Keeping your interactive whiteboard interactive - Part 2

So what if you teach seniors, or in fact you have to "make do' with a traditional whiteboard that is fixed and cannot be easily moved? Well, the secret to making it interactive is just the same - you have to enable the users to easily reach all corners of the projected image. We always recommend that the image size is less than 1.5m wide for a normal classroom, as that allows everyone to see, but keeps the picture sharp and accessible. Unfortunately, even at this size, many students simply cannot reach the top corners of the image. Well the solution is very simple - give them something to stand on! For want of a better word, we will call the item a 'step'. You need to keep the step just deep enough for board users to feel comfortable on, but no more, as if they stick out from the board too much, they will be in the way. The height of the step surface will depend on the height of the students but around 150mm (6 inches) is often about right. The actual construction is very simple. A piece of mdf board with 150mm spacers undeneath is both inexpensive and simple to build. If your property personal can't make them, a handy parent, woodwork teacher, or a friendly builder, can knock them up in no time.

If you wish, you can even buy commercially made examples (see below).

Keeping your interactive whiteboard interactive!

This post relates to a couple of earlier ones giving advice on how to install your data projector. See here. A lot of teachers receive an interactive whiteboard setup without really having a clear vision about how it can be used with their students. It can simply end up as an expensive way of doing the same type of 'chalk and talk' teaching that could be done on a standard board. If you want to give your students the full benefit of the possibilities of an interactive board, you need to make sure that they can physically access it. The earlier posts about mounting the data projector talk about putting the image at an accessible height and making sure that it is not too big. The actual optimal positioning depends on the age of your students and the type of teaching you plan to do. We think there are two main setups for school aged students.

Small group setup: How do teachers of early school age students teach? Well, they don't sit them all at desks a long way from the teacher and lecture them! They generally have them sitting on the floor in small groups, close to the action. Having a large, fixed board a metre from the floor, is probably not a useful solution. A much better, more interactive option, would be to have large LCD screen (cheaper than a projector in many cases), mounted down low where the students can both see it and reach all points of the screen. A uBoard unit, which is only 20cm long and slim, mounted to a 40" LCD TV may be an inexpensive and very effective solution. In practice, schools who use this setup may want to fit a thin sheet of clear acrylic over the screen to protect it from enthusiastic little hands. We'll cover the second main setup type in our next post

uBoard and the new MS tablet maths function

The latest version of Microsoft tablet software built into Windows 7, does more than just convert handwriting to text. One very useful enhancement is the new math input panel. To quote Microsoft, "At last, you can take notes on your tablet in algebra class: the new Math Input Panel recognizes handwritten math expressions. Once your equation is recognized, you can insert it into a word-processing or computational program."










This is a break through function and very handy in senior mathematics classes.

Using uBoard with MS Tablet functions

You may recall that uBoard is recognised as a 'native' Microsoft tablet device which means that you can access all the excellent software functions that Microsoft include in their tablet package.
The first tablet function that people tend to use is handwriting recognition. Basically, you can handwrite on the screen and it is turned into typed text as you go! The latest version of this is very, very good, and easily handles my 'old school' cursive handwriting. This is very handy and can be used for taking notes, entering a web address in a form, signing a digital document, annotating a document neatly - a multitude of uses.


MS Vista also allows this functionality, but MS Windows 7 is the best. uBoard is the only interactive whiteboard able to access this software.

Portable Interactive Whiteboard

One of the greatest advantages of the new generation of interactive boards is their sheer portability and lack of need for specialists to install.

The uBoard receiver is just 22cm long (8.5inches).

It attaches to a standard whiteboard, or wall, by sticking magnetically to a small metal plate which is stuck on first. Mounting, or dismounting the receiver takes only moments - contrast this to the older technology which requires tradesmen to attach and hook up the necessary power cables and mounting points.

Earthquake in Christchurch

Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Christchurch, New Zealand, as they battle with the disaster that struck them today. Unbelievable.

Interactive solar system resource

If you are looking for a resource to use to explain the basics of our solar system, you need look no further than the MINT gallery included with uBoard. The individual elements can be moved around easily and you can use the spotlight or reveal tools to focus on particular pieces.

To find it, go to Galleries and open the Science folder. Double click on the images and they will load. You can resize or reposition as you wish.

Charging the uBoard pen

uBoard interactive whiteboard systems use a rechargeable pen. They are supplied with a cable that plugs into the end of the pen at one end and into a usb port (or usb charger) at the other.

