SmartBoard or Promethean

Does anyone have experience with both Promethean and SmartBoard to compare the two? Our school has dipped a toe in the water and is wanting to go much deeper, therefore we're looking for further information. Is there a preference for younger and older primary children?

I've heard there have been problems with SmartBoard. Any comments?

The fact that Smart notebook software can be freely used by anyone is an important factor for teachers preparing lessons at home.

7th April 2009.
I should add that Promethean now have released Inspire that can be freely loaded to ANY computer and can be used with ANY interactive whiteboard and can read several (all?) other IWB brand files, which at least puts them at level-pegging in terms of access to the software.

Later:
The Promethean 'free' software is limited in what it can do. It does not allow you to create lessons, which destroys its usefulness for me.

Tags: IWB, Promethean, Smart, iboards

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca on November 1, 2008 at 6:44pm

Must say I have been impressed as they decided it was a fault with the board and we have just received a brand new one for free!

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Permalink Reply by Leigh Newton on November 1, 2008 at 8:35pm

Good to hear!

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Permalink Reply by deirdre on October 21, 2008 at 11:00am

The promethean board was designed by educators for educators. The resources found at Promethean Planet far outnumber SMARTS. The resource library also has an extensive supply of images etc....

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca on November 1, 2008 at 6:48pm

Can you use Promethean resources with Smart Boards?

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Permalink Reply by Sherry Cheatham on July 30, 2010 at 7:52pm

Yes Rebecca you can. I was at a workshop this summer that Promethean did at our district. The rep, a former distirct employer found out that I no longer had an Activboard, because I had changed schools, but hse said I could use their software on the Smartboard.

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Permalink Reply by Leigh Newton on July 30, 2010 at 8:03pm

I researched this a while back and found that you could only use Promethean's preset files, and are not able to create your own files. I guess if you own the software and have a key that will be different.

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Permalink Reply by Leigh Newton on October 21, 2008 at 7:27pm

Thanks Katie, Deirdre and Jason. Promethean gets a big thumbs up!

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Permalink Reply by Leigh Newton on October 27, 2008 at 6:49am

There's seems to be a Promethean surge going on here. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Leslie Noggle on October 22, 2008 at 8:00pm

I've had experience with both. As a 3rd grade teacher, I had a Promethean board in my classroom and absolutely loved it! In my position now as a tech facilitator, most of my schools have SmartBoards. I do like that you can use your finger, not a pen on the Smart Board, but I prefer the Promethean software. It is nice to be able to download the Smart software- when I had the Promethean board you had to install from a CD, but could install on as many computers as you wanted to. If I had to choose one for younger children, I would definitely go Promethean because of the Software. (But I certainly wouldn't turn my back on a SmartBoard)

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Permalink Reply by Leigh Newton on October 23, 2008 at 6:20am

There's a pattern in these last few posts. They've all had experience and love the Promethean board.

Interesting to hear that you like the Promthean software Leslie. That has to be at the centre of the discussion.

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Permalink Reply by Jesse Rosen on April 7, 2009 at 6:39am

What did you prefer about the Promethean Software?

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Permalink Reply by Dana Cherrie on November 1, 2008 at 9:31pm

Hi Leigh,
Three years ago I did great quantities of research comparing the two. The final answer is we went with Promethean and couldn't be happier! Now our whole school district is getting them! At the time the reasons we went with Promethean was the copious quantities of resources that you have access to with that software. Then you could put the software on 6 computers for each piece of software you purchased. Now you can put it on any computer you would use the board with, including teachers' home computers so they can work there too. The second point I thought was huge was that smart boards you can use your finger or anything to write with, we wanted our students to reinforce writing correctly with a pen tool. Promethean was created by a teacher and set up with what teachers need. The last selling point for us was that if the Smart Board gets scratched or ruined in one spot the whole board won't work anymore. With the Promethean Board just that spot no longer works. That was huge for us when thinking about getting the most reliable product. We have had FABULOUS support and all upgrades have been free thus far.

Good Luck.
Dana Cherrie