Smartboard

[fireboat]

Does anyone here have a Smartboard? -- No me. :(

Has anyone used a Smartboard? -- Tell us about it!

Would anyone LIKE a Smartboar in their classroom! I would!(Of course!)

I think Smartboards are more than a gimmick-- they're the future of education!

[mopar]

We don't have them in all the classrooms but we do have one to share at the school. I think that it spends a lot of time sitting in a closet because no one has it all the time.
It is amazing and the students loved using it. I think that it was a great invention and will improve education.

[englishchick]

We have them in every primary in the UK.
I recommend the actual SMART board rather than cheaper alternatives. My school uses a cheaper alternative and it is rubbish. We just end up using it as a white-board come projector as it cannot do all the jazzy stuff the SMART ones can do.

You can download the smart software onto your computer for free if you fancy having a play before committing to anything.

There are loads of debates here over the true value of the boards but there seems to be some strong evidence to suggest that boys in particular benefit from having them effectivelty used in the classroom.

[englishchick]

A Primary School is age 3-11 by the way x

[mopar]

In all of your classrooms or just schools?

[ginger11]

I would love to write a grant to get a smartboard in my classroom. But I am not planning on staying at that school. I student taught at a school that had smatboards...I loved it and the students loved it.

[englishchick]

In all schools as a whole but the vast majority have them in every classroom. Every school I have worked in except a nursery have had them in every room. Actually the ones that seem to get used the most are in places like the library ICT suite, hall and otehr communal areas.

When they first put ours up they put them too high for the younger children so, after 2 years mine has just been shifted down so that they can actually reach it without a chair. Health and safety will be breathing a sigh of relief!

They're great for watching DVDs on as they're like a mini-cinema but I don't think that's what they're meant to be used for!:)

[javamomma]

We have 2 in our building. I do not use them but one of our 4th grade teacher uses it a lot.

[MsCoffeeLover]

Our school has many SMART boards. Not all of the classes have them, but they are on their way. Right now, all math and science teachers have them. As a 7th grade teacher, they have proven to be a remarkable learning tool. The software itself comes with many interactive programs as well as games you can create. There are accompanying lesson plans on the SMART technologies website. We also have Gizmos (on interactive online simulation program) that is an excellent learning tool as well.

Of course, SMART boards are used to show videos as though you are watching a movie, but I use them for power points as well. The possibilities are just amazing, and the students will do so many things just be able to come up to the SMART board and participate.

[busbus]

My school district started putting smartboards into its primary classrooms several years ago. The process has moved up through the grade levels, now they are in many of our middle and high school classrooms. They are great; but expensive.

I'm not in the classroom; however, I visit classrooms as a part of my job. Many of the classrooms that I visit have them. I love watching the teachers using them and the students' interaction with them.

Things have changed so much since my early days as a classroom teacher. :( I love technology and how it can be used to enhance teaching and learning.

[Ima Teacher]

This is my third year with a SmartBoard. My first one was on rollers & the projector was in a cart. I really loved it, and the kids did to because it was the only one in the building.

The next year 17 people got wall-mounted boards & ceiling-mounted projectors. I asked for a new one. :-) I also got a new computer to run it, audio enhancement system, AirLiner wireless slate, a document camera, and "clickers".

Very, very cool!! I use mine every day.

[fadde]

Sounds like some folks on the forum have experience with the Smart Board in class. I have to ask a question:

What things DO (not can) people do with a Smart Board that you couldn't do with a combination of laptop, data/video projector, projection screen, and grease (white) board? And maybe a pointer/remote advance ($20) for PowerPoints.

Sure, there are some cool features like drawing on the screen, but is it really worth it? Are the multitude of features used? Or is it just showing off the schools "commitment to technology"?

A Spartan at heart.

[MsCoffeeLover]

SMART boards are interactive and come with all kinds of interactive activities where students can go up to it and play with all kinds of things. Basically, whatever you can do with a mouse is what you can do on the SMART Board.

Example: We just finished a unit on the human body. There is an interactive activity where students can put parts of the circulatory and respiratory system in the correct spot. If you don't, the dude dies and totally turns blue. Kids love that. That dude reminds of the dude from the game "Operation"

There are interactive games and quizzes, plus you can make your own activities like jeopardy or answer and reveal or put things in sequence. You can pull up any interactive web site and play with it through the SMART Board. It is an excellent tool for interactive maps. Again, anything you can do with a mouse, you can make an interactive lesson on the SMART board. Think of all the wonderful educational websites we wish our kids would visit and play with. The SMART board brings it right to the kids with approval and monitoring.

When we review notes, the kids come up to the SMART board and love it. It gets them out of their seat, and they work harder to be chosen to come up.

Our school has Gizmos. Those are interactive simulations so kids are able to see things like homeostasis or disease spread or electron clouds or ions genetics or density all the while changing whatever variables they want and see the results right in front of them.

I am a Science teacher who doesn't have a lab. It makes you become downright crafty.

If you want to know more, let me know because the possibilities are endless.

[fadde]

Example: We just finished a unit on the human body. There is an interactive activity where students can put parts of the circulatory and respiratory system in the correct spot. If you don't, the dude dies and totally turns blue. Kids love that. That dude reminds of the dude from the game "Operation"

I picture the student walking up to the projected image on the Smart Board and using her finger to "grab" a body part and move it. That is definitely cool. Without quibbling, how much of the cool factor or the learning factor do you think would be lost if the student came up and used the mouse on the teacher's computer to move the body parts, with the rest of the class seeing the projection?

