Smart Boards Replacing Chalks

I used to sneak into the classroom during recess to get my hands on the pink, green, blue, white and yellow chalks by the chalkboard and start painting my 'Picasso' on it ... (Of course, back then we didn't have much to spare for watercolors or pastels to paint on nice drawing paper.) And, I just love to volunteer and wipe clean the chalkboard for my teachers with that dirty old rag they gave me!

Time has turned around last decade to offer artists like me with 'markers' that I could doodle on what they call the 'Whiteboard'. When whiteboards took over, I was quite sad to say goodbye to my chalks...

In recent years, chalkboards has been replaced by a higher 'breed' called 'Smartboard'. And, I am telling you, they are really smart, not only that they can let you write without any chalks or markers, they let you project on them, and save and print from them.

Let's take a look at what kids are doing with Smartboards at Columbia University's elementary school ...
---------

By David Cohn| Also by this reporter 02:00 AM Jun, 09, 2005

"It is a must-have technology," said Shawn Mishler, director of communications technology at Columbia's privately run elementary school. "My dream school would have 7-foot-diagonal, in-wall units in every classroom. That, however, requires a lot of in-wall space, which is not practical in Manhattan."

During a recent visit to the school, students in a third-grade class used the board to demonstrate solutions to math problems. The children drew on the board with their fingertips and explained to the class how they came up with their answers.

As each child sketched their answers, the solutions were saved as separate files on the teacher's computer. The 8-year-old students were eager to use the board and show the class what they had learned.

"It really helps with motivation," said Eliza Bang, the class teacher. "As a platform for encouraging group work, it's amazing."

Bang uses the board to display a wide range of learning materials on her computer, from web pages to video clips. It is also used as a lunch-time reward for students: The children watched Black Beautyon the same screen that was used earlier for geography.