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When I was a young kid, education was had little more appeal to me than the black and white text and the superficial, smiling faces of the cartoon illustrations in my Maths text book smiling back at me. The truth is, everything that I ever studied in a text book, regardless of the context of the subject being taught, never seemed to have any real world application (with the exception of modern history, of course).

As a student, one thing I appealed for was a little dose of reality. Something I could take out of my logic-building subjects and apply within a real world context, and shape a macro-conscious understanding of the world that we are all born into.

It may seem a little strange that I think this way, but I know I’m not the only one out there. Throughout life’s journey, we begin to meet a lot of different people, from different countries, with different backgrounds, ideals and opinions. For example, upon my most recent trip to America, I shared a cab with a middle-aged man from Florida, in the sunny South. When I told him from Australia, after setting aside the quizzical and humorous trivialities, he proceeded to ask me about our culture. One thing that got my attention was, “Hey, don’t you guys still have cannibals to the north or something like that?” I did nothing but stare back in astonishment at what I had just heard. I sat there thinking,”is this guy for real?” but as it turns out, he was. Anyway, after settling a gross misconception about the cultures residing in Australia, it made me think, what do they really teach people in schools? I mean, I for one, was brought up to believe that people in the deep south of America were all ‘rednecks’. After seeing it myself however, I then realized the folly of my original assumption. In fact, I felt stupid. The people in the deep south of America were lovely, their hospitality amazing, their personalities humble and unassuming. It made me think hard to myself, was I at fault, or was it because my school had never instilled me with a little bit of cultural sensitivity. It must not be misconstrued that I am inferring to race, because I’m not, I’m just illustrating the point that at my school in Australia, we were never really given any true insight into the surrounding cultures of the world because we never had the resources.

I reckon, with a little dose of reality, my subjects could have had a more gravitational impact on me by keeping me engaged via a real-world contextual adaptation of the subject matter. After trawling the web recently out of part curiosity and the other part boredom, I came across this little gem: the interactive whiteboard.

If you’re not familiar with the technology, a fair summary of its function and purpose is that it is an interactive touch panel, with the ability to run interactive ‘lessons’ in which the student can use their sense of touch to navigate, have fun and most of all, learn. So, how does this type of technology illustrate my above point? Well, I came across this unique yet bizarre application of interactive whiteboard technology. An interactive whiteboard lesson, mathematics, to be exact, introducing young students to pictures of the real world around them - parts of which, they may never have known even in their wildest dreams! Not only are students building upon powerful, essential mathematical logic, but they are also tacitly learning about the housing situation in Mozambique, the types of brick houses that they have in Uganda, and the types of communities in South Africa. The children engaging with this marvelous technology are subconsciously adopting a sense of cultural sensitivity at a young age via the impactful medium of touch-sensitive information technology.

So what does this mean? Well, aside from the obvious value of children being able to engage with their subject matter, it also brings about the destruction of trans-continental apathy. When they see similar images on the news, the pictures that they see will already tell 1000 words because they’ve established a geographical and cultural understanding of their surrounds. Man, did I ever wish I could have been introduced to that type of thing as a kid!

What are your thoughts? Do you see the integration of cultural learning into mainstream subjects via technology beneficial for the development of values in schools? Or do you see this type of learning combination as an impediment on traditional educational methods?

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As always, whenever the market releases a new wave of digital television technology, the preceding batch of televisions, once appraised by all as ‘the next big thing’, seem to fade seamlessly into an abysmal class of redundancy. 

 

You get the point - but what does this prove? Well, just because a new wave of TV technology has been released doesn’t necessarily mean that its technological predecessors are obsolete in their function and use… And this is the exact reason as to why we should be so careful to unearth the facts from the jargon while advertising tells us that the LED TVs will belittle any other digital TV through its build and function.

 

Let’s get stuck into some simple truths about LED TVs, shall we? 

