IWBUsers.com - International Interactive whiteboard user forum - users of all brands are welcome to share lesson activites between teachers for all types of subjects and schools.

Epson, Infocus, Hitachi, Sanyo and more are releasing projectors that say will compete with the interactive whiteboards.

So what is all this buzz about, well the projectors have a "infrared eye" looking at the projected surface and with a infrared pen just like the old Mimio / eBeam etc you can control the computer with your infrared pen.

The manufacturers say these projectors will make all surfaces interactive.. well it is not that nice feeling to use a hard pen on a ruff wall for instance.

Pros are of course the cost of this solution compared to a Pen based interactive whiteboard and a projector.

The cons are today the software - they can´t compete with the functionality made for a board by a board manufacturer.

We at IWBusers.com really like touch - love our iPhones and coming iPads :-) and therefor we still se the need of real touch based IWBs.

But it will be interesting to see who these producst will sell into the schools.

We got a copy of Clone DVD to test.
This is really a great and simple program to use.

Ever wanted to get a DVD on your iPhone or make a copy of a DVD so that your kids or students don´t brake the orginal disc?

Clone DVD does this really easy. Just put in a DVD and then you can choose to make a copy of entire disc, Main movie or parts you want to select your self.
After that just select where you want to get the copy - burned to a new disc or make a copy to your hard drive. 
In th Copy As you just select DVD format (dual layer or not) OR if you want to put this on you Sony PSP, iPhone / iPod, Smartphone or other format just select and do a copy.

We give this award winning software 5 of out 5.

You can download a trialversion directly that is a full 14 day trial. Just klick the picture or here. The cost is just $69.95 if you like it after you tried it.

Hey!
Now we have our great guide of what you have to think about when investing into interactive whiteboards.

The guide is detailed infomation about the technology, the pedagogical aspects and also all the "think about this" knowledge which we have gathered thru more than 8 years of working with IWBs.

This Buyers guide to interactive whiteboards don´t tell you which board you should buy but it gives you help when it comes to what aspects you should value in your purchase.

Buy it and download the PDF right now - for only $5 you get a lot of expertise!
 

Just click the picture and buy from our shop thru paypal.

SMART has release their own "office" but instead you might call it "scool" package. The SMART Classroom suite includes the award winning SMART Notebook, SMART Sync, SMART Notebook SE (Student Edition) and SMART Response CE. Together, these software applications support the key stages of teaching and learning – from lesson creation and delivery to student assessment. SMART see the different software used in several ways.

Snetclass in new 6.5 version.
Order today and get the licenses code in the e-mail - we sell all over the world.
Read the whole test below!

Snetclass is released in a new version - v 6.0.
This is a classroom software that enables the teacher/educator to have access to all students computer screens. This educational computer lab software offers alot of functions.

We have tested the software, read the full test below.
We can also offer you to order the full license here at IWBUsers.com. We deliver all over the world directly from the manufacturer, you get a link for download and activates the software thru the manufacturer direcly. Snetclass teacher license and 100 student licenses is included to a really low price for this type of software!
You buy safe and secure thru credit card by Pay Pal in our webshop.
 

Alot of funcionality as found in much more expensive solutions and even more!

INSTALLATION
Snetclass is installed as a teacher software and separate student software. The teacher software is what you pay for, student licences are almost unlimited since it allows 100 students to connect to one teacher at the same time. Normally it should be used in a classroom of 20-30 students.
We found the installation to be really straight forward. The students that should be in the same LAN/room connects easily. We have done test thru VPN but as with other classroom softwares this could be harder to get running due to firewalls etc.

AFTER INSTALLATION
Now the fun begins to explore all the functions. And there are a lot to explore.
The teacher can get a full screen with easy overview (as the picture above), here the teacher see all students that are connected and can choose what to do.

As a classroom software you can ofcourse view all the students PC screens so that everyone works with the task given. Snetclass also offers you to broadcast your own screen or a student screen to all others.

The Silence function is the computer class teachers dream When you want focus to be put on you just push the Silence button and all student computers are locked so that the students can look on you. The screen message can easily be changed.


With screen recording you easily can record what happens on your screen, the recording can then be saved for later playback thru the screen playback function to all students. This functions is one of the fastest we have seen proaberbly since it uses its own format. You can select if you want to record sound/voice as well.
Students can also record on their client and then playback localy. For instance record something that the teacher shows if they see the need for that.
 

The feaures program control and web control offers you to disable some programs or internet webpages to be started / visited. Simply add the webbpages / applications that the students should use or not use and the studens or can´t access it, by a click of a button you can enable them access to the page again.

Really simple interface functions Windows style. Below Program control and Web control.




Net cinema allows the teacher to broadcast a video file to all students so that when played it displays all over the screen. Works with some video codecs but not all formats.


