Wiiboard Commercial

Creating your own Wii Interactive Whiteboard

I will be presenting on the setup and use of the Wii Interactive Whiteboard at the MACUL conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan this week. This is my second year presenting on this topic and I'm excited to share what I have learned since my last presentation.

If you're attending the conference, my session is Friday morning from 8:30-9:30 in Grand Gallery B, DeVos Place, Lower Level.

I will also be using the Wiiboard in the Model Classroom area on Thursday from 11-1pm.

Several companies have sent me some of their products to hand out! Come and see me if you are interested in an IR Pen or T-shirt!

10 Interactive Whiteboard Tools

Over the last two years I have been using and perfecting the Wii Interactive Whiteboard in my classroom. I am preparing for a presentation on the setup and use of the WIWB at the 2010 MACUL conference on March 13 and put together a list of my top 10 favorite uses for aninteractive whiteboard. All ten of these products are free and easy to use.

1. Review Games

2. Google SketchUp

3. Google Earth/Maps

4. Assessments and Review

5. Virtual Cell

6. Biggest Brain

7. Virtual Knee Surgery

8. Timelines

9. Concept Maps

10. Magnetic Words

Fellow Wii IWB user Dave Tarwater has also compiled a list of interactive activities for IWB.

IR Pen Product Review: Updated

The infrared (IR) light pen is one of the essential pieces of hardware for the Wiiboard. The evolution of the IR Pen has progressed rapidly as the Wiiboard technology has taken off. About a year ago I posted my original review of several IR Pens. Since my original post the pens that I reviewed have been updated and improved and several other manufacturers have begun selling IR Pens.

Four companies were kind enough to send me samples of their IR pens for my review. These pens were tested for several months in my high school science classroom. Here are the results.

Click to enlarge image

Penteractive.us

4/15/2010 Update: Penteractive has recently updated their classic IR pen. John Mitchel was kind enough to send me a sample of version 2.0. After some testing I'll post my review.

John Mitchel's $8 $10 (price recently changed) pens are simple and effective. They run on three hearing aid style batteries and feature the brightest LED available. I purchased this IR pen over a year ago and it has yet to need the batteries replaced. The Penteractive pens are switch operated. I like the fact that when you press the switch you will hear and feel a "click" that indicates the switch is working. These pens are the size of a small highlighter which makes them ideal for small hands. The durability of these pens is awesome. They have been dropped countless times with any adverse affects.

In addition to providing a quality product, Penteractive offers great customer service. Emails are answered promptly and orders or fulfilled quickly. I made several purchases from Penteractive and highly recommend all of their products.

The Groove 1.5 by irpensonline

The Groove is an IR pen with a pressure sensitive tip. The Groove can also be activated through the red button found on top of the pen. The second generation of the groove (ver. 1.5) is remarkably better than the original version which I previously reviewed. Owner Tino Aginitti listens and responds to his users suggestions. The most notable improvement is a reduction in the amount of pressure required to activate the LED. This is especially important in instances where images are projected on a soft surface such as a free-hanging overhead screen. The pen casing has also been improved and is much more aesthetically pleasing and more durable.

The LED intensity of The Groove is excellent. One of the most convenient features of The Groove is the fact that it runs on one AAA battery that can easily be replaced by removing the cover on the bottom of the pen.

I would highly recommend The Groove for use in the classroom, especially with younger ages. The pressure sensitive tip makes using this pen very intuitive.

Whalebone "Gum Box"

A new entry into the IR pen market is Whalebone owned by James McLain. The pens built by James have the distinction of being the most creative and fun of all the pens. The version which I reviewed is the "Gum Box" pen made out of a small tin in the shape of a Wiimote. James also sells a pen shaped like Frankenstein as well as an extra long IR pen he calls "The Laser Sword."

Although it looks cool the gum box pen did not perform as well as its counterparts. The LED used in this pen is noticeably dimmer than those of other pens. In this pen the IR LED faces up and back. This makes precise navigation difficult. Ergonomically the gum box pen is awkward to hold. Its width makes it difficult to hold naturally in your hand and the activation button is poorly placed. At $9.95 each (including shipping!), these pens are affordably priced. They are powered by one 3v watch style battery which is not easy to replace.