 

1. LED TVs, contrary to popular belief, are not brand-spankin’ new technology. If you’ve ever convinced yourself to believe this, you’re a thoughtless consumer that has fallen subconsciously to a sophisticated marketing ploy. If anyone has ever told you that an LED TV is different to an LCD TV, have you ever considered quizzing them on the subject as to what it is that makes them different? The truth of the matter is, not much at all. An LED TV is technically an LCD TV that’s backlit with light-emitting diodes (LEDs, for any acronym impaired) in lieu of the ‘old-school’ cold-cathode fluorescent lights (CCFLs). In fact, manufacturer’s have been using LED technology in electronic devices such as mobile phones and laptops for years. The only difference is that TV manufacturers often sell LED TVs with a huge markup on the price given the sparsity of LED manufacturers. Don’t worry though, it’s only an inevitability that more manufacturer’s will appear, competition will increase, and the price of LED technology will fall quicker than the value of the US economy in 2010. 
2. Do LED TVs offer better picture quality than LCD screens? - The short answer is yes. This is because the light emitting diodes are much smaller in size, and are able to be dimmed independently. LCD TVs on the other hand, are not. The result of this difference is that LED TVs are able to make pictures appear darker and more realistic. LCD TVs, while still offering great picture quality, still manage to leak light when an instant contrast is demanding in the picture. 
3. LEDs aren’t as good for off-angle viewing - I bet that this is something you may have forgotten to consider when looking into the finer points of television viewing.  Well, I can confirm for you, just like their LCD predecessors, LED TVs are poor for off-angle viewing. This is because they are using backlit technology, so vectors of light are not as visible to the human eye when viewed from an oblique angle. Unlike plasma TVs, if you place an LED TV in the middle of a lounge room without considering the placement of your couches, the clarity of your TV viewing may suffer. 
4. Do LED TVs have a longer lifespan than LCD TVs? - Yes, and this boils down to the efficiency of the light emitting diodes vs. the cold-cathode fluorescent lights. LEDs do not consumer as much power, and can run for a longer duration of time. Conversely, LCD technology is being made much more efficient as time progresses, so this nice little chokehold that LED TVs have over LCDs might not even last that long. 
5. Are LED TVs worth paying the price for? - I hinted on this question earlier in the article, where I mentioned that there is a ridiculous markup on LED technology given the availability of manufacturers. LED TVs are great, but be wary of paying superfluous prices for something ‘branded’. You’ll find that when you do your research, a lot of the generically branded LED TVs actually share the same LED manufacturer as their goliath, well-renowned ‘brand’ cousins.   

 

So what’s the verdict? 

 

It’s proof of the same old argument: just because there’s a new alternative, doesn’t necessarily mean that the original is redundant. LED TVs are shaping up to be tremendously popular alternatives to plasma TVs, but in contrast to their LCD relatives - in essence it’s just the same thing, different spin. 

 

The verdict is, don’t fall victim to something just because it is fashionable to have at the time! Do your research and have patience before you commit to a purchase, especially if you’re going to buy LED TVs online. Behind every price, there is an explanation. 

 

Happy TV hunting!

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An Introduction to Interactive Whiteboards

If you’ve been wondering about the latest phenomenon circulating around the education industry, then you may have come across the term ‘interactive whiteboard’ once or twice. Needless to say, by definition, it’s not too hard to ascertain exactly what it does. But for those who are still unsure, by technical definition an interactive whiteboard is a touch-sensitive screen that works synchronously with a computer and projector.

In the education sector, the interactive whiteboard was recognized for its vital importance as a learning tool for budding young students. The culmination of mental and physical learning stimulation meant that banal learning would be a thing of the past. Through interactive learning, teachers realized that they could alleviate relative attention deficit behavior by engaging the students through this revolutionary technology.Interactive whiteboards are here to stay. Unveiled in the early 90s, and since evolving to unparalleled technological standards, they’re soon to become an integral part of the modern day classroom.

But just how exactly do they benefit students in class? It’s a fair question to ask, because as with all new technology, there’s generally a tough period of adjustment before the technology itself becomes a staple part of daily function.

