Minnetonka Public Schools set district standard with SMART Board interactive whiteboards
District selects SMART product for ease of use and timesaving benefits
CALGARY, Alberta --- January 27, 2005 --- SMART Technologies Inc. announces the installation of SMART Board™ interactive whiteboards in every fourth and fifth grade classroom, secondary science room, and media center in the Minnetonka Public School District. The district has chosen the SMART Board interactive whiteboard as its standard interactive whiteboard because the product is intuitive and comes with many applications that integrate well with lesson delivery. The district also chose SMART because of its ongoing commitment to developing meaningful products for educators and its strong connection with the education community.
The district recently secured US$30 million in funding to purchase various technology products, including SMART Board interactive whiteboards. The Minnetonka Public School District is made up of nine schools, comprising six elementary, two middle and one high school. SMART Board interactive whiteboards are used for teaching every subject including math, science, language arts, music, art and health.
"We decided on SMART Board interactive whiteboards over other brands for a number of reasons. You don't require a special tool that could be lost or run out of batteries, and students can use their finger or pen to interact with the digital content onscreen," says Sue Hine, executive director of technology for the Minnetonka Public School District. "We also value the rich functionality of SMART Board software as well as its compatibility with so many other educational software programs. Many teachers have said that SMART Board interactive whiteboards have improved their teaching more than any other tool they have used in their careers. I think that speaks volumes about the value of this product in the classroom."
"Ever since SMART created the world's first interactive whiteboard in 1991, we have focused on the needs of educators and incorporated their feedback into our product development," says Nancy Knowlton, SMART's president and co-CEO. "Minnetonka has a well-articulated plan for deploying the latest version of SMART Board interactive whiteboards to improve student achievement and enrich students' educational experiences."
About SMART Board interactive whiteboards
The SMART Board interactive whiteboard is a touch-sensitive display, about the size of a standard whiteboard. Hooked up to a computer and projector, the interactive whiteboard is like a giant computer screen that students and teachers simply touch to operate. Using their finger or a pen as a mouse, teachers and students can access and control any computer application, file or multimedia platform, including the Internet, CD-ROMs and DVDs. They can also write over applications in digital ink, then save their work for future study and review. The SMART Board interactive whiteboard engages students with diverse learning styles by providing both immediate access to a wide range of digital materials and a common focus for the entire class - not something easily achieved with other technologies. It is the number one choice among primary and secondary school educators in more than 75 countries worldwide because the simplicity of its design and pioneering software interface captures the imagination of students of all backgrounds and abilities in order to help them learn together, understand better and achieve more. For more information, visit www.smarttech.com/smartboard.
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For more information, contact:
Public Relations
SMART Technologies Inc.
300, 1207 - 11th Avenue SW
Calgary, AB CANADA T3C 0M5
Phone +1.403.802.2595 Fax +1.403.228.2500
pr@smarttech.com
Please note that SMART is written in all capital letters.