The 2nd post in a series focused on learning about Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom.

Last week ^[1] we kicked off this series by learning the basics about what an interactive whiteboard is, and researched which brands are the most popular today. After discovering that the SMART Board brand from Smart Technologies controls more of the marketplace than all of the other brands combined, we then started looking into the different types of SMART Boards and their features and functionality.

Today we move that effort forward by providing a number of videos that help us better understand how these devices work and what we can do with them in the classroom. I combed through the many videos about SMART Boards available on YouTube, viewed dozens of them, and selected and organized the videos below to provide a good overview of how these systems can be used in the classroom, and how they are set up and configured.

I’ve grouped these videos into a two categories. The first group of videos gets right to the heart of the matter - ways in which these tools be used in the classroom. I’ve purposely gone for variety here, to reflect the reality of the world we all live and work in - we see teachers who work at different education levels, and some videos that are quite professional mixed with some that are more casually produced. Following those are a few videos that help to provide technical insight into these systems, and answer the question, “What does it take to install and configure and SMART Board?”

How SMART Boards can be used in the classroom:

• This brief (2 min.) video ^[2] (embedded above) provides a quick overview of a higher education instructor using a SMART Board during the lecture process, annotating his PowerPpoint Slides right on the SMART Board, which he can then save, and edit later. This definitely made me want to learn more.
• This (8 min.) video ^[3] shows the SMART Board in action, with this instructor providing a hands-on demonstration of some of the available functions of the system, and also shows the simple ”orientation” process that must be conducted at the beginning of a SMART Board session.
• Kindergarten teacher Mary Lehman won a Smart Technology SMART Board video contest for this (4 min.) video ^[4], in which she provides an overview of the impressive ways in which she uses the system with these young students.
• This professor of undergraduate Physics demonstrates a powerful array of things she does with the SMART Board. This video ^[5] is a bit long (10.5 min.), but it’s packed with demonstrations of a wide range of functionality, including the use of the Notebook software that is provided for the system.
• Here ^[6] we have a middle school teacher providing a (4 min.) demonstration of the SMART Board and the Notebook software, offering some perspective on how he uses it in the classroom.
• I’ll conclude this section with this 1 min. video ^[7] that demonstrates one of the new features in the latest version of the Notebook software that adds so much functionality to the system. Software upgrades like this make it possible for SMART Boards that are purchased today to be improved on tomorrow without having to buy new hardware.

Technical Functionality (Installation, Configuration, Use):
Here’s a few videos for the technical folks, or for teachers who might have to do their own set up and configuration and want to get a sense of what it takes to set these systems up. Some of these may be specific to different models and configurations, but they still help to give a sense of what it can take to install, prepare, and use these systems, and some of the technical considerations associated with doing so.

• This brief (< 2 min.) video ^[8] provides a quick look at the assembly and installation of a SMART Board 600i.
• This “3 minute Tech Track” video ^[9] explains basic set up and software installation.
• Last, we have this (6 min.) “Beginner’s Guide” ^[10] to the SMART Board that shows start up, orientation, etc.

This mix of videos helped to give me a much more informed sense of what SMART Boards are all about and how they are being used by educators - I hope they did the same for you.

Next?
As I mentioned last week, I have begun arranging demonstrations of some Interactive Whiteboards at the college where I oversee Institutional Technology. In addition to the SMART Board systems, we will also be checking out some other popular brands (such as PolyVision - we have a demonstration of these systems scheduled this week). I will be sharing our findings as I continue this series of posts.

For next week’s post, I will focus on some of the other popular brands, and try to get a sense of how they differentiate themselves from Smart Technology’s offerings, and why I might want to consider one of these alternatives. I hope you’ll come back and continue learning with us!

Have you noticed our newest feature here on EmergingEdTech.com? We have now added a custom multi-site Education Technology Search Engine, providing a focused “one stop shop” for education technology web searches - click here ^[11] to give it a try.

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