Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf boosts visual learning with SMART Board interactive whiteboards
Melding old with new: 100-year old historical Pittsburgh campus updated with high-tech classrooms
CALGARY, Alberta --- May 12, 2005 --- SMART Technologies Inc. announces that the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (WPSD) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has standardized on SMART Board™ interactive whiteboards to improve learning outcomes for its 200 students from preschool to grade 12. WPSD chose the SMART Board interactive whiteboard for campus-wide installation based on the need for a visual learning tool to present digital content while delivering lessons in sign language. With technology grant funding from the SMARTer Kids™ Foundation (www.smarterkids.org), WPSD worked with local reseller SMARTSolution Technologies, L.P.* to equip classrooms with various front- and rear-projection interactive whiteboards and interactive overlays that accommodate different room configurations.
WPSD has integrated leading-edge classroom technology in classrooms and computer labs across its 17-acre campus, including SMART Board interactive whiteboards, digital projectors, document cameras, wireless laptops, DVD players, satellite television and high-speed Internet connections, while still protecting the integrity of its 100-year-old buildings' historical façade. The campus-wide installation started with the school's first SMART Board interactive whiteboard about eight years ago, and based on its successful adoption by both teachers and students, WPSD now has more than 30 and plans to install more SMART products in classrooms scheduled for renovation later this year.
Many of the students live on campus, so the school employs videoconferencing and uses SMART Board interactive whiteboards for presentations during parent-teacher conferences involving teachers in Pittsburgh and parents from the Harrisburg area, about 160 miles away. The video and data-conferencing enables real-time collaboration between teachers and parents when developing individualized education plans for the children. Video communication is also crucial within WPSD because they cannot employ a traditional audio announcement system; instead the students operate a high-end video production and editing suite, using SMART Board interactive whiteboards with Avid Xpress® DV software, to produce a weekly lunch-hour news program for the school.
"For deaf education, there is immense value in being able to teach concepts visually on the SMART Board interactive whiteboard, maintain eye contact with students and have your hands free to communicate using sign language," says Linda Burik, learning center director, Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf. "Our teachers find they can really get the students actively engaged in lessons now. We are firm believers in the active learning approach and the SMART Board interactive whiteboard helps us achieve this."
"In social studies and language arts classes, we often refer to websites on the large screen together as a group and do interactive activities," says Vince Ruscavage, Lower School teacher, Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf. "The SMART Board interactive whiteboard is a great motivator in keeping students on task and paying attention during lessons. The children are eager to come to the front of the class and work hands-on with the information displayed on the screen."
"Technology-based learning not only prepares students for the high-tech workforce of tomorrow, but it also helps bridge the communication and accessibility gap," says Nancy Knowlton, SMART's president and co-CEO. "The Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf is at the forefront in integrating technology products to better serve its students, equipping them for a successful future in our increasingly digital society."
About SMART Board interactive whiteboards
The SMART Board interactive whiteboard is a large, touch-sensitive display. Connected 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 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.
About the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf
Steeped in tradition yet on the cutting edge of technology, the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf has provided tuition-free educational services to deaf and hard-of-hearing students since 1869. The school is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is the largest comprehensive center for the education of deaf and hard-of-hearing children in the state. The school serves approximately 200 students, both day and residential, who come from 100 school districts and 30 counties throughout the state. For more information, visit www.wpsd.org.
About SMARTSolution Technologies, L.P.
SMARTSolution Technologies L.P. is the area's leading dealer of SMART Board interactive whiteboards and helps achieve education and business objectives with superior systems integration expertise. They offer a complete line of audiovisual products and superior presentation tools that will take meetings and conferences to the next level. SMARTSolution Technologies L.P. has designed and installed collaborative classrooms and meeting rooms for hundreds of educational institutions, corporations, businesses and government agencies. For four years in a row, they have been awarded the Dealer of Distinction Award by SMART Technologies Inc. For more information, visit www.smarterguys.com.
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