Vernier Go Wireless Link: Creating New Opportunities for Mobile Data Collection

It certainly is exciting times to be involved in the field of educational technology and if your are a science teacher there is even more opportunities with your existing classroom technology to take advantage of using science probeware in your classroom. If you have been following my blog, you know how passionate I am about teachers using probeware in the classroom to give students the capability of collecting data in real time. This is an especially important tool if you are supporting students with special needs-in that these tools provide students with a way to see data represented in many different types of ways. Students can view the incoming data in a graph format, table and as a meter. 

In July, Vernier Software released the Vernier Go Wireless Link which opens up all kinds of opportunities for students collecting real time data with mobile devices. The Vernier Go Wireless Link is a very small data collection interface that allows you to plug in over 35

different Vernier sensors and begin to collect data wirelessly to your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Later this summer, Vernier will also support Android devices and the LabQuest 2. The diminutive size of the  Vernier Go Wireless Link  makes it an ideal tool for collecting data in the classroom as well as when you are in the field. The  Vernier Go Wireless Link  uses Bluetooth LE and once turned on it will automatically connect to you device without the need to do any configuration. Simply charge the  Vernier Go Wireless Link with the USB cable provided and then you are ready to begin collecting data. 

Using the  Vernier Go Wireless Link, to collect real time data is a breeze. Simply turn on the Go Wirelss Link, connect a compatible sensor,

Right Hand Strength

launch Graphical Analysis, tap create experiment, choose Wireless Sensor, choose Go Wireless Link and begin your data collection. I have to say that using the  Vernier Go Wireless Link was very straight forward and easy to use. I connected the  Vernier Go Wireless Link  to a Hand Dynamometer and clicked on the Connect button to start my data collection. Within seconds the data was being graphed on the screen as I squeezed the sensor with my right hand. 

Using the  Vernier Go Wireless Link  gives students the opportunity to collect data quickly and accurately and because of the size of the interface they can easily use it in the field away from the iPad. The  Vernier Go Wireless Link  has a range of 30 m which would enable teachers and students to keep the device away from water or other hazards when collecting the data. 

So if you have existing compatible Vernier sensors and are looking for a great way to connect them to your IOS or Android devices look no further, the  Vernier Go Wireless Link  is the perfect interface for getting your students collecting data with mobile devices! 

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Equil Smartmarker: Capturing and Streaming Notes from a Whiteboard Just Got a Whole Lot Easier!

Ok, so you already know if you have been reading my blog just how much I love gadgets. Especially, gadgets that are easy to use and can extend the learning that is taking place in my classroom. When I read about the Equil Smartmarker from Luidia a couple of months ago, I was enthralled with the possibilities. As an Assistive Technology Consultant I am often supporting students with disabilities who may require that classroom notes be provided to them.  So when I came across the Equil Smartmarker, I had to get my hands on one to review. Luidia was kind enough to send me an Equil Smartmarker to test in the classroom. The Equil Smartmarker is available from Luidia at a suggested list price of $700 USD.

When you first take it out of the case you know from the start that this is a high quality product. The packaging of the Equil Smartmarker is exquisite and

Equil Smartmarker from Luidia

functional and provides a great case for carrying the device. Plugging the micro USB cable into the base of the storage unit of the Equil Smartmarker quickly charged the device. The design of the storage housing and the indicator lights on the Equil Smartmarker and Stylus are great touches to let the user know that the device is fully charged. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Equil Smartmarker it is a lightweight oval shaped device that when placed on any whiteboard surface can capture what is written with a standard whiteboard marker which is in a special housing. If you carried the Equil Smartmarker in your bag you would be hard pressed to notice that it was there, which is the real beauty of the device. Because of the size and weight you are more prone to use it whenever you are white boarding.  Unboxing and charging the Equil Smartmarker was a great experience and now it was time to test it out in the wild, my classroom.

