Are smartboards worth the financial investment?

Smartboards are being used in many, many schools throughout the country, but are they really worth the financial investment? It is no mystery that smartboards are a very expensive technology, so to equip each classroom with a smartboard many things must be considered. I have seen smartboards make a really good impact on student interaction, attention, and learning. It can help keep students focused and excited about learning knowing they get to be involved directly and can use the smartboard. I only think they should be used in a few select classrooms, though. Just for the cost of a smartboard, and the effectiveness on certain grade levels, I would only purchase these for classrooms who are directly learning in core subject areas from grades 4-8. Anything younger than that age I would say it is very unnecessary and all students will not be able to use and be engaged in the technology. For high school students, they know longer have such a need to be involved and a smartboard is not going to do anything to enhance the learning experience. It may have some minimal advantages for high school students, but definitely not worth the investment. I think school boards, administrators, and teachers should definitely look at what kind of students and classrooms these can be effective with, and then we can justify buying these smartboards for certain classrooms. I think smartboards are an awesome technology, but we must make sure we are not wasting money on expensive technologies that are not enhancing the learning experience greatly.

Webquest Link

Here is the link to my webquest...........
https://sites.google.com/site/mattsandornews/

Webquest Rubric

Criteria	Accomplished (3)	Developing (2)	Beginning (1)	Score & Comments
Introduction	Engagingly describes a compelling question or problem.	A question or problem is described.	The purpose of the WebQuest is unclear.
Task	Task is doable and engaging, and is connected to learning in the real world. It elicits thinking that goes beyond rote comprehension.	The task is doable and elicits higher order thinking but is not relevant to students lives.	Task requires simply comprehending or retelling of information found on web pages and answering factual questions.
Process Checklist	Every step is clearly stated. Most students would know exactly where they are at each step of the process and know what to do next.	Some directions are given, but there is missing information. Students might be confused.	Every step is clearly stated. Most students would know exactly where they are at each step of the process and know what to do next.
Resources	There is a clear and meaningful connection between all the resources and the information needed for students to accomplish the task.	There is some connection between the resources and the information needed for students to accomplish the task. Some resources don't add anything new.	Resources provided are not sufficient for students to accomplish the task.
Evaluation	Criteria for success are clearly stated in the form of a rubric. Criteria include qualitative as well as quantitative descriptors.	Criteria for success are clearly stated in the form of a rubric. Criteria include qualitative as well as quantitative descriptors.	Criteria for success are not described.
Visual Appeal	Appropriate and thematic graphic elements are used to make visual connections that contribute to the understanding of concepts, ideas and relationships.	Graphic elements sometimes, but not always, contribute to the understanding of concepts, ideas and relationships.	Color is garish and/or typographic variations are overused and legibility suffers. Background interferes with the readability.
Navigation	Navigation is seamless. It is always clear to the learner what all the pieces are and how to get to them.	There are a few places where the learner can get lost and not know where to go next.	There are more than 5 broken links, misplaced or missing images, badly sized tables, misspellings and/or grammatical errors.