7 things to do instead of buying a SMART Board

From my POV, SMART Boards and similar interactive whiteboards are the most overhyped pieces of educational technology out there (see a previous piece about the topic here). Don't spend $1000+ on them unless you are going to get $1000+ of value out of them! Evaluate your desired pedagogy (teacher-centered or learner-centered), your desired access to technology for students (occasional or ubiquitous), and your desired educational outcomes (emphasis on content or on learning school-specific tech tools). Once you've done that, here are some purchases to consider instead:

1. An ELMO document camera ($500+) - Instead of YOU creating SMART Board tasks for students to do, have student work at the center of your whole-class instruction. Share successes, suggest improvements, and collaborate on problem-solving. You're going to use it very often and for more real-world tasks than most interactive whiteboard lessons.

2. A magnetic board ($35) - All those great sorting and classifying lessons you see on interactive whiteboards can be done on the cheap with a magnetic blackboard (or other board) and some magnetic tape, which can be found at any supply store. And when kids bump the board, you don't even have to stop the lesson for three minutes to reset your projector!

3. A set of small whiteboards and whiteboard markers for your class ($20 if you buy showerboard at a local hardware store) - Cheaper than a PRS unit, a small whiteboard for each student allows for constant feedback on what they already know, their opinions about the topic, and what questions they have. Old dress socks work great as whiteboard erasers.

4. A few iPod nanos ($450 for 3) - Imagine having students work in small groups to watch videos on topics that are relevant to them, or being able to borrow a personal video player (which is really what nanos are) to extend their learning outside of class through teacher-selected resources. You can even record class sessions (on audio and/or video) for kids who miss a lesson.

5. Binders for each student (approximately $1 per student) - I am amazed at how much great work gets tossed out, never to be reviewed or seen again, simply because teachers don't encourage students to organize and file their work in a binder. When students leave your semester or school year with a binder full of their accomplishments, their graphic organizers, and their notes on learning, they have a permanent record of your course's value.

6. Google accounts for all students (free) - Students can keep in touch with what you're doing through a class blog and calendar, collaborate through Google Docs, and keep up to date on content-relevant RSS feeds through Google Reader. If your school blocks Gmail and other webmail, consider creating dummy Gmail accounts from home to set your students up with a Google account outside of the school filter.

7. Classtools.net (free) - If you're buying an interactive whiteboard, it's assumed you also have a projector and a computer since those are required to make your big expensive new toy do anything. But if you have a projector and a computer already, you don't really need the board it's projected on to be interactive. Just have students interact on the computer while it's on the projector! Classtools.net offers many great tools for creating graphic organizers, conducting class games, and so much more.

Photo by Duplicom.