Sylvie Lallet, sport teacher in Cordouan de Royan high school, has just published one of the best feedbacks on interactive whiteboards, all countries and disciplines included.

A fantastic work was accomplished and I particularly recommend the commented scenarios on Video (fr).

It is really interesting because:

• This work was performed under a loan (thanks to Robert Crépeau of Tedelec) and is a validation of the ‘natural approach’ I have often written about in the blog (ithe simpler the more useful).
• It was done in an atypical class (interactive whiteboards are usually not so used in sports…I think it’s a mistake)
• It takes advantage of all multimedia techniques that can be used in a class (video, podcast, web 2.0) while staying simple and cheap (using open source software). To achieve such results, an enormous teacher investment is necessary - and also talent.
• It also validates the “nomadic” approach that we have been developing for the last 3 years (the lighter, the simpler, the more mobile, the more open the approach, the more useful).

I have many things to say about the amazing examples that have been created and I will probably come back to it later, as Sylvie Lallet’s post is too rich to be described in a few lines …

See for instance the table tennis case or the work done on moving video images (as well as the video sample which is very useful to understand how students apprehend this new technology) .

[Translated from Un article fantastique sur l’utilisation du TBI mobile en cours de sport. Please note that due to lack of time, I don't translate posts myself and usually do not review translations, so they may not be fully accurate and/or present some imperfections. Thierry]

Last quarter, professors of the Masters in Psychiatry at the London King’s College have recorded a large number of classes using Speechi, on an experimental basis.

More than 60 courses were recorded; these courses were routinely made available to the 43 students at the end of the class.

Following this experience, a survey was conducted among all students. I deliver to you the main results.

1. Massive consultation and adoption of Speechi by the students
Speechi was massively used by the majority of students. 60% of them followed more than 20 courses online (of which 20% followed more than 50 courses!). 3 students out of 4 use Speechi to view or review more than half of the course, which means that Speechi is used for long review sessions.

2.  Speechi is a complement to lecture hall training, but does not replace it.
Only 4% of the students systematically replaced lecture hall sessions with Speechi. The others used it to review some points, take notes …etc

3. 100% of the students think Speechi is useful, very useful, extremely useful or even “absolutely necessary” (but how did they do before!). These results go beyond expectations.

4. Speechi allows the student to focus on the understanding of the course.
According to me, the most interesting consequence, to my opinion, is that students coment that Speechi allows them to focus on the understanding of the course, rather than on pure note taking (and yes, as I metionned in a previous post, it is difficult to do both tasks at the same time, especially when the subject is rather complex).

Students know that they can complete their notes later and they focus on understanding.

5. Speechi allows better documentation
Other interesting consequences. Since the students review a great part of the course at their homes, they have internet available and this tremendously helps them for documentation, and studying further misunderstood passages..etc

Prof. John Livesey, helped by Sandrine Thuret, obtained these results, which are to my opinion outstanding.

I thank them warmly for their work. Here are the complete results of the survey as well as students comments .

[Translated from Un retour d’expérience très positif suite à l’utilisation massive de Speechi au King’s College.. Please note that due to lack of time, I don't translate posts myself and usually do not review translations, so they may not be fully accurate and/or present some imperfections. Thierry]

Thanks to Walter Bonomo for sending us those excellents Speechis “made in Nantes” (click on the picture below to access those presentations and quizzes, in french and english).
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Shasta Bible College and Graduate School is a Four-year, Accredited Baptist College and Graduate School equipping Christian leaders for the 21st Century. The college is located in Redding, CA, and offers programs leading to certificates, diplomas and degrees in both Biblical Studies and Christian Teacher Education.
 
Mr. George A. Gunn, Dean of Admissions & Records, was instrumental in bringing Speechi to Shasta Bible College. Below he shares his experience using Speechi and how it is used at Shasta.
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I usually love working in a software company. Everybody has ideas, and those ideas can usually be tested and implemented fairly quickly. Software is visibly and constantly improving. Bugs reported by customers decrease. You would think you can go one step further ? You’re wrong.
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” also want to let you know how nice it is doing business with your company.
Your level of service and communication is fast and professional.
Considering that you are ½ way across the world from us, makes it even more incredible.”
John J Moreno
Performance & Development Consultant
Cox Communications
HR/Training - San Diego CCC
“No Day but Today”

Speechi rentre dans la cour des grands et propose maintenant des licences sites pour les clients “Education” (et oui, de vraies licences sites, comme Microsoft !).
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