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[school-discuss] Wiimote Interactive Whiteboard: IR Penlight - update



Daniel,

I''m hoping to have a "real world" test soon. I have been experimenting with bluetooth adapters and trying to make a better pen. My classroom isn't configured to get a good test but my wife, who teaches kindergarten, has an ideal environment for testing it out. My hope is to do so within the next couple weeks.

I'm also exploring the use of an IR led in the rear of a pen as a better means of tracking.

Until an open source alternative was to become available, I found a reasonably inexpensive (19.95) screen annotation program (www.annotatepro.com) that does a really nice job from preliminary tests . It can even be customized with a logo for organizations/companies wishing to purchase and brand for mass distribution.

As such, I'm all talk right now but I see great potential and if ever a Linux-compatible version of the whiteboard software were to be made available, I would certainly try it out.

As far as the Mimio is concerned, I've looked at those as well but unless you have a glare-free whiteboard, it's no fun to look at. I've also looked at the possibility of the use of non-glare plexi placed over screens (too keep from scuffing the screens or for even placing on top of regular dry erase whiteboards.

John

Daniel Howard wrote:
Hi John,

Did the software itself seem ready for primetime? One of our dad's at the school who is technically inclined put the pen together as Johnnie C. recommended, said it was very hard to use (I suspect he may not have scuffed the end up to make it more omnidirectional as Johnnie recommends from the sound of the diffulties with it), but his wife, one of our teachers, said the software itself was very hard to use. What did you think? The cost savings of this seem well worth it if can be made easy to use, but I also understand my teacher's mentality of "If you have to mess with it constantly to get it to do stuff, it's not worth it."

Interestingly, after someone posted the Mimeo reference to the schoolforge list, I looked it up and there is a commercial version that is still pricey, but far less than the interactive whiteboards themselves:

http://www.mimio.com/products/interactive/

$729 for the basic unit, don't know how much software comes with it.

I'd still prefer the $35 Wii remote version with a $20 pen...

Daniel