www.e-beam.com Retail price: $1,299.95
Luidia eBeam Engage is a simple,
effective tool for creating interactive
presentations in the classroom.
Quality and Effectiveness :
The eBeam Engage is an interactive
whiteboard that allows students to
write and type directly onto a projected
screen. An instructor simply
attaches the Engage to a wall near
a whiteboard (or other flat surface)
and uses a third-party projector to
display his or her screen on the surface.
The product works best with a
good projector and a clean whiteboard
or surface. The Engage also
offers one-touch audio and screen recording, letting teachers
archive and return at a later date to material created on
the whiteboard. The entire unit is durable and compact with
the notable exception of the “scroll knob,” a small wheel at
the bottom of the Engage that permits scrolling through
Web sites and slides, which could be more stable.
Ease of Use: The eBeam Engage shines in its commitment
to simplicity. Installation is so simple that a single
Engage unit could conceivably be
shared among several teachers over
the course of a school day. This is
a major bonus for schools facing
financial limitations. The eBeam’s
software bundle is similarly userfriendly.
The included Scrapbook
program allows presentation slides
to be created and archived easily,
while the eBeam Home application
displays customizable shortcuts for
favorite Web sites and applications.
More interesting is the “tool palette,”
a simple tool that makes it
easy to jump between programs
without having to constantly reconfigure toolbars and settings.
Creative Use of Technology: The eBeam Engage
system does not veer far from other, similar interactive
technologies on the market, but it does deserve recognition
for its portability and versatility. For instance, The Engage
can be used in virtually any room that has a flat surface, and
the screen can be adjusted to fit large conference halls or
cramped classrooms. The Engage’s wireless keyboard has
a sleek design that makes the unit most closely resemble a
PDA with a touch screen. The Engage’s remote includes a
small QWERTY keyboard, so presenters can type directly
on the screen.
Suitability for Use in a School Environment : The
eBeam Engage takes up very little space, and its height can
easily be adjusted to suit the needs of students from kindergarten
through high school. Audio and video archiving are
great options for review. The simple hardware and software
ensure that teachers who are inexperienced with technology
can easily design and execute interactive lessons. The
one potential drawback of the Engage, however, is that it
is not self-contained. A teacher who does not have regular
access to a good projector or who teaches in a room that
has no usable flat surface will not be able to use the Engage
effectively.
Top Features
¦ Simple and portable and has
easy-to-use hardware and
software
¦ Video and audio recording
create an archive of lessons
and activities.
¦ Wireless keyboard and stylus
provide engaging novelty as
well as functionality.
—Samuel B. LaMonica IV