Technological Tools in Jamaican Classrooms: The Smart Board

   

Toscana Kindergarten students standing before the whiteboard. 

  What is a Smart Board?

A SMART Board is an interactive tool used by teachers and students in their classroom. Smart Technologies, founded in 1987 conceptualized the Smart Whiteboard in 1991. In 2003 SMART developed and patented Digital Vision Touch which is an important component of the SMART Board. The smart board works along with a laptop, or computer and a projector. It is composed of software that teachers use to create lessons that students can work, manipulate, edit and annotate on the screen with the help of a stylus or their fingertips . (SMART TECHNOLOGIES, 2024). 

Benefits of a Smart Board

Video Showing the benefits of using the SMART Board. 

(Technologies, 2010)

  Watch Full Video Here

   Using smart boards in the classroom aligns with the constructivist learning theory, which emphasizes active participation, collaboration and real-world problem -solving. Smart boards facilitate this by allowing students to interact with digital content, manipulate information, and engage in group activities. Additionally, using smart board technology can increase student engagement, leading to improved learning outcomes (Mun & Abdullah, 2016). The smart board is extremely beneficial in situations where it allows students to go beyond the chalk and talk, notes on the whiteboard and activities in the workbook.

        The smart board enables teachers and students to interact with, edit and annotate directly on the screen using their fingers.  Using the smart board has become increasingly helpful in the classroom as it can be used to engage the students using videos and games using applications such as Kahoot, Quizziz and others mentioned in our Previous Blog . It can be used by students to explore, collaborate, communicate, create, explain and extend their knowledge. Teachers may also use the smart board to do formative assessments as they teach.

  For teachers, using the smart board can help to effectively incorporate this technology in their lessons and can help to create a more dynamic and engaging learning environment for students.

References

Mun, S. H., & Abdullah, A. H. (2016). A review of the use of smart boards in education. 8th International Conference on Engineering Education, 120-125.

SMART TECHNOLOGIES. (2024, FEB 24). SMART. Retrieved from https://www.smarttech.com/en/education

Technologies, S. (Director). (2010). SMART Boards Why are they so easy to use? [Motion Picture].

Let us interact: How would having a Smart Board in your classroom assist you in your teaching/learning experience? 

Comment below.