Just when you thought touch screen phones were cool, SMART Technologies has come up with a whole new technology that is a hot item at the Spaulding Youth Center in Northfield, which is one of 12 schools across North America to beta test it.

It's called the SMART table. Students demonstrated the tool on Monday for representatives from SMART Technologies and members of the media.

The SMART table is the next step up from the SMART Board, a touch screen that allows children to do activities with the simple act of touch on a white board on the wall. It serves as an interactive learning center.

The table is the same concept, but the screen is displayed on the surface of a table instead of on the wall and officials at Spaulding like it because it allows up to six students to work together at once, where the board can only allow one or two students at a time to use it.

Randy Welch is the chief program officer at Spaulding. He said the SMART table is especially useful to them because of what it does for the school's very special children.

The Spaulding Youth Center is a school for students with autism or other neurological impairments. Welch said research implies that it is nearly impossible for autistic children to work together. Quite often what they do is what Welch called "parallel play," where autistic children will be engaged in the same activity at the same time but not interacting with each other.

With the SMART table, teacher Theresa Hemmer has noticed a tremendous improvement in the children's skills to work together. Welch added that they have seen the students' attention to the material skyrocket.

"It has really opened new doors," for her students, she said.

"When we were told about the SMART table, we said, 'Wow,'" Welch said.

"We saw the potential," said Spaulding's CEO Susan Calegari.

With the students doing what autism researchers thought was impossible, working together, Welch is impressed with the table already, even though it has only been at the school and used in curriculum since the first week of January.

"You can't help but get excited about where it can go," he said.

Senior Product Manager for SMART Technologies Tanye Brusse said the beta testing is conducted so the company can get feedback on the table. When asked what they would create next, she said that would depend on the feedback they got from the 12 beta testers for the SMART table.

Brusse said the table comes with six different applications such as paint, multiple choice and puzzle. The teacher can also customize and create applications on his or her own computer and transfer it with a USB memory key to the table.

SMART Technologies Public Relations Specialist Kelly Stewart said the touch screen may look delicate and fragile, but it was built to withstand about 200 lbs.

DARYL CARLSON/CITIZEN PHOTO SPAULDING YOUTH CENTER students try out the new SMART Table which encourages students to work together on a classroom assignment. * Order a print of this photo