But Kenai Middle School teacher David Fischer had no lack of volunteers in his sixth-grade class April 7. That's because board work at Kenai Middle School is anything but boring.

Fischer was using a Smart Board to deliver the lesson. The technology is sort of a computer-based next generation of the overhead projector.

A projector displays images on a special board mounted at the front of the classroom. In part it's a computer screen, allowing the user to display word processing files, PowerPoint presentations and link to the Internet, along with showing VHS tapes, DVDs and video clips on the Internet.

It's also interactive. There's a keyboard function to type, interactive tools like a protractor and ruler, and special pens to write, either on the board itself or on a remote slate that wirelessly transmits information to be displayed on the main screen. Sensors also respond to touch, allowing you to make selections or move things around on the board with your bare hands. It's easier to list what the technology can't do - in short, not much. Smart Boards' most valuable asset in a school setting is the ability to keep students engaged.

"I have their attention," Fischer said. "They are visual. They want to see things. They want to touch the board, they want to use the slate. ... There's less discipline problems because they've got to be involved so when I say 'go move it on the board,' they don't say 'what does he want me to do?'"

Smart Boards have been used in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District for more than five years now in a handful of schools. Their use recently is becoming more widespread.

"It's a great integration of technology in the learning environment," said Rich Bartowlowitz, KPBSD distance learning coordinator and Smart Board trainer.

Integration doesn't happen overnight. Teachers don't have to revamp what they teach, but integrating Smart Boards into their lessons means they need to rework how they teach.

"The first year typically the teacher is learning how to use the technology, the second year they start changing what they do, and in third year they're doing new things," Bartowlowitz said.

Fischer said it takes him about 45 minutes to adapt a lesson to utilize the Smart Board. Even though it's extra time, it's not wasted, since he can save his work, share it with other teachers and use the lessons for years to come.

There's a learning curve for students, too, but Fischer said it's smaller than the one adults face. In his class, students bring in Web sites they've found and want to try out on the board, like a site where you can simulate doing surgery on a knee.

"With technology being what it is, we're moving another step in the direction of immediate information and what kids are interested in," Fischer said.

"If you watch at the end of the day at Kenai Middle School as they're going out, probably one-third have a phone to their ear like they can't live without it. Right or wrong, I don't know," he said. "So are we just going to stay with the book and read page after page or can we make it more realistic?"

Last year KMS purchased three Smart Boards with legislative funds and put one in each grade level. With the help of another round of legislative funds, plus some scrimping, budget shuffling and even a car wash, the school purchased 13 more this year, one for every core teacher.

"Integrating technology in our classrooms is a top priority because we recognize that the students of today are different than the student five years ago, 10 years ago or when some of us went to school 20 years ago," said Assistant Principal Vaughn Dosko.

"Teachers continue to be the teacher, but it definitely opens instruction in a different format where students are working in the fashion they are most comfortable with," he said. "It's more active, more integrative, more so than the passive 'I'm going to stand up there and lecture and you're going to sit there and take it and take notes.'"

For Fischer, it's pretty simple.

"Look, how could this not be a good thing for kids?"