The positive impacts of interactive whiteboards on student learning outcomes in FE colleges, and the conditions under which outcomes can be maximised.

This paper draws from a wider study on the use and impact of ICT within FE colleges. The research questions addressed are: what is it about the ways interactive whiteboards (iWBs) are being used that produce positive impacts on student outcomes, and what institutional and personal factors determine which teachers use iWBs effectively? Multiple case-studies of 6 colleges were designed using a new framework for classifying e-learning uses (ELUs) according to the learning context, learning objectives and the types of software and activities being used. Tutors’ beliefs in the efficacy of iWB use, their intentions for use, teaching style and pedagogical skills, and the subject taught all affected the ways in which iWB were deployed, and in particular the degree of multimedia and pedagogic interactivity. Tutors who made a lot of use of iWBs were in colleges where the leadership vision prioritised ICT within teaching and learning. The strongest impact on student outcomes occurred where iWBs were used in a variety of ways, use was appropriate for the subject, and congruent with the teachers' purposes and intentions for students' learning. Tutors who made little use of iWBs tended to be in colleges where the emphasis on management of learning was stronger than on supporting pedagogic development, and/or they were unaware of the potential of iWBs particularly in relation to their subject.