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How To Buy The Correct Whiteboard For Your Needs

A look at the UK Whiteboard Offering  

Looking at the hundreds of different whiteboard offerings available on the UK market, this short article is designed to help customers narrow down their search and choose a dry-wipe whiteboard suitable for their needs. The article considers, size, surface type, mobility and price.

 

Size:

 

Whether it is an office whiteboard, school whiteboard or one for simply writing your shopping list on in the kitchen, the most obvious question to begin with is how large do you want the whiteboard to be? In considering this you will also need to take into account how quickly you would like it to be delivered. Products which can simply be taken off the shelf and consequently delivered on a next day basis, are loosely based around the older imperial measurements:

 

3’ x 2’ or 900 x 600mm

4’ x 3’ or 1200 x 900mm

6 x 4’ or 1800 x 1200mm

 

Some suppliers will hold stock on a few sizes outside of these sizes, but these are the most commonly stocked whiteboards available with nationwide next day delivery.

 

If time is not so pressing and you want a whiteboard made exactly to your size, then having a bespoke sized whiteboard can also be arranged. These typically can be supplied within a couple of weeks.

 

Writing Surface / Board construction:

 

There are three main types of whiteboard and in price ascending order these are; non magnetic melamine whiteboards, magnetic steel whiteboards and porcelain (ceramicsteel) whiteboards.

 

Melamine Whiteboards – These are the most commonly sold board owing to the cheaper cost prices.

Magnetic Whiteboards – The title type of these boards is a little misleading, as the boards themselves are not magnetic, but simply made from steel meaning they will accept magnets and magnetic planning accessories.

Porcelain Whiteboards – These are the top end type of board, but typically have a long manufacturers warranty. Owing to the longevity of these boards they are frequently used as school whiteboards or business whiteboards where they will receive regular usage.

 

In considering the surface of the board, at the time of purchase is worth deciding whether you think the board is likely to be projected onto for presentations, lessons etc. If the answer to that is yes, then one multi-use option is a matt whiteboard. The standard whiteboards will have a gloss finish, meaning throwing an LCD image up onto the board can result in a lot of glare back to the audience. A matt whiteboard removes this problem, allowing it be used as a normal dry-wipe whiteboard, but also as a projection screen.

 

Mobility:

 

The vast majority of whiteboards sold are wall mounted boards, but if you are needing a whiteboard to be used in different rooms you can purchase mobile whiteboards mounted on a steel frame with either a horizontal or vertical pivot. Owing to the weight of the board these are normally only available up to 8’ in width. These are a pivoting two sided board, so can have multipurpose applications (e.g. fabric notice board on the other side)

 

 

Value for Money and Branded Whiteboards:

 

Nobo are the UK brand leader for buying whiteboards online and through office supplies companies, but if a cheap whiteboard is sought then it is well worth considering the private label products and in particular, 5 star whiteboards. This private label range has whiteboards under £10 and still under £40 for a large 6’ x 4’ board.

 

 

If you need more information or would like to purchase one of the above whiteboards that we carry please feel free to visit our web site or contact us with your questions on 0845 2263313 

 

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Interactive Whiteboard – Role of Interactive Whiteboard in Education

As majority of us have gone through school phase, we have seen our classrooms equipped with whiteboards on which teachers used to write using a chalk or dry erase marker. The research and development in the ICT (Information and communication technology) technologies has led to new species of whiteboards known as Interactive whiteboard. The critical aspect in a teaching process is the quality of the lessons delivered by the teachers to the students. Nowadays Teachers are using Interactive Whiteboards to improve the quality of the instructions. Interactive Whiteboards make teaching sessions interactive and motivating.  Interactive Whiteboards are digital whiteboards which are connected to projector and computer.

A projector projects the entire computer desktop on the active area of Interactive Whiteboards. Interactive Whiteboards are used in classrooms at all stages of education as a replacement of traditional whiteboards or flip charts. They communicate with computer using USB or serial port cable. Bluetooth device or Radio Frequency (RF) device is used for providing wireless communication. 

Using the supplied software, Teacher can write, draw and annotate on its surface and navigates the computer functions from interactive whiteboard with finger or pen. Whatever teacher writes on its surface can be saved in the computer as an electronic file in various formats such as Picture, power point, PDF, HTML. These electronic files can be used later for repeated sessions or mail to absent student as an attachment. The software has a built in library of images on different subjects which teacher can use into their lessons. Interactive Whiteboards allows teachers to record their session in video format which can be shared in to their classroom. They have lots of tools for presentation like spotlight, snapshot, reveal etc. Spotlight shapes helps to focus attention on specific part. Reveal feature allows you to hide information and reveal in any direction.  