In the classroom, interactive whiteboards are the perfect way to culminate student interaction, digital content and multimedia in a multi-person learning environment. Interactive whiteboards are multi-faceted with regards to their function and purpose. Interactive whiteboards are subconsciously cognitive; when a student engages themselves in the subject matter on screen, they are also developing their skills subconsciously at the same time. While using interactive whiteboards, students can learn to manipulate text and images, take notes in digital ink, further develop their skills with continued interaction with a graphical interface and operating system, develop web skills and much more.

The fact is, interactive whiteboards affect learning in several different ways. Not only do they raise the bar for student engagement in the classroom, they also encourage enthusiasm in the classroom, team-work and in some cases may even lower the classroom absentee rate - and all because students no longer have to feign their interest over a boring book, they’re instead presented with subject matter that they can see, touch and most of all interact with. What the future holds for interactive whiteboards   

Given their popularity and proven benefits in the classroom, interactive whiteboards are set to become a cornerstone of learning through their application and development. In 2010 alone, there has been an enormous growth across Western civilizations such as America, Australia and the United Kingdom. It needs to be acknowledged however, that interactive whiteboard technology is still in somewhat of a ‘beta’ phase. Only until this technology is perfected, and mass produced, will we see it worldwide. In the meantime,

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There’s a new form of learning hitting a classroom near you - it’s manufactured, and it’s interactive. It comes in the form of something known as an interactive whiteboard; but what is an interactive whiteboard, and just what exactly does it do?

An interactive whiteboard (IWB) is to be defined as a large display panel that can be hooked up to a computer and a projector. Once hooked up, the projector can transmit the desktop display of the computer onto the whiteboard panel. What’s unique, however, is that the projection of the desktop can actually be controlled via human touch. Users can interact with the whiteboard using either their own finger, a pen or another rounded device.

It’s a form of augmented reality, and it’s taking the world by storm. Teachers are embracing interactive whiteboards as an imperative part of classroom activity.

Interactive Whiteboards in Schools

Since their inception into the market, the innovation of interactive whiteboard products has created a salient point for presentational mediums. IWBs have achieved their success through alleviating the need for interactivity in an otherwise relatively static form of communication. In turn, this has quite flippantly changed the ways in which children learn in the classroom.

Teachers see many positives in using interactive whiteboard products because ‘hands-on’ exercises seem to resonate better with school children, henceforth increasing their retention rates. Conversely, there are also those who are critical of the technology - notably teachers in secondary schools - who perceive interactive whiteboards to be more of a distraction for the children.

General Operation of Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards have been designed to be user friendly, with a relatively simple interface and setup process. To set up an interactive whiteboard, you can connect the device to the computer via a USB cable (generally provided with the product, by the manufacturer). The IWB can also be synched up to a computer via a Bluetooth wireless connection.

There is a unique device driver installed within the host computer to enable the Human Input Device (HID), similar to that of a mouse or other external hardware devices. Once the software is installed, the user of the interactive whiteboard will then be able to physically interact with the output on display.

The most common form of interaction with an IWB is resistive touch-based interaction using either fingers or pointed implements, however there are also electromagnetic pen-based, IR pen-based interactive whiteboards available. In some cases, even the Wii remote has been used to operate IWBs.

Where to Find Interactive Whiteboard Resources

Interactive whiteboards have adopted an almost ‘open-source’ approach to their educational application; this is to enable teachers who use the interactive whiteboards to upload and freely share interactive whiteboard lessons with their educational peers. Most interactive whiteboard manufacturers have promoted this feature to maintain maximum levels of engagement via their use in the classroom.

For students learning through interactive whiteboards, this means that they do not face impervious amounts of boredom through the mundane repetition of lessons, thus keeping retention rates high as a result of their interest in the interactive whiteboard activity.

Interactive whiteboard manufacturers, such as Hitachi, have set up online interactive whiteboard resource communities for teachers to share and exchange lessons and ideas for their interactive whiteboards.

With the IWB trend on the rise, and more schools embracing the technology into their classroom, what is being dictated about the future of education? Only time will tell. Still premature in their use, we will continue to see added emphasis on interactive whiteboards as more and more are integrated into their respective schooling applications.

