SMART Learning Suite Supports Digital Age Teaching Needs At Colorado-based Poudre School District

Poudre School District implements SMART Technologies' new education software bundle

CALGARY and FORT COLLINS, CO, June 1, 2016 /CNW/ - SMART Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SMT) (TSX: SMA), a leading provider of collaboration solutions, has partnered with Poudre School District (PSD) to roll out SMART Learning Suite software in 1350 district classrooms. PSD serves over 29,000 kindergarten through twelfth grade students and employs 3,652 teachers in Fort Collins, Colorado. The software implementation is part of the district's educational technology program, Digital Innovation Pathways, which includes a series of professional development opportunities, classroom support, education technology tools, and software for teachers, support staff, and administrators in the district who wish to enhance and support classroom instruction using technology.  

The SMART Learning Suite enables educators to easily and quickly create dynamic, interactive, and engaging learning experiences by providing pedagogical flexibility and by connecting students, teachers and devices for improved outcomes. SMART Learning Suite provides educators with more opportunities to individualize and differentiate instruction, check for student understanding and to adapt content no matter the subject or grade level.

"Rarely have I experienced an educational solution that delivers all that it promises," said Kim McMonagle, Director of Educational Technology at Poudre School District. "With an increasing number of educators moving to online collaborative learning, SMART Learning Suite is the solution that supports their digital age teaching needs. These programs have exceeded our expectations. Using SMART's software, students experience a more robust learning experience as they are able to seamlessly share knowledge."

"Research has shown that when combined with solid pedagogical practices, education software can significantly improve student outcomes in lesson comprehension," said Neil Gaydon, CEO of SMART Technologies. "We are thrilled to support Poudre's innovative program with software designed to support transitions in their pedagogy," he said. 

The SMART Learning Suite includes the following programs:

• SMART Notebook®—This software facilitates engaging and interactive learning experiences while providing the flexibility to respond to the needs of learners in real-time.
• SMART lab™ —SMART lab enables teachers to create lesson plans and game-based learning activities in less than five minutes.
• SMART amp™—A web-based learning platform, amp enables student co-creation of assignments and fosters student collaboration on devices.
• SMART response™ 2—A formative assessment software for use on student devices, SMART response 2 allows teachers to create question sets to complement lessons in under five minutes.

Three teacher volunteers from Poudre joined SMART at the Breckenridge Google Summit on May 22-23 in Breckenridge, Colorado to present classroom outcomes using the SMART Learning Suite.

To learn more about the SMART Learning Suite, visit smarttech.com/sls.

About Poudre School District
Poudre School District, located in Fort Collins, Colorado, serves approximately 27,000 students and includes 50 schools. PSD, the 9th largest school district in Colorado, covers 1,856 square miles in northern Colorado, including Fort Collins, Laporte, Timnath, Wellington, Red Feather, Livermore, Stove Prairie, and parts of Windsor.

About SMART Technologies Inc.
SMART Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SMT, TSX: SMA) is a world leader in simple and intuitive solutions that enable more natural collaboration. We are an innovator in interactive touch technologies and software that inspire collaboration in both education and businesses around the globe. 

Over 2.8 million K-12 classrooms in 175 countries around the world use SMART solutions and SMART Notebook collaborative software for education to make learning more interactive, engaging, effective and fun. 

With over 3.2 million SMART Board® interactive whiteboards, interactive displays and interactive projectors installed internationally, SMART has been a consistent innovator since creating the first interactive whiteboard in 1993. To learn more, visit smarttech.com. 

SMT – M

Reader's advisory
Certain information contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking information or statements. By their very nature, forward-looking information and statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks that predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking information and statements will not be achieved. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these statements as a number of important factors could cause the actual results to vary materially from the forward-looking information or statements. We do not assume responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking information or statements. Any forward-looking information and statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

©2016 SMART Technologies. All third-party product and company names are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. To view a list of SMART trademarks please visit our Trademarks and Guidelines page. 

Please note that SMART is written in all capital letters.

SOURCE SMART Technologies Inc.

Kara Pinato, Spark PR for SMART Technologies, [email protected]; Jeff Lowe, VP of Marketing, SMART Technologies Inc., [email protected]