Over the past decade the classroom has been changing insurmountably. After the internet boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s, classrooms and libraries found themselves at the mercy of competing with new technology that in many ways offered students plenty of reasons to not focus on their studies and education. Luckily, everyone involved with education has since adopted the best that tech has to offer, and begun to implement it into the classroom and other learning centers in and outside of schools.
In many ways, technology facilitates a learning experience that is more user friendly, not less. Yes, many things on the internet, including social media, games, and other distractions can keep students from minding their educational responsibilities, but luckily, classroom tech has implemented a lot of those programs and digital spaces into the classroom to exponentially grow the offerings that educators can make to their students. Social media is often used as a way for students to message teachers about questions they may have on a certain question they were assigned for homework, and even YouTube can host things that a student can use at home to accompany their class notes and instructor’s guides. Games are often found in the classroom too, and thanks to SmartBoard technology, many are utilizing games in one of the most integral subjects of K-12 education: math.
SmartBoards and Math
SmartBoard technology began to enter the classroom in the mid 2000s, and after being introduced to a select number of school districts and states, many schools from every grade between Kindergarten and 12th grade utilize SmartBoards to facilitate learning. In many ways, a SmartBoard operates like a traditional white board. For example, markers that use digital sensors to interact with the board allow for teachers to draw on the SmartBoard as they would with a dry erase board and Expo markers. Now, instead of erasing the board with an actual dry erase eraser, a digital eraser does the job.
That being said, a SmartBoard has many more capabilities outside of a traditional white board. The SmartBoard interacts with your classroom computer to utilize programs and other files that can be displayed through the SmartBoard’s projector. The SmartBoard’s projector also often has ports for laptops, tablets, USB cables, and HDMI enabled tech hardware to allow teachers to utilize any device you could think of. Many also have bluetooth accessibility, which allows for teachers and students to utilize their smartphones, of which many in the classroom have nowadays, to interact with what is being displayed on the board.
SmartBoard technology has changed the classroom forever, and it is helping students learn better, faster, and smarter. By allowing teachers to use programs from Smart Exchange, the SmartBoard’s file sharing site for teachers to upload content that can be used by anyone else with a capable SmartBoard, classrooms are now privy to information resources they could have never dreamed of.
Math, being a subject that is integral to the learning experience of students all the way from 5 years old on, is something that has benefited largely from SmartBoard technology. For older students studying advanced subjects in math like calculus or trigonometry, formulas are interactive thanks to files on Smart Exchange, and can be sequenced, a fancy word for programmed to display themselves in a certain way, to be step by step guides for what to look for when encountering different sorts of math problems.
Younger students also benefit from SmartBoard technology, and no file or program has been more popular on Smart Exchange than math games for younger students. On Smart Exchange, any teacher can download a file of a SmartBoard math game for various scenarios like fraction multiplication, long division, and even basic addition and subtraction. Because teachers from all over the world are sharing these programs and files, no classroom is left behind to fend for itself with inferior resources, so long as they have a SmartBoard.
Why Games Matter for Students
Games are an interactive and innovative way to help implement difficult math issues and problems into their minds through a fun experience. Students are not likely to pay much attention to boring, dry lesson spoke directly from the teacher’s mouth. Likewise, games are more likely to stimulate a student and keep their attention than something they have no part in. For example, PowerPoint was long believed to be a helpful way to keep student’s attention with things like bullet points, media inserted into the slides, and an always changing display for them to follow along with.
We know now that PowerPoint has limited effects on a student’s learning experience. Especially for students who are of a young age, games are much more interesting, and even things like counting decimal points or learning ratios can be made fun through simple games available on Smart Exchange. With a variety to choose from, students can compete one on one, in small groups, or together as entire class against a clock in time trial activities, all utilizing visuals and colors that make it look more like a video game and less like a lesson. This has been an incredibly innovative way for SmartBoards to make their mark. For years, games were thought of as time wasters and things students daydreamed about during class. Now, they are a part of class, and often a way to get students excited about curriculum and lessons.
Content Evolves
SmartBoard technology and Smart Exchange’s wide variety of capabilities and offerings have transformed the way content is delivered in the classroom. K-12 funding is not always stable, and some schools do not have money for classroom tablets or laptops. Now, a SmartBoard can serve as a class’ tablet that everyone can use, and games act as a way to incentivize learning and attention.
Whether you are teaching Kindergarten students how to count to 10 or middle school students the basics of algebra, there are no limits to the effect math games from Smart Exchange can have on their ability to interact in the classroom like never before.
Taylor is a freelance SEO copywriter and blogger. His areas of expertise include technology, pop culture, and marketing.
