According to the research not so many schools in Russia are equipped with IWB. The session began with voting using special devices. 12% of the audience have never used an IWB.
Natalya addressed to the audience with the question: ‘What are we going to discuss?’ The participants of that session pointed out the following issues:

• Advantages and disadvantages
• Pitfalls
• Learning resources
• Classroom management

After that the audience began to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using IWB in ELT. The following aspects were figured out:

• we can illustrate the material,
• we can write,
• we can use a great variety of resources,
• the teacher doesn’t have to sit at the computer.

The participants were asked to make up a definition using given expressions on the IWB. They coped with it quite quickly. So here is the definition: ‘An interactive whiteboard is a piece of hardware that looks much like standard whiteboard but it connects to a computer and projector to make a very powerful tool’. 
Our facilitators chose the most interesting kinds of activities to demonstrate all the potential of an IWB. Natalya and Rena involved the audience into the group discussions. The participants shared their own experience of using an IWB. As it turned out people had a lot to say. There was a very interesting debate between 2 groups.

Advantages:

• It’s easy to use
• It saves time
• There’s visual support
• It helps to motivate
• It develops creativity
• It suits different learning styles
• It’s great for CLIL 

Disadvantages:

• It’s distracting
• It’s expensive
• It’s time consuming
• It’s unreliable
• It’s not for everyone (because some people are digital immigrants)

According to our participants IWBs give students access to

• fun
• motivation
• new technology
• cool teacher
• feeling important
• great variety of resources

At the end of the session the participants were rearranged into two new groups and they were asked to match the cards. Then the facilitators gave some tips connected with using flipcharts.
Then Natalya and Rena put up a question concerning ‘interactivity’. The participants voiced their criteria of interactivity. The participants had a chance to try to use an IWB. They were offered a set of different exercises and had to differentiate which task was interactive and which not because the main concern is how to use IWBs to their potential.
The participants wrote their own tips for teachers who would like to use an IWB. They are:

• adapt exercise to use functionally IWBs
• encourage teachers to install the SW at home so they can plan and gain confidence with the SW in the safe environment
• avoid overpreparing
• have a plan B for when something goes wrong
• focus on the pedagogic goals of the lesson
• think about Sts participation and involvement
• reserve time for group activities – the IWB shouldn’t be the only focus in your lesson
• consider resources to help you reach your lesson aims
• make activities appropriate to the age group
• make sure you are comfortable with the IWB before you head into class

Promethean Planet is

• An online community for teachers
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• A platform of inspiration
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I couldn’t help mentioning that the session was very interactive. The participants were involved in all the activities and contributed a lot to the session. Taking into account that our students are digital natives we can't hesitate whether to use an IWB or not. The answer is clear.

I’d like to thank the deputy director of Promethean-M (www.tds-prometey.ru) Olga Shuvalova for her assistance. The presentation ran successfully due to her competent help.

If you interested in the results of using an IWB in classroom, you can read an article ‘Final Report on Active Classroom’ written by Dr. Marzano. Here is the web link:
http://www.prometheanworld.com/server.php?show=nav.19203