Students in the teacher education program at St. Louis Community College’s Wildwood campus now will have an opportunity to gain hands-on training with one of the latest interactive teaching technology platforms: the SMART board.
A SMART board combines the simplicity of a whiteboard with the power of a computer. Teachers can project information from their computers to the SMART board, and then either write on the board with a special pen or use their hand to interact in the same way a mouse interacts with a computer.
“SMART boards provide teachers with a way to teach interactive, multisensory lessons, giving students physical involvement in the learning process,” said Carol Lupardus, professor and coordinator of the Teacher Education program at the Wildwood. “Area school districts use the interactive white board in the classrooms, and by teaching our education students how to utilize the SMART board to provide the very best learning experiences for students, we are helping them to become the more qualified candidates for positions in the future.”
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Patrick Vaughn, acting president at Wildwood, agreed. “We wanted a portable board so that as many students as possible would have access to it. A portable board is three times the cost of a board that is installed on the wall, so finding the funds was a challenge.”
To meet that challenge, the college reached out to the community. The Rotary Club of West St. Louis County and the University of Missouri-St. Louis partnered with the St. Louis Community College Foundation to fund the project. The Rotary Club is committed to supporting education in the community, and saw it as a way to underscore that commitment. The University of Missouri-St. Louis, which offers a bachelor’s degree in teacher education on the Wildwood campus, knew that their students would also benefit.
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The SMART board was installed in late spring and has been incorporated into the curriculum of the classes offered by STLCC and UMSL on the campus.
Established in 1962, St. Louis Community College is the largest community college district in Missouri and one of the largest in the United States. STLCC has four campuses – Florissant Valley, Forest Park, Meramec and Wildwood – that annually serve more than 81,000 students through credit courses, continuing education and workforce development programs. For more information about STLCC, visit www.stlcc.edu.