Vickie Nelson
vmn@uoregon.edu

"Awesome!" and "Cool!" are the two most frequent responses to the new SMART Boards located in Information Services Collaboration Center, 175 McKenzie Hall.

Although the three boards, all from SMART Technologies, each have different features, they all project a large, colorful image of a computer's screen and give users the ability to write over applications and websites, move images, navigate, and perform other mouse functions with a finger or a stylus.

UO staff who attended a summer training session on the center's first purchase, a 61-inch SMART whiteboard with an overhead projector, responded enthusiastically to the presentation, and at least two departments later purchased boards for their own departments.

This fall staff added two new boards to the room: a 65-inch Panasonic plasma TV with a SMART overlay and a height-adjustable, rear-projection board that sits on wheels for easy relocation within the room.

Students and staff quickly came up with a variety of uses for the boards. Students have practiced a group presentation and worked on problem sets, while faculty have held meetings and an international conference call enhanced by WebEX web conferencing. Students have also used the boards to visit Second Life and explore some of the educational resources included in the software suite.

The three boards are connected to computers loaded with Microsoft Office and other popular software, but users are welcome to bring their own laptops and connect them to the boards. (An alternative to bringing your laptop is to bring your files on a flash drive.)

Note that if you plan to bring your own laptop, you'll need to install some software. You can save time by downloading it from smarttech.com before you come to the Collaboration Center or you can use disks containing the software that we have here in the center.

In addition to being a showroom for the SMART Boards--and eventually other new technology--the Collaboration Center offers flexible space and comfortable furniture that users are free to rearrange for solo or group use. Wheeled partitions make the room easily reconfigurable into large or small areas.

Come try the boards anytime Monday-Friday, 9:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.--or by appointment. Please note that if you want to use a particular board for a meeting or presentation at a specific time or if you need some training, it's best to schedule ahead of time by calling 346-4406.