Whiteboards Engage Students

"I think every class should have one. It's like a computer game."

Photos by Rebecca Koenig/The Sun News. Tyqwine Ford uses a special pen to highlight words on the Activboard during Shelley Skipper's fifth grade grammar class at Daisy Elementary.

Daisy Elementary School teacher Shelley Skipper couldn't finish a question before students' hands shot up in her classroom Monday, the first day of class for Horry County Schools' only year-round school.

They were learning about nouns. A big white screen showed a cluster of images beside a grid with four categories: people, places, things and animals.

Students took turns going to the board and, using a pen-like tool, dragging the images into the right categories.

The interactive, futuristic whiteboard in Skipper's class is becoming the norm, not only at Daisy - which put 24 new boards to use Monday - but in schools throughout the Grand Strand and Brunswick County, N.C.

Educators praise it for its ability to engage increasingly tech-savvy students in learning, and kids say they love it because it's fun.

"I think every class should have one," said fifth-grader Hunter Bell. "It's like a computer game."

The boards are commonly called "SMART Boards" even though Horry County Schools uses the Alpharetta, Ga.-based Promethean brand rather than the SMART Technologies brand.

Teachers hook them up to their computers and use them to lead students in games, show videos and slide show presentations, and display Web sites.

They can also write, erase and highlight text on the touch-sensitive screen.

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"I think every class should have one. It's like a computer game."
The PTO likes them so much, it's raising money so that every class will have one.

Whiteboards Engage Students

"I think every class should have one. It's like a computer game."

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