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 Smart Boards in all Classrooms

Introduction:

What do you remember about the first day of school? Do you remember the sights, the smells, the tastes, the feel, or the sounds? How about the sound of chalk on a chalk board or the smell of EXPO markers on a white board? Most of us do, however, these are two smells and sounds that are becoming a thing of the past. Many classrooms these days are upgrading to what is called a Smart Board. “A Smart Board is an electronic, interactive whiteboard that allows users to view computer applications and control them using an inkless pen or by tapping a finger on the screen.” (Holloway, ‘01) This technology helps students to become very involved without the risk of being allergic to chalk dust. Throughout this chapter you will become familiar with the history, the advantages and disadvantages, the issues, the future direction, and how you can get the most out of the Smart Board in your classroom.

History:

The journey of the creation of the Smart Board started in the minds of Martin and Nancy Knowlton. They are the creators of Smart Technologies Inc., based in Calgary. Their dream is to get teachers and business people to be able to put down their chalk and markers and use a Smart Board for presenting. Smart was started in 1987 as the Canadian distributor for LCD projectors. They used all of the money that they earned to start their own research and development of, what are now known as, Smart Boards. In 1991, the Smart Board hit the market and hooked the interest of Intel Corp. and they agreed to a deal to develop data conferencing technology. The first Smart Board, connected to an LCD panel and a computer running integrated programs. It was designed to function as a large display screen. Since the beginning, Smart Boards have come long way. In the 1990’s Smart released the rear-projection Smart Board, information management software, the Smart notebook 2.0, and the Smart Board for plasma displays. In the past 10 years there has been much development, such as, the wireless slate, a tablet PC that lets users manipulate and select on-screen objects, create and save notes and launch applications; the Senteo interactive response system, which allows teachers to track student performance and organize assessment results in its built-in grade book; the SMART document camera, collaborative learning software, and the next-generation SMART Board 600i interactive whiteboard system. Smart’s Smart Board is based on touch sensitive technology. Teachers can use their computers to set up lessons on the board. They use special inkless pens to write on the board. Their writings are then translated into something that a computer can read, before being erased. The computer saves most or all of these writings. This is a great resource for students when they are absent, because you could email them everything that they missed as you are teaching. They could be caught up and ready to go the next day. It has been a very long journey for Martin and Nancy Knowlton. However, their dreams of putting down the chalk and markers are becoming a reality. Smart Boards are making their way into our classrooms and into our hearts, as we are learning to love this new technology.

Advantages:

There are many advantages to having a Smart Board in any school classroom from Kindergarden to High School and even Special Education. Any teacher with a Smart Board has the ability to create their own Smart Board activities along with the vast number of websites that are already online and ready to access. Many online websites have interactive Smart Board activities for students. The Smart Board is hands on and great for students who need that extra sensory stimulation. Smart Boards also make it very easy for math classes of all ages. There are many math games that can be used on the smart board for Elementary grades and Special Education. In High School, the Smart Boards can be used for students to show their work to classmates and not have the difficulties of using an overhead. media type="youtube" key="0U05WeXPGlk" height="234" width="384" align="right" Having a Smart Board can also be very helpful for the teacher. Once students are able to use the Smart Board independently, it frees up the teacher to work with other students in the class who may need extra help. The teacher is able to have a majority of students working with the Smart Board, while pulling other students aside to work individually. Smart Boards can also make it easier for a substitute. If the teacher is going to be out, they can find an activity or set up an activity to use on the Smart Board for the day. Another way Smart Boards are an advantage in the classroom is that they allow for access to anything on the computer and make it more interactive. The markers allow you to write on anything pulled up on the computer. The makers are interactive and not like whiteboard markers that eventually dry out and become hard to see from the back of the classroom. There are no overhead transparency’s that need to be made or cleaned off between classes. The Smart Board allows for the teacher to either save anything or simply reopen a document for the next class. Smart Boards also do not have eraser marks like whiteboards can sometimes have. When whiteboards do not erase well, it becomes harder for students to clearly see the board. Smart Boards are written on and erased electronically. Smart Boards are great for Special Education Classrooms because they allow for multiple students to interact together on a computer and practice taking turns. The Smart Board allows pictures to be larger and easier for students with limited vision to see better. It helps to engage more students in a group activity in any classroom.

 Disadvantages:

Overall there are very few disadvantages to having a Smart Board in a classroom. If a teacher has a Smart Board, but is not familiar with the technology, it ends up wasting more class time. Teachers need to be well trained in the technology of the Smart Board if they plan to use it constructively in their classroom. Another disadvantage to having a Smart Board in a classroom is when they are used in Special Education Classrooms and not all students are able to reach the screen. When you have students who are in wheelchairs, it can be difficult for them to reach the Smart Board and interact with it the same as the other students in the classroom. Some students have limited mobility of their arms and if they are in a wheelchair, even if you can get them close enough to the Smart Board, they cannot always reach all the buttons due to their limited mobility.

Issues:

Some issues have arisen concerning the use of Smart Boards, and since it is a relatively new tool used in the classroom, there are still major and minor problems. The biggest issue with Smart Boards is they are still a very expensive product. Most schools are having budget issues and each Smart Board costs about $3,000-5,000 (Smarttech). This is a large expense that has schools questioning whether or not this tool will be worth the money and make learning a more efficient process for students. Also the average lifespan of a Smart Board is 7 years, making the decision process of whether to buy one or not is really worth it. Many teachers would love to have a Smart Board in their classroom, and many of them have to share time with only one Smart Board because of the cost issue. Another issue with Smart Boards is there are still many minor problems with the Smart Board technology. Since it is still a newer product, there are cases of malfunctions when using the product, or even not being able to use a part of the program altogether. Issues like writing delays, early loss of sensitivity are two main problems that are occurring in a short amount of time. Soon these problems will be fixed but since it is still in the early stages of use, minor setbacks are inevitable. The ongoing issue will be to make Smart Boards compatible with all programs, both with Mac and PC’s. There are always updates needed which keeps the systems compatible, but if teachers don’t keep up, this technology will be a bigger hassle than it’s worth.

Future Direction:

Although there are still a few issues with Smart Boards, they are a work in progress and new features are continuously being added to make them more efficient, easy to use, and interactive. This product’s future direction is growing steadily since students are familiar with working with computers and also enjoy it. Many students do not relate to chalkboards and lectures as much as an interactive tool that makes learning fun. Once there is more available funding through grants to purchase Smart Boards, most future classrooms will have their own Smart Board to teach with.

 Conclusion:

Technology is expanding into the classroom with Smart Boards. Interactive Smart Boards have replaced many chalkboards and whiteboards. With many online interactive activities and the ability to create your own activities, most teachers find the Smart Board to be very useful in their classrooms. Although there can be some disadvantages to learning how to use the Smart Board, the future is in technology. The expensive cost of Smart Boards and the lifespan continues to be an issue for some schools. In the future, we are sure to see more Smart Boards in the classroom. Technology is continuing to make progress.

References:

"All SMART products - SMART Technologies." Home - SMART Technologies. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. .

Holloway, Andy. "Chalk is for Luddites." //Canadian Business// 74.1717 Sept. (2001): 3-4. //EBSCOhost//. Web. 9 Feb. 2011.

SmartClassrooms (2009). Youtube: SMART Boards Why are they so easy to use? Retreieved on February 10, 2011., from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U05WeXPGlk&feature=player_embedded

Springgay, Jessica. //eHow//. Google, n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2011.