SMART products

Interactive whiteboards are now well-established as part of the educational infrastructure of many schools and are now becoming common in many businesses.  SMART Boards are proven to make a major contribution to making learning more fun and inclusive.  They are also a fantastic and effective tool for collaboration and sharing ideas, whether in school or business.

We are proud to be premier resellers of the world's leading interactive whiteboard technology - SMART.  SMART Boards account for over 60% of all interactive whiteboards installed in the world and have a similar share of ongoing sales of new boards.

Through our strong relationship with SMART, we have developed our expertise and reputation for high quality installations.  Our installers are trained and accredited by SMART.

What is a SMART Board?

A SMART Board is a touch-sensitive projection screen that allows you to control a computer directly, by touching the board rather than using a keyboard or mouse, although these can still be used.  This technology requires a computer, a projector and the SMART Board itself.  The computer is connected to the projector and SMART Board and the projector displays the computer screen image on the SMART Board.  As you point at active elements on the SMART Board, using your finger or one of the SMART Board's four coloured pens, the action is transmitted to the computer.

The current 600 series of SMART Boards incorporates many design improvements compared to the previous 500 series.  These have come about from extensive experience and customer feedback.  The new boards truly are a significant step forward from the already excellent boards, which have been working well in schools for many years.

The 600 series SMART Boards are also larger than the previous models.  They are now available with diagonal sizes of 48", 64" and 77".  All these are 4:3 format.  There is now a 90" widescreen (16:9) model available.  This uniquely can be operated as a single widescreen board or split into two separate windows to operate independently.

SMART software

Perhaps SMART's greatest strength is the power of the software for use with the SMART Boards.  SMART Notebook has long been powerful and easy to use but SMART are investing heavily in its continued development.  This has resulted in the latest version - 9.5 - being greatly enhanced from earlier versions with many new powerful features for ease of use and integration of audio and video as part of presentations.

In addition to enhanced Notebook software, SMART have made available a wide range of lesson plans and material in Notebook - each one linked to part of the National Curriculum - ready to be used or to form the basis of a teacher's own modification of the lesson to meet their own style and preferences.  These are available on the SMART's website for free.  This is an area in which SMART are continuing to invest and the range of lessons is growing all the time.

In addition to all this, each SMART Board includes, for education customers, a single licence for SMARTIdeas.  SMARTIdeas is a very powerful, yet easy-to-use, thought-mapping package that can be used flexibly to record ideas and discussions or to develop and present projects in classes.  A fantastic product, widely used and admired in schools, and all included with your SMART Board.

Projectors

Key to the effectiveness of a SMART Board is the projector used with it.  We offer a range of projectors from leading manufacturers offering excellent quality and value.  We strongly recommend projectors with XGA resolution, as these offer huge improvements in image quality over SVGA projectors but nowadays at relatively little extra cost.  There is much debate about the best brightness for a projector.  BECTA recommend 1500 lumens but, in our experience, this gives a poor image in a normal, bright classroom.  So unless you are able to close the blinds for most of the time you are using the SMART Board (and it would be a shame to shut out the brightness when we do get it!) we recommend a 2000 lumens projector.  Most 2000 lumens projectors have the facility to reduce the brightness within the projector (usually called economy mode), which reduces the brightness to about 1500 lumens and usually adds significantly to the bulb life too.  Changing between full brightness and economy mode is usually easy and quick, so can be used to adjust the brightness to suit the changing lighting circumstances in the classroom.

Projector lamps generally have an expected life of 2000 or 3000 hours.  Some manufacturers automatically disable the lamp after the specified lamp life, so monitoring the lamp usage is important in order to be prepared with a replacement when it is required.  Most projectors have facilities within the projector to show the current lamp usage.  Replacement lamps are a significant cost (typically £250 - £400) and should be budgeted for.  A typical school year is 1000 hours.  Depending on usage within the school day, you should expect projector lamps to last about two or three years. 

Standard projector warranties should include next business day onsite repair or replacement of the projector for three years as a minimum but lamp warranties are typically for only 90 days.  However, many manufacturers sometimes offer special education warranties including three year lamp warranties, although these are often limited to either the standard lamp life or a maximum of one replacement lamp within the period.

SMART overlays

As plasma display screens have become more affordable, SMART have developed a touch-sensitive overlay for plasma screens and large LCD screens.  These overlays give an ordinary LCD or plasma screen the same capabilities as a SMART Board but without the need for a projector.

Our SMART plasma solution is proving popular, particularly as it can be mounted on a mobile trolley, enabling the total SMART solution to be located wherever it is needed.  The trolley can even be height adjustable, enabling the SMART plasma to be used by users of all heights.  We have also installed this solution in special schools to facilitate access by wheelchair users.

Sympodium

For larger classrooms and auditoria, SMART Boards may not be appropriate.  Instead, we recommend a large screen with a high power XGA projector linked to a computer with SMART's Sympodium.  The Sympodium has all the facilities of a SMART Board but on a 17" interactive terminal.  The image from the Sympodium is then projected onto the large screen, making the interactive presentation easier to see for a larger audience.

Airliner

The SMART Airliner is a wireless tablet that enables users to control the SMART Board without being at the board.  This lightweight device makes it quick and easy to hand control of the board around a class or meeting to get everyone's contribution to the discussion.

Audio

Remember to include speakers as part of your SMART solution to ensure that you get high quality audio from any presentations or video.

Alternatives

While we recommend SMART for all your interactive requirements, we are also able to supply and install Promethean interactive whiteboards if this is your preferred solution.

We are always happy to discuss your requirements and provide a written proposal with guaranteed pricing to serious potential clients. Email us at info@gvtechnologies.com or call on 01604 899333.