Paul Hooker, Professor of Chemistry

What?

The SMART Board is a touch sensitive board. With a computer image projected on the board, you can simply press on its large, touch-sensitive surface to access and control any application.  Paul uses the SMART Board to teach using application such as Adobe Acrobat, Excel, and the World Wide Web.

Why?

Paul used to use transparent overheads so that he could write on the transparencies as the class worked on problems. Now, with the SMART Board, Paul can easily write directly on whatever application he is using (MS Word, Acrobat Reader, or the Internet.) Rather than going from the projector, to the computer console, to the projected image on the screen, he can easily alternate from one application to another by simply touching the SMART Board. Paul said that the SMART Board can add flexibility to teaching. Paul said, "A PowerPoint Presentation is fixed and rigid, and if a brilliant idea occurs to you or a student, you have to turn the presentation off to continue in the new direction. With the SMART Board, you can quickly add to the presentation or move to a different application. It allows for more student directed learning."

How?

Paul had seen a presentation of the SMART Board last year when the science department purchased it. But he didn't start using the new board right away. But when Paul discovered how easy it was to use and to teach with, he began using the SMART Board in nearly all of his classes. Paul's students had seen it used before, and so some of them helped make sense of what was going on. It has taken some time to scan his overhead transparencies. But, with the help of the FTC Workstudy, Paul has been able to convert nearly all of his transparencies to PDF's that he can display on the screen. Paul said the SMART Board is simple to use and easy to learn.