In preparation to use Equil Smartmarker, I downloaded the Equil Note HD app to my iPad Air from the Apple App Store. Wanting my students to get engaged with the Equil Smartmarker, I had them download the Equil Note app to their smartphones. Once in my classroom I placed the Equil Smartmarker, which has a magnetic base directly on the whiteboard. So far so good! I next pressed the power button and fired up the device. Next I pressed the IOS button and paired the Equil Smartmarker using Bluetooth with my iPad Air which was rather seamless. Once the Equil Smartmarker was paired I got audio confirmation that it was connected. I then launched the Equil Note HD app on my iPad and took the cap off the marker and started to write on the whiteboard. With amazement everything I was writing on the whiteboard was being captured to my iPad. If I needed to erase something on the whiteboard I was able to do so with the

supplied digital erasure which worked really well. When I was ready to capture my next whiteboard, I simply pressed on the New Page button on the Equil Smartmarker and erased the contents with the regular whiteboard eraser. Since my iPad Air was connected to the projector, my students could see in real time just how fast and seamless it was to capture my written notes. I next asked myself what would the experience be like if I streamed the white boarding session to my students’ iPhone’s and Android smartphones? Using the Equil Note HD app from my iPad Air, I started a streaming session which brought up a dialog with a nine digit number that my students could enter into their Equil Note app on their smartphone. Within seconds they could see my whiteboard, and as I wrote, they instantaneously saw what I was entering on the board. Most of my students were really impressed with the speed in which the whiteboard and written notes appeared on their smartphone. 

The Equil Smartmarker can capture quite a large area (16ft x 5ft) and has some really great uses for the classroom. For teachers that need to capture notes for students this is an ideal device. Its diminutive size makes it ideal to throw in your bag and take from room to room. The Equil Smartmarker can be used by itself without the need to pair it with computer or tablet and will store over 1000 screens which can then be downloaded to your device once you are setup. For students with visual impairments I could see a scenario whereby the student can have a large tablet or computer at their desk and have the contents of what the teacher is writing up at the whiteboard streamed to their monitor in real time. Using the zoom in feature of the iPhone my students could zoom into the notes and they were sharp as a tack. Similarly, my students noted that the Equil Smartmarker would be an ideal tool for students who may be on homebound instruction and wanted to follow along with the class. Using Equil Smartmarker a teacher could invite the student to a “Notestream” to join the whiteboard session. Within seconds the student could see in real time what the teacher is writing on the whiteboard and be an active participant in the lesson. As far as I know the Equil Smartmarker is the only tool that will allow teachers to do the “notestreaming” so that students can better understand the process. Teachers can also save the white boarding session and send it to the student via email for future reference. Using Skype or an audio conferencing tool paired with Equil Smartmarker could be a great way for students who are on homebound instruction to participate in a class. For faculty who are entertaining the idea of distance learning and rely on white boarding the Equil Smartmarker is a great solution.

In the short time that I have been using the Equil Smartmarker and the accompanying software I found it to be quite intuitive and easy to use. I was really excited once I captured the notes to be able to utilize the handwriting recognition feature which worked really well- even on my handwriting! The handwriting worked really well and I could reorganize some of my notes to make it more readable. The Equil Note HD software gives you lots of options to share your notes once they are captured which is great. You can share your captured notes to the iCloud, Evernote, Dropbox, and OneNote which gives you some great options. 

While it is easy to get mesmerized by company marketing materials and online videos, I have to say the Equil Smartmarker lived up to its potential and performed flawlessly when I used it in the classroom. From basic whiteboard capturing to streaming the Equil Smartmarker was a pleasure to use and faded into the background so that I could use it to do my teaching. If you are in a public school, college or corporate environment then you will definitely want to have an Equil Smartmarker on hand to brainstorm and capture your white boarding sessions-and watch your creativity blossom and soar! For more information about Equil Smartmarker click here.

