SMART Joins Google for Education Partner Program to Help Foster Cloud-based Teaching and Learning

SMART & Google Team to Deliver Natural Collaboration to Teachers and Students

CALGARY, Dec. 16, 2015 /CNW/ - SMART Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SMT) (TSX: SMA), a leading provider of collaboration solutions, has joined a select group of Google partners as part of the Google for Education Partner Program. Google's Education Technology Partner program is for partners that extend the reach and functionality of Google for the Education Platform by providing the best educational content, tools, and technologies available and for partners that have optimized their solutions for Google's platforms and devices. This move comes as a result of cohesive integration between Google Classroom, part of Google Apps for Education, and SMART amp® collaborative learning software.

Designed for teachers to share files with students and better administer their classes, Google Classroom offers an ideal integration point for SMART amp, which allows students to co-create both inside and outside the classroom on any connected device, including Chromebooks. SMART amp seamlessly integrates with Google Classroom classes and rosters, making it easier than ever before for students and teachers to collaborate in amp workspaces. Students benefit from a unique mix of tools that allow them to chat with one another, draw, embed images, video and SMART Notebook content into a collaborative canvas.

"SMART amp, and its many features, fosters group work and collaboration.  As a result I have seen students become engaged through mathematical discourse, which in turn provides me with more opportunities for formative assessment than prior to using SMART amp," said Gina Antonucci, East Side High School Algebra Teacher.  "In particular, the assessment feature has proven to be a great formative assessment tool as I can immediately give meaningful feedback and steer class discussion based on the results."

"Highest levels of rigor and engagement happen when students are intentionally placed in the driver seat of their learning," said Sonn Sam, Newark Public Schools Chief Innovation Officer at East Side High School.  "I have been ecstatic to experience how SMART amp empowers students to independently plug away towards mastery of content objectives while also working collaboratively with their peers.  In turn, this process has transformed the role of the teacher into a facilitator who can now more intentionally target the learning objectives and proactively intervene should misunderstandings arise."

"With SMART amp, we leverage the benefits Google Classroom provides to classroom workflow, and build upon it with a naturally collaborative environment for teaching and learning," said Greg Estell, president, Education at SMART Technologies. "SMART amp builds on the Google Classroom experience by providing a space for students to complete projects collaboratively. Teachers can use SMART amp to group students, take and pass control of the workspace and draw attention to what other groups are doing by presenting their material to the whole class. SMART amp includes formative assessment tools and allows for teachers or students to embed, extract and play a Notebook file on any device."

About SMART
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. To learn more, visit smarttech.com.

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SOURCE SMART Technologies Inc.

Robin Raulf-Sager, Director, Corporate Communications, SMART Technologies Inc., [email protected]