SMART Board interactive white board turns you and your computer into a powerful teaching, presenting, and interactive tool.  A projector projects the image from your computer screen onto the board.  These components allow teachers and students to come up to the board and "touch" it.  Basically, it allows you to become the mouse that is attached to the computer.

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What Can It Do?

In addition to allowing the user to become the mouse, the interactive whiteboard comes with a set of writing tools.  The pen tray comes with four pens and an eraser that, when used, allow the user to write and draw on the interactive whiteboard.  The pens do not contain any ink; rather sensors within the product tell it which colored pen you have and draws the appropriate color when you touch the board.  Using the free notebook software included with SMART Board, you can assign different colors and patterns to any pen.

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How Does RSU21 Use Its SMART Boards?

Elementary:

Teachers and students use them for morning meetings, Everyday Math lessons, and to explore a variety of interactive websites.  Teachers and students use their SMART Boards for both group activities and as a center station.  In early 2008, Kennebunk Elementary School was accepted into the SMART Showcase School program, providing students and staff with access to software and other SMART equipment.

Middle School:

Students and staff are excited about the integration of this technology with activities in math, grammar, creative writing, social studies and more.  Teachers are actively seeking out lessons and activities online and applying them to their curriculum.  Several teachers are piloting SMART Board integration with document camera technology. SMART technology, when integrated with the State of Maine's 1-to-1 Laptop Program, makes for exciting and enriching learning environments for both teachers and students.

High School:

In 2007 we installed new 600i series SMART Boards in two of our computer labs and three classrooms.  For the 2008-09 school year we expanded our coverage with 600i^₂ series SMART Boards.  Thanks to the introduction of new Apple MacBook laptops, courtesy of the Maine State Laptop Initiative at the high school level, setup and integration of SMART Board technology has been made easier.