Sarah Berard

Position Paper
2/21/12
SMART Boards in the Early Childhood Classroom

Technology has become an important part of our society. It is prevalent

almost everywhere we go, in stores, airports, homes, and in schools. However the
early childhood community is not taking advantage of all the new tools and
incorporating this important aspect of our world into their classrooms. Instead of
embracing technology in the early childhood classroom it seems that young
children [are] asked to leave their technology at the door before entering the
classroom, (Parette, Quesenberry, Blum, 2009). Instead of abandoning technology
for more traditional methods, technology should be incorporated into both small
group and whole group/direct instruction in the early childhood setting. One tool
that can help bring technology into the classroom and that works well with young
children is the SMART board or interactive white board (IWB).
Rosen and Jaruszewicz state technology use is appropriate when it both
capitalizes on childrens natural desire to actively, collaboratively construct knowledge
and respects the unique challenges presented by childrens levels of development,
(Rosen and Jaruszewicz 2009). The SMART board is able to do all of those things; it
draws students together, captures their attention, and works well to meet the specific
developmental needs of young children. Because of their size, when placed at the
proper height in the classroom SMART boards provide the opportunity for young
students to interact in a positive way with technology, engaging their gross and fine

motor skills. As it is important for young children to learn through play and use
their whole body as they work and learn a SMART board provides a canvas for
students to work on (Terreni, 2010). The SMART board can also creates a culture
around it where students can work together and assist each other, Terreni found
this to be true as children discussed and exchanged ideas and shared skills with
each other at the IWB, as they worked on art projects (Terreni, 2010).
Morgan studied interactive white boards in the early childhood setting and
found both positive uses for the technology and areas where teachers could improve
to use the tool more effectively. His study followed 30 early childhood classrooms
(classes were children were ages 3 to 7) in South Whales. Each class was observed
for two half days. After observing the classrooms teachers were interviewed about
their attitudes toward using interactive whiteboards in their classrooms. The
researcher looked for how often the boards were used in the early childhood classes
during whole group instruction, small groups, and when students used the boards
independently. Morgan found that while the boards were used at all three times, the
most common use of the boards was for whole group direct instruction. While the
boards were being used by the teachers the student interaction was generally in a
tokenistic way to click or click and drag an item to provide a correct answer,
(Morgan, 2009). This lead to one of the other problems Morgan identified with
student use of the interactive whiteboards-when using the whiteboards students
often did not know how to interact with them, or they were mounted to high for
students to easily use them. These problems could be address through making sure
that boards are mounted at appropriate heights for the students who will be using

them and allowing students more novel interactions with the boards as he saw a few
teachers allowing their students to do. The other finding was that while teachers
were not always using the whiteboards in an interactive manner, all 30 teachers
identified their instruction as interactive. There were some limitations to Morgans
study. The interview questions were only used as guidelines and often nonstandard
follow up questions were included and only the teachers attitudes toward the
technology were collected, no formal data was taken on students attitudes. Despite
these limitations and at times negative findings this study just points out the need
for properly training teachers on how to use the interactive whiteboards most
effectively. A solution to this could be as simple as having teacher-to-teacher
observations to give each other realistic pictures of how they are using the SMART
board with their classroom.
Using SMART boards in early childhood classrooms have many benefits for
students. Giving students access to this technology boosts their self-esteem and
builds confidence, while giving them a learning environment to share ideas,
information, images, animations, audio or video, creating an environment where all
learners are successful (Preston and Mowbray, 2008). While looking at SMART
board use in kindergarten science classes Preston and Mowbray found that some of
the limitations were that only one student at a time could control the board,
however as waiting and turn taking are skills that needs to be taught and practiced
in early childhood settings having such a high interest tool may help students
develop and use those skills. Teachers could even work to create activities where
only one student may be touching the board while several students are giving input.

Early childhood educators are charged with the task of getting students
ready for the rest of their school career. In order to be successful at this teachers
and schools need to begin using technology that students will see as they move to
higher grades and ultimately out into the world. It is not enough for students to
simply have access to technology at home or for only a short period of time each day
while the teacher is in control; students must be allowed to explore technology in
early childhood classrooms in the same way that we view finger paints, blocks,
beads, and other materials commonly found in early childhood settings, (as cited in
Rosen and Jaruszewicz 2009) . Because of their design including SMART boards in
the early childhood setting would be a good place to start providing students access
to technology especially because they are designed to work with other technologies
such as digital cameras, DVD players, computers, and many more. SMART boards
allow for whole group instruction that engages students, small group work where
students can work on turn taking, and creates an independent work station where
students can explore not only using their fine motor skills with technology but also
gross motor.

References
Morgan, A. (2010). Interactive whiteboards, interactivity and play in the classroom
with children aged three to seven years. European Early Childhood Education
Research Journal, 18(1), 93-104. Retrieved from http://www.tandf.co.uk
/journals/titles/1350293X.asp
Parette, H. P., Quesenberry, A. C., & Blum, C. (2010). Missing the boat with
technology usage in early childhood settings: a 21st century view of
developmentally appropriate practice. Early Childhood Education Journal,
37(5), 335-343. Retrieved from http://www.springer.com/education
+%26+language/learning+%26+instruction/journal/10643
Preston, C., & Mowbray, L. (2008). Use of "SMART" boards for teaching, learning and
assessment in kindergarten science. Teaching Science, 54(2), 50-53.
Retrieved from http://www.asta.edu.au/resources/teachingscience
Rosen, D. B., & Jaruszewicz, C. (2009). Developmentally appropriate technology use
and early childhood teacher education. Journal Of Early Childhood Teacher
Education, 30(2), 162-171. Retrieved from http://www.naecte.org/index.
php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20&Itemid=33
Terreni, L. (2010). Adding new possibilities for visual art education in early
childhood settings: The potential of interactive whiteboards and ICT.
Australasian Journal Of Early Childhood, 35(4), 90-94. Retrieved from
http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/australian_journal_of_early_chil
dhood/australian_journal_of_early_childhood.html