Are you avoiding that smartboard in your classroom, teaching around it like it’s a snake in the corner? Although new technologies can be challenging to adopt, the smartboard is one that’s worth the learning curve, particularly because of the many modern ways students are accustomed to learning. A smartboard in your classroom can enhance the learning experience and introduce your students to new concepts in an engaging way. With a little practice, the intuitive controls of a smartboard can be simple to master, giving your students a multimedia classroom to explore and discover.

What is a smartboard? If you’re a little fuzzy on what makes this technology different than, say, projecting your computer screen onto the wall, here’s a useful definition. “Smart” has become the popular vernacular for technology that improves on an existing product—such as the “smartphone.” A smartboard is, in essence, a projector and a touchscreen. It projects your computer’s screen onto a touchscreen surface, giving you the control to click, write, move, draw, drag and drop, and more. It’s a whiteboard, but it’s so much more.

Popular Uses for Smartboards

Teachers are an innovative bunch, and they’ve been finding new ways to use smartboards that resonate with students. Here are a few of our favorites.

1. Quickly Accessing Supplementary Content

Maybe you’re struggling to define a word or concept to an ESL student. Perhaps you want to set the historical context for a reading set during the 1950s. Maybe you want to show a quick YouTube clip of a student explaining a concept in a new way. Whatever the case, a smartboard makes it fast and easy to access and display additional content to help engage your students. Videos, photos, websites, interactive games, and more are easy to display on a smartboard. The best part? You’ll be able to manipulate them directly on the touchscreen—drawing diagrams and charts to show connections, circling key words and concepts, enlarging and studying photos or works of art. The smartboard makes the whiteboard an interactive, collaborative workspace for you and your students to explore.

2. Notetaking, Brainstorming, and Lecturing

You can use a smartboard as you would a whiteboard—writing down lecture notes, brainstorming with students, and drawing problems or charts from textbooks. But as with any “smart” technology, this traditional teaching tool has been improved with the smartboard. You can save your lecture notes to share later with students. It’s simple to add pages, delete or edit text, and even convert handwritten notes into typed text.

3. Interactive Websites and Games

Many students learn well in a hands-on environment, and technology can be a great way to give students this kind of instruction. Use a smartboard to allow students to play interactive games or interact with an educational website. The touchscreen makes this experience novel, exciting, and seamless.

If you are underutilizing this tool in your classroom, these are just a few of the ways you can use a smartboard to enhance your students’ learning. For more information about smartboards, contact us today.