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=__SMART B____oards__ =

__Intro__
For many years, technology has been rapidly changing. One example of a more recent form of favorable technology in education is the SMART Board. SMART Boards have been very popular in schools, replacing regular white boards and getting students more involved in learning. They can be quite convenient in the classroom but they do have their disadvantages as well.

__Definition__
The SMART Board is an interactive white board that uses touch detection for user input -e.g. scrolling, right mouse-click - in the same way normal PC input devices, such as a mouse or keyboard, detect input.

__History__
Despite being relatively new, the SMART Board has a connection to education that goes back centuries. Chalkboards, one of the earliest predecessors of the SMART Board, have existed in classrooms for decades playing a major role in the transfer of knowledge to students. These were eventually replaced over time with whiteboards, which provided the same uses as chalkboards but also improved upon the original. Eventually, the SMART company created the first interactive whiteboard, called the SMART Board. It combined computer applications, such as Microsoft Windows, and a large writable surface. While being a relatively new tool in the classroom, SMART Boards have been around for 20 years, mainly existing as a business tool before breaking into education (SMART Technologies, 2012).

__Issues__
SMART Boards have become a useful education tool with both advantages and disadvantages. One general advantage these Boards have is they provide a unique interactive experience to students. Through these experiences, teachers can better target the varied kinds of learners in their classroom. On the other hand, one general disadvantage is that since is it a piece of computer technology, it is prone to complications from technical issues. Cost can also be an important consideration when deciding whether or not a SMART Board is right for your school. These Boards also have specific pros and cons depending on the subject area. Here are a few examples.

Special Education
There are quite a few advantages to incorporating SMART Boards in the Special Education classroom. First off, it keeps the student's attention longer and gets them involved more often because they enjoy it and think it's fun. This isn't an easy task when just a pencil and paper are involved. SMART Boards are also very helpful with children that have poor vision because everything is magnified on the wall for them. For students with fine motor issues, the SMART Board is convenient because they can use their finger for certain activities instead of having to grasp a pencil, which can be difficult for some children. There are countless learning activities for children to enjoy such as the daily calendar. This is a great thing for children with disabilities because it helps them to go over things everyday like the months, seasons, and weather so that it's repetitive for them. As for disadvantages in Special Education, other technical issues such as the games not working, the projector not projecting, or the Board being touchy and having to re-align it, there are no complaints in the Special Education Department except that it may be too much of a distraction for some students.

Music
One of the best ways SMART Boards can be used in a music classroom is to use it to supplement listening activities. One of the biggest problems for elementary music teachers is making listening activities engaging to all their students. With a SMART Board in the classroom, they will have something interactive to work with as they listen to a piece of music. One example of one of these tools would be an interactive listening map. This would provide an activity that represents the music in visual form that the students could use to identify certain aspects of what they are listening too. Another advantageous way SMART Boards could be incorporated into the music classroom is in the form of composition programs. This could allow the class to create their own music in a fun and interactive way. Despite all the advantages, there can be disadvantages to using the SMART Board in music. Since music is an aural art form, students must be able to train their ears and rely on what they hear to understand and describe music. For this reason, over use of SMART Boards could be detrimental to the progress a student makes in the subject. It can become a distraction that causes them to pay more attention to what they see, not what they hear.

__Future__
If the history leading up to creation of the SMART Board is any indication, the future for SMART Boards in the classroom is bright. Teachers will always require some form of large teaching tool (such as the chalkboard, whiteboard, and SMART Board) in order to teach their students. SMART Board have, and will continue to raise the interactiveness of these tools. The SMART company gives this optimistic assessment:  "When we think of the future, we envision classrooms and meeting rooms where images, applications and information are at everyone's fingertips. We env ision students around t h e world experiencing the rewards of learning, whether they learn best by seeing, hearing or doing. We envision teams collaborating and developing ideas on SMART Board interactive whiteboards, making decisions quickly and communicating with other teams across distances as if everyone was in the same room. We look forward to the next 20 years of innovation, so we can continue to change the way the world works and learns." (SMART Technologies, 2012)

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Conclusion__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">If used correctly and responsibly, SMART Boards can be a great tool to teachers in the classroom. They provide an far more interactive alternative to the normal whiteboard and chalkboard that provide great advantages to teachers and students alike. As with most technologies today, it is continually growing and, as a result, has a bright future in education as it is continually improved upon.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__References__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Smart Board. (n.d.). In //Wikipedia//. Retrieved February 8, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_Boards

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">SMART Technologies. (n.d.). The history of SMART. In //SMART Interactive Solutions for Education, Business, and Goverment//. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Retrieved February 12, 2012, from http://smarttech.com/us/About+SMART/About+SMART/Innovation <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> /Beginnings+of+an+industry