Effect of Interactive Whiteboard Technology on achievement in English in Relation to Linguistic Aptitude

The present study investigates the effect of interactive whiteboard technology on achievement in English in relation to linguistic aptitude. The sample of 400 students was drawn from X th class taken from four different schools of Ambala District in Haryana affiliated to CBSE, New Delhi. Interactive whiteboard technology instructional material was prepared and implemented to the experimental group after pretesting and gain scores were computed after post-test for all the students. The linguistic aptitude scale was also administered. The data obtained were analyzed statistically with the help of mean, standard deviation and analysis of variance. An analysis of variance (2×2) was used to arrive at the following conclusions: (i) The achievement of group taught through interactive whiteboard technology was found significantly higher than that of conventional method of teaching, (ii) The achievement of high linguistic aptitude group was found better than that of low linguistic aptitude group. (iii) There was significant interaction effect was found between instructional strategies and linguistic aptitude group on achievement in English. * Senior Assistant Professor, Department of Education, USOL, Panjab University, Chandigarh. ** Lecturer in English, Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 4 Ambala Cantt. (Haryana) ISSN: 2249-2496 Impact Factor: 7.081 125 International Journal of Research in Social Sciences http://www.ijmra. us, Email: editorijmie@gmail.com Introduction Nowadays, just chalk and board are not enough to attract attention of the students who are intensely exposed to external stimulus like television and computer. In the presence of a changing society, the only way to provide more effective education is redesigning teaching and learning processes systematically and using human and technological resources mutually by integrating learning and communication (Reiser, 1987). Thus, well educated individuals as the products of applied modern education system have the ability to represent societies in which they live in an international arena (Ozsoy, 2003). The influence of sense organs on learning is indisputably tremendous. The learning is more effective and permanent, when the teaching is more appealing to the sense organs. Several theories of learning assert that technological tools have an influence, which words cannot achieve alone, on directing individuals, focusing their attention, and their capability to analyze and synthesize. Interactive whiteboard creates multiple learning environments (Erduran & Tataroglu, 2009). Thus, interactive whiteboard technology is appropriate for entire class teaching (Bennett & Lockyer,2008; Glover, Miller & Averis, 2001). An interactive whiteboard is an interactive display system that is commonly used in educational settings. The interactive whiteboard forms a link between a teaching surface and a digital projector and computer. The ‘teaching surface’ is most frequently a large wall mounted panel that allows the user to operate the computer via interacting with the projected image. This type of tool promotes creative teaching and motivates students into absorbing information. Teaching with an interactive whiteboard allows lecturers to accommodate all different learning styles: Tactile learners get to touch and move things around the board. They can also make notes and highlight elements, Visual learners benefit from a clear view of what is happening on the board, Audio learners can participate in a class discussion. Interactive whiteboards promote group discussion and participation. They are an effective tool for brainstorming as notes made on the screen can be turned into text, and saved to be shared and distributed later. They are an ideal tool for small group work and collaborative learning, as students can huddle around the board developing ideas, and then save the work for sharing over a network or by email (Wikipedia, 2015). Interactive whiteboards are an effective way to interact with digital content and multimedia in a multi-person learning environment. Learning activities with an interactive whiteboard may ISSN: 2249-2496 Impact Factor: 7.081 126 International Journal of Research in Social Sciences http://www.ijmra. us, Email: editorijmie@gmail.com include : Manipulating text and images , making notes in digital ink , saving notes for later review by using e-mail, the web or print , viewing websites as a group , demonstrating or using software at the front of a room without being tied to a computer, creating digital lesson activities with templates, images and multimedia ,writing notes over educational video clips, using presentation tools that are included with the whiteboard software to enhance learning materials and showcasing student presentations (Wikipedia, 2015). Interactive white board can also be used in increasing students’ information communication skills, thinking skills, software utilization