[MsCoffeeLover]

I picture the student walking up to the projected image on the Smart Board and using her finger to "grab" a body part and move it. That is definitely cool. Without quibbling, how much of the cool factor or the learning factor do you think would be lost if the student came up and used the mouse on the teacher's computer to move the body parts, with the rest of the class seeing the projection?

If that is what you have, then use it. It is one extra thing that is not from the textbook and it gets the kids out of their seat, and they all want to help.

Yesterday I observed a class, and the science teacher had a SMART board. However, she also had this air mouse or something. It seemed to be a really small version of a SMART board that is attached to a mouse. She took that mini board with the mouse and handed it to the student to take part of the interactive game. Even though they didn't get to go up to the SMART board, they got to use the mouse to be interactive, and they loved it. So, I am guessing that as long as it is a visual aid they can play with, the kids will go for it.

If it has anything to do with technology, the kids will take it with a smile. Before I had a SMART board, I used to show power points on the tv, and students would offer to be the person that advanced to the next slide so I could monitor the other kids.

[Shari Nielsen]

I think its important that teachers who are given a Smartboard are also given training that is content and level appropriate.

Our school is redoing classrooms little by little and putting a new smartboard in each of the redone rooms. It looks like they will eventually equip each room w/ one. I'm not sure when my room is going up for renovations but I'm looking forward to getting one. In the meantime, I'm going to keep reading posts like this and picking the brain of teachers who do use theirs in a variety of ways so I can start modifying my lessons little by little so I'm ready once I get one!

[Student4life]

Does anyone here have a Smartboard? -- No me. :(

Has anyone used a Smartboard? -- Tell us about it!

Would anyone LIKE a Smartboar in their classroom! I would!(Of course!)

I think Smartboards are more than a gimmick-- they're the future of education!

All the classrooms in our school have a smartboard. There cool and useful but there is a very definate learning curve, and it took several weeks to get all the boards working correctly.

Very often you can't right fast on the board too because it will freeze and that makes it difficult, esp when a student comes up and writes too fast on the board. Makes it freeze, and that interupts your whole lesson.

I didn't really want a smart board before we got them. I had everything we needed for lessons on overheads. Now I have to move everything to be able to used on the smartboard.

[DarrenB]

What things DO (not can) people do with a Smart Board that you couldn't do with a combination of laptop, data/video projector, projection screen, and grease (white) board? And maybe a pointer/remote advance ($20) for PowerPoints.

If you've got a document camera as well as the laptop, projector, and whiteboard, you can take pictures of any handouts you use (like a reading log) project on the board, and then fill it out in large format so all students can see how to correctly document their reading. It saves a lot of time and works more efficiently than the overhead projector, which I used for years.

I've got the whole setup since our school was rewarded the IMPACT grant and loaded us all up. I could teach without the whiteboard, but man, I sure would miss it. I use it every day and find new uses for it every week.

I've just started our poetry unit, and being able to project poems onto the screen rather than breaking copyright and copying one for everyone. We get to see so many more poems that way, and we can even write on the projected poem, highlighting different elements.

[Bob]

If you've got a document camera as well as the laptop, projector, and whiteboard, you can take pictures of any handouts you use (like a reading log) project on the board, and then fill it out in large format so all students can see how to correctly document their reading. It saves a lot of time and works more efficiently than the overhead projector, which I used for years.

I've got the whole setup since our school was rewarded the IMPACT grant and loaded us all up. I could teach without the whiteboard, but man, I sure would miss it. I use it every day and find new uses for it every week.

I've just started our poetry unit, and being able to project poems onto the screen rather than breaking copyright and copying one for everyone. We get to see so many more poems that way, and we can even write on the projected poem, highlighting different elements.

It sounds to me like the same could be done by scanning these documents and then filling them in on your laptop while it is projected. Same with poems. Most poems and common documents are online. They could be projected. Many schools on our district just don't have the thousands of dollars it takes to buy 1 whiteboard, much less several. We have to find ways to do the same things with what we have. I don't like playing devil's advocate for the debate here, but what is the school's or teacher's motivation to spend that kind of money?
Is there really that level of imbalance in the schools? I need to open my eyes. Our projectors are scsi which means they don't plug into laptops and only a few current desktops. We have one digital projector per grade level to share. I know there are schools that have more but isn't that the exception?

[SS Rocks!]

I have a SMART Board. There are only one or two other teachers in the school that have one. I like it but I've seen something else that works pretty well. It's similar to the air mouse MsCoffeeLover was talking about. It's called an Interwrite Pad.

You can write on your projection screen through your LCD projector just like with the SMART Board. The Interwrite Pad has its advantages such as being able to move around the classroom while you use it, it can convert your writing into text, and if you don't have a stationary LCD projector, you don't need to worry about realigning the projector and the board constantly.

All of our math and science teachers have them, plus (if I recall correctly) they're less than $300.

[silvana]

I love my smart board...it allows me to access the world. I have several American run programmes on it. My year 2 class love "Starfall" but to mention one, it is interesting and very interactive it brings literacy to Life. I can create power points and movies on my board .I recently did "our spring walk" the children loved seeing and hearing themselves on there, it also allowed them to revisit their walk and recount it much more accurately.
I believe technology for the sake of technology is a pain in the elbow , but I truly believe, used properly, this type of ICT enhances learning and Yes you guessed I am a former ICT co ordinator!