Using Whiteboard Paint to Support Interactive Learning

Walls coated with whiteboard paint provide limitless ways to practice interactive learning in the classroom. During interactive learning sessions, students are taught by sensing and doing. Teachers design their instruction so that learners’ interactions with one another and with the environment enhance their academic skills, retention, and understanding. 

Educational theorists have long realized that students gain knowledge best by actively engaging in their own learning instead of by passively receiving information. A skillfully designed interactive classroom can be an ideal setting for giving students this academic experience.

The following blog post will delve into creative ways to use whiteboard painted surfaces in interactive learning classes. Doing so will boost your students’ engagement in lessons, understanding of lesson content, and ability to remember what they learn.

I. Whiteboard Walls for Sharing Ideas with Classmates and Teachers

Due to their practical value as teaching tools, many schools use whiteboards to practice interactive learning. Also, some have embraced these traditional teaching devices because they evoke a feeling of familiarity and create a link to the past. Handwriting practice is another benefit of using whiteboards in interactive learning. Students often enjoy using a dry erase marker on a whiteboard to participate in interactive classroom activities like idea sharing through writing and drawing. 

However, all these benefits are boosted when you use whiteboard painted walls instead of conventional whiteboards in your teaching. That is because walls coated with whiteboard paint offer convenience and accessibility that whiteboards don’t. For instance, due to the small size of traditional framed whiteboards, students might struggle to read what’s written on the surface.

You can quickly solve this problem by using whiteboard painted walls to increase the size of your available writing area. You can also apply whiteboard paint to other flat surfaces in the classroom such as students’ desks, storage cabinets, doors, and work tables. Moreover, having learners use multi-colored low-odor dry erase markers when sharing ideas will make text and drawings more discernible.

II. Playing Interactive Educational Games on a Whiteboard Wall

“Gamifying” or incorporating game-playing elements into the curriculum can make learning more pleasurable and inspiring for students. Gamification procedures may include creating point systems, posting leaderboards, and giving rewards to winners. You can thus use educational games, either physical or digital, to help support students’ learning in enjoyable, engaging ways. 

During interactive learning sessions, walls coated with whiteboard paint are ideal tools for classroom games. They’re perfect for use in student competitions like the following:

• Fill-in-the-Blanks: Present your class with a set of incomplete sentences on a whiteboard painted wall. Then, have students come up to the front of the class and fill in the gaps based on what they’ve learned in the current lesson or earlier lessons. This game will test students’ skills in verbal expression and stimulate their short- and long-term memories. It will also help them absorb and retain course-related facts and ideas for long periods.
• True or False: Write a series of statements on the whiteboard painted wall related to the material being covered in the current lesson. Afterward, ask students to write down the word “True” or “False” on individual boards coated with whiteboard paint and then hold up their boards. This is an enjoyable and physically engaging way to provide instant class feedback and stimulate group discussion.
• Trivia Competition: Holding a trivia competition is a fun way to turn any class quiz or review session into an interactive learning game. Take any subject you’re currently studying and use it to hold a 10-20-question trivia competition. This strategy will make students’ eyes light up as they rush to be the first to answer the questions correctly. Use your whiteboard painted wall to write down each contestant’s points based on their speed and accuracy. Then, at the end of each question, discuss the leaderboard with the class to track each student’s progress and encourage them to improve. At the end of the competition, you can explode some confetti or offer a prize to applaud and congratulate the top scorer. 

III. Think-Pair-Share using Whiteboard Painted Walls

Think-Pair-Share is a simple, effective, interactive learning activity that encourages students to use their critical thinking skills and express their original ideas. The process involves the following steps:

• Think: Students independently consider a question or issue that you’ve written on your whiteboard painted wall.
• Pair: Students split into pairs to discuss their ideas about the question or issue while using designated spaces on the whiteboard wall to write notes, draw diagrams, etc. This will help them clarify their thinking and arrive at conclusions or solutions.
• Share: The pairs share their discussions and conclusions with the whole class. During this part of the activity, learners can use the whiteboard wall to write down their ideas as they speak. Doing so can make the ideas clearer to other class members and enhance the group’s discussion and understanding.

The think-pair-share activity encourages participation, reinforces interactive learning through dialogue, and allows students to be taught by their peers. When combined with whiteboard painted walls, the pursuit becomes more exciting and engaging for the whole class.

IV. Taking Part in Whiteboard Wall Debates

Host student debates in your classroom using the vast surface of top-quality whiteboard painted walls. Debates require students to get up from their seats, move around the room, and express what they do or do not agree with in response to debate topics. Debate participation helps to develop students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Debates also promote creativity and help students build connections between words and ideas to make concepts more meaningful. Through debating, students learn how to synthesize large amounts of complex data, exercise their imaginations, and employ diverse ways of knowing.

Besides enhancing a learner’s listening, speaking, comprehension, and note-taking skills, debates also develop an inquisitive, logical mind.  This quality is crucial to doing research and pursuing learning, not only about debate topics but also about subjects encountered in real life.

Many interactive questions to use in your classroom debates are available online. One example is “Imperialism: should it be promoted or discouraged?” This issue is appropriate for debate in classes like US History, social studies, and global history. Such topics get students to think more deeply about themselves, about one another, about their country, and about the world. Debate is a great way to spend 20 minutes or more of class time as it teaches students to listen, to show respect for one another, and to realize that other people have points of view that differ from their own.

The four-corners method is one effective way to divide a class before a debate. To use this approach, write an issue on your whiteboard wall and assign a different view relative to that issue to each corner of the classroom. Then, ask students to stand in the corner that most closely reflects their position on the subject.

After students choose their corners, give them time to create a discussion platform supporting their position. They can do so on designated sections of the whiteboard painted wall. The debate starts once the students are ready, and each team presents its opening argument. Then, in turn, each team presents evidence and rebuttals and, finally, gives their closing arguments.

Student debate has the potential to intensely engage your students in their learning and encourage them to think deeply. Debate is more than just arguing back and forth on an issue. It has a formal structure and rules that are designed to keep both sides calm and focused.

In choosing debate topics, it’s best to avoid generic, clichéd, or over-debated subjects that provoke racial or ideological bias, such as marriage, marijuana use, and discrimination. Also, use debate topics that relate to specific content that has been covered in class. When done with a bit of planning, classroom debates engage even those students who typically do not participate in class.

Summary

Article Name

Using Whiteboard Paint to Support Interactive Learning

Description

Enhance interactive learning with whiteboard paint! Transform walls into creative spaces for concept mapping, problem-solving, and more.

Author

Susan Anspach

Publisher Name

ReMARKable Whiteboard Paint

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