Taking Mimio’s low-cost, portable Interactive White Board device for a test run

This week, I tried out an “Interactive Xi Bar” that the folks at Mimio loaned me. I really liked it.

A few months ago I learned about this unique approach to turning a regular white board into an Interactive White Board. The Mimio Bar is easy to use and highly portable – it clips on to a white board or attaches via suction cups, and after a quick calibration, it's ready to go!

The Mimio can even be used to turn a plain blank wall into a white board. I did this at home by putting some scotch tape on the wall for the suction cups to adhere to, and my kids and I had a lot of fun using the Mimio and trying different functions.

I tried out a test unit that was graciously sent to me by Mimio's promotion team, and it took me all of about 15 minutes to unpack the device, install the software, and walk through the simple set up explained in the nice little “getting started” pamphlet. It took me a little extra time to figure out how some of the menu items worked, but considering that I didn't read anything, it was really quite easy to use.

One thing that I was impressed with was the ease and accuracy with which the stylus picked up my motions. I've tried other devices that seemed to get in their own way. It seems that the shadow cast by the hand and pen made it very difficult for those other systems to interpret where the user ‘clicked' on the board. This didn't happen with the Mimio bar.

Features & Functions
Some of the features of the Mimio board include the following:

• Far less expensive than full white boards (for example, the Mimio Xi Bar is currently selling for $549 on touchboards.com).
• Portable – The Mimio adheres to a whiteboard with suction cups, or can be attached longer term with snap-on plastic brackets.
• Ease of use (see above for more on that).
• Few (or no) wires – The only cable you need is the USB connector, but you actually don't  even need that if you use the included wireless connector.
• Great, full featured software – the Mimio Studio software let you do the things I've seen other white board apps do including things like draw shapes, highlight in different colors, group what you've drawn so it can be moved or rotated, ‘reveal' (hide part of the screen then reveal it when you're ready), record your white board sessions for later playback, take snapshots, and so on (a handwriting recognition function would be a cool enhancement).
• A nice add-on pack that lets you use dry erase markers on a regular white board and have the whole session recorded in the applicable colors.

Of course, using this technology requires a computer and a projector, so it is assumed you have those if you intend to use a Mimio bar.

I've embedded a YouTube demonstration video below (the resolution isn't great, but it's more than adequate for providing a good sense of how to set it up and use it, and what it can do). 

Conclusions
Obviously, the portability of this device is outstanding. If you want your instructors to try out interactive white board technology without having to invest in expensive SMART Boards or even some of the less costly alternatives, this is the lowest cost IWB technology I've come across, and can very easily be moved from one room to another. In fact, if you have a department that manages resources like this, you may be able to get a lot of functionality by buying a few of these devices and sharing them as needed.

If you're interested in interactive white board technology and don't want to spend a lot for new white boards for the classroom, you can hardly go wrong with a Mimio bar.

Related Posts (if the above topic is of interest, you might want to check these out):
6 Free Online Interactive White Boards
Learning about Interactive Whiteboards for the Classroom
PolyVision Ä“no whiteboards: A great alternative to the SMART Board
9 insightful videos about using SMART Boards in the Classroom
Promethean’s Interactive Whiteboard and related instructional products