Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration. Nevertheless, Fraser Spiers’ post about his next-gen classroom A/V setup really strikes a chord with my own views on IWBs. Why are we spending so much money single-task tool, when a setup like Spiers offers provides so much more versatility for the cost. The ability to better place technology in the hands of students should be reason enough to entertain such a shift.
You can have any student take control of the AppleTV from their iPad over AirPlay to share videos or photos. I personally use a lot of YouTube videos to teach automated systems in Computing. When pupils are researching content, they can share what they’ve found wirelessly.
I’ll suggest one better: with VNC access to the Mac Mini, you could put any task in the hands of the students. Instead of just sharing content (which is still a valuable use), full access to the presentation computer breaks down the barrier between teacher and student. Often, when in the computer lab, I ask a student to teach software skills via a VNC connection to Of course, most of us don’t have the benefit of a 1:1 iPad program, but a single iPad (or netbook) to pass around to students would suffice.
The rise of affordable multi-touch devices may just be the death-knoll for companies like SMART and Promethean, who have built their business models around expensive, proprietary touch input devices. If they wish to compete in the modern marketplace, they need to focus on providing strong whiteboard software that isn’t tied to their specific hardware.
[via Fraser Speirs]
Related posts:
