Smart Board in the Classroom
By Amy Burns
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published July 9, 2008 at
http://amymburns.musiced.net/2008/07/09/smart-board-in-the-elementary-music-classroom/
When I speak with numerous music educators at various conferences, a more common phrase that I
am hearing is “I have a SMART Board in my classroom but I am not sure how to utilize it with my
curriculum” or some variation of this. About a year ago, I discovered that I could sign out a SMART
Board for my classroom and get to use it if it was available. Last year, I signed it out numerous times
and it has proven to be an asset to the music classroom. Below are some descriptions of ways that a
SMART Board can enhance your music classroom. If you teach on a cart, you can utilize a SMART
Board that might be in a teacher’s classroom too.
What is a SMART Board?
Simply put, a SMART Board is an interactive white-
board. It requires a computer, an LCD projector to run, and
the SMART Board software which is called SMART Note-
book Software (the software is optional, but it can do so many
things!). The computer connects to the LCD projector through
the adapter that comes with the computer. The SMART Board
connects to the computer through the USB port. This can be a
wired or wireless USB connection depending on the particu-
lar SMART Board.
I just want to add that SMART Technology is just one
maker of this interactive whiteboard. Promethean is another
excellent maker of the board and I enjoyed trying their board
at the recent NECC con- SMART Board
ference. Another model
that teachers like is Hi-
tachi StarBoard. Plus, there are more inexpensive and smaller
versions of the board. Check out a great teacher/tech discussion
on the topic at
proteacher.net. In addition, if you perform a goo-
gle search on the topic, you will find numerous websites devoted
to the discussion of which interactive whiteboard is best.
One final word before I go into the various uses. My
SMART Board is on the rolling case as opposed to being
Hitachi StarBoard
mounted on a wall. If I had the choice, I would use a mounted
SMART Board because it means less wires for your students to
trip over and less items for your students to bump into which will
cause you to “orient” your screen many times during the lesson.
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