eBeam: Access =/ Easy Access
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008
I was asked to give a workshop on Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) for the “ICT in the Classroom” unit which was held on Tuesday. Unfortunately the only room with an IWB installed was in use at the workshop time, and so I planned to use the School of Education’s eBeams (portable IWBs). My grand plan was to have 3 stations through which students would rotate:
Station 1: Set up, “break”, and fix a data projector (find out what all the buttons do!)
Station 2: Test out the features of the eBeam software (e.g. highlight tool, magnifier, notepad, etc.)
Station 3: Try out some software not necessarily designed for an IWB (but effective nonetheless)
Then draw it all together in a group.
Unfortunately, it’s never that easy. First, the workshop room is a computer lab with one tiny whiteboard up the front. That’s not going to work. All of the other rooms were booked, and so I had the brainwave of swapping the lecture and the workshop around so we’d have the big room for the workshop. Fine. That’d work.
Second. The data projectors already in the lecture/workshop rooms aren’t aimed at the whiteboard: they’re aimed at a pull-down screen. There’s no way of adjusting them so that they hit the whiteboard. So I had to borrow 3 data projectors and 2 laptops (plus my own). Fine. That’d work.
Third. The eBeam software is not installed on any of the loaner laptops, or my own machine. No problem, the software’s with the equipment. Problem? No admin access to the loaner laptops, which means no permission to install software. Cue lining up at the IT service desk to get it all installed. Not so fine, but it worked.
Fourth. The eBeams are stored in the Dean’s office. It’s hard to get access to them. But with some forward planning, it can be done.
On the actual day of the workshop? Fifth. There’s other classes in the room directly before and directly after the workshop - any setup and pack-away must be done in class time. This means a 50 minute hands-on workshop becomes more like 30-40 minutes. To help with this, I planned to show a 14min Teachers.tv clip about IWBs to give me time to set up 2 stations. Fine. That’d work.
So, did it work out? To an extent. Was it worth it? I’m not sure. It took sooooo much effort to set up and organise, and 30 minutes of hands-on activity was simply not enough. For IWBs to be effective, or simply to be used requires them not only to be accessible, but easily accessible. Tutors, students, lecturers, guest speakers, whoever, need to be able to walk in and just use it and not line up at service desks, install software, borrow projectors, arrange a time to pick up equipment, set it up, pack it away… Especially for the purposes of 50 minute workshops!
My discovery of the week: I don’t get paid enough to do this 
