“The Promethean Board allows us to meet our student’s technological capabilities and our curriculum standards, while meeting their individual learning needs.” These are the words of University of South Carolina Professor and past elementary school educator, Dr. Cecilia Toole. With over a decade and a half of experience in the classroom and sharing her invaluable knowledge to the USC School of Education, her opinion strikes me as a incredible endorsement for the Promethean Board.
This past year, I was given the privilege of working with the University of South Carolina’s School of Education as they installed new technology and upgraded their teacher education programs to include the Promethean Board. Created by Promethean Inc. to incorporate the benefits of a white board, an overhead projector, an audio/visual system, and incorporate the infinitely adaptable technologies of the computer; Promethean boards are poised to change the future of education as we know it. The incorporation of this technology enables educators to “create, customize and integrate text, images, quizzes and tests, web, video and audio content,” so they can more easily enthrall students and inspire them to both pay attention and participate more readily in their own educations. It also makes it easier to accommodate several different learning styles. It also allows seamless integration of the Internet to the entire classroom, creating a truly “global”, online classroom.
The visual learner is able to watch as the teacher manipulates images, shapes, colors, and words, either on the specially designed electromagnetic board itself through use of an Activpen (which includes all the functionality of a mouse), or by using a convenient PC nearby. The sound system allows for the most distant student in the classroom to use his audio learning capabilities to full effect. In addition, the highly durable board and simple operating system allows for children to participate in their learning by using the Promethean Board themselves.
Accompanied by an ActivSlate, a person can manipulate images, write new text, and make changes no matter where in the classroom they are located. Wireless technology makes this mini-board highly convenient when interacting with students at their desks, while being small enough to aid education without hindering the teacher.
Also available is software allowing for a virtual student response system designed to make student assessment a breeze, incorporating PCs, laptops, or other hand held devices. Other software allows for a simple transition for schools to incorporate their existing lesson plans and enhance students learning capability within weeks. And with the Internet from expanding educational resources to infinite proportions, the educational institutions of the world should leap at the opportunity to make this investment.
My own experience with the system? I was astounded at the ease of the system. A simple point and click interface and I was creating pictures and graphs with the Activpen. If I needed more space, I could change the size of the image I created, or move it anywhere on the board I wanted. There is no longer any need to erase anything before the slowest writer in the class has a chance to read and/or copy what is on the board. The projection system allowed me to show images to my audience from the Internet as I surfed for valuable information, and the impressive sound system kept the class entertained as I played the “Alvin and the Chipmunks” movie soundtrack during downtime.
The verdict is out; the Promethean Board is the future of education. As adaptable and upgradeable as the computer it is linked to, expect the Promethean board to change the face of education in classrooms across the world for the next years to come.
