TraceBoard Interactive Whiteboard

The great thing about blogging compared to, for example, print media is that if you write something that’s inaccurate, you can go back and make changes. My first impression of the Traceboard when I met it two years ago was that it was a Smartboard clone. I gave it a fairly average review and it probably didn’t encourage people to buy it over a Smartboard.

However, I was totally wrong. The Traceboard is not a clone of the Smartboard. Yes, it does everything a Smartboard does; but it does much more. My 3 criteria for any board (finger interaction, dry-wipe marker enabled and good service) have all the boxes ticked. The reaction time of the board and accuracy is super and it’s really really easy to get working. Simply plug in the USB plug and you’re away.

Lennox are the people selling the Traceboard and they are quite the innovators. They have already seen that the future of IWBs is no longer the software that comes with the board. Teachers don’t have the time to create professional looking flipcharts for their classes; and, let’s face it, the only decent software out there for primary level is Promethean’s ActivInspiere. So, like the UK, Lennox are utilising the efforts of third party vendors to supplement their board’s functionality. As far as I’m aware, you can also buy Wizteach, which I’ll be reviewing shortly, which looks excellent. Obviously you can download ActivInspire if you wish.

Any glitches? Not really. I’d probably ask for better speakers than the ones that are provided by default. The projector contains 5W speakers and this isn’t really loud enough for a group of 30 Junior Infants.

So basically, if the price is right, (which it currently is), this is a great addition to any school. Lennox have worked really hard with this board and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s one of the major players in the Irish market for IWBs.