arra investing in the future

Investing in the Future

How SMART solutions help you meet American Recovery and Reinvestment Act objectives

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2 | InveST Ing In THe FuTuRe

Improve learning for all. Race to the top.It’s a time of great opportunity for education. It’s a time for careful planning and complex decision-making as you form strategies for using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding. The decisions you make today will affect your district’s performance for years to come. But the solutions you choose must result in immediate improvements. They must drive results now and in the future. Young people’s ability to compete and succeed in a global economy is at stake.

So choosing a technology company that has earned the respect of educators around the world is a wise decision. And SMART Technologies is just that company. educators have made SMART the global leader in the interactive whiteboard category – they have been turning to us since we invented the interactive whiteboard nearly 20 years ago. And educators keep choosing SMART because our products are easy to use and they are proven to drive results.

now, nearly 6 of every 10 interactive whiteboards in u.S. classrooms come from SMART, according to Futuresource Consulting, a leading global research company that has tracked interactive whiteboard shipments for almost 9 years.

In the pages that follow, you’ll learn how SMART solutions meet ARRA funding requirements. You’ll discover how our solutions can help you achieve immediate and long-term results and enable your students to achieve higher standards. You’ll also see how our solutions help you improve teacher effectiveness, enable high-quality assessment and improve learning for all students. To help you make the best choice, we offer a wealth of research and resources that demonstrate SMART’s leadership in enabling the extraordinary transformation of learning environments through the use of innovative technology.

“SMART products encourage

academic achievement

through challenging

technology-based lessons

that help my students

feel more engaged in the

learning process.”

Anthony Mullen, 2009 national

Teacher of the Year, ARCH School,

greenwich, Connecticut

SMART leadership facts

• Over 25 million teachers and students

in 900,000 classrooms worldwide use

SMART products

• SMART products are sold in more than

175 countries

• Futuresource Consulting identifies SMART

as the interactive whiteboard category

leader in the united States and most other

major geographies

• SMART’s category share is nearly

two-and-a-half times that of its closest

competitor and more than all interactive

whiteboard companies combined



Get ahead quicklyAt SMART, our products are intuitive for the novice and the tech-savvy user alike. Teachers tell us every day that they love using our products to engage digital-age students. That’s why adoption is so rapid. And that’s why choosing SMART helps ensure more immediate results.

Reach for higher standards SMART products give you a head start on reform, and then grow with you, helping achieve your goals and objectives. SMART solutions include innovative products, professional development, resources and support, so you have everything needed to successfully and efficiently implement technology-enabled learning environments.

Teachers around the world will confirm that our products provide concrete ways to move toward more rigorous education standards through the following:

• Increasing student motivation and engagement – Products like the SMART Board™ interactive whiteboard bring media-rich lessons to the classroom, enabling teachers to reach students in more visual, real-world ways

• enhancing assessment – Our interactive response system, SMART Response, is a key tool for tracking student progress and understanding. Its gradebook software makes it easy to conduct meaningful assessments and evaluate data, giving teachers the information they need to help all students succeed.

• Improving learning outcomes – Research consistently shows that interactive whiteboards raise student achievement levels in a wide range of subject areas

• Preparing students for careers in a knowledge-based marketplace – SMART solutions are excellent vehicles for developing critical thinking, collaboration and problem-solving skills

• Keeping students in school – Many administrators make a direct connection between increased attendance levels and the use of SMART products in the classroom

“Teachers who had 35

years’ experience but very

little technology skills are

now doing integrated

technology lessons in

their classrooms with

SMART Board interactive

whiteboards. It’s pretty

phenomenal.”

David C. Harding, Superintendent,

Willington Public Schools,

Willington, Connecticut

“I have students who are

reluctant to complete

coursework on paper,

but will spend an

hour and a half totally

engaged doing the

same assignment when

using the SMART Board

interactive whiteboard.”

Charlotte Bartsch, Language Arts

Teacher, Southeast High School,

Wichita, Kansas



Expect results in targeted areasBecause SMART products engage students in so many different ways, they are key to your success in many of the areas targeted in the ARRA funding guidelines.

