SMARTer Kids™ Research program validates benefits of technology in classrooms

Educators submit research in areas such as student retention, attention and acquisition of SMART Board™ interactive whiteboard skills

Calgary, AB --- October 22, 2003 --- The SMARTer Kids Foundation of Canada announces the successful completion of its SMARTer Kids Research program for 2002–2003. Topics ranging from student retention and participation to gender differences in the acquisition of SMART Board interactive whiteboard skills were researched by educators across the U.S.

The SMARTer Kids Research program was created to help educators research the effects of technology on teaching and learning, and publish the results of these studies. Each participant conducts a six- to eight-month study of a learning environment that includes a SMART Board interactive whiteboard. The project culminates with a final research paper that details the study's outcomes. Projects most likely to be chosen are those that have a clear research goal and focus on learning processes.

“The SMARTer Kids Research program, which encourages educators to study the effects of technology on learning, is aimed at helping educators understand the role technology can play in their classrooms,” says Nancy Knowlton, chairman of the SMARTer Kids Foundation. “The research results clearly indicate the benefits of using technology products in education, and will help educators in their efforts to integrate the use of technology products into their lessons.”

Excerpts from 2002–2003 Research Studies

“… students in the technology-enhanced sections self-reported more enthusiasm and interest in the course than did students in traditional sections, and perhaps as a result, the retention rate in the experimental sections was much higher than in the control sections.…The control group (fall 2001 sections) began with a total of 74 students and ended with 66 students, for a retention rate of 89.2 percent. The experimental group (spring 2002 sections) began with a total of 70 students and ended with 68 students, for a retention rate of 97.1 percent."

Linda Tate, Using the Interactive Whiteboard to Increase Student Retention, Attention, Participation, Interest, and Success in a Required General Education College Course, Department of English and Modern Languages, Shepherd College

“The quality results seemed to indicate that the layers provided by the SMART Board [interactive whiteboard] allowed members of the experimental groups to reach greater semantic similarity…the experimental groups were taking longer to produce their analyses, but their analyses were of a higher semantic quality than the paper-based ones. The experimental group’s subjects expressed similarity in semantics – in the meaning captured by their diagrams – but had not shared a similarity of structure. Looking at the structure of a diagram may actually be irrelevant to building analysis skills. Good analysts will capture the same meaning, but will choose different structures to capture their meaning.”

Theresa Vitolo, The Importance of the Path Not Taken: The Value of Sharing Process as Well as Product, Department of Computer and Information Science, Gannon University

More about SMARTer Kids Research
The SMARTer Kids Research program helps educators research issues as such as curriculum development, students with disabilities, gender and technology, distance learning, literacy programs, coaching, collaboration, teacher training and learning theories. While the use of the SMART Board interactive whiteboard must be a component of the research project, applicants should investigate not the technology itself, but rather the learning environment, learning outcomes and students' behavior and attitudes.

North American pre-service and in-service teachers, graduate students and college and university instructors are eligible to apply for the program, as individuals or as teams with designated team leaders. Applicants need to have their own computer and digital projector. The Foundation loans successful applicants a SMART Board 560 interactive whiteboard and floor stand. When all program requirements have been completed, the products are donated to the program participants or their nominee educational institutions.

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