Just over 8 months ago, I published a post asking the above question, Are Interactive Whiteboards all that? I mentioned that I encountered Interactive Whiteboards for the first time in 2002 and gave a little bit of history surrounding them. I also published some informal findings on how teachers were using them and coming to the conclusion that most of them would have been better off with just a projector or worse, nothing at all.
Interactive Whiteboards
The Hitachi Interactive Whiteboard
[media url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oia8LI7B4qA” width=”100%”]
The 2009 Irish Interactive Whiteboard Survey
A lot has changed in the world of Interactive Whiteboards since 2008. In fact, you could say the landscape has completely changed since last year. When I gave this course for the first time, there weren’t a lot of Interactive Whiteboards to choose from in Ireland. Essentially, you could divide your options in two; you could have a permanent IWB on your wall for around €6,000 or you could have a portable solution for about €2,500. The Internet was your only hope of resources if you didn’t happen to own a Promethean or Smartboard. Smaller companies were beginning to emerge but were hampered by exclusivity deals so no-one had really heard of them. The debate was: is it really worth spending an extra €3,500 on a permanent IWB solution?
IWBFAQ: Would anyone like to share their experiences of their IWB before I buy one?
A fair question was raised on the Education Posts Forum a few days ago. This person wants to buy an interactive whiteboard. She has read all the reviews on Anseo.net but wanted to hear from other teachers about their experiences about using their IWB in their school. She continued to ask if they would recommend their IWB over another.
Corrections from June IWB Review
My June review sparked a few emails from some companies and some of the information I put on the review was inaccurate. Rather than waiting for the next review, (which won’t be until late summer), I’ll use this post as a kind of appendix. If you’ve noticed something wrong with the review, let me know and I’ll pop it on this post. I will also add it as a comment on the original post.
Interactive Whiteboard Review-May/June 2009
Anseo.net is proud to unleash its second review of Interactive Whiteboards in Ireland. Since the last review, there has been a number of new Interactive Whiteboards that have come into the market. The review is posted in PDF format and now contains two reviews: the first is based on 5 criteria, which includes software and value for money; the second is based simply on the board itself and the service you get from the company.
Sunday Business Post: moving shapes around a screen
Because I always have a lot to say about IWBs, this is a separate article to the main Sunday Business Post article I wrote a couple of hours ago. If you haven’t seeen the other post, basically the newspaper did a seven page sepcial on technology in education. There were 3 articles about Interactive Whiteboards, none of which featured any feedback from schools that are using them. The marketing development manager of Steljes, Greg Tierney, was featured in the main article. Steljes are the people behind selling Smartboards (and they also sponsor an advertisement on Anseo.net). Some guy from GoInteractive and another somebody from 3M (huh?) were also featured in smaller articles.
Thoughts on the Sunday Business Post
Today the Sunday Business Post published a 7 page special on technologies in education. It focussed on many aspects of ICT in all three levels of education. Amongst articles of interest to me as a primary school teacher were the NCTE’s plans to roll out laptops and projectors to us all, Interactive Whiteboards, Scoilnet’s services, Fís and a profile on constructionist learning in Gaelscoil Ó Doghair. I was not altogether happy with every article and below are my thoughts about each one.
Newstalk / GOInteractive Competition
This competition was sent to me from GOInteractive, a company that specialises in Smart Interactive Whiteboards. This competition has nothing to do with Anseo.net so we won’t be able to respond to any questions about it.
Would you like to win a SMART Interactive Whiteboard for your School
or Sports Club?
ActivExpression
Voting systems for Interactive Whiteboards have been around for a few years. I remember testing one out back in 2004 and playing an educational version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and being mightily impressed. The voting system had 9 numbers and an “Enter” button and by giving multiple choice questions, a group of … Read more