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Summary: In today's technologically savvy world, internet, computer and video games, and television play a main role in students' lives - shouldn't they play a role in the classroom, too? Smartboard is a great tool for teachers to use in their lessons - it brings technology to the classroom, allows students to have hands-on experiences in their learning, and can be operated with virtually the same skills it takes to operate a computer. This module will explore the use of Smartboard to enhance learning in K-3 classrooms.
The time for chalk, blackboards, and overhead projectors in schools has passed. Compared with the technology our students are using in their everyday lives, these methods of teaching are very outdated! Unfortunately, in many classrooms an overhead projector is the closest students will get to integrating technology into lessons. Teachers need to embrace technology in order to effectively engage and educate their students, and Smartboard is a wonderful way to integrate technology into the classroom. Besides being an enjoyable tool for students, it is relatively easy for teachers to implement. Teachers can operate a Smartboard with virtually the same set of skills they use to operate their home computers.
What exactly is a Smartboard? A Smartboard at first glance appears similar to a regular whiteboard - but it is so much more! According to Wikipedia, SMART technologies first introduced the Smart Board in 1991. Since then, there have been many updates to the original idea, but the essential concept remains the same: the Smart Board is an interactive whiteboard.
An interactive whiteboard is a whiteboard connected to a projector and computer that allows users to control it through touch. The Smartboard system consists of a Smartboard interactive whiteboard, a projector, and a computer. Smartboards can have either front projection (including tabletop projectors and ceiling mounted projects) or rear projection (including in wall) projectors. The projectors project an image of the computer screen onto the Smartboard. After configuring the Smartboard to sync up with the computer, teachers and students can use their hands or digital pens to touch the screen and control the computer mouse on the smartboard screen.
The Smartboard comes with several features. Buttons on the smartboard allow for right clicks and an on-screen keyboard to be used. A "digital ink" pen tray provides four pens and an eraser that allow users to write over programs displayed on the board. An "ink layer" will appear that allows students or teachers to write on top of movies, pictures, and worksheets. The smartboard automatically recognizes the different pen colors. The eraser can be used to erase pen marks.
The Smartboard can be used to show movies, powerpoint presentations, and websites, but it also comes with Smart Notebook Software that can be used to enhance lessons. Smart Notebook software works along with the Smartboard. It has many features that can help teachers plan lessons. The Smart Notebook software has educational resource files such as picture backgrounds, interactive worksheets, and notebook pages. There are also interactive lesson activity tools. Additionally, there is a searchable online marketplace of Smart Notebook tools. The program has many tools including pens, highlighters, and erasers, that can be controlled through touch using the smartboard. There is also a feature that captures screenshots and converts handwritten text to print.
Are you intimidated by technology? Have no fear. These helpful websites will tell you all you need to know to get started using Smartboard in your classroom.
Smartboard has many uses in the classroom. Any program that can be used on your computer can be used on a Smartboard, which really opens up the possibilities. The Smartboard can access websites to play interactive games, can be used to watch movies, or can act as a display board for students' presentations. Teachers can use Smart Notebook software to create spelling lists, math fact quizzes, and a variety of other lesson materials.
In an article for TechLearning.com, Amber Price details a variety of ways that the Smartboard can be used in the classroom. My personal favorite way to use Smartboard in the classroom is for Interactive Websites. We all know that the internet is engaging for students, and that playing games online is fun for them. Well, imagine how much fun it is when an internet spelling game becomes a hands-on activity in which students can physically "grab" the letters needed to spell a word! Here are some links to Interactive Math and Reading Websites that can be used with Smartboard in K-3 settings:
Although Interactive Websites are an interesting way to use Smartboard, they are certainly not the only way to use it! The Smartboard can be used for planning, notetaking, and brainstorming. The class can record ideas on charts or tables that can be organized in the Smart Notebook program. Additionally, other programs such as Inspiration could be used to organize information and projected onto the Smartboard. There are also graphic organizers and charts in the Smart Notebook program such as Venn Diagrams that could be used to organize information.
The Smartboard is also a great way to play games as a class. Games like Jeopardy can be played easily using the Smartboard. Teachers can also use Smartboard to play clips of television shows and movies to students. Click and drag activities are also popular with Smartboard. These are like interactive worksheets that allow students to "touch" information such as vocabulary words and drag them to the right box on the worksheet. There are also websites that allow teachers to create interactive worksheets to use with Smartboard. Lastly, Smartboard can be used to show PowerPoint presentations and allow teachers to model many activities such as journal writing, math problem solving, or even conduct tutorials such as "how to make a powerpoint presentation."
Teachers around the world are using Smartboard in their classrooms. Here are some examples of teachers using Smartboard and Smartboard related programs in K-3 classroom lessons.
