Joe Long





What? A SMART board is an interactive white board with a touch-sensitive display with which the user can control the computer, write notes and save them for later. Other media such as VCRs, DVD players, and video cameras can be used on a SMART board as well. It is an overall improvement to all media implementation.

Who? Used widely by the government and in the business world, SMART boards could be used by any teacher looking for better interaction between the students, creating ways to motivate students and energizing a lesson.

Foreign language teachers can use SMART boards to drill vocabulary with flashcards that aid by association:



Not only is it easier and clearer analyzing and editing texts on a SMART board rather than an overhead transparency, but the information can be saved and retrieved. Here is how an analyzed Latin text might appear to a class:


How? If you can use a computer you can use a SMART board. Instead of maneuvering and clicking with your mouse arrow, you simply press on the white board with your finger. Common programs such as Word and PowerPoint are well-suited for the SMART board.

Why? Instead of the normal, drab, white board, or operating a computer from afar, a SMART board enables teacher or student to be in the middle of an instantaneous and hands-on learning experience. Work can be saved and accessed later by the teacher or even by the students from their own computers. On a SMART board the whole class can participate in fun games, dragging and matching vocabulary, or re-ordering or replacing the words in a sentence without the smudges and erasures of traditional boards.

Resources:
Web site: http://www.smarttech.com

Web site: http://www.smarterkids.org

Gérard, F., & Widener, J. (1999). “A SMARTer Way to teach Foreign Language: The SMART Board™ Interactive Whiteboard as a Learening Language Tool”