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Packing Miracast- The DELL Mobile Projector M900HD

The computer trends are pointing to lighter, more portable and highly mobile technology for today's work force. This is no less true for all of us in education as many schools are moving to tablets and devices that connect to the cloud. With this shift, it is exciting to think about how teachers are using their classrooms to cull out unique learning spaces. If you are thinking of how you can redesign your classroom space I would highly suggest that you consider reading The Third Teacher, and excellent book about re-thinking the learning space in our classrooms. This got me thinking about how we move away from the teacher in the front of the classroom and setting up learning spaces with technology that would enable students to share ideas quickly. Companies like Steelcase have envisioned the future of the classroom with their media:scape solution. Media:scape allows students to quickly share and collaborate on their content on a monitor by simply clicking on a "puck" that is in front of them. While this is an exciting solution it still requires devices to be hard wired to the monitor in order to collaborate. 

Over the past year, I have been experimenting with various wireless technologies that enable teachers and students to share their computer and tablet screens, using wireless technologies. Having attempted this several years ago with little success I was wondering what the evolution of this technology would have to offer in 2014? One of the wireless technologies I worked with is an Intel standard called Wi-Di (Wireless Display) which allows you to stream the contents of your tablet or computer to a HDMI device without cables or wires. Many educators often refer to Wi-Di by using the term Miracast to describe a peer-to-peer wireless screencasting standard formed via Wi-Fi Direct connections in a manner similar to Bluetooth. Miracast supports Windows 8.1 and Android (4.2 or great) devices right out of the box with zero configuration. Having access to Wi-Di would be great for the classroom because it would enable me to move about the

ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition

classroom without the need to be tethered to the projector. One of the benefits of Miracast is that it does not require you to use the school's wireless network to set it up. Using the ScreenBeam Pro Education Edition, Miracast receiver connected to my projector I was able to quickly share my screen and audio with my students with my Windows 8.1 and Android devices. The real benefits of using the ScreenBeam Pro is that it does not require me to have access to the school's wireless network. Similarly, using other screensharing technologies which are dependent on the WiFi network off bogs down from bottlenecks which makes sharing a challenge. To read more about my experiences using Miracast and ScreenBeam Pro for Education you can read my previous blog post here. You can also watch this video done by my colleague Dr. Tom Grissom at Eastern Illinois University to learn more about using Miracast technology in the classroom.

As Miracast becomes a standard in the Windows and Android technology sector it is exciting to see companies like Dell begin to embed the Miracast receiver right into their projectors. This is a trend you will begin to see this year as companies look for ways to move to providing consumers with ways to share information off of their computers,

DELL Mobile Projector M900HD

mobile phones and tablets in a quick and efficient manner. Dell was kind enough to send me a DELL Mobile Projector M900HD to test out that has Miracast embedded. The DELL Mobile Projector M900HD is an extremely small and portable projector (9.13" x 6.46" x 1.69") weighing in at 3.5 pounds. In this small package you will find a 900 ANSI Lumens LED projector which casts a very bright image. The DELL Mobile Projector M900HD is a sleek low profile projector that comes with a carrying case making it very easy to carry from classroom to classroom. As good as the DELL Mobile Projector M900HD looked, I wanted to test out to see just how easy was it to connect my Surface Pro 3 and Nexus tablet. What better way then to jump right in.

The true test at least for me was to unbox the DELL Mobile Projector M900HD, plug it in and see what happens. I plugged the DELL Mobile Projector M900HD in and powered it on and it immediately started up in the Wi-Di mode which was great! I opened up my Surface Pro 3 and swiped in from the right, selected Devices, and Project and added the DELL Mobile Projector M900HD as my Wireless device. The Surface Pro 3 quickly found the DELL Mobile Projector M900HD but for some reason a dialog box came up on the projected screen asking me to enter a PIN which I could not enter. After several attempts I was able to connect to the projector to my Surface Pro 3 and I was off and running. Since the initial process the DELL Mobile Projector M900HD has connected flawlessly to my devices making it a great companion for workshops and presentations. Like other technologies there was a firmware update that I was made aware of on the projector which may have made the initial hand off procedure flawless. It is important to note that the Miracast standard not only allows for screensharing but will also playing audio over the WiDi connection.

