Hello I am the technology co-ordinator/teacher for a progressive semi-private school in Montreal. This year we have purchased Smartboards for each classroom. The teachers are loving it. They have created innovative ways to use the board for all subjects. Absolutely purchase as many as you can, the software is EASY to use. Rona Katz Akiva School Montreal, Quebec

G'day, I'm an intermediate teacher (10-13 year olds) in New Zealand, and as long as you have an open teaching style and don't use it to run the class (don't become a lecturer, or "front of room" teacher!), but let the children use it to do their own thing, then it is well worth it. Some awesome tools that work well with them are - Garage Band, iMovie, Google Earth, Final Cut, well most really, but the "multimedia" aspect is expanded exponentially. Oh yes, and current events using the net and live news feeds are so cool for current events - as they come with speakers, and you don't have to sit by the computer. All kids can read/watch/listen to news articles as a class, discuss them, the effect they have on the population etc, without having to break out to their desks! (I love the Interwrite/interactive White Board. I would find it hard without one now!)

Hi, I am very much interested in learning more about this very useful tool. You had mentioned that it was not expensive? What is the cost of one? How does a school get these grants? Can it be done nationally or internationally? Jer, Belize

Austin, I am a teacher in Montana, and had the privilege of using a SmartBoard, an interactive white board system. I love the board and all the technology tools that it offers to my students. Our school district has installed several in the classrooms. Our elementary has installed one in almost every class, as well as in the middle school. Basically, the SmartBoard is a giant computer screen mounted on the wall, for viewing. Anything you see on your screen, you see on the board. I have students use it by searching the web for news, research, or some related interactive internet games sometimes work well. If you have any questions let me know. Amy

Dear Linda, Our trainer for the smartboards was in town today and we thought we had posted you a message as to how to get up and running but I just read that the message didn't go through for some reason. She asked if your smart board computer was a laptop? There are specific instructions for a laptop that is connected with the projector. Let me know! Sincerely, Susan S

Dear Linda, Please accept my apology for not getting back with you sooner but we've been completing state testing - and, well, you know how that goes! Bless your heart! Your situation reminds me of a cartoon I saw that had a "tech classroom" pictured with computers stacked up in the back of the classroom and the teacher using the chalkboard. I am very happy to help you, if I can. I am on the Learning Team for our school so have had the opportunity for hours of training. The first question concerns your LCD projector. I am at home so don't have my remote with me but I know there is a button on the remote, I think it says, computer, that needs to be pushed. I also have a vcr connected to my smartboard and when I want to show a video I switch to the video button on my remote and then back to computer when through with the video. I am hoping it is as simple as that for you! My fingers are crossed. Is your computer connected to a server and do you have internet access through your school server? You can use the smartboard without internet connections - we had a couple of teachers who did this until the cables were installed. When you turn your computer on the smartboard should have a row of green lights (along the tray) that run across indicating the smartboard is on. If you are wired correctly, every time you turn on your computer, your smartboard will automatically come on. Please let me know if this worked! My email is sspradlin@epals.com which will be a faster means of communication if you want to use this. Your smartboard screen should look like your monitor screen. My smartboard doesn't even have a monitor - I just use the smartboard screen. I have a separate teacher computer at my desk so there's no conflict there. The next thing to do will be to download the programs from the 2 disks you should have been provided. For up to date downloads you may want to download from the SmartTech site. Your disks are out of date by now. This takes a long time even on a fast server. To catch up on using the smartboard you actually have permission to download the software on your personal home computer and can do so from the website. You won't have the use of touch-screen technology but can use your mouse (unless you have one of the new monitors! It's on my Christmas list!) Your students can also download the program on their home computers and learn to use it from home - which provides a faster learning curve for them, and you, too! I really want you to be able to use your board! I have resource people that I can connect you with if you are still unable to get up and running. Please let me know. You sound like you are kinesthetic and need to learn by doing. If someone had told me how to operate a smartboard and I hadn't had the opportunity to do what they were telling me to do as they were telling me to do it - I'd have been in the same boat! Good luck and let me know. Sincerely, Susan

Annie, Did you have to purchase additional software to use the whiteboard, or are you able to use it with all windows stuff? Brian Hoelscher

I utilize a great deal of technology in class, but the use of an interactive white board would be great. I just don't know which brand to look at. Do you recommend the Smartboard brand? Can I utilize the internet and all windows programs on it? Brian Hoelscher Eureka Middle School

Austin, Yes they are. I am a tech. coordinator/computer teacher. They are an invaluable tool for me and the teachers I work with. Not only can they be used to project lots of great information obtained either from the Net or from software, but the students love to use them interactively with their teachers. The students really get involved in the lesson by using the board to reinforce math skills, or put labels on states or take apart a frog and put it's parts back or identify and circle parts of speech; the list is endless. We have been using them in our school for the last three years and the applications I have just mentioned only scratches the surface! Hope this is a help. Patti

Dear Susan S, I am a high school urban math teacher on the west coast who has a SmartBoard (for 2 years) but doesn't know how to use it! The district issued one to every school along with a laptop lab and an online algebra program to try to improve test scores. The instruction that was given came before the boards themselves arrived at the schools so any knowledge acquired went out the brain for lack of use. I know that sounds strange but it's true. Right now it sits in my room collecting dust which makes me really frustrated. I do know some of the features and how to use them but I don't know how to start it up. What do I do first to get started? I can plug the computer into the board and the LCD projector into the computer, but how do I get an image on the board from the computer? I've tried to get help from the SmartBoard manual and the website but have had no success. I know SmartBoard has an online tutorial, but it happens when I am in class. Can you give me any help as to what to do? Sincerely, Linda

