eBeam Smartmarker 2- Second Time is a Charm

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIaY-rB4P5hrW9wqFmpk7RC8lHBxjYGocJ6fl1bHvAPThyI-QWma-S2-w1sbGyZeOM_jW0kNUlMkv5KHKKmr8_3oi2T0yLW6eNczrEZwO3QNZlQSl9WOTLWfoRjfS7lD52GbVjpRzKWVI/s1600/ebeam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIaY-rB4P5hrW9wqFmpk7RC8lHBxjYGocJ6fl1bHvAPThyI-QWma-S2-w1sbGyZeOM_jW0kNUlMkv5KHKKmr8_3oi2T0yLW6eNczrEZwO3QNZlQSl9WOTLWfoRjfS7lD52GbVjpRzKWVI/s1600/ebeam.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam SmartMaker 2</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Two years ago, I did a <a href="http://assistivetek.blogspot.com/2015/06/equil-smartmarker-capturing-and.html" target="_blank">review of the </a><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="http://assistivetek.blogspot.com/2015/06/equil-smartmarker-capturing-and.html" target="_blank">Equil Smartmarker from Luidia</a> and was impressed with the capabilities. The </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Equil Smartmarker</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">allows creative groups to capture and share whiteboard drawings and brainstorming sessions with remote groups. Since that time, the product has been re-branded by the parent company as <a href="http://www.e-beam.com/smartmarker.html" target="_blank">eBeam Smartmarker 2</a> with some really outstanding features and capabilities. The hardware which includes an oval capture bar and whiteboard marker in a special housing has remained the same from the users </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span></div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">perspective, but under the hood a lot has changed. The Basic </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 Kit comes packaged in a plastic case that fits the </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.e-beam.com/smartmarker.html" target="_blank">eBeam Smartmarker 2</a> and the Marker housing (holds standard dry erase whiteboard marker) which also serves as the charging base station -which is accomplished with a micro usb cable that is included. You will also receive a digital eraser should you want to remove any graphics from your whiteboard session. Everything you need to get started with comes inthe Basic kit.</span></span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Enterprises was good enough to send me the basic </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 kit to review, which included the capture bar, and whiteboard marker in the special housing, digital eraser, and a Bluetooth receiver for a Windows computer. The </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 can capture a 16 ft by 5 ft area giving lots of space to draw and sketch. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 has a great look and feel in that classic high gloss white finish. No matter how good tech looks- the out of the box experience is essential for users to want to use the device. In this regards, the </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 did not let me down. eBeam Enterprises has spent considerable time getting the device to make the Bluetooth pairing child's play. Prior to using the device you will instructed to go to the Apple Store or Google Play to download the Beam Marker app which then is used to pair to the </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2. Windows and Mac users can download the eBeam Marker software app from the <a href="http://www.e-beam.com/smartmarker.html" target="_blank">eBeam Enterprises</a> website. Once you launch the eBeam Marker app it automatically goes out and looks to connect to the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">without the need to have to manually pair it using the Bluetooth settings. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In every case, I was able to seamlessly pair the </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> to my IPhone 7S, iPad Air and Surface Pro running Windows 10. In fact eBeam Enterprises went so far to use audio to alert you when the device has paired which is outstanding. eBeam Enterprises did ship me a USB </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Bluetooth</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> k</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ey for use with my Windows 10 computer which made connecting the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 a breeze.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Using the eBeam Marker app is rather straightforward and as you write on the whiteboard, </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 will capture your ideas seamlessly which can be shared out to remote groups for viewing. Once you have captured your first whiteboard, it is easy to erase the contents and pressing on the Add Page button on the </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 you are now ready to capture additional whiteboard screens during your session. One of the really exciting features from my perspective is the ability to invite others to your whiteboard session. I had the opportunity to trial this feature with my graduate students who installed the eBeam Marker app on their smartphones. From my iPad Air was able to invite them to my whiteboarding session- which enabled them to view the contents on the whiteboard. One of the new and outstanding features available when using the </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> is being able to give certain students permission to annotate and interact with the whiteboarding session. Using the various tools in the app students could draw and type and actively participate in the whiteboard session which makes this a very powerful team collaboration tool. In the latest version of the </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 individuals who do not have the  eBeam Marker app installed can access the session via the web which ensures that anyone with a computer or mobile device can jump into your whiteboarding session without the need to install any software. Once the session has ended you can save your session to a PDF file and quickly share it with others. