Interactive Whiteboards Explained

Interactive Whiteboards Explained
Interactive whiteboards are manufactured by a variety of
companies, but are all designed to work in a similar
fashion. Essentially, interactive whiteboards are meant to
work as extensions and large-scale representations of a
computer or laptop screen. Interactive whiteboards make it
possible for users to interact with the screen by using a
pen, a marker, a stylus, or even a finger. They work much
like a touch-sensitive computer screen.

An interactive whiteboard allows users to project images
from a computer screen onto the board's surface. Websites,
images, and software applications and programs can all be
projected onto the whiteboard screen. Users can take a
pen, marker, finger, or an IR device and use it in the same
way they would use a mouse to control a computer. They can
use the interactive tool, whatever it might be, to open and
close browser windows, take notes, click on and drag
objects, edit and mark-up text documents, and highlight
text. There are even some programs included with some
whiteboards that can take an individual's personal
handwriting and translate it into typed text.

Interactive whiteboards have become popular in classrooms,
boardrooms, studios, and even in the meeting rooms used by
sports teams. The interactive nature of whiteboards allows
them to be used in everything from teaching a lesson and
highlighting an important point on a presentation, to
editing a movie as a group and demonstrating how a
particular play or set is intended to be performed or
carried-out.

Today there are six varieties of interactive whiteboards to
choose from, including resistive, electromagnetic, infrared
or optical, ultra-sonic, optical, and infrared or IR
whiteboards. Differences between the types of boards
include variations in the material the board is made of,
the type of writing tool each board makes use of, and the
particular control method that the board uses to send
signals from the board to the computer.

Besides using them as teaching and presentation tools,
interactive whiteboards can also be used for other
purposes. Since the board is directly connected to a
computer, any program that it runs can be projected onto
the whiteboard screen for all to see and enjoy, including
DVD movies. For many schools and businesses that do not
have the funds needed to purchase multiple computers and
computer stations, interactive whiteboards also present a
more affordable and cost-effective way of providing
multiple users with access to computers and software
programs.

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You can learn even more about the wide selection of
interactive whiteboards available to you. Simply visit:
http://www.av-audio-visual-projectors.co.uk/whiteboards.htm
to browser through their range of interactive devices.