Sometimes the best solution to a problem involves bringing together some old school technology with some new school technological approaches. I built a lightboard to solve a problem that arose from having to teach a logic class without being able to use a chalkboard or whiteboard in a realistic way for online students.
I was hired to teach a critical thinking class that involved a good deal of teaching philosophical logic. In the past, I had taught this class the way one might teach an algebra or geometry class. Lots of whiteboard work, lots of running problems on the board with the students. This method works because it is interactive but I was not in a position to really have an interactive online experience. I had already committed to doing work that was asynchronous given the various life situations my students were facing. Maximizing flexibility was key for these students. I also didn't have access to the kind of tablet-based educational technology that other online instructors had used (most notably the approach taken by Khan Academy). As a result, I decided to build my own lightboard and use that as a tool for teaching this content. I had already built and used a lightboard years ago but did so without a lot of support or advances in technology that would benefit me when I did it from home.
I built a small lightboard using plexiglass and some LED light strips and got to work. I decided to use a green screen background that I had to provide the background. The result is that it worked but certainly needs some tweaking. The room size, the lighting, the quality of video all could use some tweaking but as a proof of concept and educational tool, I found it to be a successful endeavor.
I built a small lightboard using plexiglass and some LED light strips and got to work. I decided to use a green screen background that I had to provide the background. The result is that it worked but certainly needs some tweaking. The room size, the lighting, the quality of video all could use some tweaking but as a proof of concept and educational tool, I found it to be a successful endeavor.