A SMART Board
How to Use SMART Boards
SMART Boards, developed by SMART Technologies, are a specific type of interactive whiteboard designed to give students and teachers a more hands-on approach to learning. SMART Boards are used through the means of an overhead projector linked to a computer--typically the teacher's--on which lessons, notes and additional program helps are stored. SMART Boards display anything the linked computer displays, from Word documents to videos.
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need:
- Computer Ceiling- or wall-mounted projector SMART Board
- 1Orient the SMART Board screen by pressing the icon in the bottom right corner of the screen. Click "Orient," choose the highest calibration, and then continue following the instructions. Now the SMART Board is ready for you to write on it.
- 2Explore your capabilities. You can write directly on the whiteboard with your finger. You can control any program on the linked computer from the SMART Board with a touch of your finger or a point of the pen. Access the Internet to show students something brief but important. This is especially helpful when embedding your links directly into your text on the screen, because students can take notes, jump over to see examples on Web sites you've chosen and then continue taking notes. Save your notes just like handwritten ones and print them later for students to use.
- 3Explore your tools. The "Floating Tools" feature is customizable. Use the highlighting tool to color and feature important text prominently. Use the pointer tool to help students follow along during a lecture or draw attention to a component in a picture. Collaborate with other classrooms using the Internet.
- 4Download programs, ideas, videos and lessons. The SMART Board gallery is full of pre-loaded, useful tools, but many more can be downloaded or used directly online. A mind-mapping program that would work well with a SMART Board is Inspiration/Kidspiration (free trial here: http://kidspiration.com/). However, there are many free Web sites full of methods other teachers have used to get the most out of their SMART Boards. For example, check out http://eduscapes.com/sessions/smartboard/#2 and http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Ed+Resource/Lesson+Activities/Notebook+Activities/Browse+Notebook/United+States/.
- 5Teach students how to use the SMART Board. Teaching others enable you to learn the SMART technology more readily, as well as giving students new tools for enhancing their own learning. Students often enjoy writing digitally on the SMART Board. When students interact with material rather than simply sitting and absorbing, they're more likely to remember what they've learned. Students can present group work, share interesting facts or Web sites, give digital portfolio presentations and more.
Tips & Warnings
- The eraser, SMART pens and remote control can end up lost or floating around on students' desks. The pens should be in their special tray, but try Velcro-ing the eraser and remote control to the edge of the SMART Board to keep track of them, too. SMART Boards are useful for conducting "virtual" field trips. There are many examples of these online; one example is this virtual field trip collection: http://www.uen.org/utahlink/tours/.
- Cost is prohibitive, particularly for smaller, rural districts. However, there may be grants available to help fund the installation of SMART Boards in some classrooms. Either freeze the screen or shut down email programs before turning on the SMART Board; the students can see everything on the computer screen projected larger than life. Minimizing the email program may not be enough to protect sensitive interdepartmental information from students' gazes. This is especially true in the case of newer versions of email programs such as Outlook, in which the computer screen displays "pop-up previews" of the email content in real-time.
