Chris Betcher

Here's a little piece of news about the book that I wrote with Mal Lee last year, The Interactive Whiteboard Revolution: teaching with IWBs .  We've just been informed by the publishers, ACER Press, that the original print run is now completely sold out and they are going into a second print run. Apparently there are even back orders, and the book has been one of the best selling books in their catalog this year. Who'da thunk it? It's true that Interactive Whiteboards can be a controversial topic. There are plenty of people who see them as a useful technology for teaching and learning, but there are also plenty of others that don't (and are quite vocal about it!) One of the things I think we tried really hard to do in the book was to consider this controversy and take a sensible and level-headed approach to what IWBs do and don't do well.  I certainly don't think I wrote it as an IWB fan-boy and I hope we managed to present a reasoned, common-sense, brand-ag...

You may have noticed that it's been a bit quiet here on the blog lately. I've not been writing here as much as usual and I've really missed it! There have been a couple of reasons for this little sabbatical, but the most significant one was the book project I've been working on with Mal Lee. For almost a year now (OMG, has it really been that long?!) Mal and I have been writing a book together about the use of interactive whiteboards for education. It's been a huge project, partly because it's been a lot to write - nearly 60,000 words - but mostly because it's been an absolute journey of learning for me as we've written it. I'm pleased to say that the finished manuscript finally went to the publishers this week! In case you're interested, here's a little bit of background into the book... Mal Lee is an ex school principal and he provided a lot of the insights around the management, funding and leadership aspects of implementing IWBs effec...

I don't normally make requests like this but if you are reading this and you teach using any sort of Interactive Whiteboard , I have a small favour to ask... I am currently in the middle of writing a book about the use of IWBs in schools. I'm actually co-authoring it with Mal Lee, an ex-principal and one of the most knowledgeable guys around when it comes to interactive whiteboard research. Mal and I are trying to finish the book over the next few weeks (we have an actual book contract with the Australian Council for Educational Research... with a real deadline and everything!) It aims to be an overview guide looking at the appropriate pedagogy and logistical considerations to think about when you become an IWB user. We are trying to keep the book as brand-agnostic as possible, even though we are aware that the majority of readers will be on either a SmartBoard or an Activboard. The real focus is on pedagogy, logistics and other practical classroom considerations. Here...