Remote setting may not be used that much but with this you can set for instance the screen resolution for a student computer. You can also save setting for easy upload when needed. Could be useful if student PCs aren´t locked so that settings are changed by students.

File distribution is really smart. Students can send one or more files to the teacher. The files are saved automatically in a folder preset by the teacher.
When the teacher sends files to students the teacher can select where on the student PCs "windows folders" the file should be placed. For instance Desktop, My documents etc.
 

SUMMARY

Among all the features mentioned you can also easily chat both with text, raise hands do voice brodcast, voice chat etc.
When working with your teacher PC you have a tool bar that automatically pops up when you go to the top of the screen. You can also paint on all screens to explain even better or to use with a Interactive whiteboard it works perfectly!

Really simple to use and since there is text when hovering icons it becomes even simpler.
We didn´t have to open the manual even once!

We give this software:

Want this software?
You can put a order directly in the shop to get a full license.

The market for IWBs explodes as expected and a lot of new asian brands see the market.
What should you choose and what is a "good IWB" ?

Well it is as often "in the eye of the beholder" but first you start to look at what are your needs?

Do you want to be able to create faboulus lessons that inspires your students or do you want to use the whiteboard as a big screen for movies / youtube clips?

Do  you want to have the freedom that touch based IWBs give you or do you want pen based products ?

Our opinion is that SOFTWARE is the key - when looking for a interactive whiteboard take a deep look and test the software that comes with the product.

Are there good licence agreements for the software, does it come in your local language, are there user forums for lessons created locally ?

We also think that touch for many people gives the best solution - since you can use a pen anyway but on a pen based product you can never use your finger instead..

Do you have any ideas how many interactive whiteboard manufacturers it´s out there? Well just send us a tip at the contact us button for each manufacturer you see and we will put together a list. Note that many manufacturers do OEM which means that same product can have a lot of different names.

Insecure what to choose still?  Well look at marketshares and see which brands have a lot of users and choose from there.

IWBUsers.com have set up a Amazon store. This makes it easy for you to find educational products at Amazon such as presentation products, IWBs etc.
All sales are done by Amazon so you can feel safe when buying online.

If you want to visit our own Webshop where we sell Snetclass classroom management software - click on Webshop in menu above.

If you want ot visit IWBUsers.com Amazon store with selected educational products click here.

SMART Technologies announces SMART Notebook Express – a light version of SMART Notebook collaborative learning software – and a new SMART Exchange. Together, they consolidate all of SMART’s education content, community forums and support networks in one place, easily accessible on the Web. These new collaborative tools will enable educators to find, evaluate, use and share high-quality digital resources in an open environment. Resources include lesson activities, images, manipulatives and interactive flash files. Teachers and students will be able to access thousands of free resources regardless of operating system, file type or brand of interactive whiteboard. Any teacher with access to the Web can freely use SMART Notebook Express and SMART Exchange to access the resources and download and edit engaging lesson activities.

Both SMART Notebook Express and the improved SMART Exchange will be available in fall 2009.

Read more at www.smarttech.com

Smart Response LE has now been sent out press information about.

SMART Response which is a Junior version of SMART Response (prevoulsy Senteo) has five colorful buttons with signs so that it can be used for lower grade students as well as special need students.

Read more at SMART for this solution which is expected to start selling by the end of the year.

Click her for a video showing the possibilities at Teacher Tube.

Educators from around the world can sign up now to download the beta and provide feedback on their experience with the product. SMART Notebook Math software is the only software for teaching math on an interactive whiteboard that provides the digital tools needed to create content, and to recognize and graph equations within the context of a lesson.

The application has all the functionality and features of award-winning SMART Notebook software, with math-focused content and tools for middle, secondary and post-secondary educators.

SMART Notebook Math comes with dynamic graphing tools that enable educators to create their own graphs or graph mathematical functions or tables of values. It is also easy to launch any Texas Instruments calculator emulator. The application also features a handwriting recognition function that recognizes individual math symbols and full equations, and can then solve equations.

Sign up for the Beta here www.smarttech.com/SMARTNotebookMath

Some people say interactive whiteboards is just a computer connected "black bord".

That the teachers continue to work with the new fantastic IWB just like they did on their old green / black / whiteboard.

And yes in some cases I belive this is true. The teacher is still only human and do what is easiest and most convenient for her och him.

But this I have noticed have nothing to do with the age of the teacher. This thinking comes from newely graduated teachers as well as the ones that are soon to be retired.
It all comes down to feeling relaxed using a computer and then the IWB.

And how do we achive this goal? Just like the way we should do with all the young people = the students in our schools by getting educated.

You can´t (normally) just jump up on a bike and start to cycle without having done some training before. The same thing comes with almost everything and specially with computers and technical products.

