Low cost interactive whiteboard using wiimote
The $55 Interactive Whiteboard
NOTE: The following blog entry explains what a Wiimote Whiteboard
is, what it does, and how to build one. If you’re not interested in the
details and just want some basic step-by-step how-to directions, check
out this post.
The center of any 21
stcentury classroom has to be the
interactive whiteboard. I used a Promethean ACTIVboard in my classroom
for four years, and I don’t think I could go back to the days before it.
An interactive whiteboard allows teachers to create much more engaging
lessons through Web and video integration, save their lessons almost
verbatim from year to year, save student work completed on the board,
and turn any student into the teacher.
But we all know the main problem. Interactive whiteboards run from
$3,000 to $10,000 a pop. They’re a major investment that many schools
can’t afford, especially if they plan for added costs of maintenance and
teacher training. (And, let’s be honest, the potential of any
technology will never be realized in a school without adequate teacher
training.)
That’s why hundreds of teachers have decided to make their own $55
interactive whiteboard. That’s right – you can make your own interactive
whiteboard for less than the cost of a field trip. In 2007, researcher
Johnny Chung Lee made a 5-minute video that changed the face of the
interactive whiteboard market.
What Johnny had discovered was that the Wiimote — the remote control
that accompanies the Wii video game console — contained hardware
sophisticated enough to simulate an interactive whiteboard.
Warning: Science Content
The basic idea is this: the Wiimote contains tiny infrared cameras
within its housing that allow it to interact with the Wii sensor bar
and, thus, create some pretty cool gaming experiences. The infrared
cameras read the location of the infrared lights within the sensor bar,
and that’s how they communicate the Wiimote’s position back to the Wii.
Johnny figured out that he could do pretty much the same thing but,
rather than moving the Wiimote, he would move the infrared light. If he
kept the Wiimote stationary, it would track any infrared light within
its vision. Since the Wiimote can talk to computers through Bluetooth,
Johnny created some software to translate this location reading to his
computer.
Voila! As he moved an infrared light around on any service, the
Wiimote tracked it and translated it as a mouse’s motion to the
computer.
What does it all mean?
You can build an infrared pen, using $15 worth of parts and equipment
from Radio Shack. Using Bluetooth and free software based on Johnny’s
original program, you can connect a $40 Wiimote to your computer and
have it track your pen across your whiteboard, just as an ACTIVboard or
Smartboard would track a pen across its surface.
You will need a projector for this, which most of today’s schools
have on-hand. If not, though, it’s possible to find cheap projectors on
the market —
the Sharper Image has a decent (though not great) one available for $99. If you’ve got a couple hours on your hands, you can even turn an old overhead projector into an LCD projector by following
these steps.
(This is pretty cool — I actually built a working projector using these
directions. There may be a blog entry about it in the near future.)
How do I build a Wiimote Whiteboard?
Step 1: Wiimote
Buy a $40 Wiimote from any video game store, Target, or Wal-mart. You don’t need the nunchuk, just the basic Wiimote will do:
Step 2: Infrared Pen Build an infrared pen, using supplies you can order online or pick up at RadioShack. Ken Moore provides a
detailed tutorial (below) on how to build a pen, complete with a
shopping list that includes part numbers.
I used Ken Moore’s tutorial to build my pens (it took about 90
minutes to build and troubleshoot the first one; then about 30 minutes
for subsequent pens), and I would make three addendums to his shopping
list.
- He doesn’t tell you this, but you’ll notice in the video that he
uses a drill with a 1/4-inch bit to drill a hole into the pen casing. If
you don’t have a drill and can’t find one to borrow, it’s possible
(though not recommended) to make this hole using an ice pick to start it
and a pair of scissors to widen it.
- I’m not the best of solderers, so I found that when I tucked
everything into my pen, the metal from the red and black wires were
rubbing up against each other, causing a short circuit (and the pen to
get REALLY hot). To fix this, I bought some electrical tape and taped
over my solders and any exposed wire.
- He suggests buying a larger model of Expo markers because the
battery holder won’t fit into a regular Expo. I couldn’t find this Expo
model in my area, so I bought the new Expo Click
markers. You have to remove the clicker in order to fit everything
inside, but it works really well. (Plus it says “CLICK ” on the side,
which is pretty cool when you’re actually clicking around on your
interactive whiteboard.)
Remember when building your pen that infrared light is invisible to
the human eye. You can test your pen by holding it up to a webcam or
video camcorder, which pick up infrared light.
NOTE: If you don’t want to or can’t build your own pens, there are
several distributors on the Web who sell them at reasonable prices —
just Google “buy infrared pen.” I think it’s a better idea to build your
own, if possible, though, because then you have a good understanding of
how everything works and you can repair it if necessary.
Step 3: Bluetooth Be sure that Bluetooth is
activated and working on your computer. Then, connect your Wiimote. The
specifics here are different, depending on your computer and your
Bluetooth driver.
On my computer, I connect my Wiimote just as I would any other device
— I have to click on the “My Bluetooth Places” icon and tell it to
search for devices. I then hold down the 1 and 2 buttons on the Wiimote
until my computer finds it. I tell My Bluetooth Places to connect to the
Wiimote. The Wiimote has no pin number, so I skip that step. If that
doesn’t work for you, though, here are
step-by-step instructions for connecting your Wiimote using the
BlueSoleil driver software.
