by Anne Kathrine Lundgaard Astorp

I have always thought that a piece of chalk would be a thing that students could use to make fun of the teacher by replacing it with a piece of candy so it would make the most awful sound when used on the blackboard, but no, things have changed – at least in Denmark and who knows which country will be next?

What is a Smart Board?

A new era of technological tools have been established in the Danish schools and both teachers and students have to get used to utilising these new and developed possibilities. The evolution is a daily term called “Smart Board”, which in short, is an electronic blackboard that can be combined with a whole group of computers and thus becomes the interrelation between the teacher, the students, and the World Wide Web. This new technology has opened up a lot of possibilities but there are also a lot of new obstacles which have to be taken into consideration in order to make it most beneficial for all parts involved. Seen from the students’ perspective, this innovation is a straightforward tool to utilise as most of them are already very familiar with the “computer world”. In comparison, it is more the teachers who sometimes struggle to become familiarised with utilising and incorporating this new technology in their lectures. But what overshadow both parts are the many positive aspects. Actually, the reason to why it is called a Smart Board and not an electronic blackboard is the various methods it can be utilised for which is just one of the reasons to why it by many primarily is seen as a very positive development within the academic sector.

A new world of opportunities

Just to mention a few of the Smart Boards’ possibilities: it can both work internally and externally, meaning all the programs a “normal” computer has can be shown on the Smart Board as well as it can be connected to the Internet, and it can be connected to an unlimited number of computers. It is especially the external possibilities that are of much benefit because this will enable the students to gain the most recent facts, for example by utilising Google Earth in the geography lectures. In accordance, notes from both teachers and students can be shared which is very beneficial for exams, but also in order to make the teachers aware of how active each student has been during a lecture. Besides functioning as a screen it still has the function of an “old fashioned” blackboard as it can be written on with both fingers and special pens.

Positive or negative development?

Besides the positive aspects, the teachers also have some concerns regarding the Smart Board. These concerns or issues are based on the possibility on decrease in the direct interaction between student and teacher, as the students tend to focus more on their laptop than on the teacher. In that perspective, some teachers have chosen only to utilise the Smart Board when it will benefit both parts. Another aspect in this technological development is the price. Unfortunately, it is quite expensive and thus there is still a long way to go before the Smart Board will become a natural part of every class room in Denmark. All in all this new development is defiantly something that will keep on evolving and in the future make the margin between the academic and the technological sector much smaller.