VOLUME 3 | Issue 1 | JANUARY 2008
interactiveclassroom
www.education.smarttech.com
B E T T F e at u r e
SMART showcases Global
hands-on learning at BETT Education
Visit SMART at stand G40 Technology
Summit
SMART brings the best of collaborative
learning technology and digital content to BETT. Each
year, educators from around the world converge in
London to view the best in education technology
products and resources. This year, visitors to the
SMART stand G40 will be introduced to solutions
that help teachers inspire extraordinary classroom
moments. SMART’s contribution to the show, which
takes place January 9–12, blends special events for
educators with product announcements.
As part of its ongoing quest to enable excellence
in teaching, SMART introduces the SMART Learning
Marketplace. Powered by Cambridge University Press
and the Global Grid for Learning, the Marketplace is
a content subscription service that allows teachers to
quickly find and integrate digital resources into lesson
activities. It offers over a million regularly updated
and copyright-cleared images, video clips, audio files,
text documents and manipulatives. Museums, top
education publishers and technology and software
educators from around the world contribute to the
SMART Learning Marketplace library, providing a
diverse selection of high-quality resources that are
locally and globally relevant. The SMART Learning
Marketplace is fully integrated with Notebook™
collaborative learning software.
SMART will also introduce its enhanced version of
Notebook software. With a multitude of practical
features, an intuitive interface and thousands
of learning resources, Notebook software is the
Preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s world
NEWS
essential classroom software, used by millions of
students around the world. It helps teachers easily
create and effectively deliver lessons that are
engaging for students. Version 10 has more than
30 new design and delivery features, so teachers
can add even more interactivity and multimedia
components to their lessons.
BETT visitors can also try out the SMART Board™
600i interactive whiteboard system. Combining a
short-throw Unifi™ 45 projector and a SMART Board
600 series interactive whiteboard, the 600i allows
teachers to easily access multimedia elements,
such as videos and interactive demonstrations.
The system helps teachers make lessons more
appealing and encourages active participation.
The SMART classroom audio system, to be
introduced at BETT, ensures that lessons are heard
above the daily activity of the classroom. It improves
the quality and audibility of the teacher’s voice Senior leaders in education, government
throughout the classroom, eliminating the strain that and business gathered at Global Education
often accompanies a full day of talking to students. Technology Summit (GETS) in November 2007 to
A visit to the SMART stand at BETT will also provide share their experiences on implementing ICT. This
a glimpse of the future. Demonstrations of interactive year’s event was a resounding success, as more than
tables and walls will give visitors a sense of the unlimited 140 delegates from countries such as Denmark,
possibilities of interactive technology solutions. Malaysia, South Africa, Egypt and many others
But SMART’s presence at BETT extends well beyond met in Calgary, Canada, for this four-day summit.
product demonstrations. SMART presentations, held Delegates found that this annual event was a unique
regularly at the stand, let teachers see the practical opportunity to connect with peers. As delegates
application of products. Audience members come from around the world attended panel discussions
away inspired by new ideas for interactive lessons. and discussed common experiences, they collected
Because SMART places a high priority on enabling ideas that will inform their ICT policies.
the global discussion on ICT in education, the Summit participants were many and varied.
company hosts seminars at BETT for educators Some came to GETS to create new models
around the world. The seminars give attendees an for technology-enabled learning; others are
opportunity to share ideas and good practices about beginning to build ICT-enabled schools. But all
how to integrate technology into the classroom. were eager to connect with other education
Whether BETT guests stop by the SMART officials and benefit from each other’s expertise
stand for a product demonstration or attend a and knowledge.
seminar, they will leave the show with a renewed And all took away valuable information from
enthusiasm for education technology. presentations, which tackled subjects such as
For further information on SMART at BETT, visit developing ICT policies, building teachers’ skills
http://bett.smarttech.com. ic and digital content strategies. ic
1
we lc o m e
Fix the gap
A message from Nancy Knowlton
When I travel to London, I often take
the Tube into the city. It is certainly economical,
but more importantly, it can be a great timesaver.
