THOMAS COLLEGE 

180 W River Road Waterville ME | Jocelyn L’Italien & Meghan Stover | litalienj@thomas.edu & stoverm@thomas.edu  

04/10/2018 
Educators of America, Inc. 
CIE SMART Board Grant Request 
Educators of America, Inc.  
PO Box 511  
Buffalo, NY, 14231  

Dear Educators of America, Inc.,  

This letter is written for the CIE (Center for Innovation in Education) at Thomas
College. We write to you as two pre-service teachers who would greatly appreciate the
opportunity to receive a grant of $6,000 to acquire SMART Board for our CIE department.
We would like to acquire a SMART Board to help us become well prepared for the
classroom, and for our professors who have dedicated their career to shaping well
rounded pre-service teachers.  

A SMART Board will help us become well prepared in a way that will give us the
knowledge to know how to use it in a beneficial way. As pre-service teachers we are going
to be put into school systems that require and/or have smart boards in their classrooms.
We are not familiar with SMART Boards, and neither are some of the teachers who are
required to use them. Research shows that teachers can use the SMART Board daily,
"however, the lack of ongoing and practical training of the integration and use of these
Smart Boards/IWBs is causing discontinuity in the regular classroom lesson
delivery" (Pourciau, 2014, p. 3). This research goes on to show that because of the lack of
knowledge teachers have on using a whiteboard, it makes it difficult for students to learn
and difficult for the teacher(s) to instruct the class. Having the SMART Board as part of
our pre-service training will greatly benefit us to become well rounded and ready to start
on the right foot in our own classrooms.  

Gaining a SMART Board in our division will also help us prepare a wide array of knowledge
on how to keep student interest as well as making the most out of each lesson. SMART
Boards can help teachers work with many different learning styles to accommodate all
types of learners. Research shows that "visual learners are able to observe the
whiteboard, while tactile learners can learn by touching the board" (Cox, n.d). SMART
Boards can be used to improve multiple aspects of student learning and engagement. Not
only will it be helpful to our learning and growing as pre-service teachers, but we will
know how to work it for our future students to see their full potential. Cox goes on to say
that, "These interactive boards provide an extraordinary opportunity for teachers to
create a classroom environment where students with different learning styles can learn
from each other" (n.d). Gaining SMART Board knowledge, we will be able to find more
ways to help all types of learning styles gain their true potential.  

A SMART Board will help our professors by giving them the opportunity to enhance their
learning alongside us as times grow and change. A SMART Board will help our
professors by giving them more opportunity to provide their best practices to help
instruct their students. It will also give our professors a way to adapt and work with
the ever-changing learning with technology. If our professors don't know how to use the
technology, then how can we as students expect them to teach us to be well rounded
teachers ourselves? Technology is arising as the new age and "it is time for educators to
adjust their teaching strategies to adapt for a new learning emerging" (Pourciau, 2014,
p. 26). By acquiring a SMART Board not only
for student's purposes, for professor's purposes as well, we are helping our
professors adjust and adapt to the new learning. It will give them the opportunity
to expand their knowledge and understanding while helping us succeed.  
We believe that having a SMART Board in our CIE division will help us learn how to
properly integrate technology to improve student engagement. It will help us
be better prepared and have the knowledge to use the SMART Board for when we enter a
classroom that may have required technology. It will give our professors a leading step
into the pathway for a new teaching style. By granting us $6,000, we will be able
to acquire a SMART Board to help us, pre-service teachers and professors, learn how to
teach to help our future students succeed in the best way possible.  

Thank you for your consideration.  

Sincerely, 

Thomas College pre-service teachers, Jocelyn L’Italien & Meghan Stover 

2
 References
 
Cox, J. (n.d.). Technology in the Classroom: The Benefits of Smart Boards.  
Retrieved April 10, 2018, from http://www.teachhub.com/technology-  
classroom-benefits-smart-boards 
 
Pourciau, E. (2014) Teaching and Learning with Smart Board Technology in Middle School
Classrooms. Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection 
Retrieved 10 April 2018  
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgireferer=https://www.google.co 
m/&httpsredir=1&article=1044&context=dissertations