Readers of my blog will know I do pedagogically based training on all brands of electronic whiteboards with all “flavors” of operating systems. In spite of what the marketers and geeks will have you believe, it is about the pedagogy and the teacher’s vision of what the use of ICT for learning should look like far more than whether it shows you a piece of fruit or a stuffed toy when you turn it on. But then, you already know that don’t you?

I have to admit one bias, however. I really do much prefer the tactile feel of a smartboard when using things like Google Earth or Cooliris to show how you throw things across the screen in much the same way that you can with an ipod touch or iphone. Somehow the pen doesn’t quite do it for me but the number of times you have to “throw images around in a classroom” may be so limited as to not make any difference to your choice of board.

The thing that  has always caught me out with the smartboard in training is the fact it is very easy to forget that you have the pen in your hand in the middle of a lesson and thus draw over the object that you were trying to manipulate in your browser window or software app. This is why this video caught my eye this morning. Dare I say it but it might even do more for a classroom than the much trumpeted but seldom used to great effect “multitouch” development.

Take a look and see what you think. I look forward to your feedback.