If you don’t have Bluetooth, you can buy a
Bluetooth Dongle for about $10 that plugs into your computer’s USB. Here are
step-by-step instructions for setting up Bluetooth with a Dongle and Wiimote.
Step 4: Calibration You’ll need calibration
software so your Wii knows exactly where on the board your infrared pen
is. I tested a ton of FREE calibration software and highly recommend
uweschmidt’s Wiimote Whiteboard,
which is available for Mac and Windows (on the link, scroll down to the
“Download” section and select “Cross-platform Java Version” if you’re
running Windows). It’s reliable and has consistently worked well for me
on both platforms, plus its creator is pretty good about supporting his
software.
You don’t
need it, but the program also allows you to use
multiple Wiimotes to calibrate your board so, for example, if one
Wiimote is blocked, the other will pick up the location of the pen for
added reliability.
Once you’ve installed the software, hook up your Wiimote to your
Bluetooth and start the Wiimote Whiteboard program. It should pop up a
window that tells you how much battery life is left in your Wiimote and
that has a “calibrate” button (see photo). Set up your projector so it
projects your computer screen onto your whiteboard (or any other
surface).
I would argue that this step is actually the most complicated for
someone just getting started with a Wiimote Whiteboard because you have
to figure out the best placement of the Wiimote in relation to your
board. The Wiimote has a field of view of about 45 degrees (see photo
below), so you have to point it at your whiteboard at a 45-degree angle.
It has to be back far enough to see the whole screeen, but not so far
that it loses resolution. (In classrooms with a ceiling-mounted
projector
that
is far enough back, I’ve also had success taping the Wiimote to the
bottom of the projector itself and pointing it at the whiteboard
straight-on. In this set-up, though, you might have more problems with
your body getting between the Wiimote and your infrared pen.)
When you think your Wiimote is set up properly, click that
“calibrate” button and, just like with any interactive whiteboard, use
your pen to click on the targets. If the Wiimote isn’t picking up on all
your clicks, you’ll have to adjust its placement (this is where using
two Wiimotes — one on either side of your screen — might be beneficial).
Once you’re calibrated, click around the screen — your infrared pen
should work just as a mouse would. In that Wiimote Whiteboard window,
you can set whether you’d like a click of the pen to simply move the
mouse or to move AND click the mouse.
Software
One thing you’ll hear from interactive whiteboard sellers is that,
though the Wiimote works just as any interactive whiteboard would, it
doesn’t have the software to really take your classroom to the next
level.
Most interactive whiteboard makers, like Smart, restrict their software so it can only be used with
their whiteboards. There are tons of Web sites that work really well on any interactive whiteboard (see the
resources
page), and there is some open-source software out there that can be
used with the Wiimote board. But when it comes to building your own
lessons, nothing really comes close to the caliber of Smart or Activ
software.
Which is why I was so happy to hear that Promethean recently released
ActivInspire, a
new and improved version of Promethean’s ActivStudio and ActivPrimary
software. Promethean states in the user agreement that ActivInspire can
be used on
any board. Teachers running the Personal Edition can
use it for FREE, although I would advise paying the $100 fee to get the
extra features in the Professional Edition, especially if you’re using
it district-wide. (You can download a 60-day free trial of the
Professional Edition to test it out.)
UPDATE: Promethean just updated its ActivInspire
licensing agreement. Luckily, as long as you’re a teacher, you can
still use the software with any interactive whiteboard, including a
Wiimote whiteboard. On the ActivInspire page, you’ll notice a link to
apply for this special teacher’s license. The process isn’t very long —
you just have to state that you’re a teacher.
Promethean has a ton of FREE lessons available for download from its
Web site, offers a high level of support, and even has FREE introductory
Web classes available to help teachers use the software. (Higher level courses have a fee of about $50.)
For other free and low-cost resources that enhance Wiimote Whiteboard
lessons, check out the links provided by first-grade teacher Eric
Holshoe on his
Web site.
Multiple Users
One of the most promising aspects of the Wiimote Whiteboard is that
each Wiimote can track up to four pens, so it could allow for a
multi-user environment. The major interactive whiteboard makers are just
now releasing boards that would allow two users to work at once.
Unfortunately, though, the software isn’t there to support a multi-user
environment on the Wiimote Whiteboard yet.
There are several products in the works that would allow multiple
mice, but I haven’t been able to find any that would be worth using in
the classroom just yet.
TeamPlayer,
from Wunderworks, comes closest. It allows several mice to move around
on the screen at once, but only one mouse can click at a time, which
seriously impairs the multi-user functionality you’d want on an
interactive whiteboard. The TeamPlayer Sandbox has some interesting
games, but most software doesn’t support the TeamPlayer mice as well. If
you’re interested, you can download a FREE 30-day trial of the software
or buy it for $20.
ActivInspire comes with a dual-mouse option, but users unfortunately need to be working on a Promethean board to use it.
