Description:
The Wacom Digitizers are like an extra screen with a USB cable which allows it to act as a mouse / input device to the connected laptop. With the stylus pen you draw on the surface. You can rest your hand on the surface while you draw - a great advantage because it improves your writing and drawing precision to something close to using paper.
An application, UniBoard, comes bundled with the Wacom Digitizers. It can import PDF files, allows you to draw on the pages, even insert new blank pages anywhere in the PDF, and finally export it again to PDF - while preserving the vector graphics of both the original PDF and the annotations. Since the Wacom Digitizer is essentially an input device you can of course also use the built-in annotation features of PowerPoint or any other application which you prefer. However, you will have to experiment a bit with this since various applications handles the movements differently which again results in different quality because of speed, vector/bitmap interpretations, anti-aliasing lines etc. With the Wacom Cloud service you can store and share your material easily.
The Wacom Digitizers are perfected during many years since they have served the graphical industry for decades. Their precision and speed is some of the best we have seen. There great advantage is that you use a stylus pen to write so you can rest your hand on the surface (contrary to iPads and touch screens in general).
Digital alternative to whiteboards / blackboards:
A Wacom Digitizer is in our opinion one of the best candidates for delivering an intuitive, real alternative to analog boards. It has a high precision, intuitive operation, fast response and by being sensitive to only the touch of a stylus pen (and not fingers) it comes closest to using pens, chalk and markers. Opposite to a SMART Board which also requires a connected computer and shows the writing on a screen, the Wacom Digitizer allows the user to face the audience all the time. This is generally considered an advantage by the users we know. On the other side the user becomes more statically positioned in front of the digitizer.
Annotation of slides:
The Wacom Digitizer is perfect for creating screencasts, video-pencasts and video lectures where analog input in the form of precision handwriting and drawing is required.
Annotation of digitalized hand-ins (homework):
It is likely that a Wacom Pad could be a very useful tool in correcting digital homework (PDF-files) from students. It would then serve as an intuitive input device for making remarks on the "digital paper" (PDF file).
Price:
- 22" model is around 14.000 kr.
- 13" model is around 8.000 kr.
Requirements:
- Reasonable fast computer, graphics and memory for fluent operation.
- A matching screen resolution
Benefits & Drawbacks:
- Almost natural tactile and visual feedback - important for drawing and writing.
- It's a little heavy and less mobile