So what is the take away? It is really exciting to see the Miracast technology built-into the DELL Projector M900HD that will enable teachers in the classroom to more easily set up learning centers where students can easily share their ideas effortlessly using this wireless standard. Miracast does allow students to connect and disconnect their devices making it ideal for students to be able to share their work. With schools always up against bandwidth issues, Miracast technology circumvents this problem and enables teachers to utilize this zero configuration solution without the need to IT. So if you are looking to redesign your classroom's learning space and want an area for sharing, think about the DELL Projector M900HD and how the built-in WiDI can turn your classroom into a collaborative and sharing environment. The DELL Projector M900HD may be diminutive but packs a lot of power in a small package that is ideal for setting up new collaborative learning spaces in the classroom.

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Belkin Portable Tablet Stage-Right for Any Tablet

It was great having a chance to visit with so many vendors while I attended ISTE 2014 Conference a couple of weeks ago. Walking through the Exhibitors Hall, I was struck by just how much "stuff" is out there that educators need to vet. As I walked the Exhibit Hall I came across some unique products that I know will finds its place into the classroom. One of favorite new products is from Belkin and it is the Portable Tablet Stage, a light weight and portable stand for your tablet that can turn it into a great presentation stage. When you pair up the Belkin Portable Tablet Stage with the free Belkin Stage app (Available in Apple App Store & Google Play) you have a wonderful tool for making the classroom come alive. I had reviewed the Belkin

Stage app earlier this year and it affords teachers a rich set of tools for turning an IOS or Android device into a great teaching tool. With your tablet set on the Belkin Portable Tablet Stage you can utilize your tablet's camera and turn it into a document camera which you can then annotate on top of. The Belkin Portable Tablet Stage  and accompanying Stage app takes your tablet to the interactive whiteboard arena at a fraction of the cost. You can add labels, audio, draw and interact with images right on your tablet using the Stage app. If you like you can record your sessions and email them to your students for later use. The Belkin Portable Tablet Stage is a portable solution for teachers who find that they are moving from classroom to classroom and need a platform to deliver their content. The Belkin Portable Tablet Stage folds up into a small package and should store easily in a backpack or briefcase. At around $99.99 dollars this is great value and one gadget that I'm know I will use in my classroom this fall. For more information about how to purchase this product contact me.

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CamNote is Launched for iOS & Android Smartphones

About two weeks ago, I was reading some blog posts on my Flipboard app when I came across a piece about a new app called CamNote for IOS and Android platforms which was just recently released. The blog was accompanied with a great video tour of the app which caught my attention. CamNote lets you have the best of both worlds-continue to hand write your notes on the CamNote A5 Journal or A7 Jotter as you have always done and then scan them in with your smartphone using the free CamNote app. The developer has done a fantastic job of developing an app that quickly and automatically recognizes the borders of the writing pads so that you can upload your notes to DropBox, Evernote, or Google Drive in one quick step. If you have ever tried to scan a document with your camera you will realize the benefits of using the CamNote system to archive and share your notes with others. The CamNote A5 Journal or A7 Jotter are well designed and the quality of the paper is fantastic and developed so that ink will not bleed through the page. Once you upload and tag your notes to Google Drive or Evernote you can take advantage of their OCR feature to search and find words in your uploaded notes. Organizing your hand written notes has never been so easy with the CamNote System. If you are interested in purchasing CamNote in the United States email me for the details. If you still enjoy using pen and paper to take your notes but want to take it to the next level, then you need to take a look at CamNote. The CamNote system is an ideal way to capture, archive and share your hand written notes with others- so give it a try!

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