The SMART Board acts as a whiteboard, allowing users to write on it as they would any other whiteboard. Each SMART Board comes with a pen tray that is supplied with four special digital pens and an eraser. When a pen is removed from the tray, the SMART Board can sense its absence; therefore, it reads the next touch to its screen as a “pen mark” and users are able to write in a variety of colors. Similarly, when the eraser is removed from its slot, the SMART Board’s interprets its next touch as “erase.”
A projector connected to a computer shows the desktop display on the whiteboard. The screen is controlled by touch from any solid object (including pens or fingers). Each touch in interpreted as a “left click” as from a computer mouse. Below the pen tray, there are buttons which allow the user to perform “right click” actions such as cut, copy and paste. Users can also project a QWERTY keyboard onto the display, which allows them to type.
The SMART Board has many features that make it a valuable learning tool. Among them are SMART Notebook software, which includes thousands of images and templates, and allows users to create and organize notes, play videos, and record sound; SMART Exchange, where users can connect online and share ideas; Lesson Activities, which are interactive activities that correspond to different sections of the curriculum; and SMART Ideas, software that allows users to create a multi-level concept map.
The SMART Board is versatile, and can accommodate many different learning styles. For example, it can store teachers’ written notes, show a video, and allow students to express their own ideas in class.
Students will be more engaged with the content on a SMART Board, which is dynamic and more visually appealing than information on a blackboard.
Students can share their work and engage in discussions.
SMART Boards allow for the integration of different types of technology, and offer novel ways of presenting lessons.
It is easy for teachers to save and print, so they will waste less class time writing on a blackboard.
Software facilitates discussion and exploration of ideas through visual means.