Jump to content

Digital whiteboarding


shootingstar

Recommended Posts

Great idea and  looks simple.  It is except when  doing stuff in the fly, in front of everyone. In MS  Teams.  Tool is pretty simplistic. An empathetic audience is only 1-2 people who also do some virtual teaching/software end-user support. Anyone else will lose patience watching you fumble for 1-2 min.

Can't take much time outside of meetings to fiddle. 

  • Heart 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the digital whiteboard is used for the right purpose and in the right way, I'm sure it has its applications.  Sometimes these things are bought for their state-of-the-art appeal without thinking if they fit the purpose they'll be used for.

I began my teaching career with chalkboards and always hated having to take the time to sponge them clean.

Then there were the whiteboards and making sure not to use permanent markers on them, but they were fairly easy to clean.

Digital whiteboards are interesting, though a chemistry or physics lecture with problem solving and gifted-and-talented teenagers generally requires 15' to 25' of board width to get it all in.

When I retired, we had a projector in the ceiling that we used as a laptop monitor, which projected onto a large screen that was pulled down in front of part of the whiteboard.  I suppose a digital whiteboard in the middle of a 20' set of boards could replace that.

We also had electronic lab apps that plugged into USB ports and recorded data from chemistry and physics motion, electric, and optic experiments and that projector and screen were a big help in getting the students used to the apps by simply displaying my laptop's screen - we had a class set of 15 laptops.

I'm sure art, music, and phys. ed. classes are aided by digital displays.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, shootingstar said:

Can't take much time outside of meetings to fiddle. 

I did. Hours of exploration and learning how to optimize the digital tools. Screencasts, screenshots, online quiz sites, digital annotation, whiteboard, interactive slide decks…  But the power of these digital tools was limited if students lost their WiFi connection  or had twenty windows open all at once and couldn’t run the tools. 

  • Heart 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use a Remarkable2 to replace paper.  I'm a big note take and paper tablets were my go to.  I replaced that with a Remarkable2 tablet that feels great (I've used other tablets... ).  One feature of the Remarkable2 is that it connects to your laptop and will share a screen.  It makes for a great digital whiteboard with monitors or virtual meetings it works great.

  • Heart 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Zephyr said:

I have had a smart board in my training room  for 9 years now.   Great tool.  

Ever since I joined my employer  (last 11 yrs.), we've had  some select digital smart boards in some  meetings rms.  I never used it since I didn't take time to practice touching the white screen board when presenting or instructing.  I suspect alot of those digital smart boards are under-utilized.

And IT doesn't have any written instructions on our intranet to help us. I guess they think we have time to fiddle around with meeting rm. technology.  I don't think alot of IT tech. support think about how users have to juggle multiple technologies as best as we can without learning all our tools well.

Pre-pandemic, meeting rms. with certain technology would be in high demand, so I would have to book a meeting rm. for myself just to practice.  I just didn't bother since as an in-class instructor there was enough for me to manage....ensuring technology for myself was not compromised as an instructor, then set up laptops for students to log-in, managing the instructional pacing, content delivery, etc..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, and then walking into some meeting rms. where you've booked is checking as an instructor (in advance even before booking the rm.) which projection technology does it use. We have 3 generations of technology across over 150+  meeting rms. in our different buildings.  You don't know the projection technology until you visit the rm.

Then there's  teleconferencing technology for multiple folks beaming into the mtg. rm.

So nowadays, since I work primarily from home, I can still teach without those ;problems.

But then I have other problems, where I can't see the screens of multiple students and know generally if they are ok/struggling.  I don't ask them to show their faces whole t ime. There's no point because they are just looking at their monitor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

And IT doesn't have any written instructions on our intranet to help us.

Most of what I learned was from one of my teams 10 year old who happened to come in one day.  They had one in their class so he knew all the tricks and short cuts.

They are not complicated and TBH rather easy to use, once you understand the basic layout.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, shootingstar said:

You don't know the projection technology until you visit the rm.

This would be a challenge for me. I would probably add “bring a laptop” to my course requirements/description and not rely on projectors at all. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, UglyBob said:

At first glance I thought the title said digital waterboarding. I couldn't figure out how that would work. :scratchhead:

They make you sit and watch Kevin Costner's "Waterworld" over and over and over until you confess

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Kzoo said:

I use a Remarkable2 to replace paper.  I'm a big note take and paper tablets were my go to.  I replaced that with a Remarkable2 tablet that feels great (I've used other tablets... ).  One feature of the Remarkable2 is that it connects to your laptop and will share a screen.  It makes for a great digital whiteboard with monitors or virtual meetings it works great.

I got one for my wife's birthday last year, she loves it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, MoseySusan said:

This would be a challenge for me. I would probably add “bring a laptop” to my course requirements/description and not rely on projectors at all. 

For adult instruction, one has to demonstrate to the group if it's in a classroom in-person situation. So projection of the instructor's laptop/computer is necessary  to adult student groups.  Standing there and telling adults which button press or showing static slides of software screen shots, is useful for on the side learning aid. But would kill their interest/learning motivation fast.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, shootingstar said:

For adult instruction, one has to demonstrate to the group if it's in a classroom in-person situation. So projection of the instructor's laptop/computer is necessary  to adult student groups

Right. So I would share the link to the whiteboard app and they can all see the live demonstration on their own device. As adults, I’m sure they can adapt to a slight change in where to direct their eyes. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, MoseySusan said:

Right. So I would share the link to the whiteboard app and they can all see the live demonstration on their own device. As adults, I’m sure they can adapt to a slight change in where to direct their eyes. 

Sure. Yup.

Right now, it's students watching my desktop in virtual Teams...even though I don't even know if they are even trying in the right places on software since I'm working from home. I like convenience of working from home but the learning experience for students is probably only 85% there since I can't drop by easily to see where they are at. And for me, as instructor I'm only mildly fulfilled as instructor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...