Interactive whiteboard or roam free with an iPad.

Professional Trainer Bruce Brassington uses DisplayNote to let him work from the front and present wirelessly with an iPad or mobile device. Here he talks to DisplayNote about how being tied to the Interactive Whiteboard doesn’t stop him from getting amongst the pupils.

DisplayNote, Interactive Whiteboard or iPad? Or both.

“Why be tied to the Interactive Whiteboard? Doesn’t an emphasis on ‘Learning’ require the tutor to get in amongst the pupils?” Well yes … but there’s a different dynamic at play here. The way we’re built means there’s a physiological demand for students to turn their gaze towards the person speaking, diverting attention away from the IWB, at what could be the crucial point. “There’s a couple of different dynamics to consider when working at the board. What you lose with a roaming tablet or wireless presenting approach is the immediacy. Combining voice, visual and pointing at the source of the information is very powerful indeed. “The present wirelessly with an iPad approach also loses the body language element. A student working out a problem at the interactive whiteboard gives a lot of information away by the way they present themselves to the board and in their actions in resolving an on-screen problem. If they move their arm or lean to one area of the board, have you just been able to gauge their thought processes? “Having been involved with IWB’s in Education since 1997 and as an NLP practitioner, I understand the limitations but would advocate that an ideal solution budgets allowing, is the combination of both technologies. “Two tools for two different jobs! “Incorporating technology like DisplayNote gives the tutor the option to work purely at the board, or to untether themselves by mirroring the IWB onto their Tablet. Now they can roam around the room, present wirelessly with an iPad and to go another step further and share the interactive whiteboard material with all students on their Tablets and Smartphones allowing pupils to create their own additional individual notes, collaborate in groups, with the tutor and participate via an inbuilt voting system. “The best of all worlds in my view!”

You may also be interested in our blog The Walls are Alive – Why Next Gen Whiteboards are Taking Over.