SMART donation helps promote biosciences to thousands of students
CALGARY, Alberta - March 24, 2008 - SMART Technologies announces the donation of a Sympodium™ interactive pen display, AirLiner™ wireless slate and Notebook™ collaborative learning software to Connecticut BioBus Educational Programs. The donation will allow thousands of students in grades 4–12 across Connecticut to have interactive biosciences learning experiences. City by city, the newly equipped BioBus will travel across the state to foster enthusiasm for the biosciences with hands-on experimentation and digital learning materials. Students will work in small groups at laboratory stations as a staff scientist uses SMART products to lead a lesson. The BioBus will be unveiled at the National Science Teachers’ Association conference in Boston on March 27.
The Connecticut BioBus Educational Programs are the result of collaboration among local educators, state representatives and the biotech industry, which has a strong presence in Connecticut and is committed to developing young scientists. Thanks to products provided by SMART, students across the state will experience the benefits of a state-of-the-art mobile laboratory at a fraction of what it would cost to equip every school with a similar resource. For scheduled visits, the BioBus will arrive free of charge at a school, and students in grades 4–12 will perform experiments. The staff scientist will use the Sympodium interactive pen display and AirLiner slate to teach a lesson while students follow his or her notations on an LCD screen. BioBus designers also recognized the benefits of Notebook software, which is a strong platform for developing and delivering interactive, engaging lessons with video, sound, graphics and text.
“We are excited about getting SMART products on the Connecticit BioBus,” says Sarah Berke, director of Connecticut BioBus Educational Programs. “With Notebook software, we can streamline how we teach because we can integrate so many different activities. It is hard to move quickly around the bus when it is full of students because of space limitations, so AirLiner allows the teacher a high level of mobility when executing the lesson. We’re hoping the Connecticut BioBus helps develop the next generation of biotechnologists, and SMART Technologies has become an integral part of that process.”
“SMART products are versatile and have been adapted to suit many unique environments around the world,” says Nancy Knowlton, CEO of SMART. “Connecticut BioBus Educational Programs are important because they bring a state-of-the-art learning environment to students today while preparing them for the world of tomorrow.”
About CURE and BioBus Educational Programs
Connecticut United for Research Excellence, Inc., or CURE (curenet.org), is a statewide, member-supported coalition of more than 100 educational and research institutions, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and other supporting businesses. It is dedicated to promoting the growth and increasing public understanding of biomedical research and science in Connecticut. CURE’s award-winning BioBus Educational Programs (http://ctbiobus.org) are a bioscience educational outreach service consisting of four parts: (1) a mobile science laboratory (Connecticut’s BioBus), (2) an equipment loan program (BioConnection), (3) custom-developed curricula, and (4) teacher professional development. The programs’ mission is to be a key bioscience education resource in Connecticut, igniting enthusiasm, understanding and support for science and technology. The goals of the programs are to provide comprehensive, state-of-the-art and interactive bioscience experiences for students, teachers and the general public; to serve as a nexus for knowledge transfer among formal science learning, higher education and industry; and to encourage students to pursue science careers. The programs, which are offered free of charge thanks to the continuing support of sponsors, have reached more than 445 schools and 56,000 students, and trained more than 775 teachers.