So all of you headmasters - principals who invest in this new wounderful technology see to that you also invest in certified training for the users. Make som users super users who can get some hours per weak just to learn more about their new IWB and you will see it will pay of. You can easily get them to train new teachers and there you willl save money on and on.

Training is the key to success!

Classroom software is a product that is growing. The ease of use is as in all other software one key feature that needs to be looked at.

There are several softwares out in the market SMART Sync (formerly Synchroneyes) from SMART is one of the biggest players. Snetclass which we also sell here on IWBUsers is a really value for price product.
Both products works as following. One teacher license is installed on the teacher computer and multiple student licenses are installed on the student computers.

When computers are turned on they can automatically be connected to the teacher computer. The teacher can see what the students do and also broadcast the screen to all students.
Applications can be stopped from running and easilly turned on again.

Some features works really great for students with hearing aids for instance. Instead of the teacher needing to get the attention fysically from the students the teacher can easily send a screen message to all students to "look up" for instance.

Sending files or multimedia directly to all students is another nice feature of these products. This works perfect for schools having one laptop per student to easily send out big files for lessons / homework without worring about mailbox sizes.

The best thing is that these softwares works really good on any IWB - Interactive whiteboard.

Read more about Snetclass - Classroom software in our test here.

Read more about SMART Sync at SMARTs site here.

According to Futuresource Consulting, a leading global research company that has tracked interactive whiteboard shipments for almost nine years the installed market for Interactive whiteboards IWB´s are now two million units.
 

Market leader SMART has shipped more than one million of these boards as the inventor of the interactive whiteboard back in 1991.

Futuresource Consulting predicts that the IWB installed base will tripple over the next five years to be over 7 million installed units.

We look forward to more IWB users to join our site as well ;-)
 

SMART Technologies announces the addition of Touch Recognition to SMART Board™ 600 series interactive whiteboards. The feature is the first to automatically detect the difference between a pen, finger and palm of the hand. Users can now, for example, use a pen to write or draw on the interactive whiteboard, a finger to manipulate words or pictures and a palm to erase work. Previously, users had to return the pen to the SMART Pen Tray in order to switch modes.

Touch Recognition advances usability because interaction with the interactive whiteboard more closely resembles the way people use traditional whiteboards and chalkboards in classrooms or meeting rooms. When a pen is touched to the board, ink appears. When touched with a finger, the board automatically switches to touch mode and the finger acts like a mouse. When the eraser or a palm is used on the board, ink can be erased. With its Pen Tray interface and SMART Notebook software, the SMART Board interactive whiteboard has long been considered one of the most user-friendly interactive whiteboards available.

SMART has taken ease-of-use a step further with the addition of Touch Recognition. For users new to the SMART Board interactive whiteboard, Touch Recognition will help them produce presentation, brainstorming and collaboration results faster because the feature reduces time spent learning the technology. Users who already use SMART Board interactive whiteboards proficiently will find the new feature saves time and makes presentation and lesson delivery more efficient. Touch Recognition is available for current users of SMART Board 600 series interactive whiteboards as a hardware upgrade from SMART resellers.

“SMART Board interactive whiteboards have always been the most widely installed interactive whiteboards in the world, largely because they are the easiest to use,” says Nancy Knowlton, SMART’s CEO. “Touch Recognition builds on that legacy and makes the SMART Board interactive whiteboard even better.”

Now has the worlds biggest show for educational technology closed.
The show looked very much like the years before.
All the well known Interactive whiteboard manufacturers where there and also a lot of the new Chinese manufacturers.

Not much news in that area - SMART showed their interactive SMART Table and the other showed mostly new projector solutions but with the same board.
Polyvision had a new product that uses Blue tooth in the pen - a bit scary is that a new pen to that board cost €250, we that prefer touch gets a bit confused in who the target customer for this product is since the board still costs quite a lot and a Penn easly disapears specially if it has blue tooth buil in.

In the software side there was hundreds and hundreds of content and educational software suppliers. Class room management seams to becom bigger and bigger.
 

A really new nice small portable mini laptop called Classmate PC where shown by Intel - these were stuffed with classroom software from SMART. The product has pen input and palm safe for easy input by kids when writing. Webcamera built in and a nice carrying handle for easy transport. The screen can be tilted and twisted in many ways.
Really interesting product and smart functions.
Read more about the Classmate PC at Intels page here.
 

SMART has a BETA out for their new SMART Notebook SE (Studen Edition)

scheduled forrelease 2009. This software uses all the benefits of SMART Notebook combined with binders, homepage etc for the student to easy see their homework.
Apparently the files can be set to due dates and the software will be available on a USB wrist strap that will auto launch without installation on any computer.
This will give the students possibilities to access the software from any computer in the school and at home - they can also save their homework directly on the USB stick.
The BETA with limited functionallity is free to download - the full version will be have som costs.
Read more on SMARTs SE homepage.

