What is an Interative Whiteboard (SmartBoard)?
An interactive whiteboard is like a giant touch screen for your computer. Instead of using your mouse and keyboard to control your computer, you are going to use the SmartBoard in a much more tactile way for group learning and collaboration. You can use your finger as a mouse by simply touching an object with your finger to select it or you can use the onboard tools that come with the SmartBoard to annotate.
How Do I Get Started?
Step 1: Take a look at the two resources provided below. These will help you begin to understand your new technology and some of the possibilities in the classroom.
Step 2: Pick a couple of your favorite educational websites and project them on your SmartBoard. Practice navigating through them to find the curricular content you would want to use in class. Have your students do the same. Don't forget to write on your SmartBoard too! Using your finger or a stylus from the pen tray add your own comments, diagrams or symbols. This is a great first step for you and your students to practice on the SmartBoard.
Step 3: Time to access the Notebook 10 software. The Notebook software is a powerful tool to help you make classroom presentations engaging and interactive. You will have over 30 tools on the toolbar and many pull-down and object menus at your fingertips to utilize in your classroom lessons.
Step 4: Collaborate with other SmartBoard users in your building and across the district. Share your experiences, ask your colleagues questions and possibly collaborate on interactive content. Listed below are the SmartBoard users in SAS:
Step 5: Forward any great lessons you create, find on the web or any other pertinent files/documentation/websites to Heather to post for all SmartBoard users.
What Are Some Simple Classroom Uses?
Here are some ideas to get you started: