Interactive WhiteBoard: Mostly SMART Board

No, I didn’t just eat a powdered donut. That’s chalk dust all over my clothes. I have always disliked even touching chalk. Some people will argue in favor for chalk because it creates less waste for the environment. I say Bah-Humbug (I’m Mr. Scrooge when it comes to chalk). It is not my favorite method for visually engaging students. Put down the chalk and pick up the digital markers. The following information was compiled to provide teachers with a basic SMART start.

More Dynamic

Interactive Whiteboards engage students visually and kinesthetically. Interactive Whiteboard technologies allow teachers and students (with the right software) to upload Flash Videos, Sound files, Picture, Graphics, Web information, and interactive whiteboard lessons.

My School has used SMART boards for the past five years. SMART lessons can easily be acquired from the SMART Board lesson exchange. Teachers are able to utilize presentation software like SMART Board Notebook, Keynote, PowerPoint, and Prezi on a regular basis. Basically, SMART Boards make it easy to incorporate new and old technology into the classroom. Power Point is an old piece of software that should be used more frequently. SMART Boards take this software and make it more interactive with the SMART Notebook.

eInstruction offers similar products for the interactive whiteboard market. Mobiview is cool piece of ed-tech. Check out the videos displaying the products capabilities within the Mobiview link. With this tool, students can have their own interactive whiteboard, which can be used to respond within class. Being a quiet student, I never wanted to respond in class; so, this would allow all students to engage in the lesson.

Still more interesting is the Epson BrightLink, which is an interactive projector. With Epson’s BrightLink, any surface can become interactive. The projected image becomes interactive. On the Epson website, there are pictures of students manipulating the image projected on a regular tabletop. All of these interactive technologies promise a brighter future for learning.

Setting up The SMART Board Tutorial

Here is a video demonstrating how to setup the SMART Board in your classroom.

Basic Tutorial

Here is a tutorial to demonstrate some basic SMART Board features.

Designing Lessons Tutorial

This clip demonstrates cool functions within the SMART Notebook software. It provides some basics for providing students with dynamic lessons.

Engaging and Creative Activities

The following video demonstrates a creative way to engage students with the interactive whiteboards.

This was an interesting video to demonstrate an erasing assessment to provide students with instant feedback.

SMART board Lessons and Activities

Training for Teachers

When learning some new tech, always use YouTube (SchoolTube or TeacherTube) to search for tutorials. It is an overlooked learning tool, which provides ample opportunities for learning.

If you take the time to learn how to effectively utilize a SMART Board or other interactive whiteboard, then you will learn there are many instructional and management-type benefits. Unless I am visited by three ghosts and convinced to return to chalk, I will remain an interactive whiteboard user.

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