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For those of you who don't have access to a whiteboard in your school or classroom you may want to try using the </span><a href="https://www.think-board.com/" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Think Board</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, which is whiteboard film with an adhesive backing that you can adhere to most flat surfaces. For my testing I used a small Think Board which I affixed to a wall in my office to test out the </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2. The Think Board <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnGQeE6K48Tyfb-aqLkyYzGuaGkFcT7ual0CkBhWvwfa_nr7sdX7ZzQm5Q8GN3alOZGgS4XQBxJlWE3v2oaf_5g0L1TnECmCtDW6zI3Y9XtFpt0ODkl0uimU8x1aRhF8XmHj3HF0nil8M/s1600/ebeam3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1174" data-original-width="1600" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnGQeE6K48Tyfb-aqLkyYzGuaGkFcT7ual0CkBhWvwfa_nr7sdX7ZzQm5Q8GN3alOZGgS4XQBxJlWE3v2oaf_5g0L1TnECmCtDW6zI3Y9XtFpt0ODkl0uimU8x1aRhF8XmHj3HF0nil8M/s320/ebeam3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>eBeam SmartMarker 2 with Think Board</b></td></tr></tbody></table>surface was great to write on and was just as easy to erase the contents, without leaving and residual whiteboard marker ink behind.  The Think Board and </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 combination worked flawlessly and gave me the freedom to place the whiteboard in a small area in my office. The Think Boards come in various sizes and price points giving educators lots of options. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In this day and age of STEAM and Makerspaces school districts should definitely consider the </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 as a means to share and collaborate one another's ideas when using whiteboards. Many schools are redesigning their classroom spaces to include large areas with whiteboard spaces for students to brainstorm and draw. Now imagine being able to take these ideas and capture them in real time with remote groups of students with opportunities for feedback. For school districts who are looking to take whiteboarding to the next level, then having access to a </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 is essential. With the latest iteration of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 you can now have remote groups jump in and provide live feedback and be part of the session. What better way for students to learn about the power of team work and collaboration then by having them have access to real world tools and technologies. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">While the </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 has a unique space in STEAM and Makerspaces it also could play a critical role when helping teachers to being able to make accommodations for students on </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">home bound instruction or those </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">with visual </span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihdrXsYm58-hyeZw9ujplSY47j3zQyM5KW8gi3YeaKirPqDC_uLB3G_mRHykpzwoosttUckgvKIUhIuBt8HS5SkW3qu1U13FRO-8yKvsRtBamT2gGY4NiI_NHxA_goMTQ_nWC1dfWAZc/s1600/ebeamsoftware.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="eBeam Marker Software" border="0" data-original-height="1009" data-original-width="1600" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihdrXsYm58-hyeZw9ujplSY47j3zQyM5KW8gi3YeaKirPqDC_uLB3G_mRHykpzwoosttUckgvKIUhIuBt8HS5SkW3qu1U13FRO-8yKvsRtBamT2gGY4NiI_NHxA_goMTQ_nWC1dfWAZc/s320/ebeamsoftware.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Marker Software</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table>impairments, or learning issues. The <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> gives teachers in classrooms the opportunity to capture notes for students who may have this as an accommodation in their I.E.P. The </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 does support hand writing recognition which would allow teachers to go from hand written whiteboard notes to traditionally typed notes which can be edited-right within the software. </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 is an ideal tool especially in math and science classrooms which rely on numbers and formulas which are much more difficult to access from a keyboard. Similarly, using the </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.e-beam.com/smartmarker.html" target="_blank">eBeam Smartmarker 2</a>, teachers could stream the whiteboard notes to students with visual impairments at their desk, which would enable them to enlarge it on their mobile device. Of course this is an ideal tool for students who are on home bound instruction, who could see the contents being written in real time and be able to interact with the contents. For students on home bound instruction the school would just need to add audio  conferencing capabilities. </span></span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 is a powerful and well implemented technology that has lots of application in the schools. Whether just capturing notes or working with remote teams you will find the </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2 a joy to work with. For more information about the </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eBeam Smartmarker 2- visit their <a href="http://www.e-beam.com/smartmarker.html" target="_blank">website</a>.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>

