32 replies to this topic

[Andrew Field]

I went to a presentation about this at last year's BETT show. It is - as you've realised a MIMIO.

What is it is an add-on to allow you to feedback to your computer, turning your digital projector into a digital whiteboard.

The think you stick on the board is meant to record what you are doing with the pen.

It is basically a cheaper solution that purchasing a fixed digitial whiteboard. As it is portable it can be stuck onto any board or wall, plugged into the computer and then used as a digital whiteboard.

When I saw them, there appeared to be three drawbacks - easy of setting up, potential of losing the clever pen and whether the thing that sticks to the board is wide / high enough to record all your movements.

However - this is an excellent addition and certainly a great surprise.

I would be extremely interested to see how you get on with it, as our place is looking at things like at the moment.

[Carole Faithorn]

I have read this thread a couple of times and still only have a vague idea.

What exactly is an interactive whiteboard and what can it do?

You will have to excuse the ignorance of us colonials!

Since none of the lucky people with this bit of high-tech gadgetry in their classrooms has responded yet, perhaps this article will be enough to give you a basic idea:Interactive Whiteboards

Click through to a free guide and details about various models

Enough to get you started, I hope

[Stephen Drew]

To break away from my PowerPoint design for Lesson 1 of Germany 1919-1945 for Year 11s starting next week.

(Currently lasts 30 minutes with the Doors 'Riders on the Storm', A Hitler speech, Churchill speech and the first five minutes of 'The Nazis: A warning from History' as a video' - not that I am trying to grab their attention with technical wizadry or anything )

Anyway, to get back to the matter in hand. I have discovered where my new ICT 'toy' came from!

One of the Assistant Heads informs me that it has been in school for months in a cupbaord but the ICT guy had no money for a long lead to connect it to a PC! He also did not know who would want it in their classroom! So following a conversation on Thursday of last week between him and the Assistant Head the long lead was bought and the item appeared in my room at about 5pm on Friday.

I spent a couple of hours playing with it this afternoon with my 5yr old son as a willing assistant on the digitally enhanced pens, and apart from getting the writing on the board to match exactly where it appears on the computer screen, I think I have it sussed.

The only problem I see coming up is my Performance Management Review on Monday of next week may have some pretty tough targets considering the amount of kit I am recieving at the moment - quid pro quo and all that.