InfraWow: WIB Scrib

If you are looking for an extremely durable IR pen, turn no further than to Riley Sowle and his pen the WIB Scrib. This pen is made from heavy duty steel and features an unique metal to metal activation switch. The LED brightness is comparable to both the Groove and Penteractive pens. I like the size of the WIB Scrib however the weight is noticeably heavier than any of the other pens due to the solid steel case. Battery replacement is easy with the twist off end which reveals two AAA batteries.

Although the activation switch on the WIB Scrib is effective, it does not have the helpful sound and feel of a click upon activation. From my observation of students using IR pens I have found that this feature helps students feel like something is happening, especially since IR light is invisible to the human eye. This would be my recommendation for future improvements of the WIB Scrib.

My thanks to each of these companies for allowing their pens to be rigorously tested and critiqued. I hope that this post will generate business for each of them. All four companies are small business operations run by good guys. None of them are large corporations. I would encourage you to support their innovation and creativity and to provide feedback to them to help improve their products.

If you have had experience with any of these products I welcome your feedback and critique. Help make sure that each of these companies have a fair review! If you're a manufacturer of IR pens or other products related to the Wii interactive whiteboard and are looking for a rigorous tester, send me an email: jsowash [at] southfieldchristian [dot] org.

Product Demo: Wiimote Ceiling Mount

This year I added a ceiling mount to my Wiiboard setup. Previously, I had been placing my wiimote on top of my ceiling mounted projector. This worked okay, but limited the placement of the wiimote in my classroom.

The Wiimote ceiling mount is available from penteractive.us for $24 (18" telescoping rod) or $30 (40" telescoping rod). The rod easily clips on to standard drop ceiling brackets (see video). Removing the bracket reveals a 1/4-20 threading as an alternate mounting method. To mount your Wiimote to the bracket you will also need to purchase the threaded battery cover for $10. Sadly, the two components are not bundled together.

Placement of the Wiimote in relation to your screen is critical to obtaining the greatest performance from your system. Finding the correct placement takes time and lots of adjustments! This ceiling mount provides the greatest flexibility I have found.

Upcoming Posts: Wii Interactive Whiteboard

One of my pet projects for the last year and a half has been the development of the Wii interactive whiteboard. I have spent the last year and a half perfecting the setup in my classroom and am excited to share some of my discoveries with you.

Anyone interested in a bit of background should check out my previous posts:
* What can a Wiiboard do for me?
* Hardware and Software required for the Wiiboard.
* Setting up your Wiiboard.
* Wiiboard Questions.
* IR Pen product review.

For my next few posts I would like to add to and update some of my previous posts. Here's a sneak peak:
* Product Demo: Wiimote ceiling mount
* Product Demo: IR Pen review
* Product Demo: Software controllers for the Wiiboard
* Great classroom applications for the wiimote

For my Michigan friends, I will be presenting at the 2010 MACUL conference in Grand Rapids on March 11 or 12th on setting up and using the Wii interactive whiteboard in your classroom. I will post the details when they are released to me.

IR Pen Product Review

Please visit my updated review of IR Pens featuring Penteractive, IRPensOnline, Whalebone, and Infrawow.

The infrared (IR) light pen is one of the essential pieces of hardware for the Wiiboard. The evolution of the IR Pen has progressed rapidly as the Wiiboard technology has taken off. Throughout the school year I have used my Wiiboard regularly and have been able to experiment with several different light pens. Here are my thoughts about the products that I have tested.

1. The "MacGyver Pen"

When Johnny Lee introduced the world to the Wiiboard, it was necessary to construct your own IR pen from components readily available at your local RadioShack. I have no experience with electronics yet I was able to construct my home made IR pen in a couple of hours. Altogether it costs me about $20 by the time I bought a soldering iron and a spool of wire. The results were acceptable, but not outstanding. The two biggest challenges are battery replacement (requires dissembling the whole thing) and weak light intensity from the LED.

You are certainly welcome to tackle creating your own IR pen, but I honestly wouldn't recommend it because your product will be inferior to the commercial products that are now available.

