Belkin Sets the Stage!

As the iPad takes hold of the classroom, educators are looking for new ways to extend the functionality of the device and take advantage of it's powerful feature set. While many of us have utilized the camera on the

iPad for still photographs or for taking classroom videos- companies like Belkin want to extend the reach of these capabilities and help teachers get the most out of their iPad investment. With this in mind Belkin has just released the Belkin Tablet Stage which turns your iPad into a document camera and presentation system. Having had a chance to work with the Belkin Tablet Stage first hand, I am impressed with the quality and attention to detail of the design.

Putting together the Belkin Tablet Stage took about 10 minutes and was rather straight forward using the step by step directions in the booklet that accompanied the device. The Belkin Tablet Stage cradle can accompany a wide range of tablets, everything from the iPad 2, Samsung Galaxy, to the iPad Mini. The cradle can easily be pivoted from landscape to portrait mode making it easy to use when using apps or as a presentation tool. The Belkin Tablet Stage has an easy to use release button that allows you to easily and quickly remove your iPad or tablet from the stand. The Belkin Tablet Stage base is securely weighted to ensure that your tablet stage does not fall over. Teacher who prefer, can secure the Belkin Tablet Stage to the desk with screws, with the cut outs provided  in the base. Zooming in and out with the Belkin Tablet Stage is easily accomplished by pressing down on the latch on the post and moving the arm up or down.. The designers of the Belkin Tablet Stage took into account that teachers would be connecting their tablets via a cable and have provided a cabling management system that works well and keeps it out of the way when using the stand. As a nice touch, Belkin has also included a light that affixes to the post which can be turned on when you need to illuminate an object or page under the iPad. Teachers will really enjoy the freedom of this device when the iPad is paired up to an Apple TV which allows you to use Apple Airplay technology to wirelessly send the video and audio to the data projector.

While teachers can utilize any number of apps that takes advantage of the iPad camera, Belkin has also released a free app called the Belkin Stage app which compliments the stand. Stage is an easy to use app that can be utilized to mark up and annotate whatever is under the camera. Its innovative user interface pops out from the sides when you are using the various tools and then slides back to the sides so that it doesn't get in the way. While you have the traditional pen tools with various line widths and a laser pointer the really nice touch is being able to create label flags ahead of time that you can then pull out from the drawer to highlight important features of your pictures or objects that are under the camera. Once you have annotated the image you can capture the image and save it to your camera roll for later viewing. One of the unique features of the Stage is the ability to record a video complete with annotation and audio. This does require an in app purchase but is definitely worth the cost of $1.99 for the video and recording feature. Teachers that are moving to providing students with videos for a flipped classroom model will enjoy using the Stage app and the annotation feature for crafting their videos. The Stage app also allows you to use the app as you would a blackboard and you can even bring in pictures from your Camera Roll and annotate them as well. Here is a video demonstration of the Belkin Stage that I prepared utilizing the Belkin Tablet Stage.



All in all, there is a lot to like about the Belkin Tablet Stage and is it a great iPad accessory for the classroom that you will enjoy using. While working with the Belkin Tablet Stage, I did have a tendency to want the be able to swing the iPad around the post which is in a fixed position. In order to rotate the iPad from a portrait or landscape mode you need to rotate the frame which takes a little more time. I also wish as a presenter, that there was a lighter travel version of this Belkin Tablet Stage which would make it easier to transport from classroom to classroom. I also did note that when working in the Belkin Stage app that the Flags did not always rotate to the right orientation when going from Portrait to Landscape mode. Except for a couple of minor issues, the Belkin Tablet Stand and Stage app are a strong contender to move to the top of the class when it comes to iPad accessories for classroom use. If you are attending the ISTE 2013 Conference stop by the Belkin Booth #5247 so that you can see first hand what a great product they have designed.

New Trend Emerging in Classroom Presentation Systems

As the iPad begins to transform the face of education- we will shortly begin to see it take hold of another facet of learning in the classroom - notably the interactive whiteboard. I can remember like it was just yesterday the excitement of working on a SMART Board for the very first time. It transformed the classroom and gave both teachers a portal to the internet that they could share with their students with such ease. While interactive whiteboards of all varieties are much more common in today's classrooms across America they never really changed the dynamic of the classroom with the teacher standing in the front of the classroom directing the lesson. Yes- I know that students do come up to the interactive whiteboard on occasion to interact with the board but for the majority of students, they sit idly at their desks waiting for a turn. This is all about to change as the iPad infiltrates this next arena of the classroom notably the interactive whiteboard.

