Professional Development & Training

SMART Boards: More Than a Giant Whiteboard

This first lesson takes a close look at exactly what a SMART Board is. Often, teacher inherits a SMART Board in their classroom, but don't know what to do with it. As far as they can tell, it's not much more than a whiteboard. By the end of the lesson, you will know more the SMART Board's interactivity potential and its myriad possibilities.

Learners Today

When you look at today's learners, you have to look at the whole picture, including where they are with current technology. This lesson explores recent learning theories and how technology fits in with them. You will also learn the different about learning types, multiple intelligences, constructivism, and more.

Getting Started

The goal for this lesson is to download the SMART Notebook software and install it on your computer. Once you have done this, you will learn about the equipment needed to start. By the end of this lesson, you will be prepared to begin working with your SMART Board and the SMART Notebook software.

How to Insert Words and Objects Onto Your SMART Board

This lesson focuses on how to write on the SMART Board, starting with how to type on it. Then you will discover how to write using the collection of pens, how to make shapes, and how to use the eraser.

Capture Tools and Tables

This lesson focuses on ways to use documents you already have. There are many terrific tools to help you do just that. For instance, the SMART Notebook Table tool makes creating and manipulating tables easy. Learning how to use these tools will take you another step closer to SMART Board mastery.

The Gallery

This lesson focuses on the SMART Board Gallery. In the Gallery, you will find manipulatives, clip art, images, and more. You will also explore two valuable components of the Gallery: Gallery Essentials and My Content, these tools used to create highly visual and interactive lessons.

Lesson Activity Toolkit

This lesson digs into the Lesson Activity Toolkit. With a simple drag and type, you can introduce, review, or enrich learning. You will also learn about the Page Sorter, Attachments tab, and Activity Builder tab. The Page Sorter is instrumental in helping you see where you are in your SMART Notebook file.

Finding Classroom-Ready Lessons

Knowing how the SMART Notebook software works and what the various tools do is not the most important thing when using your SMART Board. In this lesson, you will learn how to find effective lessons—ones that are already created—to meet your curriculum requirements.

Creating Notebook Lessons

Even when we use the Gallery and the Lesson Activity Toolkit, sometimes we still come up short. So, this lesson focuses on making your own SMART notebook lessons. You will learn how to create reveal and drag-and-drop experiences and how to add preview, chunk, and scaffold learning to any lesson.

Animation, Videos, and Sound

Students learn in different ways. This lesson will teach you how to make your SMART Notebook lessons even more visual and interactive. You will also learn how to reach more learners by animating objects, adding your own images, and adding video and sound.

Recording Lessons and Making Your Own Videos

Since video has become a part of our daily experience, it only makes sense to use them in the classroom. SMART Notebook includes several multimedia functions to help make learning interactive. This lesson introduces SMART Notebook's Page Recorder, the SMART Recorder, and the SMART Video Player.

Troubleshooting

Do you know what disrupts your SMART Board lessons the most? When something doesn't work correctly. This lesson introduces troubleshooting tips for some of the most common technical problems teachers run into when working with their SMART Boards.