SMART Board Technologies

Michael Dunn, the CEO of Polyvision is quoted in saying, "How we teach, and not what we teach, must change in the United States if we are to have our students compete in a global economy." This is so true because the United States is now watching China, the UK, and Mexico outstrip us with technologies. The SMART board is a great way to have healthy and exciting interaction with students in a classroom. In an article titled The Wonders of Interactive Whiteboards, Neal Starkman shows the importance of having a SMARTboard in the classroom. A teacher stated that even "obstreperous students were politely raising their hands," which shows that these interactive boards can spark the interest of students that normally seem unresponsive or unwilling to learn.

So what are the advantages of having a SMARTboard? How can I incorporate an interactive whiteboard into my teaching? Here are a few suggestions from the article:

• Write, erase, and perform mouse functions with our finger, a pen, or anything with a maneuverable, firm surface
• Write in digital ink over applications, web sites, and videos.
• Capture your work or save your notes drectly into different software applications
• Show students information through visual activities, such as showing deep-sea photography when studying oceanography
• Make math fun by drawing shapes and identifying angles while studying trigonometry
• Import virtually anything from the Internet and edit and manipulate it

The options continue and the possibilities seem endless for the use of an interactive whiteboard for the teacher and his or her students. Phillips, a sixth grade math and science teacher at Euclid Middle School in Littleton, Colorado, "has seen students blossom, not only as a result of learning more efficiently, but also from helping teach classes and even train teachers in the technology."

The SMARTboard creates a unique partnership between teachers and students. It is our job as teachers to create relationship and learning opportunities through this new technology, rather than let the technology get in the way of student learning.