We at IWBUsers.com have had the chance to try out the new SMART Table almost one year ago at Bett in a Beta version.

Now SMART launches this really interesting product as a big blast.

SMART Table is intended for K6 students and is a Multi touch 27 inch big table with the ability for multiple students to interact.
The SMART Table uses SMARTs DViT Technology also used in SMARTs Flatpanel overlay and rear projection systems. The systen comes complete with a PC stuffed with applications and SMARTs Tool Kit that enables teachers to make their own material that should be used.
Files are easly transfered with a ordinary USB key and can be made on the teachers computer.

SMART Table also works with SMARTs award winning Notebook software.
Speakers are also included in the table for maximum multimedia use.

Students can interact and use multiple fingers to twist and turn objects, resize and other things need to complete the task they are given.

We heard this latest version of the Table will be show in school shows all over the world now - in the Nordics it will be shown in Sweden at Skolforum 27-29 october.

Se a short demonstration in the below video clip.



More information at www.smarttech.com

Phun calls it self "a 2D physics sandbox" program for making grates physics on a interactive whiteboard or a tablet works good also.
From Umea University in Sweden this brilliant piece of free software for none commercial use comes. Create a car that rolls down a hill or paint whatever you like - this is pure "PHUN"
Remember to set the alarm clock since you will be lost in time when starting using this program!

You can download your copy directly from Phunland.com

We give this one top grade:
 

Check out this YouTube video from the creator himself Emil Ernerfeldt.

SMART Technologies has launched a new SMART Board in the Indian market that should be priced 30% lower than ordinary SMART Board models.
Most remarkable with this release is that this SMART Board is PEN driven - yes - hard surface and uses a pen to operate.

The SMART Board V280 interactive whiteboard uses SMART’s patented DViT™ (Digital Vision Touch) technology for the first time in a front-projection, pen-only system.

“Technology can help close the digital divide by providing access to a 21st-century education. The SMART Board V280 interactive whiteboard offers a viable option for areas of the world that want the benefits of SMART’s award-winning products at a more affordable cost,” commented Nancy Knowlton, SMART’s CEO.

In India the price is set to RS 90 000 - not really interesting to convert to Dollars since the ordinary Interactive whiteboards are much more expensive there compared to US / UK / European market.

More information in the SMART Tech Press Release found at Indian PR Wire.

IWBUsers.com offers anyone that like to write and share their ideas to write articles and publish them here - be a part of something big and share your thoughts with the world.

IWBUsers.com has been up and running for just a couple of months and allready we have visitors from more than 33 countries! So whatever you write will be seen and read.
Don´t be shy - send us a This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and we can register you for author access.
Or maybe you want your own blog? Nothing is impossible - just POSSIBLE on IWBUsers.com

Writers from all around the world are welcome to write articles short or long!

Join us - it is free!

The market for Interactive whiteboards will explode over the next few years.

Estimations made from different research institute say it has been 1 million board sold from 1991 to 2008.

Over the next years there will be bought more than 1 million boards a year! So the total IWB Users will become alot more.

New softwares and technlogies will make these products last long for both education and business sector.

From UK where the penetration for Interactive Whiteboards IWBs are really high the penetration increases all around the world now.

Tell us how it is in your country - has the usage become big or are you at a starting point? Share your thoughts here or in the forum.

Promethean has launched their Activexpression as we have understood. Users of this new response system would be interesting to get comments from. Also users of other responssystems.
Share your ideas how these can interact with you Interactive whiteboard. Do you see any benifits? If so which ones?

SMART Technologies the inventor of SMART Board now announce that they are entering the audio field as well.

Classroom audio is a wireless audio system that will be used in classrooms to help the student to hear everything being said. And for the teacher not needing to repeat them selves.

To be released soon accoring to SMART , here are some information from their web regarding the benefits of this product.
 

Highlights

Share your ideas and best practices for Interactive whiteboards!

All users of interactive whiteboards and allready active user groups are welcome to add content to this user forum. Activboard, SMART Board, Intelliboard, eBeam, Mimio, Starboard, Teamboard, iBoard and so on. Please let us know if you miss any brand on this site and we will make shure you will get the possibility to start up your user group.

IWB Manufacturers and other education solution manufacturers are welcome to contact us for advertisment on this site. Since everything is free we need to pay the bills some how.

Welcome to IWBUsers.com the home for Interactive Whiteboard users all over the world.

Everybody knows the strength of Interactive whiteboards and now you can discuss and exchange ideas and lesson activities for all type of interactive whiteboards.
 

No matter what brand you are using this is your starting point in learning more.

Please take a moment to register to get full access to write in the forum and upload and download lesson activities. Share useful web links and most of all share all good ideas!

IT IS FREE to register and takes just a couple of seconds!
We all know that relevant content is the key to a good lesson!
Welcome to a sharing world!