A Lightweight Open Space for the Classroom -- Collaborative Learning with Whiteboards and Pen-Tablets

Software for interactive whiteboards in the classroom usually combines tools for showing prefabricated presentations with annotation features. Instead of encouraging students to participate by contributing, this design promotes a teacher-centered interaction in the classroom. Through literature review, observation, and interviews with teachers we identified pedagogical and situational limitations of this approach and derived design guidelines. We developed an application with an open space interface for interactive whiteboards. It applies a gesture-based interaction paradigm and allows teachers and students to flexibly create, structure, present and document learning materials. Within collaborative learning activities multiple students may synchronously access the whiteboard through pen-tablets.