by Patrick Scollard
A promethean board is a touch based computer that acts like a white board. It is hooked up to a computer and the internet, so that instructions and lessons can be easily shown to students. The teacher can control it from the keyboard or use a marker-like tool as a mouse directly on the board.
Teachers can still develop their own lesson plans. But now they have the option to use the internet to access a variety of other lesson plans created by Promethean or fellow teachers here in Georgia or across the country. Plus, they can share the lesson plans they develop with others. Thus, students get the best work from all the teachers in the country!
The Promethean Boards can play video clips and do pretty much everything a computer can do. It helps teachers by using the visual aid without the need for LED projectors or overhead projectors. They can now present a PowerPoint quickly and easily. Plus you can write notes on it like a regular whiteboard. 
The promethean boards can be used to take a quick quiz or perform test reviews. Perhaps the coolest part of the system is when kids get to use the Activotes to input their answers to questions. The advantage is you can see the results right away so that teachers can determine if the kids “get it” or if some topics need more explanation.
The promethean board has two components. There is the projector which is mounted on the ceiling of the classroom. It projects the image. The actual board is mounted on a wall or existing white board. It captures the image and is the whole touch based system that you use the marker-like tool with.
Promethean boards can be installed in less than a day. The technology is not cheap. The board itself plus the installation costs, training for the teachers, and replacement parts it comes out to be between $4,000 and $5,000. At Inman, all math and science teachers now have them installed in their classrooms.
