Mimio Interactive Whiteboard Reviewed

Several years back, when my school library was renovated, I had the architects include a teaching space complete with a large whiteboard. Since I often introduce online resources by projecting an image of our library Web site onto that board, I've often wished it was an interactive whiteboard (IWB) so I could remain front-and-center while tapping my way through those little lessons.

Thanks to mimio Interactive, now it is.

Mimio Interactive is a kit that includes an infrared (IR) sensor bar (called the Xi) that you can just stick to your standard whiteboard. The two-foot-long bar tracks the location of a special IR stylus that functions as both mouse and marker. Working in tandem with a software suite called mimio Studio, the kit quickly transforms a dumb whiteboard into a smart one, and does so at less than half the cost of most conventional IWBs. By now, most educators are familiar with the functions that interactive whiteboards facilitate: point-and-click navigation right from the board; creation, annotation, capture, and saving of interactive content; and lots more. Mimio Interactive does all that stuff. Though I tried hard to find a shortcoming or two, I really think my mimio whiteboard retrofit does everything a conventional IWB does.

Of course, I might not have become an instant mimio fan if I hadn't also been sent some great add-on products. The standard mimio Interactive bar connects to a PC or Mac via a USB cable. They supply a 16-footer in the kit. Luckily, I didn't have to use it because they also shipped mimio Wireless. That kit includes a wireless module for the Xi bar and an AC adapter, plus a USB receiver. It was up and working in seconds, eliminating the need to run a cumbersome cable across the floor, which would have been a real deal breaker for me. Consider the wireless add-on a must-have.

Speaking of wireless, I was also shipped a mimio Pad, a wireless tablet that lets teachers—and students—interact with whiteboard content from anywhere in the classroom. I simply charged it up, inserted its USB wireless dongle into my PC, and the digital renaissance of my trusty old whiteboard was complete. And mimio products did it all, just add a computer and projector.