Extensions
The Wiimote technology has gotten a lot of people thinking about
other classroom applications for this set-up. For example, you can
calibrate the Wiimote to any surface, not just your whiteboard. So you
could build a small notebook-sized tablet with a Wiimote mounted to it,
then project your screen onto a large whiteboard and, sitting in the
back of the room, calibrate your Wiimote to follow the pen on the
tablet, rather than the board. (I’m planning to build a set-up like this
in the coming weeks, so peek at this page again in the future for more
info and photos.)
There’s also software available to
turn the Wiimote itself into a mouse.
In other words, you can set up several infrared lights on your
whiteboard, then, sitting in the back of the room, point your Wiimote at
the whiteboard and use it as a wireless mouse. I haven’t tried it yet,
but I could see a wonderful application for this with disabled students.
As a former science teacher, one of the coolest extensions of this
set-up that I can think of is having your students build their own pens.
The science of the pen aligns with fourth-grade electricity standards —
it is just a simple circuit with a switch. Imagine having your students
build these pens during science class, and then allowing them to use
their pens on the interactive whiteboard for the rest of the year. What a
real-world connection! (I’d probably have them just use the tape to
connect the wires and not solder, though.)
Help
Once your Wiimote Whiteboard is up and running, you might have further questions. The
Wiimote Project,
launched by Johnny Chung Lee, is a collaborative site designed for
Wiimote Whiteboard users to support one another. The forums provided me
with most of the answers I needed as I began using my board.
LESSON INTEGRATION IDEAS
A lot of teachers stop before they take interactive whiteboards to
their full potential. Far too often, they’re used as fancy whiteboards
or PowerPoint displays. To really get the most out of an interactive
whiteboard, they need to be
interactive. That means give the pen to the students.
The Internet is full of lesson ideas for this use – you can find thousands of possibilities on
Promethean’s Web site, as well as the
resources
page of this blog. But they can be overwhelming. So here are just a few
lesson ideas to get you started with your new Wiimote Whiteboard.
Elementary Classrooms
Grade: 1-4
Subject: Math (place value)
Objective: The student will be able to identify digits as ones, tens, hundreds, or thousands.
Most teachers find that base ten blocks are a perfect start for
studying place value. But it’s difficult to use them for whole-class
lessons since not everyone in your class can see the set you hold at the
front of the class. That’s why the
digital base ten blocks found at the
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives are perfect add-ons for any place value lesson.
Grade: 3-5
Subject: Science (electricity)
Objective: The student will be able to create a simple circuit with a switch.
In my heart, I’ll always be a fourth-grade teacher (4th grade
ROCKS!), and one of the main science objectives at that grade level is
basic electricity. Students learn how circuits work and, at least in my
classroom, they built simple circuits, with switches, to turn on a
lightbulb. That’s why the idea of having students build their own
infrared pens to use on the Wiimote Whiteboard is so intriguing to me.
To buy the parts in bulk for a classroom wouldn’t cost too much (plus,
you could always have students work in groups of four), and students
could use the pens they built for the remainder of the year in class.
Middle School Classrooms
Grade: 6-8
Subject: Math (algebraic thinking)
Objective: The student will be able to:
- determine the identity element;
- decide if there is an inverse for each element;
- determine if an operation is commutative or associative
When I was in school, I wasn’t a fan of math — too much boring
memorization and drill and kill for me. Those arbitrary rules never
seemed to make sense. So when I started teaching math, I took a
completely different approach. I felt it was important for students to
understand the
why behind all those rules. Process over product became my mantra, and the
TERC Investigations curriculum gave me some great tools to work with.
So I was really excited to find the
Illuminations
Web site, created by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
It offers lessons and applets ideal for teaching the why, and many of
their applets are perfect for use on a Wiimote Whiteboard.
To introduce the ideas of identity, inverse, commutative, and
associative, Illuminations offers a lesson that uses shapes to explain
the principles. Check out the
lesson, and be sure to find the
applet link, which would be a perfect fit on a Wiimote Whiteboard.
High School Classrooms
Grade: 9-12
Subject: History (timelines)
Objective:
(any objective with dates, including) The student will be able to
explain how the institutions and practives of government during the
Revolution were revised between 1787 and 1815 to create the foundation
of the American political system.
Dates in history were always difficult for me. Luckily, these days,
specific dates aren’t as important as they once were, but it’s still
extremely important for students to understand the sequence of events in
our history. And one of the best ways to teach students about sequences
of events is with timelines.
Classtools.net provides a wide variety of widgets that work really well on the Wiimote Whiteboard, including a
timeline widget.
The program allows users to fill in the dates and add text boxes that
include important events. Users can then sequence and resequence the
events.
Teachers could throw this tool on their whiteboard, and have students
work together to complete an accurate timeline for any important
historical period. You could set a timer that gives each student 2
minutes with the pen/keyboard. The other students can help, but every
two minutes, the pen is passed off. The challenge is that by the time
every student in the class has had a turn, the timeline is complete and
accurate.
Best of all, when the class is done, you can save the timeline to
your computer or embed it into a blog or Web page for grading or future
reference.
Continue the discussion at discuss.villagescience.org