May 2009
News and resources for educators using SMART products
I N T H I S I SS U E
Nancy’s Notes .......................................... 1
Classroom Content ................................2–3
News .....................................................2–4
Feature Article .......................................... 3
Professional Development ........................ 4
SMART Showcase School Profile .............. 4
Product Spotlight ..................................5–6
A n ote f r o m the e d ito r
Welcome to the May issue of
EDCompass™ newsletter!
Teachers never stop learning. When
integrating technology into your classroom,
professional development is an essential
ingredient – one that enables you to
take advantage of everything that new
innovations can offer your students. To
ensure SMART products are helping you
achieve your curricular and pedagogical
goals, this issue of the newsletter outlines
some of SMART’s training opportunities,
along with real examples of how professional
development is helping teachers improve
student learning outcomes. You can also
read about the updates we’ve made to the
SMART Table, the first multitouch, multiuser
interactive learning center that allows groups
of primary students to work and learn
together.
As always, if you have any comments about
the newsletter or any of the information
featured in this issue, we’d love to hear
from you. Please e-mail your feedback to
education@smarttech.com.
May 2009 | PG 1
education.smarttech.com
N a n c y’s n otes
Immersion
The word immersion, in the context of
education, often brings to mind learning
a new language. Language immersion
programs have been around for a long
time and have been very successful.
But immersion can have other
meanings. On a basic level, having
students immersed in their studies
means they are deeply involved in a
subject or investigation. They have
plunged in and are engaged.
When I think of immersion, I also
picture the rich imagery of an elementary
classroom. In many, almost every square inch is covered with colorful posters that immerse
students in their learning, showing numbers, the alphabet, animals and more.
Technology offers the opportunity to go even further and create an environment in
which learners are surrounded by dynamic, interactive images. Many of today’s students
are visual learners, so the power of a picture can dramatically outweigh language.
In technology-enabled classrooms, rich imagery can help history and geography come
alive. Students can go to places virtually that they would never otherwise experience,
whether back in time or around the world. For math and science students, video and
animation can bring complex ideas to life. The ability to look at concepts from different
perspectives can really benefit students.
Posters on a wall offer visual interest, but interactive whiteboards with projectors and
computers make the range of images you can offer your students virtually unlimited.
The interactive features of technology products help create an immersive experience that
goes much deeper.
In this issue, you’ll learn about professional development events and resources we offer
to help you enrich your technology-enabled classroom. Creating this type of immersive
learning environment is just another strategy to capture the imagination of your students
and ignite their will to learn.
Nancy Knowlton is the CEO of SMART Technologies.
C l a ss r o o m c o ntent
SMART Notebook
Lesson Activities
Find a comprehensive database of
professionally developed K–12 lesson activities
on our education website. The lessons are
correlated to local curriculum standards and
created by classroom teachers or SMART’s
team of curriculum resource developers.
Try one of the following SMART Notebook
lesson activities during your next science,
math, English or social studies class.
Human Life Cycle
Science students in grades 3–5 can
explore the stages of human life and draw
comparisons with different animals.
Cubic Centimeters and Meters
Math students in grades 4–6 can learn how
to measure volume using cubic centimeters
and meters.
Subject Complements
English students in grade six can learn how
to identify linking verbs and write sentences
containing predicate nouns and predicate
adjectives.
The Silk Road
Social studies students in grade seven can
explore the Silk Road’s historical significance
in shaping its surroundings.
May 2009 | PG 2
News
SMART Launches Training Events for
Even More Educators
Could you use extra training on SMART Notebook software, the AirLiner™ wireless slate
or SMART Response (formerly the Senteo™ interactive response system)? Later this fall,
we’re launching new large-scale professional development events in various cities across
the United States. As participants receive training, they will have the opportunity to try
SMART Notebook software and either the AirLiner wireless slate or SMART Response.
Educators can learn how these products integrate with each other and discover new
ways to effectively engage their students.
Like our regular training events, these full-day sessions, led by SMART Certified Trainers,
will guide you through the basics of your SMART product and teach you tips and tricks
that will wow your students and help you boost results. But instead of only being able
to offer training to 20–30 educators at a time, these large-scale events will enable us to
help 100–1,000 educators master their SMART products.
The following events will be offered in the year to come:
Date Training event Number of participants
October 2009 SMART Response 100–150
December 2009 AirLiner wireless slate and 100–150
SMART Notebook
February 2010 AirLiner wireless slate and 500–1,000
SMART Notebook
Registration for each event includes a SMART product to take home with you. Read
upcoming issues of the newsletter for more information. You can also visit SMART’s
Training Center for details on these and other training options from SMART.
SMART training event at NECC
If you’d like to receive training on the above products sooner, and you plan to attend the
National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) this year, register for the level 1 training
event we’re holding there. On June 29, in Washington, DC, we’re offering full-day training
on SMART Notebook software and the AirLiner wireless slate, with bonus instruction on
SMART Response. Registration includes a SMART Notebook learner workbook and an
AirLiner wireless slate with carrying case. Space is limited, so register today.
NEWS C l a ss r o o m c o ntent