From flat, they take 1.5 hours to charge which will give you approximately 15 hours of continuous use. Because it uses an advanced lithium polymer battery, you can part charge it whenever you like with no ill effects. A neat feature is that a red light glows in the end which goes out when the pen is fully charged.

Interactive music resource

Here's a handy site that will be useful for senior music teachers - Ricci Adams' Musictheory.net . It's full of tools that will help students learn a range of music theory.
It ranges from fairly simple exercises that test knowledge of notes to more complex activities around identifying various scales by ear. A great feature is the ability to customise the activities.

Installing a data projector - Part 2

The actual installation is sometimes left to school caretakers or maintenance personal and we strongly recommend that they read the previous post before starting. To help with the practicalities of the job, the tips below may be useful.

• Shift the whiteboard to the right height for the users.
• Connect the projector to the computer that will use it.
• Position the projector as close as possible to the screen while ensuring the picture is within the screen and no wider than 1.5m.
• Use a string with a weight on the end to mark on the ceiling where the projector mount should be fitted.
• Ensure that the mount is securely attached to the ceiling (we have several easy solutions for this – email us if you need advice).
• The projector will need a power outlet to plug into. If there isn’t a ceiling outlet, you can run an extension lead to it using commonly available cable channelling (ask at an electrical store).This channelling will also be needed for the VGA cable that will connect the projector to the computer. Make sure you know where the computer will be positioned so the channelling ends at the right place!

How to set up a classroom data projector

This topic comes up time and again when talking to schools. It is also one of the most common problems with any interactive whiteboard setup. We have come up with a short guide that will make sure that you get the best out of you equipment.

Rule 1 Do not let the ceiling dictate where you place the projector! Even if there is a very handy looking mounting point, or a light fitting seems to be in the way, resist the urge to compromise. A small amount of extra effort will pay dividends over the life of the projector.

Rule 2 Position the projector as close as possible to the screen while still getting the picture size that you require. A very common fault of installers is to mount the projector too far back from the screen – this loses clarity and can make the image too big.

Rule 3 You seldom need an image bigger than 1.5 metre wide in a classroom.

Rule 4 Make sure that the whole image fits on your whiteboard! This may seem a basic requirement, but in our experience, many, many, installations leave the image bigger than the whiteboard. It is always better to make it fit clearly inside the whiteboard edges.

Rule 5 An interactive whiteboard is not interactive if the intended users can’t reach all parts of the image! Again, don’t compromise – move the whiteboard lower if necessary before fitting the projector. Many junior classes also use a simple step to let their shorter students reach the whole board. Once the board is in the right place you can position the projector – not the other way around.

Rule 6 The projector manufacturer’s mount is usually the most expensive. It is far more economical to purchase one of the many universal mounts available.

There you go! Follow these directions and you will be well on the way to a professional setup.

(This article was included in a recent newsletter published through our website. If you want to get help like this, and other useful tips and ideas, visit the site and subscribe - it's free and we guarantee you will find it useful. Newsletter subscription is halfway down the homepage on the right.

MINT Interactive whiteboard software

One of the many features of the MINT software that powers the uBoard system, is the built in media bank. It comes preloaded with nearly a thousand images all neatly categorised into folders such as 'Mathematics', 'Science', 'Music' , etc.


But the feature that we like the most is the ability to add our own collection of images, links, documents. This is possible because the software includes a folder called "My Room" which you can use to collect and organise your own content. It is particularly easy to add links to folders on your computer or server which allows a teacher to instantly access all school resources with a couple of clicks - very nice!

Great knowledge building software

It has been far too long since we posted! The whole team have been very busy with the launch of the uBoard interactive whiteboard system.

Todays post focuses on a website that we have mentioned before, but it's truly good enough to give another push. The site we are talking about is Purpose Games. The basic idea is that people create and play knowledge based games. What makes it so useful is that everytime you play a particular game you are competing with all the other people who have played that game as well - very motivating for students of all ages!

The games have been created by people who visit the site. The process is very simple and really all you need to know to create a game of your own is the specific knowledge that your game will require. The current most played games are both Geography focused - one challenges you to correctly mark the American States on a map and the other does the same with the countries in Europe - both games have been played over 1 million times!

The site is very helpfully organised into categories, or you can search for a topic that interests you or your class. A quick search for "New Zealand" found 53 games on this country alone.

The way we like to use it though is to get the students to write their own game using some knowledge that their teacher needs them to remember. They can, and will, become very motivated to set quick times and will imprint the facts without much effort.