Smart. Real smart.

Today I got to observe a classroom with a Smartboard! I was SO pumped! It is my first time seeing such technology let alone getting to play with it. I simply asked the teacher if I could mess with it while the students were involved in a craft and she said sure and booted up the computer. Next thing I knew, all of the students were gathered at my feet, watching me touch the screen and orientate the board to the projector.

Two things happened: 1) all of the students wanted a turn at writing their name with the 'magic marker' and 2) I discovered that I was going to need one on one time to work out how to use the Smartboard smartly. I did the best I could with number one. And in the process learned some more on number two. First, I lined the kids up and had them take turns writing their name on the board. The immediate thing that was apparent, was that kids had a tough time writing on the board because their hands and shirt sleeves brushed the board making the screen register other movements and contact rather than just the censor pen. As a result, the children's work was sloppy and frustrating. The second thing I noticed was that the shadow created by the children was most distracting. Because the Smartboard was front lit by a projector, all of the hands from the children trying to write as well as the children just making funny shadows in the light, created major obstacles to the writing. The board needed to be backlit for optimum performance.

My next thought as I watch the kids, was how to get a keyboard to project itself on the screen rather than having to write everything in by hand. I asked the teacher who didn't know. So, I poked around the program and found the button that projected what I desired. I was thrilled with my success! I had found a tool that the teacher didn't know existed.

The final thing that I noted from the kids virtually teaching me how to use the tool by their own mistakes was that there was three pieces of technology used in this silly writing of names on a wall: the computer, the projector, and finally the Smart board itself. When the kids bumped the projector, the orientation for the Smartboard went out. When the computer was accidently touched, the projector no longer projected correctly. When the Smartboard shut down, the whole thing depended on the computer to get it all back online. My point is this: this whole set up is WAY too much trouble for just a little fun. Smartboards may be innovative, but they are certainly not ready to hit the mainstream yet. I would love to have one, however, to learn how to use. I wonder how much they go for on the market?