Comments on: Tossing the Chalk http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/ We've moved on... Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:30:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Johan Kohlin http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/comment-page-1/#comment-1437 Johan Kohlin Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:26:49 +0000 http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/#comment-1437 Hi Chris. Unfortunatly my project is as sleepy as before bit I have been invited to join the powerpoint beta where I hopefully can pull some strings to make the next version more IWB friendly. Most features are allready present in powerpoint just not the way one would want it and not accesible at all time. It's not open source but anyway available to most schools. I'll get back to you when I have more news on this front. Hi Chris. Unfortunatly my project is as sleepy as before bit I have been invited to join the powerpoint beta where I hopefully can pull some strings to make the next version more IWB friendly. Most features are allready present in powerpoint just not the way one would want it and not accesible at all time. It’s not open source but anyway available to most schools. I’ll get back to you when I have more news on this front.

]]> By: wearejustlearning.ca » Blog Archive » Chris Betcher and Interactive White Boards http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/comment-page-1/#comment-1413 wearejustlearning.ca » Blog Archive » Chris Betcher and Interactive White Boards Sat, 03 Jan 2009 00:54:07 +0000 http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/#comment-1413 [...] I asked to meet him, of course. And then when I found out he was in the midst of publishing his first book and it was about Interactive White Boards, well, I seized an opportunity. Interest in Smartboard [...] [...] I asked to meet him, of course. And then when I found out he was in the midst of publishing his first book and it was about Interactive White Boards, well, I seized an opportunity. Interest in Smartboard [...]

]]> By: Chris http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/comment-page-1/#comment-1392 Chris Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:59:39 +0000 http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/#comment-1392 Hi Judy, yes there is a whole section in the book that looks at a number of alternate technologies based on the IWB concept and Johnny Chung Lee's Wiimote is one of them. I've heard lots of good things about the Wiimote, although there are certainly limitations too. Tracking resolution is not as high, although quite usable. The biggest issue is the need for dedicated IWB software to use with the Wiimote, since most of the licence agreements for the commercial products usually prohibit them from being used without the accompanying commercial hardware. One of the interesting things that came out of that was the Open Whiteboard Project, an open source project to build a notebook-style clone that can be used with any hardware. I've been chatting over Skype with the project lead, Johan Kohlin from Sweden, and the project is somewhat stalled at the moment unless some other people decide to take it on. Johan went as far as he could with it on his own, and needs other people to collaborate with to go further. A shame, since I think an open source software tool for IWB is a great idea. Re the book and specific brands of whiteboards, we've tried to make it as hardware/software agnostic as possible, giving examples from most of the major brands of hardware, or otherwise trying to be as general as possible. It's not a 'how-to' book in that sense. It won't teach you specifically how to build a flipchart for example, but it does discuss the conceptual ideas behind IWB software and what issues like draggability, layering, focus tools, etc are important and how they can be used to make more engaging use of the technology. The book is (I hope) very much more about teaching and learning and pedagogy and the big ideas of education than it is about IWB hardware and software. You have to remember that I was (and to some degree still am) a major critic of IWBs generally and the naff, cutesy ways they get used. If nothing else, the book is a dialog of my own explorations into IWB technology and how we need to get past the 'wow-factor' of the sales pitches and look into how the can genuinely make a difference to the teaching and learning process. This was one of the reasons I used my network to gather lots of great examples of how truly good educators are using the IWB technology and how it can be far more than just a glorified projector screen. Remember, I was a huge skeptic about IWBs. :-) There is a whole chapter dedicated to creating more effective professional development programs, use of PLNs and Web2.0 tools, etc. Most of the thrust of the book is about being the best teacher you can be, using the best tools you can use, in ways that make learning as effective as possible. At least that's what I hope to have written. Anyway, it's been an interesting process to write a book and I just hope that there is enough good stuff in there people will get something out of it! Hi Judy,
yes there is a whole section in the book that looks at a number of alternate technologies based on the IWB concept and Johnny Chung Lee’s Wiimote is one of them. I’ve heard lots of good things about the Wiimote, although there are certainly limitations too. Tracking resolution is not as high, although quite usable. The biggest issue is the need for dedicated IWB software to use with the Wiimote, since most of the licence agreements for the commercial products usually prohibit them from being used without the accompanying commercial hardware.
One of the interesting things that came out of that was the Open Whiteboard Project, an open source project to build a notebook-style clone that can be used with any hardware. I’ve been chatting over Skype with the project lead, Johan Kohlin from Sweden, and the project is somewhat stalled at the moment unless some other people decide to take it on. Johan went as far as he could with it on his own, and needs other people to collaborate with to go further. A shame, since I think an open source software tool for IWB is a great idea.
Re the book and specific brands of whiteboards, we’ve tried to make it as hardware/software agnostic as possible, giving examples from most of the major brands of hardware, or otherwise trying to be as general as possible. It’s not a ‘how-to’ book in that sense. It won’t teach you specifically how to build a flipchart for example, but it does discuss the conceptual ideas behind IWB software and what issues like draggability, layering, focus tools, etc are important and how they can be used to make more engaging use of the technology. The book is (I hope) very much more about teaching and learning and pedagogy and the big ideas of education than it is about IWB hardware and software. You have to remember that I was (and to some degree still am) a major critic of IWBs generally and the naff, cutesy ways they get used. If nothing else, the book is a dialog of my own explorations into IWB technology and how we need to get past the ‘wow-factor’ of the sales pitches and look into how the can genuinely make a difference to the teaching and learning process.
This was one of the reasons I used my network to gather lots of great examples of how truly good educators are using the IWB technology and how it can be far more than just a glorified projector screen. Remember, I was a huge skeptic about IWBs. :-)
There is a whole chapter dedicated to creating more effective professional development programs, use of PLNs and Web2.0 tools, etc. Most of the thrust of the book is about being the best teacher you can be, using the best tools you can use, in ways that make learning as effective as possible. At least that’s what I hope to have written.
Anyway, it’s been an interesting process to write a book and I just hope that there is enough good stuff in there people will get something out of it!

]]> By: Judy O'Connell http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/comment-page-1/#comment-1384 Judy O'Connell Tue, 16 Dec 2008 07:19:32 +0000 http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/#comment-1384 Superb, and congratulations Chris. I hope you have included a chapter or some information for those schools who don't/won't have an interactive whiteboard at the price, but will happily get the same result using the WiiMote approach. Highly interactive, and a steal at a $100 dollars or so. Or is this book purely related to the specific brand of whiteboard? Anyways, what a relief to have it all done. Superb, and congratulations Chris. I hope you have included a chapter or some information for those schools who don’t/won’t have an interactive whiteboard at the price, but will happily get the same result using the WiiMote approach. Highly interactive, and a steal at a $100 dollars or so. Or is this book purely related to the specific brand of whiteboard? Anyways, what a relief to have it all done.

]]> By: Chris http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/comment-page-1/#comment-1367 Chris Fri, 05 Dec 2008 22:48:09 +0000 http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/#comment-1367 Tony, thanks for your thoughts about reworking the name. Unfortunately we had quite a few exchanges back and forthwith the publishers debating suggested names, but in the end they were pretty inflexible about it. Its not that I'm opposed to the title... after all, it does describe what the book's about, but I think the same thing could have been achieved with a more interesting title and the "teaching with interactive whiteboards" line as a subtitle or tag line. Anyway, it seems a bit late to lose sleep over it now. Let's see what they come up with for a cover design... we might be having another argument about that yet! :-) Paul Mac, I did think about self publishing on Lulu. Looking at the author's royalty percentages on the contract is a little depressing, especially when I halve it between Mal and I, but it is what it is. Lulu would have lifted that royalty for sure, but the current publishers, ACER Press, will hopefully be able to get wider distribution into the right markets here in Australia and also the US, UK and hopefully Asia. I'm hoping that might balance things out a bit. I certainly didn't write it just for the money, but it would still be nice to make some. ;-) Tony, thanks. I hope it's timely too. As we wrote it I visited quite a few libraries to ask what other books they had on IWBs but found nothing, which surprised me. It does seem a "hot topic" but there seems to be surprisingly little information on it outside of educational research papers which are usually pretty dull to read. Hopefully we've taken the essence of the research and mixed it up with some real world examples and first hand experience to be a kind of "everything you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask" guide. I'd also like to think that we crossed the boundary of it just being about IWBs and talked a lot about what it means to be a great teacher in the 21st century. Danny, thanks for confirming the UK perspective. I knew that term was used over there, but wasn't sure just how prevalent it was and just how easily that connection would be made. Ah, the global market! Katie and Paula and Tom, you guys are awesome! Having your contributions in the book gave it a wonderfully down to earth classroom perspective, and I can't thank you enough for it. To everyone else that left a note, thanks for the comments and well wishes. It's much appreciated! Tony, thanks for your thoughts about reworking the name. Unfortunately we had quite a few exchanges back and forthwith the publishers debating suggested names, but in the end they were pretty inflexible about it. Its not that I’m opposed to the title… after all, it does describe what the book’s about, but I think the same thing could have been achieved with a more interesting title and the “teaching with interactive whiteboards” line as a subtitle or tag line. Anyway, it seems a bit late to lose sleep over it now. Let’s see what they come up with for a cover design… we might be having another argument about that yet! :-)

