Bellevue School District rolls out 545 more SMART Board interactive whiteboards to schools
District ramps up training on SMART Board software and SMART Ideas concept-mapping software
CALGARY, Alberta --- June 29, 2005 --- SMART Technologies Inc. announces that Bellevue School District in Washington State has standardized on SMART Board interactive whiteboards. By the start of the 2005–06 school year an additional 545 SMART Board interactive whiteboards will be installed in the district’s 28 schools, bringing the total to nearly 900 SMART Board interactive whiteboards – one in every classroom. The district has also deployed a teacher-training program for SMART Board™ software and SMART Ideas® concept-mapping software, in preparation for the large installation.
With SMART Board interactive whiteboards in use across the district, teachers can develop lessons on a unified technology platform. To support teachers with technology training and curriculum building, Bellevue School District has employed 22 full-time technology curriculum coaches. The coaches help teachers learn to create lessons using Notebook™ software, the whiteboarding application included with SMART Board software, and SMART Ideas concept-mapping software. These software programs ship free with SMART Board interactive whiteboards. By June 2006, all of Bellevue’s Notebook and SMART Ideas software files will be made available on a district website for teachers to share, critique and build upon.
“We’ve seen the positive instructional impact SMART Board interactive whiteboards have had on each and every student. Lesson delivery has improved, students participate more in class, and everyone is excited about learning,” says Jack McLeod, director of Bellevue School District’s facilities and information services. “Our Web-based curriculum also necessitates digital delivery in the classroom and easy-to-use software for teachers, so we equipped not only every school with SMART Board interactive whiteboards, but every classroom.”
“Our priority has been to get teachers trained on effectively using their SMART Board interactive whiteboards,” says Jim Shoemaker, instructional technology curriculum specialist at Bellevue School District. “Teachers are supportive of the training and eager to learn. We’ve already seen integration of digital content into language arts and social studies lessons.”
“With this large-scale installation of SMART Board interactive whiteboards and concurrent teacher training, Bellevue School District demonstrates its commitment to delivering the best education to its students,” says Nancy Knowlton, SMART’s president and co-CEO. “Bellevue joins an elite but fast-growing group of districts that are installing SMART Board interactive whiteboards in every classroom.”
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 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. 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 approximately 5,000 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 exported to Microsoft Word, Appleworks, or saved as HTML files for e-mail distribution or easy posting to a website. SMART Ideas software can be used on desktop computers, SMART Board interactive whiteboards and Sympodium® interactive pen displays. For more information, visit www.smarttech.com/smartideas.
About Bellevue School District
Bellevue School District serves more than 15,000 students in Bellevue and the smaller outlying communities of Clyde Hill, Medina, Hunts Point, Yarrow Point and Beaux Arts, plus portions of Renton, Issaquah, Redmond and unincorporated King County. The district has sixteen elementary schools, five middle schools, two alternative middle schools, four high schools and two alternative high schools.
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For more information, contact:
Public Relations
SMART Technologies Inc.
1207 – 11 Avenue SW, Suite 300
Calgary, AB T3C 0M5
CANADA
Phone +1.403.802.2556
Fax +1.403.228.2500
pr@smarttech.com
www.smarttech.com
Please note that SMART is written in all capital letters.