Dear Co-Educators, I have been using interactive white board technology for a few years now. In a FL private school, we used "E-Beam" and now here in Oklahoma, I am using the Smart Board. There are many, many schools using this technology in their K-12 classrooms. Even tutoring organizations are using them. Oklahoma has a grant organization called OK-ACTS, which is where we received our grant this year. I was on the grant writing team and had a great time doing research and collecting scientific data on the effectiveness of the use of the Smart Board in the classroom. My school received $75,000 from the grant (for product and training) and the school district has added about another $25,000 (for installation and tech support). Let me emphasize we are a school district in a very small town of about 7,000 people. 85% of our children receive free or reduced lunch. We are fortunate to have this opportunity in Oklahoma to bring such cutting edge technology and teaching methods to our classrooms. I am passionate about this tool! We also have a 25% IEP rate in our school. For those unfamiliar with IEP, these are the students who have all kinds of disabilities. We have total inclusion in every classroom. This tool has been effective with ALL my students: gifted, regular, LD, ADD, HD, ED. I have been so excited to see even autistic students use this tool. Smart Board (white board tech) have so many benefits. Here are a few general areas we have experienced: *collaborative atmosphere *increase in tech skills *access to a global classroom - the walls are down! *instruction on value-driven internet skills *instruction on safety on the internet *whole-class involvement *student-driven instruction *authentic instruction *student motivation *classroom social skills *student creativity *real-time interviews using SKYPE (video and audio) *student portfolios are now in their own computer files and are given to the parent/guardian on CD. The students save their work in their personal file: they scan and save written work of their own choosing (they work so much more carefully when they know it is going to be saved!); they do audio/video recordings of their reading; they save documents they have created (ppt and smart board documents), etc! *class activities that relate to our lessons Trust me...you are only limited by your own "personal box!" The class has a blog and a website. They are both completely secure and no one can access either without id's and passwords. I am the sole author on both. Posts on the blog can only be done by invited guests. Many of the students don't have computers at home so they get to use the student computers while at school to participate. Once a week we put both up on the SmartBoard for the students to read. I have all levels of readers in my classroom and ALL of them participate in reading when the Smart Board is in use....they VOLUNTEER! They are ALL excited to participate! A really cool thing is that I have found a teacher website from Missouri who has received a grant and has developed activity links for every single Scott Foresman story that we do! She did all the work for me...bless you, my child! The students have increased their vocabulary scores since using her vocab links. I've asked them what they attribute to their learning vocab so much better and they all say it is these activities: matching, concentration, flashcards. Marzono would be proud! Another really cool thing is that with the Smart Board technology, the students can download it on their computers at home and use it with a mouse. They have created documents and sent them as attachments to me. They also have learned to do things at home that I didn't know how to do and they are the teacher in our classroom. Smart Boards also have "floating tools" that you can use while on the internet or in any other file/document. These include the ability to highlight, insert stars, and other shapes for emphasis, a screen that shows only the portion of the window you want to be seen (great for reading), picture capture, etc. We use this when reading ANYTHING on the Smart Board as it helps students with LDs. We also use it for authentic grammar instruction. Students can locate and star nouns, smiley face verbs, circle prepositional phrases, highlight prepositions, etc. It only takes a minute or two and here you have a jump into- jump out of grammar authentic teaching method! The Smart Tech site also includes activities for each state's standards; listed by state. I hope this gives you a better idea of the use of a "white board" in the classroom. I would be more than happy to continue this discussion. I am very interested in how you are using the Smart Board in your classroom. I love to learn and know you probably do too! Sincerely, Susan S in OK

Austin, Interactive white boards are very helpful. I teach United States history. I use the boards for geography, battle discussions, and map work. It makes it easy and fun for the students. Annie Olson

Hi! I am a Technology Coordinator/Computer Teacher from Connecticut. We have 5 Smartboards in our school. We wheel them around from room to room and use them in many different ways. I use mine every day in my Computer lab to teach everything, especially Microsoft Office applications. Just this morning, our 3rd grade teacher went online with the laptop attached to the Smartboard and found a great interactive game she played with her students about fractions - the students really understood the lesson she was trying to teach them because it was laid out nicely on the board for them. An hour ago, my 4th grade teacher went to the Animal Kingdom site and explored vertebrates and invertebrates with her students. The Smartboard is an amazing tool - every classroom should have one - they are not as expensive as you think and you can get grants! I hope this has helped - I highly recommend getting them for your students and teachers!

Hi all I think the interactive white board is a good and useful device as it will play two roles. One for the board and the other for the computer. I have one in my class in Egypt and it helps me apply the different innovative techniques in teaching. Thanks a lot. Suher Alrayes Egypt

Hi Austin I'm a teacher from Mexico and we have an interactive whiteboard in our classrooms and personally I can tell you that they are an awesome tool. I recommend for you to get to know them because they are the beginning of a new approach to teaching and learning. B.A. in Ed. Edgar K. Audelo