Paul Mac, I did think about self publishing on Lulu. Looking at the author’s royalty percentages on the contract is a little depressing, especially when I halve it between Mal and I, but it is what it is. Lulu would have lifted that royalty for sure, but the current publishers, ACER Press, will hopefully be able to get wider distribution into the right markets here in Australia and also the US, UK and hopefully Asia. I’m hoping that might balance things out a bit. I certainly didn’t write it just for the money, but it would still be nice to make some. ;-)

Tony, thanks. I hope it’s timely too. As we wrote it I visited quite a few libraries to ask what other books they had on IWBs but found nothing, which surprised me. It does seem a “hot topic” but there seems to be surprisingly little information on it outside of educational research papers which are usually pretty dull to read. Hopefully we’ve taken the essence of the research and mixed it up with some real world examples and first hand experience to be a kind of “everything you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask” guide. I’d also like to think that we crossed the boundary of it just being about IWBs and talked a lot about what it means to be a great teacher in the 21st century.

Danny, thanks for confirming the UK perspective. I knew that term was used over there, but wasn’t sure just how prevalent it was and just how easily that connection would be made. Ah, the global market!

Katie and Paula and Tom, you guys are awesome! Having your contributions in the book gave it a wonderfully down to earth classroom perspective, and I can’t thank you enough for it.

To everyone else that left a note, thanks for the comments and well wishes. It’s much appreciated!

]]> By: LAN-tastic! | always learning http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/comment-page-1/#comment-1365 LAN-tastic! | always learning Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:28:48 +0000 http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/#comment-1365 [...] never cease to amaze me!). Chris shared some of his IWB secrets (soon to be published in his book, Teaching With Interactive Whiteboards) as well as tons of advice on how to use Moodle in the classroom (which ISB has recently [...] [...] never cease to amaze me!). Chris shared some of his IWB secrets (soon to be published in his book, Teaching With Interactive Whiteboards) as well as tons of advice on how to use Moodle in the classroom (which ISB has recently [...]

]]> By: 3rd Dec | Leadership in Technology http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/comment-page-1/#comment-1353 3rd Dec | Leadership in Technology Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:43:43 +0000 http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/#comment-1353 [...] Chris Betcha [...] [...] Chris Betcha [...]

]]> By: John Larkin http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/comment-page-1/#comment-1351 John Larkin Sun, 30 Nov 2008 11:41:47 +0000 http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/#comment-1351 Well done Chris! An excellent achievement. If you are not happy with the proposed title, "Teaching with Interactive Whiteboards" how about putting out a call for suggested titles? I am sure that there is a lot more than teaching happening when an interactive whiteboard is in the hands of a maestro such as yourself. The students will be inspired, transformed and taken on a journey. Well done Chris! An excellent achievement. If you are not happy with the proposed title, “Teaching with Interactive Whiteboards” how about putting out a call for suggested titles? I am sure that there is a lot more than teaching happening when an interactive whiteboard is in the hands of a maestro such as yourself. The students will be inspired, transformed and taken on a journey.

]]> By: Danny Nicholson http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/comment-page-1/#comment-1347 Danny Nicholson Sat, 29 Nov 2008 16:31:58 +0000 http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/#comment-1347 Congrats on completing the book! And yes, Tossing chalk would lead to a lot of sniggers over here in the UK ;) Congrats on completing the book!

And yes, Tossing chalk would lead to a lot of sniggers over here in the UK ;)

]]> By: Tony Searl http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/comment-page-1/#comment-1345 Tony Searl Sat, 29 Nov 2008 12:12:34 +0000 http://betch.edublogs.org/2008/11/27/tossing-the-chalk/#comment-1345 Chris Congratulations on what I'm sure will be a "must read" and subsequent best seller. Extremely timely publication for all 2200 NSW DET schools as the CCP roll out gathers pace from 2008 to 2011. The 'I' component of IWB is an important key when exploring improved learning, otherwise we'll just retain what teachers already do with overheads, powerpoints and DVDs. Slowly getting my head around activestudio and what it can offer teachers in the way of another software tool to engage students using IWB's. It'll be a leap of faith introducing it on the 10th when our first IWB goes 'live'. Now your baby is put to bed I look forward to reading more regular posts, as Tomaz says, you also stir well. I like that. Chris
Congratulations on what I’m sure will be a “must read” and subsequent best seller.

Extremely timely publication for all 2200 NSW DET schools as the CCP roll out gathers pace from 2008 to 2011.

The ‘I’ component of IWB is an important key when exploring improved learning, otherwise we’ll just retain what teachers already do with overheads, powerpoints and DVDs.

Slowly getting my head around activestudio and what it can offer teachers in the way of another software tool to engage students using IWB’s. It’ll be a leap of faith introducing it on the 10th when our first IWB goes ‘live’.

Now your baby is put to bed I look forward to reading more regular posts, as Tomaz says, you also stir well. I like that.

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