Smart Board Technology

Ivy Brown
Blog Essay #1
December 15, 2009

The SMART Board Technology
Education today is undergoing dramatic changes. States increasingly set standards and define curricula for districts and competencies for students. However, when all the standards, mandates, and curricula finally reach twenty five students and one teacher, the sweet smell of success enjoyed by the students then one will recognize that computers are wonderful machines capable of motivating and challenging students. The computer tools provide motivation, incentive, and even feedback to students doing tasks that lie at all levels of the Bloom’s taxonomy Jonassen, (2000).

Have you your students ever struggled to read a text because they encountered words that they did not know? Did you ever ask them to look them up in a glossary or dictionary? Was a dictionary even at hand? Might it have helped if you had heard the words pronounced for the entire class? Have you ever tried to understand how best you could explain the words on the chalkboard accompanied by diagrams with arrows showing action?

If you can relate to any of these limitations of traditional communications media, you will welcome the versatility and power of an interactive white board, SMART Board, ActivBoard, eBeam, Mimio, and Webster these are some of the names widely used at this time for interactive whiteboards. According to Falk & Carlson (1992), interactive multimedia is the best “single set of technologies to promote among teachers to improve the way they educate students.”

A SMART Board is an interactive electronic white board which can be used for various purposes. It is connected to a computer and to a projector which then displays the image seen on the computer screen. Interactive whiteboards afford users many options as it replaces the traditional chalkboard. The primary belief for using this technology is that it encourages cooperative learning, motivates learners and adds interactivity to a lesson. http://www.scholastic.com/interactivewhiteboards/

The limitations with the SMART Board are that the user has to be properly trained to use this device. For example one will be unable to navigate the interactive board unless all pens and eraser are covering their electronic fields. Secondly, the amount of light that is exposed into the classroom can affect the ability to see the board clearly if not mounted properly and students may find it awkward at first to write on the board.

This low-tech solution technology caters to learning for all students including those with disabilities. Teachers use the presentation tools that are included with the whiteboard software to support learning materials and showcase student presentations.

In conclusion, the attempt to excite, motivate, and engage young minds can be a daunting task therefore, our role as educators isn’t to entertain but to seek creative ways in which to help our students achieve their goals.



References

Falk, D.R; & Carlton, H.L. (1992). “Learning to teach with multimedia”. T.H.E. Journal, 20(2), pp. 96-100.
Jonassen, D. H. Computers as mindtools for school:Engaging critical thinking, 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:Merrill, 2000.
SMART Board Technology retrieved December 24, 2010 from http://www.scholastic.com/interactivewhiteboards/