Are smart boards the norm in schools now?

[mags]

Maybe I am just really out of it, but I was shocked when my DH came home from our son's kindergarten evaluation and told me that ALL of the classrooms (starting in K) have smart boards. Of course, I was like, "What's a smart board?" It's a dry erase board that is linked up with a computer, so everything the teacher writes on the board can automatically be computerized, like a big scanner type of thing. I would have expected something like this for jr high and HS, but elementary school? My DH was like, "look, kids don't even have to take notes!" I grumbled something about how that could explain why kids' have such poor writing skills these days. I don't know, maybe I am just being weird, but our school district is CONSTANTLY asking for $ via levies, fundraising, school fees, etc. so I guess I'm a bit annoyed that they are buying these smart boards, which to me, seem very frivolous. I was wondering if smart boards are the norm now for all schools. Personally, I was a bit shocked that each classroom had one of these, considering that they are several thousand dollars each, yet they are always telling us that they don't have enough $ for basics and esp now, since our community has been hard hit by the economy (GM plant is closing, it is the largest employer in our community, and a lot of other plants have closed too). More annoying yet, our school district, which used to be ont of the top districts is now just ranked as average. So, I don't understand why they keep saying that they need more $, when their ratings have dropped, even though they have more $ than ever.

[FishBounce]

My sons' elementary school has them as well, however, I don't think they are used quite as extensively. I know that in our case, the $$$ was donated to teh school for them.

[34me]

We only have them in the middle school math class rooms. They were paid for through grants. They may have them in other schools in the district but we don't go there

[Alyantavid]

Well, our school doesn't have them. At least in the elementary.

[bu's mama]

I'm not surprised that it is used in the k classes. It is pretty much the norm around here.

I work in an elementary school & we are in the process of installing them in all of the classrooms. Dd goes to a different school in the district & they are in the process as well. They are installing about 6/year in each of the 5 elementary schools here (don't know about secondary). My principal installed them on the basis of who would use them the most - each teacher had to write a few paragraphs about it & submit it to her.

It really is an excellent tool that can be used in the classroom. I'm a librarian & use it in the library a lot. It is so much more than a white board. The librarians in my district did a summer workshop writing lessons for us to use on the smartboard. It is engaging & interactive, much more than just having a computer in the room. I also teach computer skills & it's invaluable for demonstrating.


BTW - I just read an article about handwriting (mine is awful, I print most of the time & my script looks like a little kid when I try & a doctor's when I don't) & the author states it's more about the time devoted to other subjects & preparing for tests so there is less time and therefore less emphasis on handwriting skills. I'll see if I can find it.

[bu's mama]

I also wanted to mention that their funding (& technology in general) is usually set up a bit differently. They can be purchased through grants, but I know that around here (Long Island) that there are also matching state and federal monies for technology as well as cooperative buying initiatives that can make it cheaper for schools to purchase various technology.

[Drummer's Wife]

My kids' school has smart boards - my DS's kindergarten class did last years, as did my DD's 2nd grade classroom - so I assume every class has them.

They are both now in a Montessori program (within the school) in the same 6-9 class and I did notice the smart board... but, I'm not sure their teacher will use it much considering how different their work is now. They don't have a bunch of desks, or worksheets, and she only occasionally does group lessons (which involve materials, nothing I can see using the smartboard for) so I am curious myself as to whether or not it will get much use. The last school my DD attended for half a year, also in this district, had Smartboards as well so I do think they are fairly common.

[Zach'smom]

My son's school has one in every classroom for every grade. I am amazed at all the learning tools that his school has available. The days of chalkboards are over.

[EdnaMarie]

As the mom of a three-year-old who got here through "today's posts" I am horrified. I'm thinking living overseas (like in France, where they still have to write their term papers by hand) might be cheaper than private school.

How awful- you don't have to take your own notes? What's the point?

[mags]

Originally Posted by bu's mama

It really is an excellent tool that can be used in the classroom. I'm a librarian & use it in the library a lot. It is so much more than a white board. The librarians in my district did a summer workshop writing lessons for us to use on the smartboard. It is engaging & interactive, much more than just having a computer in the room. I also teach computer skills & it's invaluable for demonstrating.

Can you tell me more about what exactly the smart board does that aids in teaching/learning? I guess I am not really understanding it to be more than a tool that transfers what the teacher wrote on the board onto the computer. Maybe if I had more details, I'd understand the rationale. My DH is all about gadgets, so he thinks it's great. I, on the otherhand, am not a gadgety type of person, so typically stuff like this doesn't appeal to me.

[Village Mama]

One bonus would be that kids with respiratory issues wouldn't have to worry about all of the chalk dust. But a regular white board would likely be fine!

[Tigerchild]

Yep, in our district anyway. We are in the Seattle burbs. Both the elementary schools that my kids have attended have had them in all classrooms, but it took several years for that.

