Smartboards and projectors are an important instructional tool in the classroom. Not only do they provide an additional way to get students engaged in learning, but they also act as a way to quickly assess students to determine their needs.

It can sometimes be difficult for teachers to utilize their interactive whiteboards effectively in the classroom. Balancing keeping students motivated while holding them accountable for their learning can be a challenging task. However, this process can be a lot easier using the Lumos StepUp Smartboard practice tool.

The Lumos StepUp Smartboard practice tool offers a lot of different opportunities for teachers, such as chances for easily customizable activities, increased information about student understanding, and opportunities for collaboration.

Customizing Content

In the “My Lessons” tab, lessons with the ability to create a Smartboard activity for all students are noted with an icon of a projector. Teachers can easily find lessons relevant to the content they are teaching and create an activity in which all students can immediately participate.

Once the topic is selected, teachers can select the number of questions they want to ask their students, give the activity a title and send the invitation for students to participate.

Students signed into their Lumos Learning portals will automatically see the invitation from their teacher and can join in the Smartboard activity.

Teacher-Driven Pacing

Unlike other assignments that allow individual students to go at their own pace, the smartboard practice is entirely teacher-driven. Teachers have full control over when to move on from a question or when to stop and review.

As the teacher projects the question on the interactive board, the students can see the answers displayed on their own devices. Once the teacher moves forward, the display on the student monitors changes to match the teacher’s direction. For example, a student cannot remain on a question when the teacher has already moved on to reveal the answer.

This teacher-pacing is beneficial because it ensures all students are on the same page. No one gets left behind and everyone moves at the same pace.

Immediate Feedback and Accountability

Unlike a traditional assignment, with this tool teachers can immediately see, in real-time, when the students need support. While the teacher is projecting the questions, there is an easy way to see which students have responded and which are still answering. This counter allows the teacher to easily see when they can move forward. Even better than that is the fact that the teacher can see which answer every student selected.

This view helps provide immediate assistance to students. The teacher can keep track of which students have repeatedly answered the questions incorrectly and may need additional support. The teacher can also see which students have been making progress in their answers. Aside from supplemental help, the fact that the teacher can see individual student answers offers accountability on the part of the students for completing the questions and the work in the activity.

The ability to stop and view individual student answers also serves as a way for the teacher to give whole-class support. If a teacher sees that students are struggling with one question, in particular, the class can stop and work on the problem together. It could also open collaborative opportunities. Students could pair together to try to solve the problem a second time or support each other in their understanding of the question.

The Lumos StepUp Smartboard Practice Tool helps to make a whole-class review to become a more interactive, engaging, and supportive experience for all learners in the classroom.