Special educationSMART products support an inclusive learning environment for students of all learning styles through the following:

• Achievement for all – The SMART Board interactive whiteboard meets universal design for learning standards

• even those who can’t hold a pen can write on and interact with content using the finger-touch capability of the SMART Board

• Students with autism benefit from the strong focal point the board creates. The SMART Board interactive whiteboard helps them improve learning and communication skills and offers a nonverbal option for answering questions.

• The board’s touch-sensitive surface turns learning into a more participatory experience, making students eager to learn

• Meaningful assessment – Teachers can gain immediate insight into understanding and progress with SMART Response Le, an interactive response system designed for use with special education students

Early childhood educationSMART solutions are ideal for very young learners because they help teachers do the following:

• Convey concepts easily to preliterate children – Information and instructions can be communicated through images and sound on the SMART Board interactive whiteboard

• Help students develop fine and gross motor skills – Many teachers use activities like the handwriting tool to help young children master basic writing skills

• Develop collaboration skills – The SMART Table, a multitouch, multiuser interactive learning center, comes with interactive learning activities that require students to work together

• engage young students easily – Learning is fun, active and literally hands-on because students can control the SMART Board interactive whiteboard and SMART Table with their fingers

• Assess young students’ work – Teachers can gain immediate insight into learning with SMART Response Le, which caters to children who may not read yet

SMART Table

SMART Response



Higher educationWhen SMART solutions are incorporated into lecture halls, research facilities and classrooms, they help college instructors and students prepare for a future based on innovation and technology. And the integration of our solutions into education faculties helps ensure the effectiveness of tomorrow’s teachers. SMART solutions give faculty and students technology that facilitates the following:

• Flexible teaching and learning environments – SMART conferencing software supports distance learning and remote collaboration

• Integration – Our products work with other technology, including laptops and personal digital assistants

• Increased productivity – The Sympodium™ interactive pen display, which is ideal for large lecture halls, and the SMART Board interactive whiteboard help instructors save preparation time through reusing content, capturing lecture notes and uploading lesson material after class

1:1 learningToday’s teachers need flexibility to make learning more student-focused and give students the skills they’ll need in a global workforce. SMART solutions help teachers and students shift between different types of learning environments, particularly between individual computer work and collaboration with peers, through the following products:

• SMART Board interactive whiteboards and personal computing devices – Allow teachers to switch easily between whole-class, small-group and individual instruction

• SMART Classroom Suite – Manage classrooms, create and deliver interactive lessons, and assess student understanding anytime during class. Students can use the suite to create and manage their own multimedia content, take notes, collaborate with other students and share files with teachers.

SMART Board

interactive whiteboard

SMART Classroom Suite



STEM instructionSMART products play an important role in improving instruction in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by engaging students in inquiry, discovery and learning. Here are some of the ways our products assist STeM instruction:

• Improve learning outcomes by helping students interact with, visualize and understand difficult concepts

• enable teachers to perform digital science experiments, thereby reducing preparation time and safety concerns

• enable teachers to integrate their own math and science software with the SMART Board interactive whiteboard

• Provide software that helps students understand math – Our soon-to-be launched SMART notebook Math software gives teachers dozens of ways to make concepts more visual and interactive

• Assess understanding instantly, and track test results and student performance with SMART Response

Develop excellence in teachingAs President Obama stated, “America’s future depends on its teachers.” Because SMART solutions open so many ways to make learning more interactive and student-centered, they give teachers more freedom to be innovative. SMART solutions offer a range of product- and classroom-based benefits that help teachers excel in the following ways:

• ease of use – Intuitive products that encourage rapid adoption and let teachers spend more time teaching, not managing technology

• Productivity – education software that helps cut down on preparation time • Flexibility – Products that support whole-class, small-group and individual

learning• Interoperability – Products that are designed to be compatible with rapidly

evolving technologies• Assessment – effective and responsive ways to assess student work• Digital resources – extensive banks of resources that make lessons engaging

for today’s learners

According to research

A 2008 study conducted by researchers

at the university of new Brunswick,

Canada, shows that combining relevant

professional development with the use

of SMART Board interactive whiteboards

improves the education experience for

both teachers and students.