In this lesson, 3rd grade teacher Allison Berry uses a Promethean board (another interactive whiteboard) to teach her students about food chains. Berry uses a variety of features of the board in her lesson. She creates charts in which students can drag pictures of animals into the categories "omnivores", "herbivores", and "carnivores". The students can also click and drag animal pictures into specific food chains to understand relationships between different animals. Additionally, students use the interactive board to review vocabulary words and explore extensions of the topic, such as interactive games about food chains. Watch a video of Berry talking about her lesson at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoQ3NFjosTQ
Teacher Wendy Wortha uses the interactive whiteboard in her 1st grade classroom. She uses the interactive whiteboard in reading class for a "make a word" lesson. The lesson begins with a small word and the children use a few letters to create many words. In the lessons the students sound out words, use phonics, and work on their spelling and reading skills. They use the pen or their hands to write letters on the interactive board. Watch a video about Wendy's lesson at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXYOvenEFJY
Katie King, a special needs teacher, uses the interactive whiteboard to teach students with autism about short vowels. She uses a table on the interactive whiteboard with audio clips and graphics to match the vowel letters to their sounds. Another aspect of the lesson allows students to create their own words on the interactive whiteboard using the vowel sounds. A 3rd aspect combines paper and pencil with the interactive board, as they complete a dictation from the board. Watch Katie talk about her lesson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdiHbtAACFg
Angela McNeil, a 2nd grade teacher, uses the interactive board to teach her students about two-digit addition. Students use a personal response system in conjunction with the interactive board to answer multiple choice questions on the screen. Students review "fact families" and use base 10 blocks to represent the 2 digit addition using regrouping. The interactive board can help students to physically move numbers from "ones" to "tens" column, for example. Angela also works on pattern recognition using the highlighter tool on the board. Watch Angela discuss her lesson at http://www.youtube.com -- search "Angela McNeil"
The smartboard has many benefits and some drawbacks in its classroom usage.
The Smartboard offers many benefits to the classroom teacher. First of all, a Smartboard is engaging for students. Students love to be able to take control of their learning, become hands-on and physically touch the numbers and letters they are manipulating to add or make words, respectively. Because the Smartboard is so interactive, it is better at keeping all students interested in the lesson. The Smartboard is rewarding for every child. Even those students who are shy will probably warm up to a Smartboard much sooner than they would to coming up to the front of the room to answer questions. Because of its universal appeal to all students, Smartboard elicits class-wide participation. This in turn will cut down on behavior management problems. As evidenced in Katie King's lesson for autistic children, the Smartboard can also be a wonderful tool for special needs students to help them learn. Special needs children often need more tactile experiences, something that interactive whiteboards definitely provide. The Smartboard is particularly good for teaching math and reading. In math, it is good because it allows students to make the abstract concepts they have learned more concrete. For instance, in Angela McNeil's lesson, students were able to regroup tens and ones, exchaning ten ones to receive one ten. That they could physically make that exchange is helpful in assisting their understanding of this sometimes tricky concept. In reading, the Smartboard can help students become familiar with words and letter sounds. Interactive reading games can also help students to become stronger readers and spellers. As one student put it, the board is a lot more interesting than simply reading out of the book.
The Smartboard is a wonderful tool, but it comes at a cost. The smartboard is very expensive, making it hard for some schools to obtain. Once you do obtain a smartboard, extra fees apply when you do not have the correct type of computer (it works better with PCs than Macs). This price does not include the actual computer, by the way, so if your school is lacking in laptop availability, you will need to find a laptop or desktop to use with your smart board. The Smartboard's projection systems can cause shadows to be cast on the board, making it difficult to see in some cases. Also, the Smartboard can take up considerable space in a classroom. Remember, there needs to be room not just for the board but also for the stand, the projector, the laptop and all the wires that go along with it. If you don't have wireless internet, you'll also have to make sure that you have a cable that can get you online if you want to play interactive games. Additionally, more software is needed if you want to do fun activities like Angela McNeil did with her personal response systems. The newness of Smartboard can be distracting for some students. This is mostly a temporary issue, but for young children who have never had experience with a Smartboard, its wonders can distract from the actual lesson being taught. Another drawback of the Smartboard is that if you have a table projector, students can accidentally bump it and cause the board to go out of focus, meaning realignment is necessary. This is a minor drawback, but one nonetheless. There are not many other constraints of the Starbucks that I can think of. It is a very interesting program.
1. Smartboard in itself does not constitute technology integration. simply using Smartboard doesn't make for meaningful lessons; it is how you use it. 2. Consider your classroom set-up before installation. installing a smartboard in the center of the room might not be the best idea if that is how students walk to line up, becuase they'll constantly be tripping over wires (and so will you!) 3. Be creative! Smartboard can be integrated with other programs, like Google Earth and Electronic Field Trips. 4. Allow students as much time with the Smartboard as yourself - don't dominate it. 5. Vary how you use Smartboard - it won't be meaningful if all you do is run math flaschards and spelling tests on it. 6. Use a glove so that young children (or the teacher) don't get messy hands on the smartboard.
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This work is licensed by Laura Smalling under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0), and is an Open Educational Resource.
Last edited by Laura Smalling on Oct 28, 2008 6:32 am GMT-5.
