December 2016

Volume 2 - Issue 7

Teaching Tips and Strategies:

Using SMART Boards in Classrooms to Engage
and Support Learning in Students with Disabilities

Looking for ideas to engage and improve learning in your students with diverse needs and abilities? Using a
SMART Board interactive white board in your classroom can be a beneficial tool for everyone - it offers multiple
ways to teach and interact with your students; and, it offers students with disabilities and special needs multiple ways
to learn material, express their ideas and demonstrate their understanding. By supporting an inclusive learning
environment, SMART Board technology can provide students of all abilities the opportunity to participate in
learning while at the same time meeting universal design for learning standards.

Here are some tips and techniques:

Keep It Interactive
By design, SMART Boards are interactive because of their touch-sensitive surface. Combine that with increased
visual stimulation, enhanced sound and video capacity, and the ability to create and adjust activities to adapt to a
student’s learning, and you can create a highly engaging teaching environment. With interactive lessons in reading,
math, science and more, you can customize lessons and address your students’ visual, auditory and kinesthetic
learning styles and teach to each student’s strengths and interests.
Using a SMART Board can help students with autism Teachers who have used interactive SMART Boards
improve communication skills through group report that students with special needs are more
collaboration. For students with physical disabilities and focused, more actively involved in the learning
those who cannot hold a pen or pencil, the SMART process and have made huge strides in learning. If
Board’s touch-sensitive surface enables them to write your school does not have a SMART Board, advocate
and interact with content using the finger-touch for one today.
capability. For students who have trouble using
traditional keyboards and mice, the touch and click
What is a SMART Board and how does it work?
ease allows them to interact with a computer and stay
engaged in the lesson. It is very rewarding to see a SMART Boards are large interactive whiteboards
student begin to initiate activities on their own as they that were invented in 1991 by SMART
get more comfortable with the technology. Technologies. The SMART Board uses touch
technology to detect user input, as compared to
Keep It Multi-Sensory mice and keyboards. A computer’s video output
Julia has always found that the more sensory systems is displayed by a projector onto the whiteboard,
are involved in learning, the more a student will which serves as a large touchscreen. For educational
remember. Since students with special needs frequently purposes, the interactive whiteboard mounts on a
respond well to visuals, the SMART Board takes this wall or sits on a floor stand and uses digital ink
one step further by projecting really large images. As a writing instruments for handwriting and drawing.
teacher, that means you can project worksheets, While most users do require some training, most
pictures for background knowledge or web-based people can walk up and start using a SMART
content for the entire class. Board immediately. A SMART Board does not
require any special software. It may be important to
A great example of this is teaching the solar system. note that the use of Windows based AAC devices
You can visually present information using large in Smart Classrooms is relatively new and related
images and color, highlight the text and read it aloud to Smart Technology’s introduction of Smart amp.
using corresponding audio. Make it interactive by For a student accessing the SMARTamp.com using
having the student come to the board, touch the a device that is Windows based, they must activate a
planet, pull it out and put it into a category such as link on SMART amp if they wish to futher explore
size. Students can even switch to the digital pencil on the activity on a different site.
the board and write the name of planet with their
fingertips. Those students who have mobility issues
can interact with the SMART Board through their
communication device. It’s a great way for them to be Julia Lynch, SLP, is a speech
involved and for you to understand how your students language pathologist and
learn best. assistive technology professional
at Crotched Mountain School.
She received her M.A. in
Use the Web for Resources
communication disorders from
SMART amp is a great online resource to develop
the University of Maine and is
interactive lesson activities and plans. Discovery Education
certified as an assistive technology provider by
is another amazing website offering a variety of
Rehab Engineers of North America. Julia has a
interactive SMART Board activities. For every lesson,
special interest in augmentative communication,
the topics of learning, objective and assessments are
language development and literacy for children and
included, in compliance with evidence-based practices
adults who have multisensory impairments.
and in line with Universal Design for Learning.

For more Teaching Tips and Strategies, visit www.cmf.org/tips

David Etlinger, Director of Admissions
[email protected] / 603.547.3311, ext. 1894
1Verney Drive, Greenfield, NH 03047 / www.cm-school.org
Crotched Mountain School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national origin or disability. Rev. 12/2016