive whiteboard (IWB) can be effectively used by teachers to enhance the effectiveness of their lessons. This study explored the attitudes and insights of Saudi female teachers regarding the use of IWBs when teaching English as a foreign language (EFL). It also investigated possible obstacles they may face during their use of this novel technology.

Data was collected by distributing questionnaires to forty three teachers at different girls’ schools in Riyadh. The results indicated that participants in this study demonstrated positive attitudes toward using the IWB in the EFL classrooms. The results also showed that teachers consider IWBs to be useful devices for enhancing the teaching and learning process and for designing new instructional situations. IWB-based lessons were perceived to be more comfortable for teachers in teaching English. However, teachers stated that they faced some technical obstacles in their use of IWBs.

The current study recommended that EFL classes should be equipped with all supplicants of the IWBs. It also suggested that training is important for teachers to deal with the technological devices. EFL teachers need more training to learn how to resolve technical and system problems; they also need to understand how to use all the options offered by the IWBs.



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