Content Creation Seminars SMART Response

Are you a teacher in Lewisville, Texas? If so, you could be selected to attend a three-day seminar Question Sets
hosted by SMART, May 22–24, 2009. You’ll learn how to create highly engaging and interactive
lesson activities that align with Texas’s curriculum standards. Learn more and apply now.

SMART is hosting a series of these content creation seminars over the next seven months
– you’ll find out more about upcoming seminars in later issues of the newsletter. The
seminars will be coming to the following places:
• Fresno, California – June 16–18, 2009
• London, England – June 26–27, 2009
• Mobile, Alabama – July 14–16, 2009
• Fairfield-Suisun, California – July 27–29, 2009
• Southern California – August 19–21, 2009
• Miami-Dade, Florida – September 2009
• Denver, Colorado – October 2009
• Memphis, Tennessee – November 2009

Professional Development Programs

Beyond our many training options, we offer a variety of programs to help you build and
share your knowledge. For example, the SMART Exemplary Educator program recognizes Find a database of SMART Response
educators who use SMART products in innovative and effective ways. SMART Exemplary question sets on our education website.
Educators are committed to sharing their experience with fellow educators around the Each set includes 10 questions that are
world. We also have a network of SMART Showcase Schools and Districts. They act correlated to state and provincial curriculum
as host sites for other schools or districts interested in learning how SMART education standards and are compatible with a
solutions can improve teaching and learning. matching SMART-created lesson activity
on the same topic.
Read the November issue of EDCompass newsletter to learn how you can get involved in
these and other SMART programs. Try one of the following SMART Response
question sets in your next language arts,
Fe atu r e a r ti c l e science, math or social studies class.

Homophones
Connections that Count K–3 language arts students can practice
identifying homophones.

Seasons, Days and Months

Science students in grades 4–6 can test
their knowledge of the different seasons,
days and months.

Operations with Monomials

and Polynomials
Math students in grades 7–9 can test their
ability to use operations on polynomials.
When Brittany Glass and Amanda Germ graduate in 2011 from Florida Southern College
as high school math and elementary teachers respectively, they will do so fully prepared Glaciers
to teach in a technology-enabled classroom. In a classroom with SMART products, Social studies students in grades 10–12
more specifically. That’s because they took the course, Instructional Technology, with Dr. can test their knowledge of how glaciers
Jennifer King. Read the full article. are formed.

