Andy Losik’s Islands of Geektopia

If you already have a whiteboard and an lcd projector, you are only a Nintendo Wii remote and a tricked out pen away from having your very own interactive whiteboard.

Kristen Vandegutche, special education teacher at Blue Star Elementary in Hamilton, Michigan was able to do just that. She first downloaded a free piece of  software called Wiimote Whiteboard that runs on Macs, Windows, or Linux.

With some help from her dad, she transformed an old Expo marker into an infared emitting pen. Kristen said this was the most difficult part of the process and would definitely recommend next time going the commercial route, and purchasing one from the growing number of online outlets. Try a supplier like Infraredpens.com or visit this discussion to find other other places to get the pen. If you are handy and want a little adventure there are plenty of online guides for building your own like this one from Instructables.

Once you have all of the pieces, set-up is pretty simple. One of the trickiest parts is finding a spot for the Wii remote. It must be at a 45 degree angle with nothing between it and the board. Instructables also offers a guide  for the setup.

The final step before use is to calibrate the computer’s display with the whiteboard’s field of projection. The software walks the user through a 4 spot touch calibration.

Like any other project of this nature, it will take some tweaking. Expect a bit of a learning curve as you gain control of the pen and the subtleties of finding the correct range and angle of the Wiimote.

This low cost solution seems to be a growing trend across education. As more and more tech savvy teachers try it, the community of users grows as the does the opportunities to support each other with what is working and what is not. The Wiimote Project looks like the perfect spot to join in the conversation.

Best of luck and if you have any other great Wiimote Whiteboard resources to share, please do so.