Florida school district equips classrooms with more than 100 SMART Board interactive whiteboards
CALGARY, ALBERTA --- January 25, 2007 --- SMART Technologies Inc. announces that Florida’s City of Cape Coral Charter School District has standardized on SMART products and has installed more than 100 SMART Board™ interactive whiteboards. Following a formal bidding process, which included submissions from manufacturers around the world, teachers and administrators agreed that SMART products would make the greatest contribution to the district, for reasons such as the unsurpassed durability of SMART products, customer support and SMART’s five-year warranty. A two-phase installation took place over 16 months, outfitting Oasis Elementary, Christa McAuliffe Elementary and Oasis Middle School with a SMART Board interactive whiteboard in every classroom. In addition to the interactive whiteboards, teachers throughout the district have access to SMART Board software, which includes hundreds of standardized interactive lesson activities, more than 6,000 learning objects and links to a wide range of tutorials. SMART Board interactive whiteboards and SMART Board software have become the basis of the district’s learning process for both students and teachers.
The high-performing charter school district in Cape Coral, Florida, has become a world-class leader in providing a technology-rich learning environment for students. SMART products are used in all subjects and assignments, including math, science, music composition and presentations, and they facilitate student collaboration within the classroom. Teachers throughout the district have commented that when they use the SMART Board interactive whiteboard, students’ eyes light up and minds open as they gain a better understanding of lessons when course material is visually presented. Students throughout the district have reported that it’s easier to write on SMART Board interactive whiteboards than traditional whiteboards and learning is more fun. Other SMART products the district is currently evaluating include SynchronEyes™ classroom management software 7.0, an AirLiner™ wireless slate and a Sympodium™ interactive pen display.
“Motivation, opportunity and accessibility – that is why SMART Board technology has become such an integral part of my classroom,” says Amy Picciolo, a fourth-grade teacher at Oasis Charter Elementary School. “The visual appeal and easy manipulation motivates my students to produce, engage and participate. I can’t imagine my classroom without it.”
“After I used a SMART Number Cruncher lesson activity on the SMART Board interactive whiteboard in fourth-grade classrooms, instantly, students waved their hands excited in the air, and they were crying, ‘Pick me, pick me!’” says Todd Wynne, network support analyst at Cape Coral Charter School District. “I was amazed how the class instantly came to life, with students eagerly volunteering to participate.”
“With the shift from teacher- to student-centered learning, and the dramatic increase in worldwide demand for knowledge workers, many educators do not feel they can wait to introduce technology over a long period,” says Nancy Knowlton, SMART’s CEO. “Cape Coral Charter School District joins millions of students and teachers around the world who use SMART Board interactive whiteboards and other SMART products everyday to gain critical 21st-century teaching and learning skills.”
About SMART Board interactive whiteboards
The SMART Board interactive whiteboard is a large, touch-sensitive display. Connected to a computer and projector, the interactive whiteboard is like a giant computer screen that students and teachers simply touch to operate. Using their finger or a pen as a mouse, teachers and students can access and control any computer application, file or multimedia platform, including the Internet, CD-ROMs and DVDs. They can also write over applications in digital ink, then save their work for future study and review. The SMART Board interactive whiteboard engages students with diverse learning styles by providing both immediate access to a wide range of digital materials and a common focus for the entire class – not something easily achieved with other classroom technology products. It is the number one choice among primary and secondary school educators in more than 100 countries because it captures the imagination of students of all backgrounds and abilities in order to help them learn together, understand better and achieve more. For more information, visit www.smarttech.com/smartboard.
About City of Cape Coral Charter School
Cape Coral Charter School is an innovative K–8 public school designed, operated and committed to improving the academic performance of every student. It offers a strong academic program combined with comprehensive character education to create a positive learning environment. The high-performing charter school district in Cape Coral, Florida, has become a world-class leader in providing a technology-rich learning environment to the 1,400 enrolled students. Cape Coral Charter School consists of Oasis Elementary, which opened in August of 2005, Oasis Middle School and Christa McAuliffe Elementary School, which opened in Fall 2006. Every classroom has been equipped with a wall-mounted SMART Board interactive whiteboard. For more information, visit http://www.capecharterschools.org/.