Health and Education Research Group.

Summary of “SMART Board Technology

Integration in the Inclusive Classroom –

Phase II Progress Report,” University of

New Brunswick, Canada, 2008

Proven results

A full complement of research links,

white papers and case studies is available

on smarttech.com/arra. The website

includes the following:

• Research on how SMART solutions

drive student results

• White papers about education

technology products and issues

• Testimonials from educators on the

effectiveness of SMART solutions

in early education, 1:1 learning,

STeM courses, higher education and

special education



Professional developmentProfessional development is critical to the success of any implementation, but particularly those that happen quickly and on a large scale. SMART training and professional development programs help you ensure that your implementation leads to the effective use of classroom technology. We offer flexible programs for everyone involved in the process, from teacher to technology specialist to administrator.

For teachers, we offer not only a wide range of product use training, but programs that unite pedagogy and technology. These professional development programs support teachers as they learn to integrate technology and digital content into their everyday lesson plans. As a result, teachers become adept at using technology products to help students of all learning styles understand the material even better.

For staff charged with overseeing your implementation, we offer Train-the-Trainer courses that help technology specialists run effective training programs for teachers. In addition, we provide technical service and installation training, so your IT specialists are fully equipped to support your school’s SMART products.

For administrators, we offer courses that focus on leadership skills, best practices and change management, so your implementation results in continuous improvement for teachers and students. We also provide a series of seminars and virtual events where you can share ideas on implementation and learn from education technology experts.

Because peer support also helps teachers learn to use technology and teach with it effectively, we offer myriad opportunities to learn collaboratively through our popular online communities.

According to research

A report from the education and

Social Research Institute at Manchester

Metropolitan university, a highly ranked

research facility, proves that increasing

students’ exposure to interactive

whiteboards through curriculum

integration has a significant and

positive impact on student achievement,

especially in mathematics and science.

British Educational Communications and

Technology Agency (Becta). “Evaluation

of the Primary Schools Whiteboard

Expansion Project,” Manchester

Metropolitan University, United

Kingdom, 2007


“The long-term benefit

for a district that buys

SMART Boards is that the

technology will be there

for the long haul.”

Bill Landis, executive Director for

Instructional Technology in the Lubbock

Independent School District, Texas


Results for the long term The technology company that you choose to help architect a vision for technology-enabled learning environments should do the following:

• Support student achievement• Offer professional development opportunities to help educators drive results• Provide curriculum-correlated content and resources• Provide easy-to-use products with proven impact on learning outcomes• ensure convenient access to technical support and training

SMART solutions offer an excellent return on investment, both in the short and long term. They are modular, flexible, interoperable and future-proofed. Years from now, your teachers and students will still be seeing benefits from your initial investment in SMART products. Thanks to the durability of our products, their ease of use and low total cost of ownership, a SMART implementation is quick, practical and effective.

The proof is in the products – SMART solutions get results. Our products are recognized by educators everywhere for their ability to meet the technology standards of today’s learning environments. They are found in more than 900,000 classrooms around the world.

That’s what it takes to rise to President Obama’s challenge – new standards for teaching and learning. A new generation of students who can compete and succeed in today’s global marketplace means a new investment in the future.

Invest in the future nowIf you’d like to find out more about how SMART solutions can help you meet American Recovery and Reinvestment Act objectives, we invite you to visit our website at www.smarttech.com/arra. Or call us toll free at 1.888.42.SMART to speak directly with a SMART representative.

© 2010 SMART Technologies uLC. All rights reserved. SMART Board, Sympodium, smarttech, the SMART logo and all SMART taglines are trademarks or registered trademarks of SMART Technologies uLC in the u.S. and/or other countries. 11602-09 MKTg-246_rev0

SMART TechnologiesToll Free 1.866.518.6791 (u.S./Canada)

or +1.403.228.5940

“SMART products provide

teachers with the ability to

create and teach lessons

that promote an engaged

and interactive learning

environment for both the

teacher and students.”

Brian E. Stiles, Math Teacher,

glen Crest Middle School,

glen ellyn, Illinois


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