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There’s a new form of learning hitting a classroom near you - it’s manufactured, and it’s interactive. It comes in the form of something known as an interactive whiteboard; but what is an interactive whiteboard, and just what exactly does it do?

An interactive whiteboard (IWB) is to be defined as a large display panel that can be hooked up to a computer and a projector. Once hooked up, the projector can transmit the desktop display of the computer onto the whiteboard panel. What’s unique, however, is that the projection of the desktop can actually be controlled via human touch. Users can interact with the whiteboard using either their own finger, a pen or another rounded device.

It’s a form of augmented reality, and it’s taking the world by storm. Teachers are embracing interactive whiteboards as an imperative part of classroom activity.

Interactive Whiteboards in Schools

Since their inception into the market, the innovation of interactive whiteboard products has created a salient point for presentational mediums. IWBs have achieved their success through alleviating the need for interactivity in an otherwise relatively static form of communication. In turn, this has quite flippantly changed the ways in which children learn in the classroom.

Teachers see many positives in using interactive whiteboard products because ‘hands-on’ exercises seem to resonate better with school children, henceforth increasing their retention rates. Conversely, there are also those who are critical of the technology - notably teachers in secondary schools - who perceive interactive whiteboards to be more of a distraction for the children.

General Operation of Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards have been designed to be user friendly, with a relatively simple interface and setup process. To set up an interactive whiteboard, you can connect the device to the computer via a USB cable (generally provided with the product, by the manufacturer). The IWB can also be synched up to a computer via a Bluetooth wireless connection.

There is a unique device driver installed within the host computer to enable the Human Input Device (HID), similar to that of a mouse or other external hardware devices. Once the software is installed, the user of the interactive whiteboard will then be able to physically interact with the output on display.

The most common form of interaction with an IWB is resistive touch-based interaction using either fingers or pointed implements, however there are also electromagnetic pen-based, IR pen-based interactive whiteboards available. In some cases, even the Wii remote has been used to operate IWBs.

Where to Find Interactive Whiteboard Resources

Interactive whiteboards have adopted an almost ‘open-source’ approach to their educational application; this is to enable teachers who use the interactive whiteboards to upload and freely share interactive whiteboard lessons with their educational peers. Most interactive whiteboard manufacturers have promoted this feature to maintain maximum levels of engagement via their use in the classroom.

For students learning through interactive whiteboards, this means that they do not face impervious amounts of boredom through the mundane repetition of lessons, thus keeping retention rates high as a result of their interest in the interactive whiteboard activity.

Interactive whiteboard manufacturers, such as Hitachi, have set up online interactive whiteboard resource communities for teachers to share and exchange lessons and ideas for their interactive whiteboards.

With the IWB trend on the rise, and more schools embracing the technology into their classroom, what is being dictated about the future of education? Only time will tell. Still premature in their use, we will continue to see added emphasis on interactive whiteboards as more and more are integrated into their respective schooling applications.

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Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) are a revolutionary form of interactive education rapidly increasing in popularity with many educational bodies across the world beginning to integrate interactive whiteboards into their schools.

Interactive whiteboards were initially received skeptically by academics, however after extensive trails in classrooms worldwide and countless studies on the subject - many schools are drawing the conclusion that interactive whiteboards can be extremely beneficial to children given their high levels of engagement.

In fact, interactive whiteboards have become so versatile that manufacturers are now allowing teachers to ‘create their own lessons’ to use on their operating systems, as well as share for free with other teachers.

Interactive whiteboard resource centres

As a result of IWB driven initiatives by the technological manufacturers, the appearance of IWB dedicated online communities has become quite widespread.

Now, there are a variety of online forums and support centres dedicated to the development and integration of interactive whiteboards into the educational community. This means free interactive whiteboard resources for teachers, and a subsequent increase in the number of lessons available to maintain the high levels of engagement expected out of the performance of interactive whiteboards in classrooms.

One such example of an online community dedicated to sharing IWB resources for teachers is the Hitachi Starboard forum, dedicated to members of the community who have adopted Hitachi starboards into their curricular activities.

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