2. Penteractive.us

The first commercial IR pen that I purchased was from John Mitchel, a full time middle school math teacher, who runs penteractive.us. His $8 pens are simple and effective. They run on two hearing aid style batteries. Through extensive testing, John has identified the absolute best IR LED which he has incorporated into the pen. These LED's are considerably brighter than the ones available at your local electronics parts store.

The IR pens from Penteractive are my personal favorite. The pens are operated by a switch near the end of the pen. The diameter of the pen is similar to that of a small highlighter which makes it easy to grip. The durability of these pens is awesome. They have been dropped countless times with any adverse affects. My students prefer these pens over all of the others.

Not only is the quality of the IR pens from Penteractive excellent, John provides excellent customer service. To start, every pen that you purchase comes with an extra set of batteries. Orders are filled quickly and if certain colors are back-ordered you will receive a personal e-mail from John letting you know the holdup.

I would highly recommend the IR pens from Penteractive. They are my clear favorite!

3. The Groove

When looking through posts on the wiimote project I stumbled across irpensonline.com which was developing an IR pen that was touch sensitive. Named "The Groove" this pen looked awesome and promised to provide a more intuitive way of interacting with the Wiiboard. The Groove has a stylish case which houses 1 AA battery and all of the electronic components. The IR LED in the tip of the pen is sensitive to pressure. When pressed gently against any surface the light source is activated.

I was so excited about the new features of The Groove that I preordered the pen in January. The cost of his pen ($30 + shipping) was considerably more than either my home made pen or the pens from Penteractive, but I justified this by the touch-sensitive feature. January passed as did much of February before my Groove arrived. According to posts on irpensonline.com, manufacturing issues delayed the release of the Groove longer than expected.

In testing the Groove with my students (who named the pen "the fish"), I concluded that the touch sensitive feature is not as amazing and useful as I had expected. Part of the issue is that my screen is mounted above my chalk board. When pulled down, the ledge of the chalk board prevents the screen from laying flat against the wall. This gap makes the screen "soft" so that it is difficult to obtain enough pressure to activate the LED on the Groove. Additionally, I had already trained my students how to use the pens from Penteractive which require pushing a button to activate the LED. They were very confused as the Groove didn't have a button!

While the Groove isn't as great as I though it would be, it is a fine product and others with a different setup may find it very useful. If you are willing to wait a while for your order to be fulfilled and are willing to pay $30, give the Groove a try!

Well, there you have it, my take on three flavors of IR pens that you can use with your Wiiboard. If you have sampled other versions that I am not aware of please post your review as a comment. If you are a manufacturer of an IR pen, send me one and I would be glad to try it out and write a review for you!

Wiiboard Questions

After presenting on the Wiiboard at the MACUL conference, several people have spoken with me and e-mailed questions related to implementing the Wiiboard technology in their schools. In replying to them individually, I thought I would also share my thoughts here for others to read. 

1. Can/will the Wiiboard replace our commercial interactive white boards? 

I'm no fortune teller, but my guess is that Promethean, SMART, and the other commercial vendors of interactive whiteboards wont be knocked off of their pedestal by the Wiiboard. They may lose a few potential customers to the Wiiboard (like me!), but the customers they currently have will be loath to give up the products that they have invested thousands of dollars to put into the classroom. 

While the Wiiboard delivers 90% of the function of the commercial boards, at 1% of the costs, it does not come with a suite of software to assist in creating lessons, tracking attendance, or building assessments. It is possible to collect a variety of different programs to use in conjunction with the Wiiboard so that you can create lessons and build interactive assessments, but it doesn't come in the nice, neat package that Promethian and the other giants have assembled. This is another advantage the commercial products have over the Wiiboard.

Another thing to think about before you throw your SMARTboard out the window in favor of the Wiiboard is technical support. The Wiiboard is a hack. We are using the Wiimote for something other than what it was intended therefore it is inevitable that problems will occur. There is no help line for Wiiboard trouble shooting. Creating and using the Wiiboard requires patience and enough PC savvy to problem solve the various issues that will pop up. Trying to implement the Wiiboard in an entire building or district would require a tremendous amount of technical support. Most tech departments have enough to do already. 

2. What happens when Nintendo comes out with another game console and stops making the Wiimote? 

This is a realistic question, however I wouldn't worry too much about it. You can easily purchase controllers for the original Nintendo game console. There will be enough Wiimotes around for everyone!

