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SMART Boards in Language Arts


 * Introduction: ** SMART Boards have been currently implemented in the classrooms. A SMART board is an interactive whiteboard that allows students to have a more hands on approach to learning. In the school setting, SMART boards have been seen as a great way to motivate students to participate. Produced by SMART Technologies, these interactive whiteboards were designed “to improve the way the world works and learns” (“Company Overview,” 2013).


 * History of SMART Boards: ** David Martin and Nancy Knowlton created the company in 1986 after David described his idea of interactive technology to Nancy. The company started out as a U.S. projector company. Revenue collected from projector sales was put towards the development of the SMART Board. The first interactive SMART Board was released in 1991. One year later, SMART Technologies partnered with Intel Corporation to further interactive technology development. SMART Technologies and Intel Corporation continue to develop ways to improve their interactive products (“The History of SMART,” 201 3).




 * Advantages of SMART Boards in Language Arts: ** During Language Arts, teachers have the ability to project stories onto the screen. Students can follow along with the text while a speaker reads the story aloud. These interactive stories keep children engaged. Many times the stories have the option for students to come up and turn the page, click on the images for further information, and participate in a short quiz about comprehension. Quizzes are not the only tool used with these interactive stories. Crosswords, word searches, and matching activities are among other comprehension tools.

Along with interactive stories, students are able to participate in interactive grammar and spelling lessons. For example, Spin and Spell is an interactive spelling game that allows students to choose a picture and then spell the name of that object using the spinning wheel. The students also have the ability to allow the game to choose a picture for them to spell. Allowing the game to choose a picture for the students, keeps students from spelling words they already know. These interactive games promote Language Arts in a fun manner that engages students.

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Although SMART Boards can seem like a great way to get students engaged in a lesson, there are a few disadvantages that schools and educators need to think about. First, SMART Boards can be costly. The price for a single interactive whiteboard is around $3,000. Along with the cost, these whiteboards can experience glitches. Some of these glitches include having to be recalibrated, slow loading speed, and writing tools failing to work properly.
 * Disadvantages of SMART Boards in Language Arts: **

Use of this interactive style of learning causes students to stray from traditional books, magazines, and paper based research. Students then might not become familiar with book features such as the index, table of contents, and glossary.

Teachers also encounter issues with lesson planning if a SMART Board is available. Teachers can easily find lesson plans online that use the interactive tools a SMART Board provides. This can be beneficial at times, but teachers could overuse this luxury.

With using the SMART Board, students rarely have tangible worksheets and written assessments that are turned in to the teacher. Observing students using the SMART Board becomes a way to assess. A teacher cannot visually assess what students have absorbed through a lesson and what knowledge was gained.


 * Future Direction of SMART Boards: ** SMART Technologies’ SMART Room System for Microsoft Lync is now shipping worldwide. This system is an integrated hardware and software solution to the full access of audio, video and presentation data. This communication system allows people to communicate with one another around the world. SMART Room System for Microsoft Lync is marketed towards businesses in hopes of increasing customers and productivity.

Educators can now look forward to SMART Notebook software partnering with Epson BrightLink Interacitve Projectors. By partnering with Epson, SMART hopes to make their technology more available to educators around the world. This new software will provide educators with the opportunity to create “high-impact lessons that bring learning to life” (“Media Release,” 2013).

References Bianca, A. (2013, May 27). The Disadvantages of SmartBoard. In //eHow//. Retrieved October 10, 2013, from []

Company Overview. (2013). In //SMART//. Retrieved October 10, 2013, from []

The History of SMART. (2013). In //SMART//. Retrieved October 10, 2013, from []

(2011). //Letter Sounds with Starfall: Using the SMART Board During Shared Reading// [Online video]. Retrieved October 10, 2013, from []

Mcalpin, B. (Photographer). (2013). [Image of photograph]. Retrieved October 10, 2013, from []

Media Release: SMART Notebook Collaborative Learning Software Now Available with Epson BrightLink Interactive Projectors (2013, September 25). In //SMART//. Retrieved October 10, 2013, from smarttech.com/About+SMART/About+SMART?Newsroom/Media+releases/English+US/Recent+Releases/SMART+Notebook+now+available+with+Epson+BrightLink

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