If you're a user of an interactive whiteboard in your lessons or training workshops, you may find it hard to believe that the technology has its critics - but more and more of these critics are being forced to eat their words as the popularity of the interactive whiteboard continues to soar.

With success that is spreading like wildfire across the United Kingdom and the USA, the interactive whiteboard is fast becoming a staple in classrooms up and down the country - but what is it that got the critics so het up in the first place?

According to some, the addition of technology induces laziness and less of an inclination to put the effort into lessons. This accusation goes for teachers as well as students. After all, if a teacher can simply pull their lesson plan from one of the free resources online, they don't need to put their own work into creating well-thought out lessons as it's done for them. As for students, all they have to do is watch the projection created by the whiteboard and, before they know it, the lesson is over.

Obviously, these accusations are wrong. The addition of the massively useful resource that is the internet allows teachers to fully reach the potential of each and every lesson they give and, no matter what the critics say, if a teacher has always put effort into their class it's unlikely they'll stop when a whole new world of possibilities comes into their hands.

Similarly, students are more likely to engage with the material as interactive whiteboard technology allows them to do just that - interact. Teachers can plan lessons in such a way that pupils must input their own knowledge and estimations at key points, meaning students are always kept on their toes and concentrate more on what they are learning in order not to be caught out.

Another claim by critics is that interactive whiteboards have made teachers take a step backwards rather than forwards, stating that the way teachers will use the technology is as more of a glorified blackboard than anything else. While a legitimate concern, the only teachers likely to do this are those who were already doing it with their real blackboards.

Plenty of other teachers see the opportunities afforded by their interactive whiteboard and make full use of its online capabilities, showing the critics just how the technology can make their lessons not only engaging for pupils, but actually fun.

As the interactive whiteboard becomes more popular, critics are rapidly taking back the remarks they have made as the truth about the technology becomes more apparent. Interactive whiteboards encourage lesson diversity and innovation rather than induce laziness, and the benefits of this are being seen in classrooms up and down the country.

Adam Singleton writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.