We use a smart board to teach in the school’s computer lab. Basically, a SMART board turns the image on your digital projector/LCD projector into an interactive whiteboard that you can write on.

The SMART Board itself is a giant touch screen that is connected to your computer. You use your digital projector to display your computer screen on the SMART board, and the software lets you touch and interact with your computer.

As more and more school boards and teachers invest in data projectors, the question arises whether SMART Boards are a good investment. After all, an intuitive touch interface plus the ability to write on digital documents (using digital ink) would help us move beyond whiteboards, flip charts, and overhead projectors.

advantage

• With the SMART Board, you can control any application through the touch screen. So instead of working behind the computer keyboard, you (or your students) can be at the front of the classroom physically interacting with the screen.
• You can use any of the 4 colors of markers or the eraser to write digital ink on apps, web pages or videos on the go. The SMART board will continue to work if you lose the pens. (There are 4 colored pen holders and an eraser. When you take the pen out of the slot, you select the color or the eraser. When you touch the screen, you use the selected color or the eraser.)
• Like other digital ink software applications, it can save your work to a notebook file and can convert your handwriting to text.

cons

• Difficult to write. The biggest disappointment with digital ink comes from the fact that a SMART Board is a front-mounted projection screen. This means that your data projector is installed in front of the screen (like an overhead projector). Which means that when you stand between the projector and the screen, you cast a shadow on the screen…right where you’re trying to write. Sure, it was cool to interact with the programs by touching the screen, but it was hard to write notes because you were constantly blocking the image.
• hard to write neatly. To be completely honest, it was a bit disappointing how our SMART Board handwriting turned out. Better than our experiences with the other digital pens (ie the i-pen), but the font was still big, blocky and messy. One of the things you have to train yourself to do is not lean on the SMART Board. When you write on a blackboard or whiteboard, you normally rest the edge of your palm on the board. If you do that on a touch screen, the cursor jumps to your palm and doesn’t work. You have to train yourself to write with just the tip of the pen. The bookmark worked well if you wanted to underline or circle key ideas, but if you wanted to edit or revise a double-spaced 12-point Word document, you’d have a hard time getting the control you needed.
• You still have to move back and forth from the keyboard to the screen. We could launch our web browser by tapping the SMART board, but when it came time to enter the website address, we had to go back to the desktop to type the URL.
• Expensive. The total cost of ownership of a SMART Board can be prohibitive for the classroom teacher. Retail price of a 77? (195.6 cm) The front-projection SMART Board interactive whiteboard is $1,399 (USD) with a grant from the SMARTer Kids Foundation of Canada. (www.SmarterKids.org)
• You need to supply your own data projector. A decent new projector will cost between $500 and $1,000. The SMART Board is just a giant touchpad. You must provide your own projector to display the image on the smart board. (Software, connection cables and stand are included).
• You may want to upgrade to a wireless connection ($199 USD) to eliminate cables and tripping hazards in the classroom. The screen image and the SMART Board touch screen may become out of alignment. This means that when you try to click a button, the mouse pointer appears a few inches to the side. You will have to realign your hardware, which will break the lesson.