How to Make Your Own Interactive White Board

If you want to know how to make your own interactive whiteboard…then keep reading. I am going to provide below all of the resources and materials that you will need to create this board. I will say from the beginning…this is not difficult, but have patience. I did not have any problems on my personal computer and network. I did have some problems with the school network but they were resolved fairly easily. This is definitely a cost efficient option in comparison to the SMART boards that are in classrooms today.

This product was created by Johnny Chung Lee.

I heard about making an interactive whiteboard from a friend. I decided to look it up and try it out. I didn’t have anything to lose but a little money. It worked for me, and it could work for you. It will take patience in setting up. If you need any help, just let me know. I would be glad to come by your school and help you set everything up.

To get started:

• Go to the following website: http://johnnylee.net/projects/wii/ Scroll down to the second section titled “Low-Cost Multi-point Interactive Whiteboards Using the Wiimote.” In this section you will see a description of how to make it. I am more interested in the video here. He has posted a video explaining how to make the whiteboard as well as a demonstration.
• Download and watch this short one minute clip of my student using the interactive whiteboard in my classroom. http://www.zshare.net/video/63385762b370b7ce/
  

Before pursuing this option…if you are in a school system—verify that you have the support of your IT Department. You may experience network problems due to firewalls, etc. You might need their help. I went about this by getting the support of my superintendent, who then told the IT department they had to work with me. If you use a personal computer from home you should not have problems.

If you want to pursue this…then here is what you need!

• Wii remote (available for around $26.00 on Amazon)
• Bluetooth Adapter (there are many different kinds. This one worked successfully for me.
• TRENDnet Ultra Range Bluetooth USB Adapter) This costs about $21.00 new (**Check your computer first as some computers now come with this built in**)
• IR LED Pen (if you want, you can make your own. I do NOT recommend this.) They can be purchased from http://www.wiiteachers.com/ for a low price. There are three different styles, choose what you want. The whiteboard can support up to four pens at one time.
• Software: Choose what you want to use. My recommendation is for Smoothboard. I found this to be easier and work better.
  Wiiboard Software This is the original software that was created by Johnny Lee Chung. This software is free. It can be found at http://johnnylee.net/projects/wii/
  Smoothboard Software This software can be downloaded from http://www.smoothboard.net/ The software is free—however when operating it does shut down after about 20 minutes. It then encourages you to purchase a license. The license is currently $29.99
• Projector—All you need is normal projector. You do not need anything expensive, just something that will project the image.

Okay…you have everything you need. How to put this together? If I were to write this out, it would never end. Therefore, I am providing all the resources below, and then you can contact me with questions. My email is laurenfowlkes@gmail.com

The basic steps are:

• Install the Bluetooth software.
• Install either Smoothboard or Wiiboard software.
• Set up the projector, and wii remote. I place the wii remote directly above my projector.
• Make sure projector is on.
• Insert the Bluetooth USB device and activate or activate internal device.
• Start the Smoothboard or Wiiboard software.
• Press 1 and 2 simultaneously on the wii remote.
• If all is well…it should start!
  

Videos explaining in more detail are below.

http://johnnylee.net/projects/wii/ Johnny Lee explains how to create set-up the program as well.

http://www.alltogetherwecan.com/2009/01/31/wiimote-whiteboard-in-education-a-tutorial/ (This is one demonstration—he tells how to do this. If you are technology savvy, you can probably get by with this. This is only for built in Bluetooth.)

http://electriceducator.blogspot.com/2009/03/wiiboard-questions.html Ideas for mounting remote, and other questions answered.

If you are having trouble connecting everything after using any of the sites above visit one of the forums below for advice, or email me.

Also to find out more information do a Google search for Wii Interactive White Boards and you will find more information that you ever imagined.

Having Problems?

Check out these Forums for advice.
http://www.boonjin.com/smoothboard/index.php?title=Main_Page

http://www.wiimoteproject.com/

Other Resources for using the WiiBoard
http://www.k-3teacherresources.com/wii-remote-for-interactive-whiteboard.html

http://falconphysics.blogspot.com/2009/02/wiimote-interactive-whiteboard.html

http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/2009/07/20-interactive-whiteboard-resources-for-teachers/

Resources for Mac Users
http://atmac.org/diy-interactive-whiteboard-with-a-wii-remote-wiimote-whiteboard/

Literacy, Technology and My Classroom AFTER this class

This class has been remarkable. While I have reaped the benefits of the class in terms of length, etc. I almost wish I had a full semester class to explore further.

However, the things I have learned in the past seven days are remarkable and I have plans for many of them in my classroom and several in classrooms of colleagues.