skills, and general learning skills such as note-taking and note preparation. Interactive white board technology increases students’ interest in searching information on internet and processing information (Hodge & Anderson, 2007). It allows for using games that can support learning process and makes lessons more entertaining (Wall, Higgins & Smith, 2005; Erduran & Tataroglu, 2010). It makes it possible to use and combine a wide variety of multimedia resources such as articles, pictures, videos, websites, and sounds (Levy 2002). It allows for a student-centered approach and provides an opportunity for participants’ interaction (Geer & Barnes, 2007 ). Interactive white board utilization reduces teachers’ class preparation time since it enables saving lessons and using them again (Bennett & Lockyer, 2008). It reduces the need to use the board and increase the pace of teaching through facilitating the usage of available material (Wood & Ashfield, 2008; Ball, 2003; Glover, Miller & Averis, 2003; Bennett & Lockyer, 2008; Schmid, 2008). Teachers look for new ways and methods of teaching that they have already taught and thus their creativity has enhanced (Hodge & Anderson, 2007; Bennett & Lockyer, 2008). Moreover, it reduces the instructors’ workload by giving an opportunity to save, to share and to reuse course materials (Wood & Ashfield, 2008; Glover, Miller & Averis, 2003). It also provides an opportunity for instructors to make effective presentations by combining multimedia resources with the course content (Geer & Barnes, 2007). On the other hand, dark classrooms can create negative influence on students during interactive whiteboard utilization (Erduran & Tataroglu, 2010). It can cause technological problems like other technological tools and latency time for calibration (Wall, Higgins & Smith, 2005; Erduran & Tataroglu, 2010). Furthermore, instructors teaching more rapidly can cause information overload on students. Since the entire ISSN: 2249-2496 Impact Factor: 7.081 127 International Journal of Research in Social Sciences http://www.ijmra. us, Email: editorijmie@gmail.com necessary course materials are given students without difficulty, this can encourage students to be lazy (Schmid, 2008). Sivin-Kachala, Bialo and Rosso (2000) analysed 219 recent research studies to assess the effect of computer technology on learning and achievement across all learning domains and all ages. In addition to positive effects on achievement in major subject areas, they found effective use of technology fostered the development of more positive student attitudes toward themselves and toward learning. Qiu (2003) conducted a study integrating computerbased multimedia instructional design into teaching phonetic symbols. The study stated some theories and a tutorial computer program to support integrating computer based multimedia into teaching international English phonetic symbols (IEPS). The evaluation studies showed that participants do have positive attitudes towards this program and computer animation in it. Senteni (2004) found out that computer based instruction enabled the students to increase their motivation and achievements and to develop positive attitudes. Armstrong, Barnes, Sutherland, Curran and Simon (2005) reported that integrating interactive whiteboard technology into classes is a more complicated process than building interactive whiteboards and loading the software. Teachers should be educated on using interactive whiteboards and on-the-job training should be provided as well. Mechling, Gast and Krupa (2007) have analysed the effect of interactive whiteboard technology on teaching reading to students with mental disabilities Although none of the students could match the objects and photos with the target words before interactive whiteboard technology, after the application of the technology students have become 85.2% successful in matching objects with the words, 88.9% successful in matching words with the objects. Hodge and Anderson (2007) examined the effect of integration of interactive whiteboard technology to primary schools and they concluded that what is important is how the technology is used not presence of the technology. Successful utilization of the interactive whiteboard technology in class depends on the ability to use it. Aptitude refers to a natural or acquired disposition or capacity for a particular purpose or tendency to a particular action or effect; as, oil has an aptitude to burn. Language learning aptitude refers to the prediction of how well, relative to other individuals; an individual can learn a foreign language in a given amount of time and under given conditions. As with many ISSN: 2249-2496 Impact Factor: 7.081 128 International Journal of Research in Social Sciences http://www.ijmra. us, Email: editorijmie@gmail.com measures of aptitude, language learning aptitude is thought to be relatively stable throughout an individual’s lifetime. Language aptitude is relatively fixed over long periods of an individual’s life span, and relatively hard to m