There are different types of Interactive Whiteboards in the market based on technology. An IR (infra-red) interactive whiteboard uses infra red beam to make the board touch sensitive. A resistive membrane board consists of two resistive sheets separated by air gap. Electromagnetic Board is composed of grid of wires, operated with electronic pen called stylus. 

Every school, college and university across globe is implementing Interactive Whiteboards into their classroom. Interactive Whiteboards opens up a world of opportunities for teachers to be innovative in their teaching and in student learning. Today interactive Whiteboards have become an integral part of learning environment. It is very important that teachers should be well trained to utilize the new opportunities provided by Interactive Whiteboards to them. Time has come to rapidly push Interactive Whiteboards into the classroom for effective learning and teaching.

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Interactive Whiteboards: Taking Schools By Storm

There’s a new form of learning hitting a classroom near you – it’s manufactured, and it’s interactive. It comes in the form of something known as an interactive whiteboard; but what is an interactive whiteboard, and just what exactly does it do?

An interactive whiteboard (IWB) is to be defined as a large display panel that can be hooked up to a computer and a projector. Once hooked up, the projector can transmit the desktop display of the computer onto the whiteboard panel. What’s unique, however, is that the projection of the desktop can actually be controlled via human touch. Users can interact with the whiteboard using either their own finger, a pen or another rounded device.

It’s a form of augmented reality, and it’s taking the world by storm. Teachers are embracing interactive whiteboards as an imperative part of classroom activity.

Interactive Whiteboards in Schools

Since their inception into the market, the innovation of interactive whiteboard products has created a salient point for presentational mediums. IWBs have achieved their success through alleviating the need for interactivity in an otherwise relatively static form of communication. In turn, this has quite flippantly changed the ways in which children learn in the classroom.

Teachers see many positives in using interactive whiteboard products because ‘hands-on’ exercises seem to resonate better with school children, henceforth increasing their retention rates. Conversely, there are also those who are critical of the technology – notably teachers in secondary schools – who perceive interactive whiteboards to be more of a distraction for the children.

General Operation of Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards have been designed to be user friendly, with a relatively simple interface and setup process. To set up an interactive whiteboard, you can connect the device to the computer via a USB cable (generally provided with the product, by the manufacturer). The IWB can also be synched up to a computer via a Bluetooth wireless connection.

There is a unique device driver installed within the host computer to enable the Human Input Device (HID), similar to that of a mouse or other external hardware devices. Once the software is installed, the user of the interactive whiteboard will then be able to physically interact with the output on display.

The most common form of interaction with an IWB is resistive touch-based interaction using either fingers or pointed implements, however there are also electromagnetic pen-based, IR pen-based interactive whiteboards available. In some cases, even the Wii remote has been used to operate IWBs.

Where to Find Interactive Whiteboard Resources

Interactive whiteboards have adopted an almost ‘open-source’ approach to their educational application; this is to enable teachers who use the interactive whiteboards to upload and freely share interactive whiteboard lessons with their educational peers. Most interactive whiteboard manufacturers have promoted this feature to maintain maximum levels of engagement via their use in the classroom.

For students learning through interactive whiteboards, this means that they do not face impervious amounts of boredom through the mundane repetition of lessons, thus keeping retention rates high as a result of their interest in the interactive whiteboard activity.

Interactive whiteboard manufacturers, such as Hitachi, have set up online interactive whiteboard resource communities for teachers to share and exchange lessons and ideas for their interactive whiteboards.

With the IWB trend on the rise, and more schools embracing the technology into their classroom, what is being dictated about the future of education? Only time will tell. Still premature in their use, we will continue to see added emphasis on interactive whiteboards as more and more are integrated into their respective schooling applications.

Types of Electronic Whiteboards

Overview of An Electronic Whiteboard

 Electronic whiteboards are becoming the new standard in classrooms and meeting rooms, in the 21st century. They take presenting, teaching and learning to new levels of interactivity.

 What is an Electronic Whiteboard?

An electronic whiteboard allows material to be presented or displayed from a computer. Images, slides, text and even video can be displayed on an electronic whiteboard. Electronic whiteboard technology then allows for the teacher or presenter to interact with that image. For example, notes can be written on the electronic whiteboard adding information to the image presented. Electronic whiteboard technology can then capture that information and store it. Electronic whiteboards provide many useful applications in both business and classroom settings.

