PROMETHEAN ActivInspire Studio

PROMETHEAN
Notes from a session with Peter Kent 16 December 2011 (Promethean, Head of Strategic Direction, Australia & New Zealand)

IWB Pedagogy
* Professional Development + Pedagogy –> Intellectual quality
* IWB is not a content delivery model (presentation only), IWB should be used to pull stuff out of students (dialogue, interaction, thinking)

“Teachers can use an IWB to lead substantive conversations and promote higher order thinking by allowing for content that can be easily manipulated.”

Different types of IWB activities;

• Sorting activities.
• Ordering activities.
• Labelling activities.
• Puzzle, game or simulation activities.

* Open ended … Ambiguity
* Think past the activity and understand the strategy
* Reduced ‘teaching time’, more ‘learning time’.
* Think of the IWB as an amplifier of the teaching

In many respects an IWB can be thought of as an ‘amplifier’ of teaching practices. ‘Good’ teaching can be magnified to become ‘great’ while ‘poor’ teaching practices can be amplified to the point where it is counter productive. [4]

PROMETHEAN ActivInspire Studio
* A sense of control, IWB gives a sense that dialog is allowed
* Best Practice: 5 to 7 minute lessonette with a pedagogical scaffold or framework

Powerful software that is easy to use.
ActivInspire is the educational software that powers the ActivClassroom.

Many templates with standard activities; customise with your floating elements to give context for your lesson
* background
* objects that are fixed to the background
* objects that float over the background

PROMETHEAN ACTIVeXPRESSION
- interactive, response, quiz, question
- on the fly, insert into pages (question manager)
- more than one question on page … Self assess, lesson start, etc
- set of 32 c.$2k

ActivEngage
Can be virtualized and run from app (android, iOS, etc) needs to run over wireless: virtual ActivHub

ActivEngage is a software-based solution for interactive instruction and response-based learning. Ideal for schools with 1:1 computer initiatives, mobile laptop carts and computer learning labs, ActivEngage challenges students through real-time lesson interaction.

Question
* When designing material for use on IWB, what tools do we have available?
Will need a listing of products, licensing, and support levels
* Calibrate from menu bar icon, 5 point calibration

LINKS:
[1] www.prometheanplanet.com – Created by teachers, for teachers, Promethean Planet is a unique teaching, sharing and support community.

[2] Peter Kent & Matthew Holdway (2007) Interactive Whiteboards, Productive Pedagogies and Literacy Teaching in a Primary Context. [englishliteracyconference.com.au]

[3] Peter Kent & Matthew Holdway (2009) Interactive whiteboards, productive pedagogies and literacy teaching

[4] Peter Kent (2008) Technology is ubiquitous; the issue is how to contend with it

interactive whiteboard pedagogy

BECTA ICT (2003), What the research says about interactive whiteboards (PDF)

Becta ICT (2005), Interactive whiteboards in primary schools pilot study (PDF)

Beeland, WB (April 2003), Student engagement, visual leaning and technology: Can Interactive whiteboards help?. (PDF)

Cuthell, John P (2003), Interactive Whiteboards: new tools, new pedagogies, new learning? Some views from practitioners.

From replacement to transformation with interactive whiteboards. (DOC)

Glover, D and Miller, D (2001) Missioners, Tentatives and Luddites: leadership challenges for school and classroom posed by the introduction of interactive whiteboards into schools in the United Kingdom. (PDF)

Kennewell, S. (2006), Reflections on the interactive whiteboard phenomenon: a synthesis of research from the UK. (PDF)

Kent, P (2006), SMARTBoards: Interactive whiteboards in the classroom. (PDF).

Kent, P (200?), ‘E-teaching’ with Interactive Whiteboards. (PDF)

Lee, M, Boyle, M (2003), The educational effects and implications of the interactive whiteboard strategy at Richardson Primary school. (PDF)

Measday, B (2005), So you’ve got an interactive whiteboard! Now what?

Miller, D, Glover D, Averis, D (2005), Presentation and pedagogy: the effective use of interactive whiteboards in mathematics lessons. (PDF), in D Hewitt and A Noyes (eds), Proceedings of the sixth British Congress of Mathematics Education http://www.bsrlm.org.uk

Moss, G., Jewitt, C., Levaãiç, R, Armstrong, V Cardini, A. and Castle, F. (2007) The Interactive Whiteboards, Pedagogy and Pupil Performance Evaluation: An Evaluation of the Schools Whiteboard Expansion (SWE) Project: London Challenge. (PDF)

Schuck, S. and Kearney,M. (April 2007), Exploring Pedagogy with Interactive Whiteboards (PDF)

Smerdon, K, Carroll, G, Holmes, K, Lally, B (2005), Improved learning outcomes for Anangu Students from the use of ActivBoards.

University of Hull (2004), What are the advantages of using an interactive whiteboard for teaching secondary modern languages?

White, K. (April 2007), Interactive Whiteboard Trial, South Western Sydney Region: A report (PDF)

2Touch IWB

Just back from a demonstration of the 2Touch IWB system.

What is 2Touch? [1]
The latest Interactive Whiteboard to be introduced to the market is the revolutionary 2Touch. Offering a truly unique interactive whiteboard (IWB) experience the 2Touch is comprised of minute cameras located around the surface of the board which detect the exact location of any object approaching the screen. This signal is then used to communicate with a connected computer via USB.

The 2Touch optical whiteboard system uses a standard USB interface and needs no software drivers to be installed, enabling it to operate with any Windows, MAC or even Linux system. Additionally it can be used with any software on your computer, just use your fingers on the board as a mouse and off you go!

ADVANTAGES
- standard Human Interface Devices, no special drivers are needed (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- a conventional “hard” writing surface
- can handle 2:1 widescreen ratio as well as the standard 4:3
- calibration process easy to start from Windows

DISADVANTAGES
- hotspot on writing surface (solve with short throw projector?)
- gap required at top of board (8cm?) to allow for tracking by cameras
- dust/dirt in camera or blocking LED will drift calibration
- calibration via scroll lock key cannot be started from Mac, must press button on board (current version)

Specifications:
Standard surface dimensions: 1200mm (H) x 2400mm (W)
Touch surface: Ceramic steel, projection optimized
Touch method: Finger, gloved hand, or any other pointer
Touch activation force: No pressure required. Hover-capable
Resolution: USB reported touch resolution 32767 x 32767
Response time: Typically 71 touches per second (14 ms)
Operating Conditions: Temp 0°C -55°C, 10%-90% relative humidity
Drivers: No special drivers required: Native HID.
Calibration: Simple four-point driverless calibration
Operating systems: Windows, Mac, Linux
Warranty: 3 years parts and labour
Options: frame colour (anodised silver standard); smaller sizes; choice of accessory software applications.

The unit tested well with both Windows XP and Mac OSX laptops. The actual 2Touch input system can track two separate inputs which can be passed through to software that can manage multi-input.

[1] 2touch interactive whiteboard systems [DIB Australia]
[2] 2Touch Specification Sheet (PDF) [DIB Australia]
[3] 2Touch D.I.B Users Manual (PDF) [DIB Australia]
[4] 2Touch interactive whiteboards [2Touch]