eBeam Smartmarker 2- Second Time is a Charm

eBeam SmartMaker 2 Two years ago, I did a review of the  Equil Smartmarker from Luidia and was impressed with the capabilities. The  Equil ...

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Betabook- Portable Whiteboard to the Rescue!

<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sometimes you just scratch your head and say, "how come I didn't think of that?" That's what I said to myself when I received the <a href="http://www.betabook.co/" target="_blank">Betabook </a>to review. The Betabook is a </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuKTOptQ7ne9UmO0gIigjhXDSyxtgLkVyCeAQEb_nAOUMig755UitfkMXo-NqQPfLXpYD8Z9YXfdX9U_4Y9PykT6TwltJoa09LlIvqCedGvdfHcO8ubX6lP6TY0qNAMzf8oCpphGzaPvo/s1600/Saved+image+from+Tweetium+%252811%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuKTOptQ7ne9UmO0gIigjhXDSyxtgLkVyCeAQEb_nAOUMig755UitfkMXo-NqQPfLXpYD8Z9YXfdX9U_4Y9PykT6TwltJoa09LlIvqCedGvdfHcO8ubX6lP6TY0qNAMzf8oCpphGzaPvo/s320/Saved+image+from+Tweetium+%252811%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">portable whiteboard bound between two covers to resemble a book. I received the small A4 Betabook with a black marker and fleece eraser to try out. For the past year I have really delved into sketchnoting and thought that I would give the Betabook a try. The Betabook is extremely portable and you would hardly know it was in your bag to carry it. Owing to the fact that it is an analog device-it is extremely easy to use, just open the Betabook take the cap off of the supplied dry erase marker and you are ready to go. The whiteboard surface is smooth, bright and easy to write on, with the fine point dry erase marker. I did go out to Staples and purchase a set of multi-colored dry erase markers to supplement the black marker that was included. The colors looked great on the Betabook and when it was time to erase the whiteboard the fleece eraser worked well. Throwing the Betabook in my bag reminds me how freeing analog tools can be. No worries about having to charge the device and with my iPhone it is easy to snap a shot and share my ideas with others. If you are a visual thinker and like sketchnoting or whiteboarding and have always yearned for a portable solution here it is. </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uPBPlshC6-OobKLo77H890T9MGK4LdycfArxS5Gp9auji4RwfRI3Gm3421pZtkcoFHmenwaUZxBcHdLEQOu2yFsJu3U361sVrglKEt6oHDNqFLYNejHtDmm4Izq6oTsA0zp4tkBs8Ig/s1600/betabook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uPBPlshC6-OobKLo77H890T9MGK4LdycfArxS5Gp9auji4RwfRI3Gm3421pZtkcoFHmenwaUZxBcHdLEQOu2yFsJu3U361sVrglKEt6oHDNqFLYNejHtDmm4Izq6oTsA0zp4tkBs8Ig/s320/betabook.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">For those of you that need more real estate you can purchase the Betabook Pro which is an A3 size. For me the A4 size works well and barely takes up any room in my backpack which is great! For more information please go to <a href="http://www.betabook.co/" target="_blank">Betabook</a>.</span>

Betabook- Portable Whiteboard to the Rescue!

