SMART Enhances World's Leading Collaborative Learning Software

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Jan 19, 2015, 07:00 ET

Notebook 2015 will make it easier to create fun, captivating learning games and activities, saving preparation time for teachers
Enhancements to SMART amp enable greater co-creation and foster collaboration on student devices anywhere, anytime

CALGARY, Jan. 19, 2015 /CNW/ - SMART Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SMT) (TSX: SMA), a leading provider of collaboration solutions, announces the April 2015 release of SMART Notebook^®2015 collaborative learning software. The latest version of the world's most powerful and widely used collaborative learning software will offer a number of new features, including the lesson activity builder and concept mapping. Additionally, new features and content partners for SMART amp^™ will, together with Notebook unlock the full collaborative potential of students, teachers, interactive displays and mobile devices.

SMART Notebook

SMART Notebook 2015 offers:

All-new lesson activity builder, which allows anyone to quickly and easily create fun, captivating learning games and activities in less than five minutes. Teacher can create sophisticated and visually appealing educationally appropriate activities in a few simple steps, create multiple interactive activities from the same content to reinforce specific topics and involve students in the lesson creation process. Lesson activity builder introduces elements of gamification to any SMART Notebook lesson, including buzzers, randomizers and timers.
Concept mapping, a feature highly requested by educators and one of the most widely used activities in science and social science. It encourages discovery and allows visual organization of concepts to promote a deeper level of understanding.

SMART Notebook is the most widely used education solution of its kind, having been downloaded by nearly six million users over the past three years. It is constantly evolving, becoming a diverse platform that fosters interactive and collaborative learning experiences on interactive displays and student devices, supporting changes in teaching practice and technology adoption.

After getting a sneak peak of the lesson activity builder, Rebecca Simon, a director of educational technology and innovation at a school in New York said, "for teachers new to Notebook, this will be a great way for them to start creating something educationally relevant for their students." Joey Savoy, a technology mentor at a school district in New Brunswick, Canada agreed saying, "it's so easy to quickly put lessons together that are engaging for students."

SMART amp

SMART amp^™ collaborative learning software continues to gain momentum. Launched in 2014, SMART amp is a cloud-based software that lets students co-create content on a digital canvas to enable anywhere, anytime contribution and collaboration on student devices. It provides teachers with real time insight into student learning and contribution and gives them a consistent platform for integrating technology in the classroom with any student device or interactive display. New features recently added to SMART amp include:

The ability to write math equations using common symbols and superscript subscript, which allows users to edit math equations and work collaboratively on math problems in a workspace
Object attribution, which exposes the learning process by providing visibility into individual student contributions in a collaborative workspace
An enhanced Grouping feature allows teachers to group students into their own workspaces in a few clicks. Teachers can modify the groups by simply dragging students from one group to another.
Single sign on to access content from Discovery Education USA and TigTag UK
Three new content partners – LessonPix USA, FortunaPix USA and Educandus Brazil – bringing the total number of content partners to 26
SMART amp is also now available in French and Spanish.

David Denchfield, a Head Teacher in the UK strongly recommends SMART amp. "This is an excellent piece of software which provides a simple platform for all children to contribute to lessons in a fun and engaging way. The children have thoroughly enjoyed using SMART amp and I would thoroughly recommend it to colleagues in all educational settings." Students love SMART amp too. James in the UK says, "If we worked on SMART amp all the time I would even come to school on Saturday and Sunday."

"Teachers tell us they often don't have abundant time for lesson creation, says Greg Estell, President, Education, SMART Technologies. "With the improvements coming in Notebook 2015 and the continuing enhancement of SMART amp, we're giving teachers back time to allow them to engage their students with lesson activities that make learning fun while providing them with immediate insight into student progress."

Pricing and Availability

SMART Notebook 2015 will be available for download on April 9, 2015 for customers with an active SMART Notebook Advantage subscription. The suggested price for a single, annual renewal for SMART Notebook Advantage is $54 in the United States and £34 in the U.K. Volume and duration discounts are available. Prices outside the United States and the U.K. will vary.

SMART Notebook perpetual licenses are included with the purchase of all SMART interactive displays. Regular updates and add-ons are available with an active Notebook Advantage subscription. Notebook licenses are also available for all other brands of interactive hardware, with licensing for individual classrooms, as well as options for school and district standardization. The suggested price for individual SMART Notebook licenses starts at $299 in the United States and £299 in the U.K. (including a one-year subscription to Notebook Advantage). Volume discounts are available. Prices outside the United States and the U.K. will vary.

SMART amp is now available with a suggested price of $8 per student annually in the United States and £5.38 in the U.K. Volume and duration discounts are available. Pricing will vary outside the United States and the U.K. For more pricing information on SMART Notebook and SMART amp, please contact your SMART authorized reseller.

About SMART Solutions for Education

Nearly 70 million teachers and students around the world use SMART solutions for education to make learning more interactive, engaging, effective and fun. A consistent innovator and the inventor of the SMART Board®, SMART's education software includes the revolutionary SMART amp^™ and the world's most popular collaborative learning software, SMART Notebook^®. With a full range of interactive displays, including flat panels, projectors, whiteboards and the SMART kapp™ digital capture board, SMART helps educators achieve better learning outcomes. To learn more, visit smarttech.com/education.

About SMART
SMART Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SMT, TSX: SMA) is a world leader in collaboration solutions that are redefining the way the world works and learns. We are an innovator in interactive touch technologies and software that inspire collaboration in both education and businesses around the globe. To learn more, visit smarttech.com.

SMT – M

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SOURCE SMART Technologies Inc.