SMART Sponsors 21st Century Schools of Distinction Awards
More than US$300,000 in SMART products to be won by 20 schools
Calgary, AB – June 22, 2004 – SMART Technologies Inc. announces its sponsorship of the inaugural 21st Century Schools of Distinction Awards founded by Intel Corporation, Scholastic Administrator magazine and the Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Foundation to highlight outstanding results and success in K–12 education. One winning school and one achievement school in each of 10 award categories will win a SMART Board™ 580 interactive whiteboard as well as a school license for SMART Ideas® concept-mapping software and SynchronEyes® computer-lab instruction software. The awards will be given away at a gala ceremony on June 21, 2004, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New Orleans, LA, to coincide with the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC), a premier education trade show taking place June 21–23, 2004.
The 21st Century Schools of Distinction Awards program received more than 1,200 applications from schools throughout the U.S. Of these, 60 schools moved on to the finals. Twenty schools will be chosen from the finalists to win awards in various categories, including Best of the Best, Academic Excellence, Professional Development, Innovative Use of Technology and Technology Excellence. In addition to SMART products, all winning schools will receive US$10,000 from the Intel Foundation. The winning school and the achievement school in the Best of Best category will receive an additional US$15,000 from the Intel Foundation, bringing their total cash prize to US$25,000. All the winners will be profiled on the websites of Intel, Scholastic Administrator and the Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Foundation.
“The 21st Century Schools of Distinction Awards program has created an industry partnership to launch one of the most prestigious education award programs in the U.S.,” says Nancy Knowlton, president and co-CEO of SMART. “SMART fully supports this program, which recognizes and rewards excellence in education and provides technology products that enhance award-winning teaching methods.”
About SMART Board interactive whiteboards
The SMART Board interactive whiteboard is the world’s leading interactive whiteboard. Simply by touching the large interactive display, users can access and control any computer application or multimedia platform, including the Internet and CD-ROMs. Users can also write over applications in digital ink and then edit, save, print or post their notes to a website for future reference. SMART Board interactive whiteboards are used in classrooms, briefing rooms and boardrooms around the world, helping people to collaborate effectively whether they are in the same room or in another location. Feature-rich software and intuitive functionality make the SMART Board interactive whiteboard the number one choice of educators, presenters and trainers in more than 65 countries worldwide.
About SMART Ideas Concept-Mapping Software
SMART Ideas concept-mapping software enables teachers and students to create multilevel concept maps using colorful symbols, arrows and clip art to reinforce concepts from all subjects, including science, literature and history. An unlimited number of levels can be added to any symbol in the map, along with links to video files, audio clips, documents, photos, presentations and websites. SMART Ideas software includes an extensive clip-art gallery and a multilanguage template library that offers more than 2,000 curriculum-based images as well as a collection of built-in map templates to help teachers save time and add visual interest to their lessons. At the end of class, diagrams or outlines can be saved as HTML files, complete with all levels and hyperlinks, for e-mail distribution or easy posting to a website, intranet or network. SMART Ideas software can be used on desktop computers, SMART Board interactive whiteboards and Sympodium interactive lecterns.
About SynchronEyes Computer-Lab Instruction Software
SynchronEyes computer-lab instruction software enables networked student workstations to be monitored and controlled from one teacher’s computer. SynchronEyes software displays thumbnail images of all students' screens on the teacher's desktop, so student progress can be monitored, questions answered and lessons broadcast. Teachers can focus students’ attention by blanking all student screens and locking mouse devices and keyboards. To facilitate in-class collaboration, teachers can assign students to groups, set up chat sessions and conduct tests with automatic marking. Using the File Transfer feature, teachers can distribute materials and assignments with the click of a mouse. Advanced control options help teachers take control of a student’s computer to guide the student through a problem or specify shared control for collaborative problem solving.
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For more information, please contact:
Public Relations
SMART Technologies Inc.
300, 1207 - 11th Avenue SW
Calgary, AB CANADA T3C 0M5
Phone +1.403.802.3337 Fax +1.403.228.2500
pr@smarttech.com
Please note that SMART is written in all capital letters.