On 22/07/2010 13:04, Alan Bell wrote: > On 22/07/10 12:24, Gordon Burgess-Parker wrote: >> On 22/07/10 12:22, pmgazz wrote: >>> This is interesting - but last time I tried to work with a school >>> they were stuck with a preferred MS supplier by the LA and there was >>> also a problem with electronic whiteboard drivers for Ubuntu/Linux? >>> Obviously, this doesn't stop them from using FOSS on MS Win but I >>> wonder if anyone knows about driver availability for the whiteboards >>> now? >>> >> >> Aren't whiteboards just big OCR devices? > no, they are more like a touchscreen. They are a projector and you can > interact with it using a pen. You can make your own for not very much > with a projector, wii remote and IR emitting pen. It behaves like a > mouse or graphics tablet. Fancy ones have multi-colour pens and can do > multi-touch type things (you can actually track 4 IR dots with a > wiimote). The ones used in schools cost many thousands, but really it > is all in the software. > > Alan.
I had a look around a school recently, one that's just been re-built under that big initiative for new schools. They explained rather than spending close to £2.5k on each classroom (60 in total, so around £150k) they opted for wireless graphics tablets which had a pen for writing with and could also be used as a substitute for a mouse. They also used wireless keyboards with laptop style touch pads on them. Total cost for each classroom was about £70 plus projector costs, so probably around £80,000 in savings. I like the Wiimote idea though, more geeky :-) Rob -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
