Interactive Whiteboard: Future of Classroom Learning Are Interactive Whiteboards really helpful in Classroom Education, Corporate Sys tems

and Broadcasting Studios? A lot more questions are puzzling our minds. So, let just try to find it out . An interactive display which connects a computer to the projector is widely know n as an interactive whiteboard (IWB). An interactive whiteboard is a combination of computer and projector where projector projects the desktop over the board s sur face where operator controls it by the help of pen, finger, or other device. Thi s is just a kind of board which is required to be mounted over a wall or floor s tand. It is widely used in classrooms for running software which is to be loaded onto the connected PC such as web browsers or proprietary software, capturing n otes written on a graphic tablet connected to the whiteboard, OCR software to tr anslate cursive writing on a graphics tablet into text, audience response system so that presenters can poll, conduct quizzes, capturing feedback onto the white board. According to market research by Future source Consultancy it was confirmed that interactive whiteboard industry was expected to reach sales of US$ 1 Billion wor ldwide by 2008 and by 2011; one of every seven classroom in world will feature i nteractive whiteboard. This device is basically connected to a computer via USB or port cable or Blueto oth or even via 2.4 GHz wireless. Interactive whiteboard act as a Human Input De vice (HID), like a mouse when it is to be attached to the computer. The video o utput is needed to be connected to a digital projector so that images can appear over the whiteboard surface. Now the user can calibrates the whiteboard image v ia pointer and this is the device which is to be required for the activation of programs, buttons and menus from the whiteboard itself. All over the Globe there are four common types of operations which used by the u sers. These are the operations which develops interaction between the user and t he content projected on the whiteboard. These are an infrared scan technology, a n electromagnetic pen, a resistive touch-based board, a portable ultrasonic pen, and wiimote. Today, interactive whiteboards are replacing the traditional whiteboards or flip charts or even media systems. The software supplied with the interactive whitebo ard will usually allow the teacher to keep notes and annotations as an electroni c file for later distribution either on paper or through a number of electronic formats. Many companies and projects now focus on creating supplemental instruct ional materials specifically designed for interactive whiteboards. Electro kite out of Boston, MA, for example, will have the first complete curriculum for scho ols and districts. But, According to Larry Cuban, education professor emeritus at Stanford Universi ty, "There is hardly any research that will show clearly that any interactive wh iteboards will improve academic achievement. Today also interactive whiteboards are still a question mark. Undoubtedly, they are helpful but not everywhere and needs to be discussed some more.