Company’s position on UK standard consistent with goal of making ICT resources more accessible
LONDON, UK --- October 31, 2008 --- SMART Technologies announces that it supports and will actively participate in efforts by Becta to develop a common file format for interactive whiteboards scheduled to be implemented in the second half of 2009. A common file format allows teachers and students using interactive whiteboards in the United Kingdom to create lessons and other learning resources, and then use them on any brand of interactive whiteboard. With the new standard, teachers and students will be able to access and share their resources regardless of the hardware they use.
SMART has been a longtime advocate of sharing ICT resources. Its software products are developed according to widely used open standards, including SCORM 2004 (Sharable Content Object Reference Model), IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and Learning Object Metadata and SVG 1.0 (Scalable Vector Graphics). SMART developed SMART Notebook, the collaborative learning software that ships with many of SMART’s products, so teachers and students can save their lessons in commonly used file formats on any computer. Supported formats include Web pages, PDFs, image files and Microsoft PowerPoint. Notebook interactive viewer, which can be downloaded at no cost, enables users to view SMART Notebook content on any computer and to present the material on any brand of interactive whiteboard or interactive display. The SMART Development Network helps developers create integrated, interactive content and software. The SMART Software Accreditation program lists hundreds of multimedia and software resources. And the SMART Exchange supplements numerous independent SMART user communities providing online forums for the sharing of ideas and lessons.
“The ability to share learning resources is a cornerstone for the successful implementation of ICT in the classroom,” says Nancy Knowlton, SMART’s CEO. “Our decision to support and be actively involved in the implementation of a common file format is consistent with the approach we’ve taken over the past 20 years and we are excited about the possibilities this initiative represents for classrooms across the UK.”
SMART in the UK
Most teachers using interactive whiteboards in the United Kingdom use SMART Board™ interactive whiteboards and SMART Notebook software. In Q3 of 2008, SMART enjoyed a 61.2 percent share of the interactive whiteboard product category, more than twice that of its closest competitor. The data comes from Futuresource Consulting, an international research firm that has tracked interactive whiteboard sales for the past 8 years.