A couple of years ago I travelled overnight with
a colleague. It was 4:00 a.m. Calgary time when
an announcement came on the Tube for the
third time – “Mind the gap.” Without so much as
turning her head, my colleague said in a dry, tired
voice, “Why don’t they just fix the gap?”
There it was – elegant for its simplicity – an
answer to the recurring warning.
We are chronically warned about gaps in
education – and gap is almost the perfect word
to describe the issues. Because problems are
discussed on a macro level, we sometimes forget
that when a system fails, real individuals suffer.
They suffer from lower socioeconomic status,
poorer health and lower life expectancy. Almost
nothing is as good in life for people who have a
lesser or inadequate education.
We all know the basics necessary to create
and sustain an excellent education system. There
are knowledgeable and insightful educators in
virtually every jurisdiction around the world. The
failure to deliver an excellent system often comes
down to leadership and money – two things I
hear about regularly.
Nowhere is it easy to effect change or take a
new direction. Risks abound, as do critics and
naysayers, and we can never trivialise the budget
issue. A child has but one chance at a great
education – let’s fix the gaps. ic
Nancy Knowlton is the CEO of SMART
Technologies. Her biography is available
online at www.smarttech.com/knowlton.
2
l e a d e r s i n e d u c at i o n
ICT in Moroccan education
ICT in education, according to Latifa El
Abida, Morocco’s secretary of state for scholar
education, is not a fashion accessory, but rather
a toolbox to empower the learner and bring
interactivity to the classroom.
When it comes to explaining the role ICT plays
in transforming the state of Moroccan education,
El Abida believes in the importance of combating
illiteracy, modernising and streamlining education
management, and strengthening the ways
of achieving equal opportunities and gender
equality. “In brief,” says El Abida, “our challenge
is to improve the quality of education in order to
reduce the scholar failure and guarantee quality
teaching and learning for all.”
In a career that began in the classroom in
1973, El Abida has assumed a variety of roles
in the government of Morocco. Since 1996,
she has worked for the national department
of education and has continually striven to
reform Moroccan education. Quite simply, El
Abida wants to bring Moroccan education The changes being realised in Morocco due
into the 21st century. Her initiatives include to the proliferation of ICT are, in El Abida’s view,
increasing enrolment, decreasing the digital divide bringing about equal opportunities and equal
between urban and rural areas, and building a access for all children. “The principal objective
nationwide technology infrastructure. She of the integration of ICT into Moroccan schools
also plans to construct a technology-based is precisely to facilitate democratic access to
teacher-training platform, produce digital knowledge,” El Abida says. “We believe that ICT
education content and provide state-of-the-art will provide access to information in rural areas and
multimedia rooms with Internet access for every will also enable people in these areas to be attuned
Moroccan student. to any educational innovation. We hope that these
The achievements of El Abida and her peers technologies serve the human development by the
are nothing short of astonishing. In 1991, only 52 various services they provide and thus reduce the
per cent of Moroccan children between the ages gap between the rural and urban areas.”
