I would like to thank everyone who responded to my request for advice about Smart
Boards. I tried to respond to each one, but this WONDERFUL group has given me so
much good information, I cannot keep up with the traffic. Here is a HIT of the
responses that I have recieved:
I gave informal training to teachers at my school
(when I worked at a school last year). I found the
boards to be extremely easy to use (the board itself
and the software that came with it - the software was
similar to Microsoft software - features etc.)
Good luck!
I am so a believer in the power of the board. Take a look at smarttech.com for all
the cool teacher lesson plans, etc. because it will blow you away. I took a class
on how to use it and used book fair profit to buy one board which we bought on the
portable stand on wheels. I have the 60 inch board. The huge advantage is the
touchscreen. It's a way to not have to stand behind all your children when you
teach internet skills...or you can even send children to the board to manipulate
lessons, maps, your own catalog, whatever you use it for...in this way what was
presentation where you see the backs of heads becomes a valid teaching tool and way
to affirm the students are learning because you can actually see their faces. The
other things you can do with the board are amazing. I've converted nearly all my
lesson plans to this electronic format and can't imagine going without it.
I found training to be worth it...just for tips and tricks, etc. and with so much
offered from Smart directly, I think it would be worth getting at least 1 person in
your building trained properly because then you can do inservices that this person
could lead and teach. That would solve the problem about having the usage go out
the door if someone leaves who was trained.
With my board being on wheels I can take it anywhere in the school. My library is
in the round so to speak...there aren't a lot of wall spaces because the room is a
half circle shape. So I can and have pushed the board to other locations with
little problem. I bought some velcro ties for the cords and cables and don't have
a projector mounted so it's portable too.
So, in my mind, the boards are much more than a way to use the internet. You can
draw on it and design so much more...manipulatives and presentations become
interactive and the children LOVE it. They want to touch it and experience the
learning in this new fun way.
I'm planning to do teacher inservices in the spring to get teachers trained...we're
going to try to get another board. I'm totally sold and can't imagine going back.
know a lot of teachers with Interactive WhiteBoards (IWB)
The following two webpages have lots of links that would be relevant to your
question ....
http://www.shambles.net/pages/staff/intwhiteb/
http://www.shambles.net/pages/staff/IWBcontent/
It seems like the two BIG guys in the IWB race is "SMART Board" (USA
company) and "Promethean" (UK company) ... both sold worldwide.
One of the very important criteria to consider is the software that comes
with them .... both companies have spent lot-a-money developing educational
software.
The main difference in the hardware technology of these two is:
SMART ... can just use your finger on the surface
Promethean ... need a special pointer ... but these boards can be physically
larger and less likely to damage.
Most teachers I've worked with would not like to have their IWB taken away
once they have gotten used to it .... but there are also a few who feel that
they are not worth the expense.
For schools who are not sure then I usually recommend buying one set and
have an enthusiastic volunteer teacher trial one for a year and then report
back to staff ... so that an informed decision can be made about buying more
or not.
They are a great piece of kit ... but expensive as you point out ;-(
Hope this helps
I have used Smart Boards and have had no training. They are
not thta difficult to figure out. As to if you should get
one... you have to decide why you may want one. I
personally prefer my big screen with a cordless gyromouse so
I can walk around the room while teaching instead of being
tied to a Smart Board at the front of the room or computer
at the back. Smart technologies also makes a wireless
tablet which will let you walk around the room and do the
things a smart board does (and is much cheaper)
I was in exactly this situation last winter. I wanted the features of a
SmartBoard, but without the price, size, and complexity. The solution, for me,
was an InterWrite Schoolpad ($450) or a Mobilepresenter BT ($400). These portable
pads hook up to your computer and allow you to do everything that a smartboard
does, but without turning your back to the class. I love it because I can walk
around my entire library and still direct a lesson up on the LCD projector. It's
VERY easy to use, but writing on it takes a little hand-eye coordination (when
writing, people tend to try to look down at the pad, instead of the projection
screen). Good luck..... :-)
I love my Smartboard. I was trained by another teacher at our school that had one
before me. They aren't hard to use at all. We have around 8 or 9 at our school
already. I have all of my Scott Foresman Reading activities that I use with the
story saved on the Smartboard. I have several "word development" activities saved
on it. I use it to show different science tools and some things for Math. It's a
wonderful tool! I also use it as my overhead screen whenever I'm using the
overhead.
