Universal Interactive Whiteboard Software - top 3 so far

Don't you wish there was a universal interactive whiteboard program - that could work on any IWB whether it was a home made WiiMote to a $10000 interactive LCD/LED screen. One that had all the functions you needed and could save to a couple of file formats that just about anyone could open content. Oh and cross platform too please.

Me too - still haven't found it yet either.

But here are 3 that come close...

eBeam ScrapBook. My pick for Primary to middle school, ebeam scapbook is a solid IWB program that does not require you to own an eBeam or have one connected for it to work. With things like video and stroke playback, the ability to bring in just about any image file plus flash animations and video its a well rounded package. Saves as either proprietary, HTML PDF, PPT, JPG, or PNG. Cross platform.

Microsoft OneNote. Seriously overlooked and most people don't even know they have it. This is my pick for middle and high schools plus tertiary and training centres. Great range of tools and drawing capability. The handwriting recognition is fantastic and the math symbol recognition is great if a little buggy. The sharing function is great if you are online and want to share your notebook.
Saves files as Onenote, PDF, DOC, HTML.

Open Sankore. I've just come across this and Wow! - Just wow! Free and fantastic - this is a little different but once you get used to it holy cow. This is one of the most feature-full IWB programs I have come across. It's a regular IWB in many respects with a smaller gallery than most but nothing that can't be expanded. But the widgets/apps that you can add are amazing.

Imagine being able to embed just about any file from the web
Imagine having a google map working within your whiteboard - wikipedia and wikictionary as well.
Imagine being able to have a page as big as you want (scrolling)
Imagine being able to embed working websites into the document
Imagine being able to create your own widgets with a just using HTML and CSS

I'd give this a go in a classroom - the interface is non standard but does make sense and auto saves your work until you want to export it. It has a nice extended desktop function for interactive pen displays.
Exports only as Sankore or PDF.

iPads, tablets and IWB's

iPads...

They are starting to pop up in primary and secondary schools all over Australia and from the blogs I read - all over the world. Mostly on a trial basis to see what teachers and students can do with them in the classroom.

One of the questions I have been asked at conferences recently is "How do I integrate my IWB with an iPad?"

There are a couple of ways to do it...

• AppleTV method - With the release of iOS5 the new AppleTV and a new projector with HDMI - you now have a great solution to getting content from the iPad to the projector wirelessly. 
• How does it work? Connect the AppleTV to your projector and link it in with the same wireless network as the iPad. The iPad will recognise that there is and AppleTV on the network and let you mirror what is on the ipad to the AppleTV and therefore the projector.
• The downside to this is that anyone with a iPad will be able to push their iPad screen to any AppleTV screen on the network. In some schools that would be too much temptation for some kids.
• Cloud Whiteboard solution - Use something like the eBeam connect cloud whiteboard. This lets you control who gets to participate and track participation. With the additional free app of eBeam Snapcam students/teachers can send photos to the whiteboard. It will also work with laptops and Android tablets as well.
• How does it work? You connect your laptop to the IWB as per normal - go to eBeam connect, login and start a new board. up in settings there will be a meeting number that you can show to students so they can also join the board after logging in on the iPad.
• The downside - Its a bit slow at the moment due to it being a beta program based in the US. 

If you know of any other way to integrate the two technologies feel free to leave a comment so I can follow it up.

Data Logging and the Australian National Curriculum

My colleague, Peter Niass, has done a great video on the use use of data loggers in Year 10 Science. He takes a very basic experiment that is usually done with balloons and elevates it to real science using the NovaLink Data logger. This makes the experiment much more worthwhile and gives student a look at real science as well as fulfils the requirements of the ACARA documents.




Nice job Peter! I'm looking forward to more of these.

Aeroplanes, aircraft, things that fly

Stumbleupon is an awesome time waster but every now and then it throws up a gem.

The national Museum of the US Air Force has a virtual tour that is one of the best I have ever seen.

http://www.nmusafvirtualtour.com

If you like you aircraft this is as close as you are going to get to being there. a really well made virtual tour of the museum. My favourite cold war super plane is there - the SR-71 Blackbird.

To back it up they also have a range of resources for teachers -
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/education/educators/index.asp

and a range of fact sheets for every aircraft there.

Time, clocks and calenders

A friend of mine wanted to set up a calendar to print out for a couple of months - she is old school. To help I had a look around and in the process found a couple of online calendar generators.

But this one was the best - Time and date -

Not only did it have a very useful calendar maker but also a range of tools that are really useful for teaching students about time. With timers, countdowns, world clocks and time zone maps there is enough there to cover some great concepts right from you IWB.

Spiceworks - Free software for School system Admins

I've been a System admin for both a school and a business with over 50 networked devices - managing them all has been a real pain and I have used a range of tools to get jobs done.

I was stumbling along last night and came across Spiceworks - it is a network discovery reporting and management system that is free (paid for through vendor advertising). It does everything my multitude of tools used to do and more.

It does a lot - see below. And is fairly easy to use. I have asked around and a couple of schools over here are using it to manage all their devices - particularly printers and switches.

Inventory Your Network
Network Inventory
IT Asset Management
IT Audit Software
Warranty Tracking
Virtualization Management
Monitor Your Network
Network Monitoring
Green IT Software
SNMP Network Management
SQL Server Monitoring
Cloud Computing Management
UPS Power Management Software
Run an IT Help Desk
Help Desk Software
Hosted Email Support
Active Directory Management
IT Purchasing Management
Help Desk iPhone App
Help Desk Android App
Manage Configuration Changes
TFTP Server
Change Management
Map Your Network
Network Mapping
Troubleshoot Network Problems
Network Troubleshooting

Free Marine Waters Resources

The WA government with the help of business has developed a fantastic marine resource for teachers.

From the front page:

Marine WATERs is an inter­ac­tive and fully inte­grated resource that con­nects edu­ca­tors and stu­dents with resources and tools devel­oped specif­i­cally to study West­ern Australia’s unique marine ecosys­tems and address chal­lenges fac­ing the sus­tain­abil­ity of our aquatic resources.

This ever-expanding suite of curriculum-based edu­ca­tion resources includes les­son plans, inter­ac­tive activ­i­ties, exten­sion activ­i­ties, stu­dent work­sheets, fact sheets, and infor­ma­tion on cur­rent and emerg­ing issues.

To get your hands on the resources you have to register but after that the resources are free to use.

http://marinewaters.fish.wa.gov.au/