of six and eleven years old attended school, and El Abida insists a quality education can and
by 2004, the country’s enrolment rate reached should go beyond simply preparing its youth
92.2 per cent. Via a national program called to enter the job market, but rather to help
Genie, which seeks to introduce technology into them become global citizens, steeped in the
primary schools and upward, nearly 2,000 schools “fundamental and universal values, such as love,
and over 30 training centres were outfitted with peace and respect for others.” The goal of
multimedia rooms by mid-2007. That constitutes Moroccan education, she asserts, is to “provide a
the introduction of about 27,300 computers to knowledge base that would enable our students
the youth of Morocco. Since the inception of the to build the skills necessary to continuously
Genie program, over 4,300 teachers have received deepen their knowledge independently.” Given
training in ICT and another 9,000 have begun the her results to date, Moroccans can expect the
process. SMART Board interactive whiteboards will standards of education to soar under El Abida’s
be used to train many of these teachers. guidance. ic
news
Multilingual lesson activities
As more and more schools around the world adopt SMART Board interactive
whiteboards, educators have begun to see the need to share learning objects and lesson
activities in their own languages. To fill this need, SMART has developed more than 400 new
Adobe ® Flash® -enriched lesson activities in Spanish, French, Dutch, German, Finnish, Swedish,
Norwegian and Danish. These Notebook software-based lesson activities complement the current
library of English activities already available on SMART’s website and enable more teachers
around the world to present interactive lessons to their students. To view the lesson activities,
visit http://education.smarttech.com/intla. ic
C a se St u dy
Tsaritsino Education Center #548
Moscow, Russia
Premier Russian school
chooses SMART solutions
to create technology-rich
environment
Winner of Russia’s School of the Future
contest, Tsaritsino Education Center #548
was among the first education institutions to
recognise the value and necessity of interactive
technology for learning and teaching. The school
has long emphasised the value of ICT and
has worked hard to deliver a technology-rich
education. The equipment and resources that
teachers and students of Tsaritsino Education
Center use every day were bought not only with
funds provided by the state but – for the greater
part – with the money raised by the trustees.
The investment reflects the center’s belief that
a school should be able to meet the demands
of contemporary society through the use of
innovative technology.
Tsaritsino Education Center has been using
SMART Board interactive whiteboards for five
years, and teachers have become accustomed to
the advantages of the versatile and easy-to-use
technology. Lyudmila Afanasyeva, head of the
organisation department and biology teacher,
says that SMART products helped to solve several
problems. Teachers had found it difficult to blend
news
SMART World Teachers’
Day Video Contest winner
Teacher Lisa McCallum and some of the
children in her kindergarten class at St.
Therese Primary School in Sydney, Australia,
proudly display a letter from SMART CEO
Nancy Knowlton informing them that they
are the overall winner in the SMART World
Teachers’ Day Video Contest.
products such as computers, video players and
projectors. They had to move back and forth
between the computer and the projector, load
or unload the video player and switch between
media. The SMART Board interactive whiteboard
simplified the process by making multimedia
components easy to control.
Another challenge that all Russian schools face
is the amount of information to be taught and
learned. To stay on top of the intensive workload,
students must attend classes diligently, so being
absent is a problem. “For those who can’t attend
my classes, I send the notes I made on the
SMART Board interactive whiteboard in an e-mail
or save them on a disk,” says Afanasyeva. “It’s Students at Tsaritsino Education Center love
also important for me to save my class activities to create their own projects on the SMART
because I can use them for other lessons, and Board interactive whiteboard.
rework and improve them.”
There has been a significant change in students’
attitudes toward learning since the new technology “Our school was chosen
was implemented. Fourteen-year-old Nastya says,
“We use the SMART Board interactive whiteboard
as the best school in Russia. In
in computer graphics lessons to create pictures many ways it is thanks to the
you can’t draw with a mouse. And when we
have free time we also draw on the whiteboard impact made by SMART Board
because it’s fun.”
Tsaritsino continues to grow and succeed with interactive whiteboards.”
teachers using accessible technology solutions and
students eager to learn. “Our school was chosen – Lyudmila Afanasyeva,
as the best school in Russia,” says Afanasyeva. teacher and head of the
“In many ways it is thanks to the impact made by organisation department at
SMART Board interactive whiteboards.” ic Tsaritsino Education Center #548
Chilean school pioneers SMART products
Escuela Municipal D–11 Valle del Inca
in Santiago is the first Chilean public school to
have a SMART Board interactive whiteboard
in every classroom. With enthusiastic
teachers willing to implement new teaching
methodologies, the school is serving as a
shining example of technology integration to
other schools in the country.
