Faculty will not be able to use physical whiteboards or blackboards in either fully online or hybrid classes. Even those teaching in-person courses must be prepared to shift their use of whiteboards and blackboards into a digital medium.
Recommendations
From testing in the classroom, two options for “digital whiteboard” space seem to work the best:
Docucam
- In Olin classrooms, the docucam is a viable option if it is already configured and plugged in to be shared during a hybrid session.
- We had the best results in projecting docucam content through Zoom when faculty used a thicker and darker pen (e.g., medium sized Sharpie).
- A fine pen or pencil did not project well online.
iPad (or other tablet)
- We expect that Olin classrooms will be outfitted with an iPad that faculty can use to write down content and annotate documents using a stylus.
- This option worked well during hybrid sessions, enabling those in-class and those online to view annotated content.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- The main pro of the docucam is that there is no new technology to learn (if you have not used iPads or tablets in the past).
- It is simple technology and can be easily projected.
- A pro of the iPad is that it enables you to annotate a wide range of documents that you may only have digitally (e.g., if you have not printed out the content to use with the docucam).
- An additional benefit of iPads is that they enable you to save any annotations so that you can upload “whiteboard” notes to Canvas after a class session for students to access.
- Compared to the docucam, with the iPad, you are not tied to the podium.
Cons
- The docucam is only available in Olin classrooms.
- If a faculty member must teach from home, they will lose this resource.
- This may enhance the benefits of learning how to use an iPad for annotations.
- Switching to an iPad during a session for annotation can disrupt the flow of a class, unless you run the entire Zoom session from the iPad.
- It requires a sliver of transition time, which may not be worthwhile for small annotations.
- When annotating content, students will lose the ability to see slides that were projected and/or the faculty member’s video feed.