Buyers Guide for Interactive Smart Boards and making Smart Class Rooms

This is a non-biased buyer's guide for #interactive #smart #board especially in #Pakistan

Interactive Smart Boards was first invented by Smart Technologies Canada in 1992 and had over the years been one of the most successful teaching tool for the class rooms around the world. However should you buy an interactive board? will it give your students an edge? or enhance leading capabilities? or an interactive smart board is worth an investment? This blog goes tries to answer some of these fundamental questions.

Question # 1: Should you buy an interactive smart board?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Absolutely. Interactive Smart Boards are one of the most sought after technology which has proven to improve results. The simple fact that interactive #smartboards make students get involved with the lesson along with audio-visual enhances student's capabilities to learn.

Blau (2011) listed three characteristics that transform the smart board into an efficient pedagogical tool:

A. Divergent learning—the ability to skip from pages on the screen to the internet in a structured and fluid manner. This ability simulates the associative organization of the student’s brain and contributes to the organization and clarity of the lesson as perceived by the student.

B. Smart boards serve as a cognitive tool that expand students’ mind and facilitate supported joint thinking. Since some of the mental load is transferred from the students to the board, they are free to engage in higher thinking processes.

C. Interactive learning—smart boards enable interactions between study contents and the students themselves, both face-to-face and online.

Question # 2: What brand of Interactive Smart Board should I buy?

And this is where it gets tricky. While there traditionally had been two main suppliers in the field SMART TECH & Promethean in the market but they had lost their 'mojo' or juice over the years with better quality products and pricing from other competitors. There are other companies like Specktron, Smart One and others which have an edge today.

More importantly however what experience of installation of hundreds of smart boards remains the vendor and after-sales services and importantly, vendor's teachers training and certification.

More important than Smart Board remains the software, teachers training and SLA services by your vendor as Amtech Systems in Pakistan confirms.

Question 3: Where best to use Smart Boards?

Research actually the best to place smart interactive board is in a class room. I had seen the best results for kindergarten

and primary or for senior rooms. Also a good idea is for an educational institution is to place the Smart Board in a specialized Audio Visual Room.

Looking to buy Smart Interactive Board? or Need a free demo? Call Amtech Systems