Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Week 2 Ted Talk: Wii Remote Hack for Educators

This Ted Talk presentation was about the many uses (hacks) that the first generation Wii remote can provide. By simply purchasing a Wii remote ($40) and an infrared sensor to place on a pen ($10 at Radio Shack), you can make was is projected on a screen or wall an interactive whiteboard for around $50. The sensor even allows you to make multiple touches at once so you can alter or spin the images on the screen. While this hack may not apply to most schools it will prove to be particularly useful for teachers in schools that do not have the budget for interactive whiteboards such as SMARTboards or Promethean boards. Wii's have been around awhile and if you were to ask around you could probably get your hands on a remote for free. I could see this hack used in staff meetings for presenters to make notes while presenting. We always use a projector for our meetings so the uses is pretty limited but with this device you would be capable of much more. Johnny Lee, the researcher behind this is truly brilliant and solved a big problem that a lot of school districts face for a fraction of the cost.


2 comments:

  1. Interesting video! When I first started teaching in my district, the teacher before me used the same Wii hack within his room and left his two "writing" remotes for me to use. Oddly enough, before I started my first day, they installed 5 new Smartboards in rooms and mine was selected. I've never had to use the hacked remotes and donated them to my school's Makerspace workshop.

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  2. Wow! I have never even heard of doing this. What a neat tool to have in your bag of tricks as a teacher, especially if you move from school to school or are in a position without a permanent room or smartboard. I could see the students even enjoying the novelty of this as many of them are used to smartboards. It sounds like this could potentially be set up in different places too. I would love to use this when teaching a lesson or doing a project in our meeting room or in a different space.

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