CrowdBeamer – A Self-Contained Portable, Interactive Wi-Fi Classroom In-a-Box

Fire up your Crowdbeamer and present interactively!

Have you ever been in a situation as a teacher (or any other kind of presenter for that matter) where you wish you could just fire up your own wireless presentation network in a snap? With no dependency on the tech and support available in a given situation? How about doing this anywhere and anyplace as long people have their devices charged? Sound too good to be true? It's not. And it's interactive.

I recently had the pleasure of talking with Stephan Roosen from Crowdbeamer. Crowdbeamer offers a device that provides an interactive device that provides the functionality I have just outlined.

Here's how it works:

• The presenter connects their Crowdbeamer device to their computer via HDMI or good old VGA. (This can also work nicely in a classroom with an existing projector, with the Crowdbeamer accepting the feed from the computer and passing it via HDMI or VGA output ports to a projector).
• The Crowdbeamer box creates an small wi-fi network with a 10 meter radius (20 meter diameter). Multiple Crowdbeamer devices can be interconnected to create a much larger coverage area. Note that the Crowdbeamer can work off of an outlet or internal batteries.
• Users download the crowdbeamer app and connect to the Crowdbeamer network.

The User Experience

Here's what users (your students or others connected to your session) can do:

• Take screen shots of content that are stored within the Crowdbeamer app for further use (as follows)
• Screen shots can be annotated with text notes, due dates, highlighter, and a free form drawing tool
• Users can zoom in on content if something is hard to make out

What About Security and Privacy?

With my CIO hat on, I was concerned about security. Roosen explained that the device can be configured with a password which would be required for nearby users to access the interactive session. Brilliant!

Cost (the Bottom Line)

This device is not inexpensive, but the functionality it offers is unique it may provide precisely what some educators and business presenters are looking for. It is also important to note that this is a one time cost. You will not have to pay ongoing software costs.

• Crowdbeamer base model: US $1,895
• Crowdbeamer Enterprise model: US $2,995

Learn more here: https://www.crowdbeamer.com/.