Many teachers at Southfield High have recently received the latest in classroom technology: SMART™ Boards.
When posted in front of a classroom, SMART Boards resemble the regular white board to be written on with markers. However, when in operation, they serve as computer screens teachers can write on with electronic ink and can highlight with the touch of a hand.
SMART boards can be used for everything from Power Point presentations, lectures and proofreading lessons, to digital slide shows for teaching computer skills, digital portfolios, and, yes, even music lessons.
Simply pressing on the surface of the screen to control the computer allows students and teachers to do presentations in front of the class without a computer hooked up to an overhead.
Use one of the pens from the Smart pen tray and you can write on the board while the screen relays to the computer your color of ink so your notes are projected in the correct color.
Many teachers like the fact the Smart boards can save lessons and pull them up for reference at later dates. Absent students can receive a day’s worth of lessons saved on SMART Boards.
“It’s a real lifesaver. You can pull up information from days ago, and it’s right there,” said business teacher Sylvia Bailey, who also runs the school store.
Senior Romondo Lewis uses a SMART Board in his Architectural Drafting class. “It helps us learn, especially when you’re in the back and can’t see. When visitors come, they’re amazed by the technology.”
SMART Board was named among the top 100 innovations for interactive training by Military Training Tech magazine. The Smart boards also received five out of five stars by Multimedia Schools Report Card.
While SMART Boards were invented around 1998, the are just recently gaining more publicity and are becoming more commonplace in classroom settings. Prices start at $4,000 and go up with more advanced models.
The majority of the SMART Boards at Southfield High were distributed to both engineering and business academy teachers for use in their classrooms.
But not all teachers are lining up to get a Smart Board. English teacher Charlie Mae Johnson says she’s happy for now with her old-fashioned chalkboard and eraser. Says Johnson, “It’s not the board that matters; it’s the one using it.”