Interactive Whiteboards, Smart or promethean? Options

[Bungalow]

We are going to have an interactive whiteboard fitted in our classroom during the Easter Holidays. I am v. excited but my ICT Manager has asked me which I would like - Smart or promethean. He thinks smart will be best for FS (unlike rest of the school who have promethean.) Apparently you can touch the screen and 'brush' it etc

The trouble is I really don't have any experience of whitebaords. Any helpful tips or recommendations?

Also would you recommend placing the board quite low down so that the children can easily reach it? Are there any disadvantages to this?

Hope someone can help!

PS I have 'searched' for previous posts and read the stuff with interest but it wasn't clear which type/make of board people were using.

[Gater]

Definitely opt for the Smart boards - they're ace!!!! Win hands down in my opinion - and the children love them too!!!

[Lola]

We have a smartboard too and i agree they are excellent. Iwould have it placed as low down as possible. Ours is fairly low but not low enough so we have had to have a little stage built in front of it which is not ideal.

[Marion]

Agree SMART boards any day.......... mine is as low as the installers could put it but its still a little high for nursery children to reach everything.

[les346]

Would agree Smart is the best needs to be low but advise you use an object eg a flower or a drum stick as little fingers find it hard .You can also download Smart software on to home computer so you can make your own interactive material. I am using the Snowman CD interactivly at the moment the children lve it Foundation 1/2 teacher.

[saraholl]

hi, as a school we went for promethean (reception to year 6) we agreed it was best to have continuity throught the school and i must say that i agree! am ICT co-ordinator and carried out lots of research including visiting other schools etc before we decided which board to go for as a school

even though smart have the benefit of being able to use any tools - there are some drawbacks - if children rest their hand or lean on the board then mixed messages are sent. Also found the promethean software to be much more child friendly and accesible by all - we have promethean boards in every classroom now and children are very confident - it is used all day from self registering - whole class - group teaching and child intitited activity - a definite vote for promethean!! if you want any of the research notes that we made - just email me!

[saraholl]

ps - i wouldn't recommend mixing board types through the school - the amount that the children use the boards and operate them independently in FS will cause some probs for year one teachers i feel!

[mundia]

We were just haveing this discussion last week Bungalow and we have opted for smart boards too. I think Sara has a good point about making the whole school the same if they are being put in all classrooms, and scne we already have 2 smart boards we decided to go that way.

We did have a discussion also about the projectors. We have been advised to buy the NEC projector because if ceiling mounted with the board very low on the wall, its the best one that doesnt distort the image. (this was the engineer telling us this not the sales man but when he started talking keystone effect I think I fell asleep). Does anyone have experience of this or was he talking rubbish?

[marie67uk]

We have a combination of boards, but it would be much better if all the boards in our school were the same sort. We have Promethean in N, R/1, 1/2, 4,5 and Smart in 3 and a strange Tesco deal Smart class board (rubbish!). The pens that you use with Promethean have taken some bashing, but they are replaceable. I've found it useful to have a pen so there is always 1 person who is the 'board leader' and useful for turn taking. From N upwards the children manage to pen OK. The software on Promethean is more user friendly and useful than Smart.
We wondered about Smart in the younger classes bacuase of the 'touch' issue but still went for Promethean and were glad!

[Zim]

saraholl-how do you use your whiteboard for self registering? sounds interesting!

[Beckyann]

Hi
I think it's best to stick with the same type of board as you can share software. We used to have 1 smartboard, but it was removed and we now have promethean in all classes (infant school).
I think promethean boards are brillant and the Active Primary Software is great, there are many fantastic flip charts available and I couldn't go back to smart. I teach in Reception and my board is installed quite low down on the wall.
You won't know how you survived without an interactive whiteboard!

[saraholl]

Hi!

We self register with a preprepared flipchart - i can attach it for those of you with ActivPrimary2 - children come in and drag their name from one side of the board titles - we are not here yet - to the other sideof the baord titled - we are ready - very simple yet effective system!!

We went for the projectors that the promethean people supplied when they came in - they provided the projector, board and sound system and speakes and wired it all up through the ceiling - would also recomend that you invest in some video players - we picked them up for 30 each from Argos - and have them in your classroom ready - the fitters then wired these up as part of the system for watching videos on the whiteboard - an invaluable resource!

from someone who has used both types of board - i do agree that the promethean is better - for children of all ages - have used both with a range of aged children!

good luck!

[marie67uk]

I had forgotten about the video aspect too. we have laptops attached to our whoteboards, so DVDs and CDs can be played on them too. Prometheam have a good website where you can download lots of prepared flipcharts. I have done that self-registation in the past - thanks for reminding me!
I tend to have a visual timetable on dispay when the children come into school.

[margaretallen]

thought you might be interested to learn about the new system that Promethean have brought out. It is a board and projector all attached as one and you can move it up and down on a specially created system.

Go here for a look : http://www.prometheanworld.com/uk/html/uks...d+2/index.shtml