Smart Approach to SMART Boards

During my time as a student at OSU, I never had classroom with a SMART Board. I’d heard of them, but I’d never used one or seen an instructor use one.  As a student teacher, though, I had the opportunity to try one at a local junior high school.

Initially, I was swept away by the wow-factor of the device.  Just playing with the features before class one morning was enough for me to think:  “This is so cool.  I can’t wait to use it.”  However, when I finally had my first chance to reserve it for a class, I failed to utilize the SMART Board beyond a glorified projector and screen.

Recalling the whole experience reminds me that employing the latest and greatest technology in any classroom is good, so long as we combine the technology with pedagogical support and learning objectives.  We don’t use technology just to use it (because it’s cool), but technology must benefit our students, augment their learning, and engage their minds.

Recently, I had an opportunity to explore more fully the teaching tools available through SMART interactive whiteboards. While I still find the devices amazingly cool, I was even more impressed with SMART’s software package, called SMART Notebook.

While there are many features and tools in the Notebook, I found myself using the Digital Ink Layer the most. This feature allows you to write on or annotate any other window or application on your desktop while the Notebook is minimized. It’s like having an overhead transparency sheet for your computer screen. I brought up websites for the whole class, marked the sites up as we walked through an activity, and, with a click, I saved my ink layer to the Notebook. I thought this was extremely useful, but it’s only one of many helpful features in the SMART Notebook software.

You can read all the details about many more features on the SMART website; you can also download a 30-day trial of the software to get acquainted (but I recommend pairing the trial with a visit to one of our SMART classrooms to fully experience the tools).

As you consider incorporating SMART technology into your teaching, you may want to visit our interactive whiteboards page for more resources and best practices.