May 2009 | PG 3
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Webinar Series for
Administrators
Calling all administrators! If you missed
SMART’s administrator webinars last month,
there are still two others that you can attend:
• Using Stimulus Funding to Improve Student
Achievement – Wednesday, May 20,
at 3:00 p.m. EDT
• Closing the Skills Gap: Preparing Teachers
for Technology-Enabled Classrooms –
Tuesday, June 2, at 3:00 p.m. EDT
Learn more and register.
A webinar for teachers
Teachers can also take advantage of
great online learning opportunities. On
Wednesday, May 27, at 1:30 p.m. EDT,
attend our webinar titled Engaging Diverse
Learners in Group Instruction Utilizing
Interactive Whiteboards. You can find out
how interactive whiteboards are helping
teachers engage and teach diverse learners
at a special education school in New
Hampshire. Register now.
Attend SMART’s
Virtual Trade Show
On May 28, SMART is hosting its first
virtual trade show, Educational Technology
Strategies for Success. At this free online
event, sessions will be offered on a wide
variety of topics, including SMART hardware
and software product training for teachers,
and maintenance and troubleshooting
workshops for technology coordinators.
Our keynote webinar will be delivered by
Mary Ann Wolf, executive director of the
State Educational Technology Directors
Association. She’ll discuss the impact the
federal stimulus package is having on
districts and schools, and how you can
make the most of it.
You can take part in this trade show from
10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. EDT. Register now.
May 2009 | PG 4
NEWS
Free Training Resources
In addition to the other professional development opportunities we’ve featured in this
newsletter, SMART offers free training sessions that you can complete at your own pace,
anytime you’d like.
Have you been using our Learning Management System? It’s your gateway to more
than 40 free, online training sessions every week, covering more than 20 topics in 5
languages. This online system gives you convenient access to all of SMART’s training
resources. Follow along as you watch one of our award-winning Two-Minute Tutorials, or
take advantage of our printable Quick Reference Guides and Hands-on Practices for Mac
and Windows® operating systems.
Visit our Training Center to see which sessions we’re offering this week. And if you’re
not already using the Learning Management System, sign up today to keep track of all
your SMART training.
Private group training available
If you and your colleagues would rather arrange for a private online training experience,
just let us know. Free group training can be given in both English and Spanish, and
some sessions are also available in French. If you would like to schedule a private group
session, e-mail livedemo@smarttech.com.
S m a r t S h owc a se Sc h o o l P r o f i l e
Professional Development a Top Priority
in New Mexico School District
In fall 2001, Rio Rancho Public Schools (RRPS) in New Mexico purchased its first two
SMART Board™ interactive whiteboards. SMART was chosen because of three critical
factors: ease of use, curriculum support and the number of experienced SMART users
in the district. Administrators at RRPS knew from the start that the key to a successful
district-wide implementation of SMART products would be adequate and consistent
professional development for educators at all experience levels. The district has since
purchased 401 additional SMART Board interactive whiteboards, firmly establishing that
education technology training is not just important – it is essential. Read the full article.
P r o d u c t S p ot l i g ht

SMART Table - Touch. Learn. Together. New Content

We continue to develop new applications

for the SMART Table that feature interactive
content you can use to enhance small-group
learning in your classroom. See what’s
currently available for your students:

• Addition Plus – Solve teacher-defined math

problems using stacks of coins and blocks

• Hot Spaces – Sort items by dragging

Let’s do that again! them into groups
That’s what teachers using the SMART Table have been hearing again and again in their
classrooms. Since its beta release in fall 2008, and its commercial release in February • Multiple Choice – Answer questions by
2009, the response to SMART’s multitouch, multiuser interactive learning center for early dragging answers to a central image
education has been extraordinary. Educators are especially thrilled with the ways the • Hot Spots – Identify parts of a diagram by
SMART Table encourages students to collaborate. dragging labels to the correct spot

Used on its own or with the SMART Board interactive whiteboard, the SMART Table • Paint – Select colors and effects and then
can become a flexible and integral part of any technology-enabled classroom. It easily use fingers to paint
accommodates individual and small-group learning and instruction. Students can • Media – Drag or resize photos and videos
touch the table’s surface to manipulate objects, using gestures like pinching, grabbing,
sliding and tapping, and can also use the table to browse digital content. The size and • Addition – Solve automatically generated
orientation of the surface enables groups of students to easily reach the whole screen. math problems