My kids are only in 1st and 2nd grade, so i have not seen them used extensively in their classrooms, other than for fun and during art instruction. However, when I've helped out in 5th and 6th grade classrooms it's amazing how nice it is. Not sure about this "no note taking" stuff though, that's a teacher thing I think. Our 5th/6th grade teacher always made the kids take their own notes (either by hand or on their little laptop thingy) as prep for jr. high and beyond.

Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean that every teacher will.

[Linda on the move]

They had them in my DD's 5th grade class room and used it for all sorts of things. In our middle school, there is one in every class room.

The kids still have to take their own notes, but the boards have many, many other applications. Our district has tons of money (great tax base, few students).

This is not just a "teacher writes everything and then prints it out." The boards are interactive.

[mistymama]

All the classrooms at my ds's school have them (k-3) - they also have mac laptops for the teachers, a mac desktop in the classroom, ipods in each classroom and some sort of audio system in each one that helps everyone hear the teacher.

I was kinda shocked last year when we went to kindy orientation - I had no idea! But they are really cool and yes, our school uses all of them together and often.

In January my ds's first grade class each gets to put together their own power point slide show and the parents come in while they present to the class.

I think it's really great! I'm sure some teachers use them more than others, but I do think it's more of the norm now. At least at our school.

[Teensy]

All the classrooms in my boys' schools now have them.

The teachers can show video clips and power point slide shows. The kids can move items around on the board like one would use a mouse. Necessary, no. But, pretty useful for clearly demonstrating concepts to the kids.

I don't imagine they would replace the need for note-taking anymore than copy machines did. I would expect teachers would still expect students to distill information and write their own notes, not simply provide paper copies of the information from the board.

[Girlprof]

I sort of doubt kids are taking notes in KG. But I'm still shocked at the prevalence of these "smart boards" which I had never heard of.

Let me tell you, in our school, I have never seen one. I suspect the overwhelming response here is either because people with smart boards are the ones reading the thread or because the MDC community is well above average in terms of income levels and therefore the kids here mostly attend schools in well-off school systems.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by mags

Can you tell me more about what exactly the smart board does that aids in teaching/learning?

It combines the functions of a chalk board, computer screen, and overhead projector, so any of the things you could do on those, you can do on a smart board.

For example, every day last year, my DD's class did a "daily edit." The teacher brought up a screen with 5 sentences with errors, the kids found the errors, and marked them with proper editing marks on the smart screen.

Granted, a teacher could have written the sentences out on a chalk board, but this is faster. The teacher could have used an overhead and just had the kids tell her the changes to make, but this way the kids made the corrections.

Having a really big computer screen is great. It's what the kids used when they did power point projects (one of their options when they could make a poster, report, etc. on a topic).

Could they get by without it? Sure. Did they learn things while using it? Yes.

Originally Posted by Girlprof

I suspect the overwhelming response here is either because people with smart boards are the ones reading the thread or because the MDC community is well above average in terms of income levels and therefore the kids here mostly attend schools in well-off school systems.

Our school district is very funky. We have a great tax base because of commercial property, not because the houses are worth a lot. The school is about half minority and has a fairly large population on free/reduced lunch.
It's not a "because the kids have rich parents they have cool useless toys at school" thing. The school system is well off, but many of the families aren't.

It is a great school system though, and plenty of people who are comfotable financially chose it over neighboring districts with all rich white kids.

[WC_hapamama]

Originally Posted by Linda on the move

It combines the functions of a chalk board, computer screen, and overhead projector, so any of the things you could do on those, you can do on a smart board.

For example, every day last year, my DD's class did a "daily edit." The teacher brought up a screen with 5 sentences with errors, the kids found the errors, and marked them with proper editing marks on the smart screen.

Granted, a teacher could have written the sentences out on a chalk board, but this is faster. The teacher could have used an overhead and just had the kids tell her the changes to make, but this way the kids made the corrections.

This is how our school uses the Smart Boards too... it doesn't replace the students having to write the stuff down on their own papers, just makes it easier for a teacher to demonstrate something.

Before the Smart Boards, our school used overhead projectors, and the cost of having to maintain the projectors, buying new transparencies and other upkeep related costs were kind of crazy. Teachers were going through at least 2 boxes of transparencies a month.

[Tigerchild]

My kids' school almost leads the elementary schools in my district for kids that receive free or reduced cost lunches. But we are in the Seattle burbs, so comparatively we are in a higher income district. Our state does export tax dollars for parity across districts to some degree, but not completely.

Generally though, funding for technology is handled separately. There are many private and I believe some federal grants available to upgrade technology, which I am sure the smartboards fall under. (don't quote me on that though).

[Ellien C]

Not at our school - No.