Sometimes you just scratch your head and say, "how come I didn't think of that?" That's what I said to myself when I recei...

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Equil Smartmarker: Capturing and Streaming Notes from a Whiteboard Just Got a Whole Lot Easier!

<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ok, so you already know if you have been reading my blog just how much I love gadgets. Especially, gadgets that are easy to use and can extend the learning that is taking place in my classroom. When I read about the <a href="http://www.myequil.com/smartmarker/" target="_blank">Equil Smartmarker</a> from Luidia a couple of months ago, I was enthralled with the possibilities. As an Assistive Technology Consultant I am often supporting students with disabilities who may require that classroom notes be provided to them.  So when I came across the Equil Smartmarker, I had to get my hands on one to review. Luidia was kind enough to send me an Equil Smartmarker to test in the classroom. The <a href="http://www.myequil.com/smartmarker/" target="_blank">Equil Smartmarker</a> is available from Luidia at a suggested list price of $700 USD.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When you first take it out of the case you know from the start that this is a high quality product. The packaging of the Equil Smartmarker is exquisite and <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMNw-VtpGqTyJudyTIopdNSPa4O1jCZF3A-CpBO3EuDs4W5yrZohniNp8CyDJmx-CHufPOduYfR68BZ0NeFgoJhkCeb-J7YCpFMQ6WFf5aRtl4TkJmYMa4DNy9ZYnjid2UawbiakfVy4A/s1600/Equil+Smartmarker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="equil smartmarker" border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMNw-VtpGqTyJudyTIopdNSPa4O1jCZF3A-CpBO3EuDs4W5yrZohniNp8CyDJmx-CHufPOduYfR68BZ0NeFgoJhkCeb-J7YCpFMQ6WFf5aRtl4TkJmYMa4DNy9ZYnjid2UawbiakfVy4A/s320/Equil+Smartmarker.jpg" title="equl" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Equil Smartmarker from Luidia</td></tr></tbody></table>functional and provides a great case for carrying the device. Plugging the micro USB cable into the base of the storage unit of the Equil Smartmarker quickly charged the device. The design of the storage housing and the indicator lights on the Equil Smartmarker and Stylus are great touches to let the user know that the device is fully charged. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Equil Smartmarker it is a lightweight oval shaped device that when placed on any whiteboard surface can capture what is written with a standard whiteboard marker which is in a special housing. If you carried the Equil Smartmarker in your bag you would be hard pressed to notice that it was there, which is the real beauty of the device. Because of the size and weight you are more prone to use it whenever you are white boarding.  Unboxing and charging the Equil Smartmarker was a great experience and now it was time to test it out in the wild, my classroom.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In preparation to use Equil Smartmarker, I downloaded the Equil Note HD app to my iPad Air from the Apple App Store. Wanting my students to get engaged with the Equil Smartmarker, I had them download the Equil Note app to their smartphones. Once in my classroom I placed the Equil Smartmarker, which has a magnetic base directly on the whiteboard. So far so good! I next pressed the power button and fired up the device. Next I pressed the IOS button and paired the Equil Smartmarker using Bluetooth with my iPad Air which was rather seamless. Once the Equil Smartmarker was paired I got audio confirmation that it was connected. I then launched the Equil Note HD app on my iPad and took the cap off the marker and started to write on the whiteboard. With amazement everything I was writing on the whiteboard was being captured to my iPad. If I needed to erase something on the whiteboard I was able to do so with the </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKJzXJIJ0doHp4MWJZ2r15b70iTkdev9vBaltnA-sc2__Vy_aZRPFvZZ-PAf4iF1Zg57uVriSYg9xyTTKdn5CUSbNDi9luT_DohF4yyBeJTv3JP0gqS6eQIcAI8YCAC2kw24BfrywDePk/s1600/ESmatmakerscreen1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKJzXJIJ0doHp4MWJZ2r15b70iTkdev9vBaltnA-sc2__Vy_aZRPFvZZ-PAf4iF1Zg57uVriSYg9xyTTKdn5CUSbNDi9luT_DohF4yyBeJTv3JP0gqS6eQIcAI8YCAC2kw24BfrywDePk/s320/ESmatmakerscreen1.