There are plenty of solutions to use Uniboard with a pen device, from the traditional Interactive Whiteboards to the Tablet PC or Interactive Pen Displays. But if you want to start preparing your presentations or lessons with a pen on your computer, a simple and cheap solution is the graphics tablet.

We have selected 2 products that offers good value for money :

The entry level Wacom bamboo costs just 60 $:

Get it on amazon.com

Get it on amazon.fr

If you need a larger one, the Intuos 4 medium is a good choice :

Get it on amazon.com

Get it on amazon.fr

Graphics tablet offer you good handwriting quality and transforms any computer with USB connectivity into a cheap interactive whiteboard, it’s an ideal solution to use with Uniboard. And as our software supports pressure sensitive pens, your writing will look great.

We will continue to publish other solutions that are great to use with Uniboard. If you want to share your experience, drop us a comment !

When we tested many types of interactive white boards, every board maker told us their software was very simple to use. The teachers and professors who tried it, however, came back to us with a different message: the problem is not that the software is complex… but rather that is it a software. They are used to work with a standard whiteboard or blackboard, and cannot be expected to change the way they teach overnight.

We decided to create Uniboard so it looks like a standard board, not like a piece of software. When you start Uniboard, it automatically creates a new document, so you can work immediately. It always saves what you do, automatically, so you never need to think about saving or about where you have put your file on the disk . Handwriting – pen color, eraser, marker is all available immediately, in one pen click.

A pdf document in Uniboard

Zoom in, and everyone can read from the back of the room. The content retains its quality even at high zoom levels. Anything you can print becomes presentation material that you can annotate.

Teachers can continue teaching as they always did, but with the power of electronic files. And little by little, they can reach further by integrating Web content, apps and other documents into their teaching.

The vector zoom, a technique that retains a high quality even at high zoom levels, allows you to magnify any document that is on the board until students in the back of the room can read it. The same is true when you browse the Web with Uniboard: you can zoom with one pen click, so that any web site immediately becomes presentation material.

We hope Uniboard will help every teacher to benefit from interactive whiteboards, not only those with a love of technology.

If you still do not have Uniboard, download it now, for Windows or Mac OSX.

Tablets are great for teaching – they give you Web access, blackboard-style handwriting and slideshow capabilities all in one personal portable device.

We think, however, that the way you use it is your business – not your students. Why should they see your private emails when you switch between applications? Or see you looking for a past course or browsing the web to answer a question? Why should you be exposed to them while you try something? Do they even need to see you changing the color of your pen? This only distracts your audience from your message.

That is why we designed Uniboard to show your audience only what you want them to see. Only your content appears on the projector; the tools and menus stay firmly on your computer screen. If you are looking for a past presentation, you do that on your private screen. You can browse the web to look for information, and decide if you want to show it to them. You can browse your desktop and launch applications, and show them the result when you are ready.

This is what you see when giving your presentation:

What you see on your computer screen

And what your audience sees:

What they see on the video projector

Even better, let’s say you want to display a web page, check something on your desktop or go back to an older Uniboard document while you are presenting. You are able to find the right item while the display screen keeps anyone from peeking into your content. Once again, here’s what you will see and what your audience will see :

What you see on your computer screen

What they see on the video projector

All in all, if you are using this feature, you’ll be amazed by what Uniboard can let you do in term of content display. It goes further than just showing only the content, when you are manipulating objects on the page (images, videos, Apps, …) the user interface will only be displayed on your main screen. You can also choose if you want to display the objects right away or hide them until later, giving you total control of the items displayed on your page. Just try it… you’ll love it !

Want to use this feature ? Check our support page to see how to setup your computer.

And of course if you still do not have Uniboard, download it now, for Windows or Mac OSX.

Tired of boring training sessions?

For many teachers, getting up and running with a brand new interactive whiteboard (and the proprietary software that goes with it) requires lots of training. Here’s what Amy Ellisor, technology integration specialist at Richland School District Two, Columbia, SC, says about that:

“Interactive whiteboards are only as effective as the instructors using them. To use the boards to their full effect, teachers must receive proper training. [...] the district has three tiers of Smart Board training: learning the basics; building lessons in order to show users how to develop and save lessons and promote interactivity; and advanced integration. Teachers take a total of 45 hours of classes”.

… 45 hours of training is a considerable investment! Truth is, a lot of this time is spent on learning the software, and later on refreshing that knowledge every year, rather than bringing the best interactive teaching experience to the classroom. One of Uniboard’s main goals was to drastically cut this time.

First of all we made sure that you wouldn’t have to change your teaching habits to get started. Launch the software, grab your pen and you are ready to work. All the basic tools are available in one click: it looks like the whiteboard you are used to, not like a piece of software that needs concentration to operate.

Second, we automated file creation, saving and archiving. When you launch Uniboard, a new document is automatically created and automatically saved as you work. No need to think of how and where to save your documents – just concentrate on teaching.

Third, we integrated a browser into Uniboard and optimized it to show Web pages on a projector. You probably do not need training to know how to browse the web, enabling you to instantly bring a wealth of interactivity into the classroom.

Fourth, you will not need to learn new software when the school gets a new type of interactive installation: Uniboard works on any brand of Interactive Whiteboard, Interactive Projector, or Tablet PC.

In the end, Uniboard basic training costs are really low, as the average training session lasts just two hours. But be prepared to be surprised, because Uniboard is so simple that most teachers can be up and running with no training at all, so you won’t need to cram in days of training during the busy back-to-school season.

Don’t wait any longer: download Uniboard now, for Windows or Mac OSX.

> Picture by Andrew Feinberg on Flickr

Uniboard Apps bring interactivity and web content to Uniboard pages as well as new functionalities to the software. They are created with open Web technologies, the code is available open source, and it is simple to get started developing new ones. Some ideas and examples:

• A plotter that draws a graph into the page
• Word games
• Interactive exercices for mathematics curriculum

• Image classification game
• Access to specific online content databases or learning object repository

• Get a specific stock price on the web, always up to date.
• A simple spreadsheet
• A mind-mapping tool based on an existing web service
• Fun drawing tools

These are a few ideas, but we believe our users will be inspired to come up with uses we have not yet conceived of.

so, share your ideas by leaving a comment!

If you feel like developing one of the Apps suggested here, do not hesitate: check our code repository and submit it to us so we can publish it for all Uniboard users. You will be participating to the creation of open source, standard, free interactive content.

> Learn more on how to develop Uniboard Apps

> Access our Google Code Repository

Image by Jacob Bøtter on Flickr