Classrooms are coming to life for Limestone County students with technology paid for with economic stimulus money.
Limestone County schools recently bought and installed $1.4 million worth of Promethean whiteboards in 191 classrooms throughout the school system.
Promethean ActivBoards enable anything that can be seen or done on a computer screen to be projected onto an interactive whiteboard — bringing every classroom to life, according to the Promethean Web site.
“The teachers and students really like them,” Limestone County Board of Education Vice-President Earl Glaze said during a school board meeting Monday. “I think they are going to make a big difference in the classroom.”
The boards were paid for with $1.4 million in federal economic stimulus funds, said Chief School Finance Officer Jonathan Craft.
The boards enable teachers to project anything that would have once appeared on a computer screen or overhead projector onto a white board mounted at the front of the classroom.
The board helps today’s video-obsessed students continually see what the teacher is talking about. The teacher does not have to print overhead projector images, he or she can find or create a computer file with the images and show it. No more pull down maps. Instead, teachers can go online to Google Earth, which offers up-to-the-moment maps. Teachers can also take notes on the Promethean board and print the notes for absent students. They can plan lessons at home on their computers and show them on the screen the next day.
