online blackboard?

tuatara

tuatara

pro-water
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I am wondering if a piece of technology exists, and how much it costs. I occasionally help people with their math over the phone. Sometimes it would be nice to be able to do the equivalent of writing on a board (or a piece of paper, for that matter) while I explain something. I don't want to set up my home like a classroom - then I could just use skype and a webcam, but what I'm wanting is some sort of pad on which I can write and have the writing display on my computer screen in real time that would also display on my student's computer screen.

Anyone know of anything like that?
 
SCBassist said:
Web Conferencing That Transforms Teaching and Learning
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two-way VoIP, multi-point video, built-in phone conferencing, interactive whiteboard, application and desktop sharing, rich media, breakout rooms, mobile collaboration, and session recording.

So it looks like what I want is out there, now to strip away all the stuff I don't need and don't want to pay for. I thin it's just the whiteboard I'm looking for. (Plus of course the hardware for doing the actual writing, plus whatever else is needed to make it work.)
 
I just looked up interactive whiteboard and I realize that this means something much more sophisticated than what I'm looking for. I just want to be able to write by hand on a pad of some sort and have what I write appear on the screen of the person I'm communicating with.
 
There's one we are considering at work, but can't think of the name right now. It was around $10 a month; it includes voice and video. MS Netmeeting used to do this, and think they continued it in Messenger, but don't have a PC handy now to look. You could also use a free screen share program like TeamViewer (Mac and MS Windows friendly), and just open a paint program on one side and share it with the other person to watch or edit.
 
soulchill said:
You could also use a free screen share program like TeamViewer (Mac and MS Windows friendly), and just open a paint program on one side and share it with the other person to watch or edit.
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Is there a way to interface the paint program with some sort of tablet that will allow me to write with something that feels like a pen? I mean as opposed to using my finger on my laptop - very slow (you have to click and drag for every pen stroke) and looks like a kid's writing.
 
SneakerNet said:
Then you can use your paint program to do the drawing of math and such.
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No, that's what I'm saying, paint (without an additional input device) isn't good for this. I would have to click and drag with my fingers for every pen stroke: it would be very slow, awkward, and the writing would not be presentable.

I'm looking for something, a physical product, that would allow inputting, maybe that would interface with paint or some other program, by letting me hold a pen-like object against a pad of some sort.

I know of artists who use something called a wacom tablet (I just remembered the name this morning) but I don't need the level of sensitivity and variety an artist would need, and I don't want to spend the kind of money they do, but it's the basic idea.

I also want to know if there's a way to know where you're going to write - like if you've written an equation and you want to go back and add something to it, but don't want to end up scribbling on top of what you've already written, is there any kind of hover feature so you can see where you're about to land?
 
You can use regular paint program with a mouse. It shows were you are and you don't draw anything unless you hold the mouse button down. I have an old low end Wacom tablet. I think new low end ones are $50-75. It doesn't do all the fancy multi touch functions that the pro models do, but if you want to hold a pen and write/draw it's good. It says Saphire on the back, and works with Graphire3 drivers.

Think mine has around a 5x4" area in it. I plugged it in yesterday, and couldn't find drivers at wacom.com, but found them on their European website. If you're worried about the small drawing area, you can set it up so that the tablet only goes to a certain part of the screen (which you can set). I had this on Windows when I got it, and the drivers let you set it to use the active application only, but don't see this in the MAC driver I found, so it's a bit more manual. And the other features (programming the side buttons) work as well as the "eraser".

You may be able to find a kids tablet for less as well that does similar things. Think Fischer Price used to make something around $30.
 
soulchill said:
You can use regular paint program with a mouse. It shows were you are and you don't draw anything unless you hold the mouse button down. I have an old low end Wacom tablet. I think new low end ones are $50-75. It doesn't do all the fancy multi touch functions that the pro models do, but if you want to hold a pen and write/draw it's good. It says Saphire on the back, and works with Graphire3 drivers.

Think mine has around a 5x4" area in it. I plugged it in yesterday, and couldn't find drivers at wacom.com, but found them on their European website. If you're worried about the small drawing area, you can set it up so that the tablet only goes to a certain part of the screen (which you can set). I had this on Windows when I got it, and the drivers let you set it to use the active application only, but don't see this in the MAC driver I found, so it's a bit more manual. And the other features (programming the side buttons) work as well as the "eraser".

You may be able to find a kids tablet for less as well that does similar things. Think Fischer Price used to make something around $30.
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Ha! Writing with a mouse is even worse:0

But thanks for the information about Wacom. Do they let you see where you are? I mean where you're about to draw/write?
 
amylynne said:
Ha! Writing with a mouse is even worse:0

But thanks for the information about Wacom. Do they let you see where you are? I mean where you're about to draw/write?
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yeah, the cursor shows just like a mouse and doesn't write till you press. Mine detects pen about 1/2" above tablet. And it came with a mouse that works on pad as well, but I don't use it.
 
soulchill said:
yeah, the cursor shows just like a mouse and doesn't write till you press. Mine detects pen about 1/2" above tablet. And it came with a mouse that works on pad as well, but I don't use it.
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Oh awesome - Thanks!!
 
amylynne said:
Thanks Sneakernet. I'm all stressed about the writing end of it, but much appreciate the information about the networking side. Looks like between everyone's help, I should be able to put something together.
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You are welcome, yes I understand what you are saying, but what I have here is touch tablet using WebEx and I can move around, write and draw. It will show up on other end live. The WebEx can do both way using webcam and drawing board using my finger and it's interactive, you can see other person respond back.
At work, we use MS Lync, it's fully integrated communications like webcam, desktop sharing, whiteboard, IM and such. But this require a server to use it. Which of course not good for you.
I'm just trying to think of basic needs without having a high cost.
 
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