I am currently working on producing an educational video on best practices in teaching for teachers that will be aired on cable television. Last week I shot video and photography for the content of the video and while shooting in multiple classrooms, I couldn’t help but notice that all of the teachers were using interactive smartboards in their lessons. Although the concept and interactivity with smartboards are cool, they are a pricey 1-5,000, which is a lot of money with tight education budgets these days. I had a conversation with another teacher and we both agreed that smarboards were overrated and teachers are not effectively using “old” technologies to their fullest potential to increase learning in the classroom.

For example, some teachers are not effectively using computers, projectors, and the art of giving an effective lecture. A lot of them do not even know that in the PowerPoint presentation mode, you can freely draw on the slides, similar to a smartboard. Too hard to draw with your mouse? Get a drawing tablet and draw with the pen. Also, tablet PCs are becoming cheaper and you can simply connect yours to projector and use it in a similar, more cost efficient way.

At this time, I feel smartboards are relatively new and overpriced. Over time, they will become more affordable with additional features. Although, if the school has the money, these smartboards defiantly have the potential to make learning more interactive and fun…but it all depends on who is holding the pen.

Oh…I am a big fan of the Wii and Johnny Lee has enabled his Wii remote as a tool to add even more inactivity to whiteboards.