Comments on This Swiftly Tilting Planet: Interactive Whiteboards vs. Tablet PCs

I'm convinced of the tablet over the SmartBoard. ...

2008-02-11T17:21:00.000-06:00

I'm convinced of the tablet over the SmartBoard. I've used a tablet in a Math class for a year now and love it.

I'm curious how you quoted the InterWrite Pad at 300? I'm getting a price at 447 with an educational discount. Is there a certian distributor I should be contacting?
Thanks

what software do you use with your tablet PC to cr...

2008-02-02T07:36:00.000-06:00

what software do you use with your tablet PC to create flipcharts etc. I am using a Tablet PC in a school with IWB's and the software used for the whiteboards leaves a watermark on the flipchart unless the PC is connected to a whiteboard...which is fine if Im in a room WITH a whieteboard but no good in some rooms of course.

Ive had a look at notateit but the evaluation version really doesnt give a good idea of what you get if you but the pro version..

Any Ideas?

2008-02-02T07:34:00.000-06:00

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I agree with your evaluation in favour of the tabl...

2007-12-18T08:27:00.000-06:00

I agree with your evaluation in favour of the tablet PC. I have used an IWB but I now prefer to use a tablet PC.
I place my tablet PC on a lectern. This gives me greater mobility in the classroom and encourages students to use it. I keep the tablet PC set so that I can use the keyboard/mouse or the stylus on the screen.
I like facing my students and interacting with them rather than talking to a board. After school I take the tablet PC away and I can prepare lessons at home.
All in all I believe I have more flexible functionality from the tablet PC than I would have from an IWB.

I agree with your assessment between choice a and ...

2007-11-08T16:00:00.000-06:00

I agree with your assessment between choice a and b, however, consider choice C

New Desktop - $750
Interwrite Pad - $380
Ceiling Mount projector - $1000 (by your estimate)
Total Cost per Room: $2230

Colleges and Unversities are using this setup!

I'm a little skeptical of the $1000 price tag for a projector, cabling and ceiling mount as a projector has a cost range from $650 to $850 for a decent one, and installation will run from $800 - $900 depending on amount of rooms, but, you may have been able to get a great deal. A teacher mine was quoted as saying when asked about tablet PC… "I’ve never seen a desktop fall of the desk by itself.” Besides, replacing a desktop with a lifespan of about 5 years is $750 and tablet pc with a life span of 3 years is $1400. Do the math on that and you will find it more cost effective and efficient to go by way of new desktop. I’ve used this type of setup and it works extremely well. You also failed to mention that you will need a wireless projector which has a price tag range from $1000 to $1500 depending on the quality. Wireless video data streaming from wireless tablet pc to wireless projector has it’s own issues… the image sometime breaks due to the high level of data. And if you decide to connect the wireless tablet pc to projector via vga, then you’ve just purchased a $1400 desktop.

All in all, though, your direction is right on the money as far as teacher mobility and infrastructure. Good luck with your district.

Whiteboarder, I think you are missing the major we...

2007-07-09T22:07:00.000-05:00

Whiteboarder, I think you are missing the major weakness of the IWB - they tie the teacher to the front of the room - just like chalkboards and markerboards. Teachers need to be constantly moving around the classroom to shift the "zones" of on-task behavior. Common sense says that if a student is constantly more than 10-15 feet away from the teacher that they are more likely to stray from the topic at hand. But if that teacher moves around the classroom it makes sure that students are within a much shorter span every minute or so. Check out the "research" of Fred Jones if you want to see what I'm talking about.

Congrats on your new equipment. I don’t recommend ...

2007-07-08T19:14:00.000-05:00

Congrats on your new equipment. I don’t recommend passing around a $1,400 tablet PC in a K-8 environment. Smaller hands + Tablets PCs = drop. The risk may go down with older students, but accidents happen. A good way to offset this while keeping interaction is with the slates and pads.

I’m a proponent for anything interactive, especially boards. My preference would be to keep the teacher at the head of the class and supercharge their old "chalk and talk" by interacting with projected content. They can always roam about the class and engage students, but that has to be encouraged or part of their style. I think kids would find physical interaction with a large display more interesting than working with a PC tablet or slate, but your solution can alleviate “the walk of shame” element. There may be some issues with younger students using the slates since it takes some hand-eye coordination to write while looking at the projection.

IWBS are also going multi-touch, allowing multiple students to simultaneously write and interact with the board. This is possible while using multiple wireless slates and pads (SMART can, not sure about other brands), but once again, I think physically interacting with the projection is a lot cooler.

How about this plan?

Plan C: IWB powered by a tablet PC. Gateway and Dell offer these plans, and if it goes out to bid, I think you’ll be surprised with the actual cost.

I think your plan is good in terms of cost, but its benefits might be realized in grades 8-12 or Higher Ed. Larger projections for larger class sizes, and older students “should” be responsible enough and have the necessary motor skills to handle a Tablet PC and the hand-eye coordination to use slates.

I agree 100% with your assessment. It still surpr...

2007-07-08T14:44:00.000-05:00

I agree 100% with your assessment. It still surprises me when I hear about district-wide deployments of expensive IWBs. We currently have over 200 InterWrite Schoolpads and only 4 legacy Smartboards. If we go with tablets for our teachers the InterWrite Learning Workspace software will go right on the tablet and allow both the teacher and one student (holding the pad)to interact with the Workspace software.

The IWBs are just too expensive and tie teachers to one place in the room.

Thanks for posting the financials.

Barry Pace
The Pace of Change