The primary school integrated interactive
whiteboards, projectors and computers
into their 17 classrooms after seeing the
positive results of a SMART Board interactive
whiteboard project at the University
of Santiago.
Teachers wanted to provide the best
education experience possible to their
550 students, many who come from
underprivileged families. With financial aid October 2006. They anticipate that interactive
from the Conchali municipality, they were whiteboards will increase attendance and
able to begin using the technology tools in improve the learning process. ic
3
r ese a rc h r e p o r t
Interactive whiteboards
produce significant results
A new report by the Education and Social
Research Institute at Manchester Metropolitan
University, UK, indicates that increasing students’
exposure to interactive whiteboards significantly
and positively impacts student achievement.
The report, “Evaluation of the Primary Schools
Whiteboard Expansion Project,” is based on a
two-year study of the former Department for
Education and Skills’ (DfES) Primary Schools
Whiteboard Expansion project (PSWE).
The DfES provided £10 million to 21 local
authorities in 2003–2004 for the project in
an effort to support the implementation and
continued use of interactive whiteboards in
primary schools in England.
From September 2004 to December 2006,
researchers studied the impact interactive
whiteboards had on students in maths, English and
science subjects. Over 7,000 primary students in
20 local authorities were evaluated, and more than
60 per cent of interactive whiteboards in the study
were SMART Board interactive whiteboards.
The findings over the course of two years
were significant, especially in maths and science.
Most students in Key Stage 2 mathematics
SMART Technologies
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© 2008 SMART Technologies ULC. All rights reserved. SMART Board, Notebook, Unifi, smarttech and the SMART logo are trademarks or registered
trademarks of SMART Technologies ULC in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other third-party company names and products are for identification purposes
only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. Printed in Canada 12/2007.
made the equivalent of 2.5 to 5 months’
additional progress. In Key Stage 1 mathematics,
high-attaining females made additional gains of
4.75 months. Most of the students evaluated
in Key Stage 1 and 2 science made greater
progress with two years’ exposure to interactive
whiteboards, and some students made as much
as 7.5 months’ additional progress.
The study also found that interactive
whiteboards had a significant impact on teachers’
daily lives:
• Eighty-nine per cent of 363 teachers said
that the interactive whiteboard had a
positive impact on their lesson preparation
• Many teachers felt the interactive
whiteboards allowed them more
opportunities for assessment
• The majority of teachers felt they could
make better use of the interactive
whiteboard by the end of the school year
The Manchester Metropolitan University study
gives further support to the growing body of
research about the practical benefits of interactive
whiteboards in the classroom. To read the entire
study, visit www.becta.org.uk. ic
news
SMART opens new
assembly plant
The story of SMART’s dynamic growth
turned another page on October 25, 2007,
in Kanata, Ontario, near Canada’s capital city,
Ottawa. Government officials, suppliers, customers
and the media were on hand to see SMART’s
executive chairman and co-founder, David
Martin, officially open the company’s new 24,000
square-metre assembly and warehousing facility.
The building brings together current
operations that had been spread across three
locations, and adds considerable space and
capacity to handle future growth. Over 400
SMART employees work in a state-of-the-art
environment that includes space for assembly,
warehousing, research and development, and
administration, along with staff amenity space.
SMART is also expanding its world headquarters
in Calgary, Alberta, with construction of a new
17,187 square-metre building that began in
September 2006 and is slated for completion in
the summer of 2008. ic
ICT discourse at the
heart of SMART’s vision
SMART helps shape the global discourse
on education technology by supporting and
participating in key events around the world that
focus on ICT in education. Among the education
technology conferences that SMART sponsored
in 2007 were Educ@TICE in Paris, France, and
Online Educa Berlin in Germany. In addition
to sponsoring Denmark’s Uddannelsesforum,
SMART’s CEO, Nancy Knowlton, was keynote
speaker. These conferences are just a sample of
the forums that enable SMART to immerse itself
in the world of ICT in education. ic