Kristi Edwards
It is very easy to figure out and train someone to do. We love ours. One
teacher uses one in his classroom. We now have one in the IC and we use it
for Library skill training and to show books like Living books. Kids love
it. You will need an infocus machine to work with it.
If you're at a conference that they're represented at, they'll give you the
basic training and the rest you can figure out on your own- it's not that
complicated and once a few people are proficient, you can train the rest of
your staff. Also, official training may be costly, but get the reseller who
you're buying it from to do an introductory training at a staff meeting-
make it a condition of your purchase- trust me, they'll do it. It's a great
tool and worth the cost.
FYI - Major training is expensive. However the company does offer free sessions in
DC & on line
We have them in every classroom k-12, they have changed the way people
teach. We did a lot of teacher education on how to use them and curriculum
development.
We have them in all our classrooms here at SCS. However, I don’t have one in the
library – two reasons – They take up too much space, and I rarely use it to full
capability or demonstrate something on it, a white screen is much better.
I was very impressed by the take up rate at my school among teachers. But really,
they’re not that hard to use. It just looks a little scary. We did do lots of PD,
and I worked particularly with our Junior School Teachers to make sure that they
were comfortable using it. Lots of ‘play time’ is the key.
We did have a mobile one as a trial, so everyone could get to use it; this worked
well.
We bought a smart board as part of a grant. No training came with it. A teacher
and I played with it. I fail to see how it is any better than a multimedia
projector (LCD) and regular screen.
It is shinny to project on.
Set-up time can delay usage.
It is bulky to move.
When I use it with the Internet, I have to turn my back to the students more than I
would like (7th and 8th grade)
We have yet to use it to print out what we wrote. (don't think to use it that way
until it is too late)
I know I am missing some great thing, but just don't know what. Right now it is a
glorified white board. I would rather have had the laptop or projector we could
have purchased instead. I hope you get some positive comments.
SMART boards are easy to use. In our district, we "trained" ourselves.
Granted, we do not use some of the functions often (like recording), but
it is pretty self-explanatory. We started out with one at the MS/HS,
but it wasn't enough. There now are 4 that citculate among the middle
school teams, and the middle school computer lab has one. In the high
school, the lab has one, the library has one (which we loan out as
needed), and one teacher has one because she uses it almost every day.
Each elementary building also has at least one.
It isn't extremely easy to move around, but it isn't difficult either
(if you get it on the stand with wheels). As a librarian, I use it to
demo/teach the online catalog, databases, how to access the library web
site, etc. Teachers use it in a variety of ways including Power Point
presentations, diagramming sentences, having the students give
presentations, etc. Although some of the things could be done with a
projector, using the SMART board allows for more interactivity.
Students are able to write on the board and use at as part of the lesson
just like you would a chalk board or regular white board.
Yes but like all technology, it is important that there is a need. At my old
school, we had two smartboards and the teacher's would fight over who could use it.
The teacher's loved using the internet sites and being able to "write" on the
board and touch to go from one screen to the other without having to use their
computer. I also had a science teacher that was using the smartboard for test and
powerpoint review's that he had made at home. At this school, we have a smartboard
that basically is never used except as a screen. The teacher's do not do
powerpoint displays or integrated websites into their lesson's. They prefer the
old fashioned way of teaching and/or having every student in their class check out
a laptop and access the files that way.
Alisa Humphrey
Media Specialist
Ridgeview Junior High School
Pickerington, Ohio
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