Interactive White Board Comparison

by Rey Saenz - Technology Integration Specialist

Our district uses wireless Mimios and we are also just now going to purchase some interactive AVerPens, as well. The Mimios work well and are fairly inexpensive compared to the SMART boards. The teachers seem to like the Mimios especially in elementary classes. Teachers are now requesting the capture kit that can be bought separately with the Mimio. Teachers like the feature that allows them to create and store instructional material into their Mimio folders found inside their toolbar. Also, there are many lessons and interactive sites that can be used with the Mimio found through the Mimio community website and in individual teacher websites and postings.

A couple of issues, however, is that the Mimio needs to be calibrated every time the projector moves or the Mimio board device moves (it does not take long to recalibrate, but can be a annoying after a couple of times especially during instruction). Another issue is that the teacher or user can be in the way of the projected image when using the interactive pen on the board, especially if the projector is not mounted. So, some teachers prefer to use the interactive tablets such as the Mimio tablet or eInstruction’s Mobi tablet. Majority of the elementary teachers would rather use the Mimio Board since the students can easily use the interactive pen on the board. Some teachers even use both the Mobi pad and Mimio Board, so they have access to now more interactive lessons from the companies and other sites. The interactive pens work with both software interchangeably but, in some cases, or lessons where the keyboard is needed, the keyboard function may not work properly.

We will be placing orders soon for AVerPens which should take the place of the Mimio board and tablets. Since majority of the teachers have the AVerMedia document camera, the AVerPen will work with the same software and allow users of the pen to write anywhere and on anything and still project on the screen/board. The AVerPens cost just as much as the Mimio boards but I am curious to know if the AVerPens will have some software that has a lesson bank like the Mimios and eInstruction sites. Also, the AVerPens take the place of separate classroom response clickers. The AVerPens come with a built in response buttons on the pen and the pens can be bought in three different sets: 1. just the instructor pen ($447.00), 2. starter pack (set includes 4 student pens and 1 instructor pen for $700), and 3. class pack which includes set of 8 student pens and 1 instructor pen for $953.00. We can’t wait to try out the new AVerPens.

The SMART Board is an awesome tool, but they are expensive. It is nice to have the touch screens and not have to worry so much about getting in the way of the projector’s image. We just can’t afford them. We have tested the Mimio tablets and eInstruction Mobi pads with the new Windows 7 and they seem to work great, as a matter of fact, the Mimio tablet seems to be improved with Windows 7 (giving a little hide-away tablet tool on the screen that can be clicked on anytime).