Thanks to John’s fantastic help my $50 interactive whiteboard is up and running. The Ghetto Dell is all fixed and even has a few new updates. Apparently the re-installation CD for the Dell doesn’t include all of the features it actually needs – like Bluetooth drivers. Why? I have no idea…its bizarre to me. Man, reconfiguring a PC just reminds me how nice and easy Apple makes it to reinstall the operating system on all of their products. I seriously question any IT folks who swear up and down that PCs are easier to maintain. If all teachers had Macs, they could take care of these things themselves. 
I digress…
The DIY interactive whiteboard works great! The only oddity is your placement of the Wiimote. It needs to be about 45 degrees from the whiteboard and kind of high. I had to put it on a chair on a table at the district office to make it work. Tomorrow I am going to have to figure out how to set mine up so that it doesn’t interfere with students’ ability to see the board. Overall…very cool!
Joe
1/31/08 Update: I used it today in class. It works pretty good, but I still need to find the best location for my Wiimote. Any location works decently to control the screen, but writing can be a bit messy if the Wiimote isn’t in its ideal location. Unfortunately, this consists largely of setting it on a chair on top of a desk in front of student’s line of sight. I need to build a stand…
Related posts:
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Can’t wait to see it! I assume you are going to share at our workshop next week?