3. Is there an alternative to powering the Wiimote besides AA batteries? 

A heavy user of the Wiiboard will quickly become frustrated by having to replace the batteries in the remote. I estimate that a set of batteries would last 3 days if the Wiimote is used throughout the entire school day. Fortunately, there are two options available. John Mitchell over at penteractive.us is selling a battery pack replacement that allows you to power your Wiimote through the USB port on your computer. He is also selling a USB to AC adapter that allows you to charge your Wiimote through a standard plug. I have not tried either product personally, but I use the IR Pens that John created and they are outstanding. I would highly recommend him!

The second option is a Wiimote recharge station. Dock and charge your Wiimote at night and you are ready to go in the morning! There are many different models available. This one is made by Griffin and is being sold at buy.com for $24.99. This one by joytech.net looks neat, but no price or purchase options are listed. I'm sure there are other comparable products out there. 

Personally, I would go with the rechargeable option rather than the plug-in option because it provides the greatest flexibility. Plus I hate computer cables! 

4. How do you mount your Wiimote? 

Proper Wiimote placement is the greatest key to a high performing Wiiboard. If you are using Boonjin's Smoothboard software, you will be able to see the tracking resolution of the Wiimote. The higher the resolution, the smoother the line you will be able to draw. Each setup will be slightly different, but I have found the greatest success when my Wiimote is level with the center of the screen and is about halfway between the screen and the projector. Play around and see what works best for you. 

I have a very unsophisticated setup for mounting my Wiimote. I have a standard microphone stand with a flexible mic clip that is wide enough to hold the Wiimote. I like this setup because the height is adjustable and the base is heavy enough to keep the stand from tipping over. 

When I first started using the Wiiboard I set the Wiimote on top of my ceiling mounted projector. This worked okay, but I could never get the tracking resolution above 40% because the Wiimote was too far away from the screen. 

John Mitchell (penteractive.us) has another neat product-- a battery cover with a 1/4-20 threaded bolt that allows you to attach the Wiimote to anything that accepts a thread such as a tripod. He also sells a telescoping ceiling bracket. 

If you have other questions related to the viability of implementing a Wiiboard in your classroom, please post them as a response. I will do my best to answer them! If you have other suggestions for the questions posed here I would welcome your comments as well!

Wiiboard

I appreciate the large turnout to my presentation on using the Wiimote as an interactive whiteboard.  You surpassed my expectations! I hope you found my session informative and inspirational! 

As you setup your wiiboard, please feel free to contact me with questions or success stories. I encourage you to add comments to this post if you have resources related to the wiiboard that you think would be helpful for others. I am happy to trade blog links with you as well! 

I would like to keep in touch with teachers who are using the wiiboard in their classroom. I know that there are lots of applications out there, but I need your help in finding them! 

For information on setting up your wiiboard and helpful resources, check out my wiki.

Setting Up Your Wiiboard

In a previous post, I created a list of the components that are required for a functioning wiiboard. I will now briefly describe how to connect everything together. The video below will describe how to connect your computer and wiimote. Written instructions can be found below the video.

1. Enable bluetooth

For some, this may mean enabling the blue tooth signal on your PC, for others, it may mean physically plugging in your bluetooth dongle. 

2. Connect wiimote

With your wiimote in hand, press the 1 and 2 buttons simultaneously. This will activity the bluetooth signal in the wiimote and enable it to be "discovered" by your computer. 

3. Search for wiimote

Exactly how you go about doing this will vary depending on the type of bluetooth adapter you have. On my computer, a little bluetooth icon appears at the bottom right corner of my screen, right next to the clock. When I right click on the icon, there is an option that says "add bluetooth device." They key is to have both your computer and your wiimote sending out a bluetooth signal at the same time. If the lights on the wiimote stop flashing and your computer hasn't discovered it yet, press the 1 and 2 buttons again. 

Your computer should search and then give you a list of all nearby bluetooth devices (if your cell phone is nearby it may show up as well!) Inidcate that you want to connect to the Nintendo Wii Controler (exact steps will vary depending on the bluetooth software you are using). When your computer connects to the wiimote, it will list it as a connected device. It should also indicate that it is a "human interface device" (just like a mouse or keyboard). 

