Abstract: With the rapid development of information technology, the new generation of teaching media--interactive electronic whiteboard has entered the classroom teaching. This study aims to investigate the current situation of its application in small English classes. The participants are the Grade 9 students and English teachers in Nanjing 54th middle school. Through questionnaire and the interview, it is found that students have a positive perception of IWB in general. They have high self-efficacy in the digital classroom with IWB. They feel IWB makes English classes more interesting and more interactive. And there is a significant difference between boys and girls in evaluation of teachers’ using IWB in teaching. Besides, young teachers favor IWB in small English classes, because it can provide opportunities for interaction. However, problems such as lack of training teachers to use IWB make it difficult for some elder teachers to use IWB in class.

Key words: interactive whiteboard; small English classes; English teaching

CONTENTS

摘要

Abstract

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-1

2.1 Introduction of IWB-2

2.1.1 Definition of IWB-2

2.1.2 The component and principle of IWB-3

2.2 Theory:-4

2.2.1 Constructivism-4

2.2.2 Symbolic interaction theory-4

2.2.3 Affordance-5

2.3. Small class teaching-8

2.3.1 Brief introduction of small class teaching-8

2.3.2 Small class English teaching and advantages-8

2.4 IWB combined with small English classes-10

2.5 Research on IWB-11

3. Research methods-12

3.1. Research questions-12

3.2. Research participants-13

3.3. Research tools-13

3.4. Data collection-13

3.5. Data analysis-14

4. Results and discussion-14

5 Conclusion-18

Bibliography-20

Appendix-21

Acknowledgements-24