Re: Untouchables [Andreas J., please read]

On Thursday, December 4, 2003, at 10:30  AM, jcowan@REUTERSHEALTH.COM
wrote:

> Andreas Johansson scripsit:
>
>> Incidentally, I was unfortunate enough to have to do maths on one
>> today;
>> they're quite popular here in Germany. Back in Sweden, we had them in
>> elementary school, but in high school and at Uni, they always
>> use "whiteboards", whitish things you write on with special pens.
>> They have
>> the major advantage of not involving chalk.
>
> Whiteboards (and indeed they are so named in English) are common in
> corporations, but I have never seen one in any educational
> establishment
> in the U.S. (which is by no means to say there are none).  The coolest
> variety have a large canvas which can be scrolled left or right, by
> full screens or by smaller steps, and can even save copies of what's
> currently in view using a giant scanner; you can hook up a conventional
> printer for hard copy or (I suppose) put them on a network.  I only
> got to use this Wundergeraet once or twice, alas.
Even nicer are the "smartboards" which are essentially giant touch
screen computer monitors. You can move icons around by sliding your
hands across the surface. You open applications by tapping on them, and
if you're in a word processor/text editor of the right persuasion, you
can write directly to a file with a marker on the board (like the new
notepads, but bigger). We have a couple dozen "tech rooms" on campus
with these marvels. As soon as I build sufficient technological
complexity into a course, I'm going to reserve one of these rooms and
play.

Dirk
--
Dirk Elzinga
Dirk_Elzinga@byu.edu

"No theory can exclude everything that is wrong, poor, or even
detestable, or
include everything that is right, good, or beautiful."    - Arnold
Schoenberg

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