Promethean Boards vs. Smart Boards

[Art Bentheim]

My school is looking at writing a grant to buy more interactive whiteboards. We currently use Smart Boards and I love them but I heard the Promethean's have a lot of great, cool features that Smart does not have.

What is your opinion on them? Which one do you prefer, and why?

Thanks for the help,
Art Bentheim M.Ed.

[Lapene Maijala]

How much do they want for them? : )

[Emily Starr]

I know, right?!:)

[Matt Arguello]

The connectivity with our PolyVision boards has been flawless. The only problem we've had thus far (after about 6 months) is actually with the Easiteach software that came bundled with the board. It's a little lagging sometimes, but we're working on it.

Seriously though, is there any possibility that your school district would be willing to sell those boards gathering dust? What model are they?

You can contact me here or on Twitter @novemberMonster .

[Emily Starr]

Hi Matt,

Good to hear that you don't have issues with your boards. It may just be something at that particular school that is malfunctioning.

It is a school that I did training for on Polyvision and SMARTboards. I can email the tech director and see what he says...

[Emily Starr]

Hi Matt,

I checked with the tech. director. They have moved them over to the high school for a few teachers over there to try. They seem to be working better in that building than they did in the elementary. I'll let you know if I hear differently in the future!

[Anne Soprano]

Our school has Promethean Boards. They are great.
The website prometheanplanet.com has so many resources that our teachers use on a daily basis. Teachers who do not want to create their own lessons can always find what they are looking for at this website.

[Art Bentheim]

Thank you to everyone who participated in this discussion. Your experiences have given me a good understanding of the pros and cons of both products.

Thanks again,
Art Bentheim

[Anthony D.]

I think Smart Boards are great but their customer service has slipped a bit, they were the first ones on the block and their resources invaluable and I think the touch screen(using your fingers) is great for K-3. We recently purchased promethean and have had mimios in the classroom and so far the teachers love it

[Craig Card]

I have worked with both SMART and Promethean and can say with certainty that SMART is the superior product. Ease of use, software package, support and training, and the ability of SMART to revise their products and software according to teacher feedback has put SMART at the top of the interactive whiteboard pile.