Disrupting Smartboards: Penveu smart ‘whiteboard’ pen on test in US schools
An innovative electronic pen which could replace whiteboards is to be tested in schools in the US.
Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second largest with 770,000 students, will soon try out the gadget, named Penveu.
The handheld wireless device “electronically” works on any surface such as a bare wall, computer monitor or pulldown screen.
Penveu’s makers say it is far cheaper than existing whiteboard systems.
The device, which writes, points, and highlights on any flat surface, costs $499 (£312) for educational use – far less than existing interactive whiteboards which can cost more than £2,000.
Agree with Jim’s Sunday note. The total amount of the districts budget spent on smart board hardware, installations, and teacher training just doesn’t add up to the marginal return on investment. In my direct observations of classroom use, Smart boards are gimmicky at best and have no real contribution to actual learning performance. Even worse, it mostly perpetuates the now antiquated “sage on the stage” model. Today’s learner are better participants. Let’s give kids cheap table technology or pens with tools like Khan Academy and have them become much more actively involved in their own learning.