• Puzzle – Collaboratively solve a tangram

Turn it on and let them go or jigsaw puzzle
SMART’s flexible content options allow teachers to use ready-made activities, customize
these activities to fit their curriculum, or even create their own. In fact, we’re continually
adding new content designed to enhance learning. You can check it out at SMART Table software
www.smarttech.com/tableactivities.
development kit
We’re introducing two new applications to complement the six currently available. Addition Third-party software developers have
Plus enables students to work together to solve math problems defined by the teacher, expressed much interest in creating
while the Hot Spaces application lets students sort items by dragging them to groups. multitouch applications for the SMART Table.
The SMART Table software development
Each SMART Table activity corresponds with a SMART-created lesson activity and SMART kit is available for free noncommercial use
Response question set, so you can combine small-group work on the table with whole- through the SMART Development Network
class and individual learning experiences. Simply download an activity to your computer, and supports development in C++, C#, Visual
customize it, and use the SMART Table USB bracelet to transfer it to the table. Then turn Basic and Java languages. More information
it on – and let them go. can be found at sdn.smarttech.com.

May 2009 | PG 5
P r o d u c t S p ot l i g ht

SMART Table in Collaboration and Consensus Building at

the Special Needs William R. Davie
Classroom

When Sarah Rhyne, instructional technology facilitator at Davie County Schools, talks to
educators at William R. Davie Elementary School about the SMART Table, she says she only
For the past few months, the Spaulding hears great comments.
Youth Center (SYC) in Tilton, New Hampshire,
has been using the SMART Table. SYC Educators at this Mocksville, North Carolina, school appreciate that the table’s software
provides therapeutic and educational care applications “naturally foster collaboration and consensus building with the students.”
for youth with autism, or other neurological When the second-grade students use the SMART Table, they need to talk to each other
impairments, and emotional and behavioral and come to an agreement before changing activities. It becomes a skill-building exercise
disorders. Randy Welch, SYC’s chief program in communication and compromise, says Rhyne.
officer, believes the SMART Table has “the
potential to do amazing things for the special Teachers can also easily encourage collaboration with the user-friendly SMART Table
ed population.” The table, he asserts, is a Toolkit. “In a really simple, very easy format, I’ve seen teachers create collaborative
tool that can foster educational interaction content specific to the curriculum going on in their classroom,” explains Rhyne. For
between autistic students, especially those example, one second-grade class was studying weather, and the teacher produced
with low verbal and communication abilities. SMART Table activities to complement her instruction. Using the Hot Spots application
as a foundation, she created a tornado and had her students identify, label and match
“I watched as two autistic students who have the different parts.
very poor communication skills, to the point
of almost being nonverbal, learned from each Teachers at William R. Davie have also taken advantage of updated activity packs and
other while on the table. They watched what new applications on SMART’s education website. With access to a continually growing
the other did. They waited for their turn. There collection of resources, Rhyne sees no end to the uses for the SMART Table in Davie
was an understanding occurring between County Schools.
them. This kind of happening is phenomenally
significant in this population,” says Welch. “We’ve found that our students never get bored with the default table content, but it
really does make the table new when the teachers create original content for them to
access. It’s nice to have a product that reinvents itself that way,” explains Rhyne.
Up Next
A welcome offshoot of having the SMART Table in the school has been the increased
Watch for the next issue of EDCompass level of parent involvement. Rhyne says that students and parents realize they are seeing
newsletter, where you’ll find out what SMART something special in the classroom. Teachers have invited the parents and siblings of
is up to at NECC this year. You’ll learn about their students to stop by and experience the SMART Table firsthand. It doesn’t end there,
our newest products, contests and giveaways Rhyne explains. “Every time the students go home and say their teacher has created new
– if you are planning to attend the conference, content for the table, the parents want to come back. It’s been great for our teachers to
you won’t want to miss this issue. experience this increased parent involvement and interest.”

May 2009 | PG 6
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company names are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. 11586-09