By Emily Hecker / Staff Reporter (2007-2008)
Almost 70 new Smartboards will be installed throughout the district thanks to a grant from the Bexley Education Foundation.
The $360,000 grant, along with an additional contribution from the district’s budget, will allow every classroom in the district to be equipped with a Smartboard by the beginning of the 2008-09 school year, Principal John Kellogg said.
“It’s a pretty remarkable project,” Kellogg said.
Preparation for this acquisition includes talking to different vendors to find the best prices and measuring rooms to decide where to place the Smartboards, Kellogg said. “It will take time, and it will also take budget,” Kellogg said.
Director of Technology Paul Ross said that the project involves a lot of time and logistics, including measuring every room receiving a Smartboard twice.
Kellogg also said that the high school has been in close contact with the BEF since the beginning of the Smartboard project.
“It’s a partnership,” Kellogg said. “It’s not just them giving us money and that’s it.”
One main concern has been teaching the staff how to use this technology, Kellogg said.
The school plans to host brown bag lunch sessions to let the staff discuss their experiences with the Smartboards and learn how they are utilized differently in each department, Kellogg said.
“What you use [a Smartboard] for in a ninth-grade English class might look different than in an AP Biology class,” Kellogg said.
Kellogg said that it will be harder to train the elementary school teachers due to the fact that they haven’t had the same exposure to Smartboards that high school and middle school teachers have had.
Ross said that the school plans to have 10 teachers earn Master Level Certification. He said that this gives them an in-depth understanding of the uses of the Smartboard and the ability to teach others.
“The training isn’t hard,” Ross said. “The challenge lies in exploring all the opportunities. The Smartboards have a huge capacity which isn’t always utilized.”
Kellogg said another concern he has addressed is the modern technology in a rapidly advancing world.
“I don’t see the basic premise becoming obsolete,” Kellogg said.
Ross agrees with Kellogg that the Smartboards will not become outdated.
“Technology keeps changing,” Ross said. “But the basic components of the Smartboard stay the same, even when the software changes.”
Kellogg said that very few nearby schools have undergone such a complete transformation to the use of Smartboards.
“Among public school systems, I think you’ll find we’re pretty unique,” Kellogg said.
Ross said that Smartboards have been around for well over 10 years.
He added that the Smartboard technology has only become more advanced over time.
“They have the potential to replace chalkboards and whiteboards because they have all those features and more,” Ross said.
Although the district has been using Smartboards for a few years, Ross said there is still much for the district to learn.
“We’re at the tip of the iceberg in terms of things we can do,” Ross said. “There’s just so much there.”
Biology teacher Scott Logsdon said that he is a big fan of the Smartboard, which he uses for presentation of notes, Excel spreadsheets, verbally recorded lessons and much more.
“I like the interaction and manipulation of notes, data and images,” Logsdon said. “It makes teaching more fun.”
Sophomore Christyan Hertlein said that he also likes the idea of the school’s full transfer over to Smartboards.
“I like them because they’re such a new technology,” Hertlein said.
Hertlein said that his teachers use their Smartboards to show movies, present notes as well as homework answers and also to write and save lessons.
“I think it’s better when teachers get to use Smartboards and don’t have to rely on old technology,” Hertlein said.
Logsdon said he thinks the grant is a very nice gift from the BEF.
“[The BEF’s] goal is to do extraordinary things,” Logsdon said. “This is a very extraordinary thing.”