About two weeks ago I had a briefing with Jon Roepke, Belkin Senior Product Manager, Education who had a chance to share with me some of the new offerings from Belkin in the K-12 marketplace. I was excited to learn about the Belkin Tablet Stage and the accompanying Belkin Stage App that would be released in March 2013. The Belkin Tablet Stage transforms the iPad into a document and presentation system which looks to rival some of the standalone systems that are currently be used in the classroom. The Belkin Tablet Stage is compatible with tablets that are 7" to 11" and has an adjustable platform with cable management allowing you to adjust the iPad as you see fit. The Belkin Tablet Stage contains adjustable LED lights and has a document camera mode to captures images and live video. The accompanying  Belkin Stage App which is free, compliments the system and lets teachers annotate on top of the live video feed. With the latest edition of the Belkin Stage App, teachers can pay $1.99 which allows them to record and save live video feeds to their Camera Roll. Teachers will find using the Belkin Stage App easy and intuitive to use, providing teachers with a good set of annotation tools. Teachers can draw on top of any image or video feed using various colored markers or use the Label Tool to bring text flags into the stage. If you opt to buy the video record feature you can record your annotations and audio and save it to the camera Roll and share it out which is a great feature. Utilizing the Belkin Stage app will enable teachers to move around the classroom and use the iPad as if it were a graphics tablet. Anything written on the app will be immediately projected to the screen. Students could easily take hold of the iPad and share their ideas and thoughts or small groups of students could be working together and sharing their group work. Giving teachers the flexibility to move about the classroom with the iPad projecting the image will be the next wave and utilizing Apple's Airplay technology is pretty straightforward. Many classroom are installing Apple TV's to accomplish this while other may choose a software solution like the Reflector App which routes the video and audio through a Mac or PC that is on the same wireless network.

I am really excited by this product because it will enable teachers and students to scan and capture high quality worksheets and text book pages which can then be utilized by other programs. Working with lots of students with fine motor disabilities it is possible to scan their documents and annotate on top of them- but one of the weak links is getting a good quality scan which is sometimes hard when you have to hold the iPad still for a period of time. Having access to the Belkin Tablet Stage will enable students to capture high quality images which can then be annotated on using a variety of scanning apps. Similarly we will begin to see higher quality Optical Character Recognition (OCR) apps which will enable students to scan the text directly into their iPad and have it read aloud. Pretty amazing developments!

IPEVO Whiteboard Screenshot with Annotation

In the same vein, I had a chance to sit down with Alex from IPEVO to get an update on some of their new product offerings for the classroom which should be imminent. It was exciting to hear about all of the new releases which as you can imagine, revolved around the iPad. Alex brought with him the Wireless Station for iPad and USB Document Cam and demonstrated how using their Point 2 View (P2V)  Document camera that one could wirelessly send a live video feed from under the camera to the iPad in real time. The set up was very easy as the Wireless Station for iPad sets up an ad-hoc wireless network that communicates to the iPad. One has to simply plug in the P2V Camera into the Wireless Station and then in the iPad's Network Settings select the Wireless Station WIFI network. Once you open the IPEVO Whiteboard app you can click on the Wireless Device icon to select the device and you are ready to use the camera. If you want to use the Internet while connected to the Wireless Station you can route the Internet via WIFI connecting through the Wireless Station making it easy to use both the camera and Internet at the same time. Utilizing their recently released free IPEVO Whiteboard app it was possible to annotate directly on the video using any of a number of different markup tools which includ: free from markers, arrows, boxes, circles, text, lines and arrows. The software was easy to use and a teacher could capture what was on the iPad screen to the Camera Roll or send it to Evernote for later use. The IPEVO Whiteboard app gives teachers the freedom to bring in pictures from their Camera Roll or create a new board using a Plain White background for writing on. While teachers can certainly use their fingers to write with it, is easier when using this app to use a stylus. IPEVO's telescoping Stylus fits the bill and give you the option to elongate it if you  need to do so when using the iPad. Teachers can use the Point 2 View or Ziggi USB camera with the Wireless Station and the soon to be released Ziggi-HD camera. Teachers can create sessions with multiple boards while using the IPEVO Whiteboard app and switch between them quickly.

It is clear to me that the we are beginning to see a new trend in using the iPad as an interactive presentation system in the classroom which will begin to take hold for the start of the next school year. The interplay of  Apple's Airplay technology coupled with these low cost solutions will define a new market for interactive technologies in the classroom; benefiting both teachers and students in the learning process.