In my classroom I am planning to use the following:
Skype: to communicate/videoconference with other deaf individuals
Moviemaker: To record books for my students to listen to independently away from me
Voice Thread: For me students to create audio for various activities
Jing: Many uses...most likely as a tutorial for my students on completing certain online tasks.
Animoto: for them to create videos
Captioning: Not right now...but later on as they get older for auditory exercises
Social bookmarking: to make my life between home and school easier
Webquests: To create themed units for the academics I do teach
Threaded Discussions: Still exploring, but several possible uses, questions of week, book reflections
Blogging: To keep my parents informed of various things.

While I could go on I will stop there. The capabilities of technology are endless especially within a classroom. This is going to be an exciting year and I am grateful I had the chance to take this class for I have learned so much.

RSS Feeds

On a quick note....I have noticed the button on my browser for some time now...and just recently learned what it was for in this class. Now that I know that I can simply subscribe to various things and receive updates in one place as they come in....I am thrilled. This will save me lots of time as I venture through a group of blogs, forums, web-sites daily trying to keep up with people and news. Now that I know what this magic button does, I can sleep later in the morning because I will spend less time checking up on everybody. I am all for things that save me time or sleep!

Digital Texts

The variety of digital texts are amazing and unlimited. They can be created from a variety of tools. I could use things from both school and home and have the students create the text. When we complete activities I can photograph or video and then the students could record the story. If I then captioned the story they could also read along as they listened. I think this would be more interesting to them at times and help them have more interest in reading because it would be something personal that they are vested in compared to a book that they may have no interest personal interest in.

After watching the book that was put into movie maker today in class I am thinking about putting some of my books into movie maker for my students. If I did this they would be able to listen/read the books while I work with another student. This activity would allow them to complete a tasks independently while also allowing me time to focus on one student's needs apart from others.

Digital texts are the future and I see them having more of a place in my classroom. I think my kids would much rather see a text on the computer with sound effects, etc as composed to holding a book they may not be able to read independently.

While digital text would allow me to provide support for their reading especially if I record myself reading the book. However the possibility also exists for me to create the book, and have the students do the recording.

Kindle

I have wanted a Kindle since I heard about them in Dr. Moorman's class in the Spring. I was reading the Top 10 reasons to have/not have a Kindle by John Biggs. The reasoning for having a Kindle were things I expected to hear such as: great for travel, great for various locations (ex. beach, pages don't get wet like a book), and because it is the future (yay!) The reasons for not having a Kindle were somewhat surprising. It almost seems that the negatives outweigh the positives in some aspects. The negatives were bottom heavy, not research friendly, Internet connection does not work globally, runs off battery, no organization programs and it is flimsy. After reading about all of the negatives for the device I wasn't sure what the rave is over the Kindle.

However, I continued on with my further exploration of the Kindle in classrooms. I read parts of the Edukindle blog. This was an interesting blog that discussed a variety of issues from accessibility for blind students because a text reader is not built in(kindle 1) to use in a classroom. If a Kindle is flimsy as Biggs mentioned in his article I would be wary about putting them in the hands of young students in particular because of cost factors if damaged. However I do think it would be a great option for college students. If universities would adopt Kindle's and require that all students purchase one, they could then get all of their textbooks through the Kindle. That would certainly save shelf space after they are finished with the textbooks.

I went to Amazon and did a comparison of features between the Kindle 1, Kindle 2, and Kindle DX. Just the changes from the Kindle 1 to Kindle 2 were remarkable. The Kindle DX appears to be a larger version of the Kindle 2.

One interesting comparison that I found was between a Kindle and a traditional book. While the Kindle is phenomenal in accessibility, space saving, etc...it is still not a book, and not quite as user friendly. The example that I read said that when you are looking for information or a certain passage in a book you can find it based on the physical aspects of the book such as "it is 1/2 way through, on the middle of the page, etc." With a Kindle you can't do this, so you are bound to remembering page numbers. However, when reading on a Kindle you can highlight and comment on the texts which is beneficial.

Anyways....I would still love to have a Kindle...mainly for space issues. My husband and I are both avid readers and have two tall bookcases full of novels and I am simply running out of walls. With that said I am working on dropping hints about my Christmas present!

Skype

Wow...I really wish I had known about this tool earlier. I am not as impressed with the phone aspect of the program but more of the videoconferencing capabilities. For years Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals have been paying money for video conferencing set-ups and what a waste of money now since Skype has come along.

This program would allow me to videoconference anybody that had the program. For example, the Director for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Programs that works at DPI. She is deaf and cannot communicate over the phone. It often takes her weeks to respond to emails if she responds at all. Now with Skype I could ease communication by calling her and we could sign through the videoconferencing aspects. Not to mention all of this is FREE.

I can't wait to let some people I know in the Deaf community know about this product and its abilities. This has a lot of potential for my classroom as well. I can now connect my students to other deaf students across the state, country, even world. Talk about global awareness, this is definitely a tool to support global awareness. There is no better way to learn about other cultures if you can't live upon them than to talk to them.