Smartboard

Smartboard is not a website; it is a system and machine that teachers can use this machine to motivate students. This machine is similar to whiteboard, but this machine is smarter than whiteboard. It has more functions than whiteboard. It not only can be used as a whiteboard, but also can be used as an online classroom.

How to use:

1.     Smartboard can be used as whiteboard or blackboard, but what teachers write on this board can be saved in the computer. Thus teachers can save what they write (note of this lesson) in class and post this note to their blogs and students can download or review these notes. In this way, students do not need to make any notes in class. They can only concentrate on what teacher is talking about.

2.     Smartboard can provide teachers to make some tasks with clues. Teachers can use these tasks to motivate students to learn new words. Teachers can provide the Chinese meaning of the new words for Chinese students, and let students write down the word, and check whether they write the right words or not.

3.     Teachers also can find many funny pictures in smartboard. Some pictures can be used to teach children English, but some pictures can be used for students to make a presentation.

4.     Smartboard provides a pen, called ‘magic pen’. If teachers draw a square, the part in this square will be magnified. If teachers draw a circle, the part out of this circle will be dark, and the part in this circle will be stressed.

Advantages:

1.     It can save the pages that teachers used in class. In this way, students can review the notes anytime. It will save students’ time to make notes in class, and they do not need to focus on the notes rather than the teachers’ explanations.

2.     Teachers can use this to motivate students to make presentations in public. Since this system only can be used by one person every time. Thus teachers can ask student to prepare a presentation before class and show their presentation in the entire class.

Disadvantages:

1.     I admit that sometimes this system is good, but this system makes some simple questions into complex. For example, this system provides teachers to make their own task, such as making sentence with disordered words. While most teachers refer to give students some papers with different words and let them make these words into a sentence.

2.     This system can be used by one person every time. Thus teachers cannot let students to work in pairs or work in groups. Or this system only be used by teacher, it will be same with a projector.