Fresno Unified School District fosters high-tech learning with SMART Board interactive whiteboards
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CALGARY, Alberta --- November 8, 2005 --- SMART Technologies Inc. announces that Fresno Unified School District (USD), the fourth largest district in California, has equipped more than 200 classrooms with SMART Board(TM) interactive whiteboards. After evaluating various interactive whiteboard brands, Fresno USD chose the SMART Board interactive whiteboard based on the product's ease of use. With grants from the SMARTer Kids(TM) Foundation of Canada and support from local SMART reseller IVS Computer Technology, Fresno USD, with nearly 80,000 students, is creating high-tech learning environments to meet the needs of 21st-century learners.
Fresno USD has equipped classrooms with interactive technology to help its students with limited English skills learn better. At Yokomi Elementary, the district's new K-6 science magnet school, every classroom is outfitted with a SMART Board interactive whiteboard as well as wireless microphones and state-of-the-art audio systems to amplify teachers' voices. Sound is evenly distributed throughout the classroom and lessons are projected on the large interactive screen, so every student can clearly hear and see everything during instruction. The SMART Board interactive whiteboard is the primary instructional tool at Fresno USD and is integrated with other classroom technology tools, including digital projectors, wireless laptops, streaming video and document cameras. To help train teachers on effective technology use, IVS Computer Technology organized summer workshops for Fresno USD with teacher trainers from neighboring school districts in Kern County to demonstrate effective ways to integrate technology with curriculum.
"The SMART Board interactive whiteboard is the best concept I've seen in the 16 years that I've been working in education procurement," says Frank Morelos, director of purchasing at Fresno USD. "It's so easy to integrate into an academic program, and it fosters creativity in the classroom. It's one of the best inventions since the wheel."
"It's no longer a paper-and-pencil generation of students. It's a tech-savvy generation that expects to be visually engaged and stimulated on a minute-by-minute basis," says Steve Gonzales, principal at Yokomi Elementary. "Several teachers have told me they see unlimited opportunities for improving instruction using SMART Board interactive whiteboards in the classroom. Every one of our teachers, from kindergarten through sixth grade, has embraced this technology wholeheartedly. And parents say that their children come home from school excited about what they've just learned, largely due to the technology-infused lessons."
"Educators need instructional tools that help them to engage students with different learning styles - visual, tactile or auditory," says Nancy Knowlton, SMART's president and co-CEO. "The interactive and visual nature of SMART products is helping Fresno USD teachers improve student learning and reach out to all students, including those where English is their second language."
Standardized on SMART Products
Fresno USD joins the many school jurisdictions around the world that have standardized on SMART products. SMART Board interactive whiteboards provide interactive learning opportunities and enhance student achievement in more than 150,000 classrooms spanning every U.S. state, every Local Education Authority in the UK and more than 75 countries.
About SMART Board interactive whiteboards
The SMART Board interactive whiteboard is a large, touch-sensitive display. Connected to a computer and projector, the interactive whiteboard is like a giant computer screen that students and teachers simply touch to operate. Using their finger or a pen as a mouse, teachers and students can access and control any computer application, file or multimedia platform, including the Internet, CD-ROMs and DVDs. They can also write over applications in digital ink, then save their work for future study and review. The SMART Board interactive whiteboard engages students with diverse learning styles by providing both immediate access to a wide range of digital materials and a common focus for the entire class - not something easily achieved with other classroom technology products. It is the number one choice among primary and secondary school educators in more than 75 countries worldwide because it captures the imagination of students of all backgrounds and abilities in order to help them learn together, understand better and achieve more. For more information, visit www.smarttech.com/smartboard.
About Fresno Unified School District
For more information about Fresno USD, visit www.fresno.k12.ca.us.
About IVS Computer Technology
For more than ten years, IVS Computer Technology, Inc. has earned the respect of clients in the public and private sector for providing innovative, cost-effective technological solutions. IVS specializes in education technology integration - offering complete hardware and software advice, superior training programs and excellent service. For more information, visit www.ivsct.net.
About SMART
SMART Technologies Inc. is both the industry pioneer and global market leader in easy-to-use interactive whiteboards and other group collaboration tools. The award-winning SMART Board interactive whiteboard is the most widely installed product of its kind in the world. SMART products also include interactive pen displays, interactive digital signage, wireless slates and software. Using SMART products, groups can access and share the information they need to meet, teach, train and present. SMART's education customers include New York City Board of Education (U.S.), Oxford University (UK), Tokyo Nampei Senior High School (Japan), Barnier Public School (Australia), University of Ottawa (Canada), United World College (Singapore), Stephen-Hawking-Schule Neckargemuend (Germany), Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (U.S.) and Harvard University (U.S.).
SMART is a private company founded in 1987. Employing more than 700 people, SMART is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with assembly facilities in Ottawa and Calgary, and offices in Bonn, Tokyo, New York City and Washington, D.C. SMART has been issued and maintains a broad portfolio of patents with numerous other U.S., Canadian and foreign patents pending. In 1992 SMART formed a strategic alliance with Intel® Corporation that resulted in joint product development and marketing efforts, and Intel's equity ownership in SMART. SMART products are sold through dealers across North America and distributors worldwide. For more information, visit www.smarttech.com.
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For more information, contact:
Michelle Maingat
Public Relations Specialist
SMART Technologies Inc.
1207 - 11th Avenue SW, Suite 300
Calgary, AB T3C 0M5
CANADA
403.802.2595
MichelleMaingat@smarttech.com
