There are a number of different interactive whiteboards on the market, all of which are connected to a computer with the information being displayed on it via a projector. Educational technology is growing in popularity in the classroom and interactive whiteboards are part of that growing classroom technology.

Front or Rear Projection
Interactive whiteboards can use either front or rear projection. Those that use rear projection need the projector at the back, while those that use front projection need the projector at the front. Let's look at the different types of interactive whiteboards.

Thermal Whiteboards
The thermal whiteboard uses black and white only. This interactive whiteboard have a printer where you can print text or images on thermal paper. These boards are extremely easy to use but the lack of colour is a disadvantage.

Colour Whiteboards
Other interactive whiteboards offer colour so coloured images can be captured and stored along with text for distribution later. This type of board ensures a colourful and interesting lesson in the classroom.

Portable Whiteboards
There are also portable interactive whiteboards that are easily transported from one room to another, one building to another, or in any other situation where you may need to transport a whiteboard to a different location. If you have a regular whiteboard that uses the Ebeam receiver, you can make it interactive using the computer's USB port. It's an easy and cheap way to make a transportable interactive whiteboard.

Resistive Whiteboards
The balance of the interactive whiteboards is resistive whiteboards. These use two sheets of flexible material, which is resistive. There is a thin air gap that separates the material. Then when a person touches the board, the material becomes pressed together. This board is able to recognize touch by pen, stylus, and finger.

Electromagnetic Whiteboards
There are also electromagnetic whiteboards on the market, which work using electromagnetic sensors and a stylus that then sends the information to the computer.

Optical and Infrared Whiteboards
Infrared interactive whiteboards work by using a finger or a marker that is pressed against the board. The software then is able to sense the marker. The optical infrared whiteboard uses a series of dots on the surface. It uses a digital pen, which has an infrared camera in it, and it then reads the dot patterns to establish their location. The software is actually able to accurately read handwriting, which is then sent to the computer.

Ultrasonic Whiteboard
The ultrasonic interaction whiteboard uses an ultrasonic wave transmitter found on two of the corners and then there is a receiver in two corners. When the board is touched, it will suppress the wave and that information is registered with the receivers.

These are the most common interactive whiteboards on the market today playing an important role in educational technology http://www.prometheanworld.com