Smart boards are touch screen TV’s that are replacing projectors and whiteboards in most classrooms and meeting rooms. While it may look like a TV on the wall, a smart board enables you to write on the screen over your presentation, capture and distribute brainstorming sessions, and even email the session directly from the TV. Typical smart boards sold in 2024 have 4K resolution, built-in Android computers, and speakers. Although prices will vary based on features, warranty, and brand, here is a general guideline of the initial purchase price based on screen size.

• 65-inch smart board - $2000 - $3000
• 75-inch smart board - $2800 - $4000
• 86-inch smart board - $4200 - $6000

This article will detail the most important things you should look for when choosing your smart board and a guideline to how much the most popular features and accessories cost.

At the 2024 Future of Education Technology Conference, there will be a new class of smart boards that are certified under Google’s EDLA license that enables schools and companies to run popular Google apps on their smart boards without adding extra hardware.   One major advantage over non-EDLA boards is the ability to run Google Chrome directly on the board.  There are three major types of EDLA boards that will available in 2024, so this is a key area of difference between smart board competitors.     

In 2024, teachers are demanding safer classrooms. According to a recent national survey of 500 teachers in the United States, 84% indicate that antimicrobial coatings are important to extremely important to them.  There are multiple models of smart boards that will have antimicrobial touch screens and pens that are certified for student and teacher safety at all price points and sizes.

The Microsoft Whiteboard app in Office 365 and Jamboard app in Google Workspace are now being challenged by more advanced whiteboard apps that are included with the board. Nearly every smartboard comes with basic whiteboarding software – but in 2024, there are now more advanced versions available without costly subscription fees. Here are some things to look for in evaluating touch screen TV whiteboard software.

The best whiteboard software will turn your handwriting into editable text – and fix your circles and squares to enable you to arrange them the way you want – and create perfect diagrams and org charts. Some even recognize the width of a paintbrush on the screen.

Need a sheet of engineering paper, blank music staff, or even a football field to capture your ideas? With a premium smart board – these templates come with the screen so you can draw up your latest play right over a virtual field or lay out your next riff on a music staff. Then save it and share it as needed.

The best smartboards come with a tool that lets you collaborate with anyone remotely on the board. Just share a link or a QR code and they can connect to your display and start writing on the board from wherever they happen to be. 

The newest smart board models in 2024 are designed for multiple users to log into the touch screen TV and access files on your network drives, your Google Drive, Drop Box, and Microsoft OneDrive just like a meeting room PC. The best models have software to link the board to your ERP systems such as Active Directory / Entra and Google Workspace, while others require you to use their proprietary software and have teachers, students, and employees create an account on their server for multi-user capability.