OpenBoard 1.5

OpenBoard is an open-source cross-platform interactive whiteboard. Like other software of its kind, its purpose is to support teaching by sharing live contents with the participants. The program is intended to be used with such hardware as projectors, interactive boards and pen tablets. However, it also supports annotating directly from your computer screen using your mouse. It comes with plenty of tools and options, which means that you may need some time before you can exploit all its potential. Luckily, there is a tutorial that paves the way.

OpenBoard’s interface has been carefully crafted. The tool should be used mainly in full-screen mode and you have most of what you need right at hand. Most of the space is devoted to displaying contents, but there are also some toolbars on the sides. For instance, at the bottom edge of your screen, you can find annotating tools, including custom stylus lines, highlighters and erasers. At the top, it is possible to adjust colors, set the board’s background, manage pages and access the program’s menu. On the left, you can preview pages in a slideshow style. Finally, the right edge is where you can open the library.

An important element of OpenBoard is precisely the Library, which holds built-in and custom resources. Fortunately, the tool comes with a collection of media, including sounds, videos, images, shapes and animations. Moreover, you can import resources, like presentations (OpenBoard UBZ and PDF), images (BMP, CUR, GIF, ICO, JPG, MNG, PBM, PGM, PNG, PPM, SVG, TIFF, XBM and XPM), videos and audio. It is possible to take shots of the entire screen or just a region. Likewise, audio can be recorded from such sources as the microphone and the sound card. Unfortunately, I could not find a way to capture video from the screen. The library also allows accessing various mini-applications and widgets (clocks, countdowns, OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, calculators, rulers, etc.).

Opportunely, OpenBoard allows sharing presentations with other users. In this regard, you can save your work in its own format as well as PDF. What is more, you can record a podcast and publish it on the Intranet.

There are various benefits you can get from using OpenBoard. For instance, it integrates with other programs, like Google Maps and GraphMe. Similarly, there is a built-in browser allowing you to search, view, share and annotate web contents. Besides, you can open a document or image and scribble on it. Compared with other similar products, OpenBoard has the advantage of not requiring specific hardware and permitting to write and annotate directly on the desktop.

Regrettably, you may find some inconveniences. For instance, you have to be careful when dragging mini-applications and widgets to the board because the controls may fall beyond its borders, which means you will have a hard time trying to close or move them.

All in all, OpenBoard may be the tool you are looking for to make your teaching more engaging. The product is open source and available at no cost. So, do not miss this opportunity to use this excellent program and save some bucks along the way.