Smartboards: not so smart?

This is a PDF copy of a research paper I wrote for a graduate program - I reviewed some literature and asked “are smartboards effective vs traditional teaching” The answer? Not really. Of course, it’s deeper and more complicated than that, but I couldn’t find any empirical evidence smartboards made a difference in learning. Smartboards do make a tremendous difference in teaching and student motivation, but that does not lead automatically to better student achievement.

On 04 September 2009, Chelsea inscribed the following thoughts about this post:

My experience with the smartboards was that most of the teachers didn’t know how to use them. They became an obstruction since they were drilled into the middle of the chalkboard.
Obviously, if the teachers are better versed in how to fully utilize all the features the smartboard brings, that’s great. I read through your paper, I’d agree that the most important function of the smartboard is integration of media sources and annotation of the information presented. Probably the really innovative thing about smartboard is that when you do presentations, you don’t need to bring in poster boards. Otherwise, I don’t see much a difference between that and chalkboard teaching.

What would be interesting is to see if this kind of technology also increases kid’s tendency to be ADD. Heh.

On 15 September 2009, Smart Board inscribed the following thoughts about this post:

[...]Great post ! if you want to broaden your learning with technology use smart interactive boards [...]