How Does an Electromagnetic Whiteboard Work?
Electromagnetic whiteboards help business professionals create media-rich presentations and offer educators new opportunities to promote interactive learning in schools. Getting the best out of your electromagnetic whiteboard, however, means understanding how its technology works.
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Setup
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The whiteboards require special pens. Setting up an electromagnetic whiteboard requires plugging the board into a computer and a digital projector. Manufacturers provide magnetic pens, software programs and appropriate cabling.
Features
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Electromagnetic whiteboards allow users to operate a computer remotely. Each electromagnetic whiteboard contains a rigid, wipe-clean surface, an electrical grid and an aluminum back-plate. Inside the electrical grid are tiny magnetic sensors. A TechLearn report on interactive whiteboards explains how the pens emit a "small magnetic field" when placed near a board's surface.
The board identifies the tip of a magnetic pen as the cursor location using X and Y coordinates, and it sends this information to the computer. Pressing the tip of the pen against the board allows you to select and drag an item. Tapping the pen twice against the board creates a double-click.
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Considerations
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Electromagnetic whiteboards offer a precise and robust method of remote interaction with a computer. As Jim Hirsch points out in the December 2006 issue of "The School Administrator," however, electromagnetic whiteboards are expensive pieces of equipment, and the board stops working if the pen is lost or damaged.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Work presentation image by Rido from Fotolia.com Upgrade image by Yuriy Panyukov from Fotolia.com computer image by fotografiche.eu from Fotolia.com