 Thermal Electronic Whiteboard

Thermal electronic whiteboards allow the user to write, and print in black and white only. Each thermal electronic whiteboard comes with a printer attached and the images captured on this electronic whiteboard are then printed on thermal paper. This provides ease of use, but presentations on thermal electronic whiteboards often lack flair as they can only be seen in black and white. The PLUS BF-041S Electronic Whiteboard is a good example of a thermal electronic whiteboard. It is a freestanding electronic whiteboard unit with the ability to be mounted and contains a printer.

 Color Electronic Whiteboard

Color electronic whiteboards can add pizzazz to presentations by introducing color. These electronic whiteboards can also be called copy boards. Using this technology, images are captured on the electronic whiteboard in color. These images can then be stored and either printed or distributed electronically. The PLUS M11s Electronic Whiteboard is a good choice for a color electronic whiteboard. It can be connected directly to a PC and images can be stored there or printed and distributed. Images stored on the computer from the electronic whiteboard can be further edited.

 Portable Electronic Whiteboards

A portable electronic whiteboard is an alternative solution to a standard electronic whiteboard. Using a system such as eBeam, it is possible to turn any whiteboard into an electronic whiteboard. Simply attach the eBeam receiver to the whiteboard and connect the receiver with a USB cable to your computer. This system is quick and easy to set up on any whiteboard and it is easy to transport. The Quarter IdeaShare Q8000 Portable Whiteboard Capture System includes a receiver, mounting systems, electronic pens, dry-erasure markers, software and USB cable. These come with a carry bag for ease in portability. Portable electronic whiteboard systems are an economical alternative to standard electronic whiteboard systems.

 Electronic whiteboards are setting the standard in presenting in both business and classroom settings. New schools being built include electronic whiteboards in each

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What type of Electronic Whiteboard do you need?

Electronic whiteboards are becoming the new standard in classrooms and meeting rooms, in the 21st century. They take presenting, teaching and learning to new levels of interactivity.

 What is an Electronic Whiteboard?

An electronic whiteboard allows material to be presented or displayed from a computer. Images, slides, text and even video can be displayed on an electronic whiteboard. Electronic whiteboard technology then allows for the teacher or presenter to interact with that image. For example, notes can be written on the electronic whiteboard adding information to the image presented. Electronic whiteboard technology can then capture that information and store it. Electronic whiteboards provide many useful applications in both business and classroom settings.

 Thermal Electronic Whiteboard

Thermal electronic whiteboards allow the user to write, and print in black and white only. Each thermal electronic whiteboard comes with a printer attached and the images captured on this electronic whiteboard are then printed on thermal paper. This provides ease of use, but presentations on thermal electronic whiteboards often lack flair as they can only be seen in black and white. The PLUS BF-041S Electronic Whiteboard is a good example of a thermal electronic whiteboard. It is a freestanding electronic whiteboard unit with the ability to be mounted and contains a printer.

 Color Electronic Whiteboard

Color electronic whiteboards can add pizzazz to presentations by introducing color. These electronic whiteboards can also be called copy boards. Using this technology, images are captured on the electronic whiteboard in color. These images can then be stored and either printed or distributed electronically. The PLUS M11s Electronic Whiteboard is a good choice for a color electronic whiteboard. It can be connected directly to a PC and images can be stored there or printed and distributed. Images stored on the computer from the electronic whiteboard can be further edited.

 Portable Electronic Whiteboards

A portable electronic whiteboard is an alternative solution to a standard electronic whiteboard. Using a system such as eBeam, it is possible to turn any whiteboard into an electronic whiteboard. Simply attach the eBeam receiver to the whiteboard and connect the receiver with a USB cable to your computer. This system is quick and easy to set up on any whiteboard and it is easy to transport. The Quarter IdeaShare Q8000 Portable Whiteboard Capture System includes a receiver, mounting systems, electronic pens, dry-erasure markers, software and USB cable. These come with a carry bag for ease in portability. Portable electronic whiteboard systems are an economical alternative to standard electronic whiteboard systems.

 Electronic whiteboards are setting the standard in presenting in both business and classroom settings. New schools being built include electronic whiteboards in each classroom. Electronic whiteboard sales have reached nearly billion dollars. Teachers are developing new teaching strategies utilizing interactive whiteboards and are finding excellent results in student learning. Electronic whiteboards have a positive effect on the motivation and attention learners have toward their subject.     While electronic whiteboards might once have been the wave of the future in classrooms and business settings, this is a technology that is here to stay.

 

For more information about electronic whiteboards, please visit iShopit.com

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