4. Run smoothboard software

This part is a little bit tricky. Although you have linked the wiimote and computer, you aren't actually using the wiimote until you open up the smoothboard program. If you don't do this quickly enough, the wiimote will "hibernate" and you will loose the signal. Don't worry, it's longer than a few seconds. I'm guessing you have about 1 minute before the wiimote shuts off. Just don't go and get a cup of coffee or go to the bathroom until you have opened the smoothboard software.

If you have completed steps 1-4 correctly, the "player 1" light at the bottom of the wiimote should remain lit.

5. Aim wiimote and calibrate

Properly aiming your wiimote at the projected area will take a bit of experimentation. The Wiimote has a infrared camera inside of it that projects out at a 45 degree angle. The goal is to align the wiimote so that it can "see" all of the projected image.

From your computer, click "calibrate" on the smoothboard interface. (If you are a former Palm Pilot user, this step will be familiar to you!) A white screen with a target in one of the corners will appear. Using your Infrared light pen, click in the center of the target. Repeat with the targets in each of the corners. 

Smoothboard will tell you how much of the screen the wiimote can see. The higher the percentage the better, however I have never gotten much above 50% but haven't had any performance issues. 

I have, on occasion, set my wiimote too far to the left or right, resulting in a dead zone on the projected image (i.e. I click, but they wiimote can't see the light emitted from the IR pen.). If this happens to you, simply re-aim your wiimote. Remember- every time you move your wiimote, you must recalibrate!

You are now connected, calibrated, and ready to go! Enjoy using your white board and congratulate yourself for saving thousands of dollars!

Wiiboard Software

Turing a Nintendo Wii controler into a smartboard is a relatively simple process. Here is what you need.

1. Nintendo Wii controler (Note: you do NOT need to have the Wii system. A controler can be purchased for about $50).

2. Blue tooth enabled PC (if you don't have built in bluetooth on your PC, you can purchase a bluetooth adapter for as little as $8, although I would recommend spending a bit more for higher functionality)

3. Smoothboard software (this freeware is based off of the original work done by Johnny Chung Lee however it works much better and has several added components)

4. Video Projector

5. Infrared Pen 

• You can find instructions for making your own pen all over the web. Here is a helpful video tutorial from youtube.com. Originally, I used my own, however it didn't work that great.
• I would discourage you from making a pen simply because the ones available for sale are relatively inexpensive and work much much better than the one that I made. I would recommend the pens sold by John Mitchel ($8) at penteractive.us. I purchased one and have been very satisfied with it. 
• I am also very curious to purchase and try out "The Groove" sold by irpensonline.com. This pen has a pressure sensitive tip which makes use of the wiiboard more intuitive. The downside to this pen is that it costs $30.

Now you have all that you need to create a wiiboard! In a later post, I will describe how to connect and use your wiiboard.

What can a wiiboard do for me?

Over the summer, I came across this video by Johnny Chung Lee. This video gained a huge following amongst the ed tech crowd. Johnny Lee's stated goal is to make technology more accessible by discovering new functions for everyday technology. The wiiboard is just one of the projects that Lee is working on. I am amazed at his ingenuity and creativity.

Watch the video below to see the wiiboard in action. Keep in mind Lee is simply showing how the wii remote can be turned into an interactive whiteboard. He does not provide any suggestions on how to actually use the wiiboard in the classroom-- that is up to the educational community, and is what I hope to do through this blog.

Wii Board

This year, one of my primary projects has been the creation of the Wii smartboard first created by Johnny Lee Chung. This technology allows teachers to create a smartboard for a fraction of the cost of a commercial product such as the ones sold by Smart.

First, I readily admit that the Wiiboard is not for everyone. Although it costs only a fraction of what a commercial smartboard would cost, it requires a lot of fiddling and trial and error. The software is buggy at times (although it is improving), and students require some training before they can successfully use the board. 

I submitted a proposal to the Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) to present my experience and knowledge at their yearly conference. The proposal was accepted and I will be presenting at Cobo Hall in Detroit in mid-March. In a sense, this blog will present a snapshot of my presentation.

Stay tuned for more on creating your own wii smartboard!