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">supplied digital erasure which worked really well. When I was ready to capture my next whiteboard, I simply pressed on the New Page button on the Equil Smartmarker and erased the contents with the regular whiteboard eraser. Since my iPad Air was connected to the projector, my students could see in real time just how fast and seamless it was to capture my written notes. I next asked myself what would the experience be like if I streamed the white boarding session to my students’ iPhone’s and Android smartphones? Using the Equil Note HD app from my iPad Air, I started a streaming session which brought up a dialog with a nine digit number that my students could enter into their Equil Note app on their smartphone. Within seconds they could see my whiteboard, and as I wrote, they instantaneously saw what I was entering on the board. Most of my students were really impressed with the speed in which the whiteboard and written notes appeared on their smartphone. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Equil Smartmarker can capture quite a large area (16ft x 5ft) and has some really great uses for the classroom. For teachers that need to capture notes for students this is an ideal device. Its diminutive size makes it ideal to throw in your bag and take from room to room. The Equil Smartmarker can be used by itself without the need to pair it with computer or tablet and will store over 1000 screens which can then be downloaded to your device once you are setup. For students with visual impairments I could see a scenario whereby the student can have a large tablet or computer at their desk and have the contents of what the teacher is writing up at the whiteboard streamed to their monitor in real time. Using the zoom in feature of the iPhone my students could zoom into the notes and they were sharp as a tack. Similarly, my students noted that the Equil Smartmarker would be an ideal tool for students who may be on homebound instruction and wanted to follow along with the class. Using Equil Smartmarker a teacher could invite the student to a “Notestream” to join the whiteboard session. Within seconds the student could see in real time what the teacher is writing on the whiteboard and be an active participant in the lesson. As far as I know the Equil Smartmarker is the only tool that will allow teachers to do the “notestreaming” so that students can better understand the process. Teachers can also save the white boarding session and send it to the student via email for future reference. Using Skype or an audio conferencing tool paired with Equil Smartmarker could be a great way for students who are on homebound instruction to participate in a class. For faculty who are entertaining the idea of distance learning and rely on white boarding the Equil Smartmarker is a great solution.</span><br /><div><br /></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the short time that I have been using the Equil Smartmarker and the accompanying software I found it to be quite intuitive and easy to use. I was really excited once I captured the notes to be able to utilize the handwriting recognition feature which worked really well- even on my handwriting! The handwriting worked really well and I could reorganize some of my notes to make it more readable. The Equil Note HD software gives you lots of options to share your notes once they are captured which is great. You can share your captured notes to the iCloud, Evernote, Dropbox, and OneNote which gives you some great options. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While it is easy to get mesmerized by company marketing materials and online videos, I have to say the <a href="http://www.myequil.com/smartmarker/" target="_blank">Equil Smartmarker</a> lived up to its potential and performed flawlessly when I used it in the classroom. From basic whiteboard capturing to streaming the Equil Smartmarker was a pleasure to use and faded into the background so that I could use it to do my teaching. If you are in a public school, college or corporate environment then you will definitely want to have an Equil Smartmarker on hand to brainstorm and capture your white boarding sessions-and watch your creativity blossom and soar! For more information about <a href="http://www.myequil.com/smartmarker/" target="_blank">Equil Smartmarker</a> click <a href="http://www.myequil.com/smartmarker/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br /><div><br /></div>

Equil Smartmarker: Capturing and Streaming Notes from a Whiteboard Just Got a Whole Lot Easier!

Ok, so you already know if you have been reading my blog just how much I love gadgets. Especially, gadgets that are easy to use and can exte...

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