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“Educational Technology and Mobile Learning has just turned four and in the course of these four years experience in blogging I managed to publish a little over 3000 posts (as of this date october 24, 2013). These posts are mainly reviews of educational web tools and mobile apps, app suggestions, educational infographics and posters, guides and video tutorials, and tips o. Get expert support from SMART, with the experience, knowledge and resources to ensure a fast, effective technology implementation. Plus, maximize uptime and protect your investment with SMART’s best-in-class full-coverage warranty and service plan options.

How Are Smart Boards Used in Schools?

Technology is constantly growing, and the contagious fever for modern electrical equipment has spread as far as educational institutions across the US. One of the most popular innovations in a generation of new teaching approaches are smart boards - devices which can enhance the enjoyability and effectiveness of lessons. We know of their profound successes, but how exactly are these boards used in the typical school environment?

In this day and age, a classroom without a smart board is seen as incomplete. These touch sensitive devices - usually connected to a computer system and projector - engage students in fun and rewarding activities that make learning more enjoyable and productive than in the past.

One of the biggest uses of these boards is the adaptability for presentation software. PowerPoints can be brought up on the large screen and controlled with a specially-designed pen or a simple finger touch. This makes it much easier to present information to a collective group at one time, rather than being cramped around a small screen that is difficult to view.

An abundance of learning websites can also be accessed, many of which have games with high educational value. Volunteers may be asked up to the front of the room to operate the board on behalf of their classmates, choosing the answers to an online history quiz, for instance. Math and foreign languages activities are also common, and pairs of students can even go head-to-head in a gripping encounter using such games. This is particularly useful when conducting a starter activity that will get students into the right frame of mind for the ensuing tasks.

Adding to the extensive benefit list for smart boards is the sheer amount of paper they can save you, the teacher. Rather than printing out a written document as a hand out, you can bring it up on the screen for all the class to see without difficulty. Here, the highlighting tools can be used to pick out and draw attention to key bits of information.

The versatility of these smart boards really is a vital component of their success. Lesson presentations can be made on a home computer, saved onto a memory stick and later uploaded onto the screen in school. This saves time and ensures that every minute of the school day is used to good effect.

Don't get the wrong idea, though: you don't have to make everything in advance. It's equally possible to write information onto the board during the lesson. This is great when brainstorming ideas as a class, as they can quickly be noted onto the screen and kept up there for reference in the lesson's main activity. It's common practice for teachers to write learning objectives on the board for the start of class so that students can settle and understand what it is they will be doing as soon as they come into the room.

There really are a whole host of benefits when it comes to smart boards, and their uses in the classroom are never-ending. The above applications act as a handful of ways in which the boards may be used to create a more effective learning environment, but the best way to find out the true extent of this is try it for yourself.

What is a Smart Board?

Imagine if you will, one of the most powerful chalkboards ever; that is what you have in a smart board. Also sometimes known as an interactive whiteboard or interactive board, this is one of the most powerful technological mediums to deliver information to and interact with students.

Smart boards can act as a computer touchscreen, a touchpad that is controlled with a projector, a place for students to write on the board like a chalkboard, a tablet for you, and most of all, another great way to get more students involved in your classroom.

Smart boards are pre-installed with software that helps you interact with your lesson plans with your students ranging from lessons on fractions to provide a visual of a pie being divided by different amounts to having students come to the board and playing Jeopardy. Combine a good old fashioned chalkboard, a touchscreen computer, and interactive lessons all into one and you have a smart board.

How to Use a Smart Board in Your Class

With eighth and half years in school administration, I have completed over 1000 walkthroughs and seen all subjects in high school. Using that information and some ideas from teachers who I have worked with before, here are some of the best ways I have seen to use a smart board in your classroom.

Checking for Understanding

Picture a high school math class with 25 students in the room. The last five minutes of class a teacher could call a student up to the smart board and have them work on the key problem of the day; the problem could contain all the key points that the students needed to learn that day. Then after the student works the problem for the entire class, the teacher calls on other students to make sure that the student did the problem correctly and then asks them to explain why it is correct.

Do this two or three times and the teacher will be able to quickly see if the class has learned what they need to learn that day. This is a great way to make sure the class is ready for the next step or if the teacher needs to go back and re-teach something. It also provides a great visual for all the students to see the math being worked. This could be done at lower levels too where students have the ability to write on the board.

Jeopardy

I saw a teacher do this often as a review for her biology vocabulary quizzes. The teacher was able to develop a powerpoint and project it on a smart board where the students could touch the screen for a review like the game Jeopardy. This way the teacher could easily understand how the students were doing (checking for understanding) and the students would come up the board and touch the question they wanted to answer for their team. This kept students involved by using teams and by also having them move around the room. The teacher was able to know if the students were ready or not for their quiz. There are smart boards that come installed with other games, but this was a great example of a review that all students could be involved with during class.

Card Sort

This was another idea from a biology class, but easily could be done in any subject. The teacher developed a way for the students to come to the board and move around with what looked like text boxes. Some boxes had the vocabulary words and other boxes had the meaning of the vocabulary words. It became really exciting when some students were timed in their sorting of categories. Again, here the teacher can see how well the students understand the content but also have a little fun with their students.

Student Engagement

This idea is great at any level; a teacher used an installed Activity Builder and made a spinning wheel (similar to the Wheel of Fortune) that had each student’s name on the wheel. Instead of using choral questions to the class (which instructionally is a pet peeve of mine because some students can ‘hide’ behind the students that answer everything), the teacher would spin the wheel and see which student would answer the next question. The teacher mentioned that this kept his students on their toes and ready because they never knew who was next.

Visuals for Young Learners

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A couple of elementary teachers have found that during the COVID era of education, this is a great way to let students see something that they might usually have in their hands. For example, using a balance to compare numbers. Using a website that shows a balance with numbers on the left and right of zero, the students can use the touchscreen capability and move the markers around on the balance board. Students have to balance the right and left based on the value of the numbers. For example if the number six is marked on the right side, on the left side, the numbers four and two are marked so the balance is even.

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Using a smart board comes down to a couple of major factors. First, you might need some professional development to get going, and then second, find some time to play around with this amazing, interactive technology that has so many capabilities.

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If you can get the time, the training, and create the opportunity, there are thousands of possibilities in your classroom with a smart board.

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*Updated November, 2020