With the rapid expansion of online education, teachers face the challenge of engaging students in a virtual learning environment. However, leveraging technology can significantly enhance the online teaching experience. One tool that has gained popularity among educators is Wacom’s series of drawing tablets. Wacom tablets empower teachers to deliver interactive and engaging lessons, providing a seamless transition from traditional classrooms to digital platforms.
Learn How to Use a Wacom Tablet Online
Veteran Udemy instructor, Miguel Hernandez, has taught over 36,000 students over the past eight years on topics ranging from video editing to course creation and marketing. He’s also the founder of Grumo Media, a video marketing and online education studio located in Vancouver, Canada where he gives teachers the skills and resources they need to create and sell their own online courses.
Drawing inspiration from Salman Khan from Khan Academy, who has used a Wacom tablet since 2006 to record thousands of lectures on math, physics, chemistry, finance, and dozens of other topics, Miguel puts his own unique and quirky spin on things and walks you step-by-step through the basics on presenting your own class lectures with a Wacom tablet.
You can watch his video on the subject here:
Here are the time codes for each section in this video:
- 00:00 – Teaching online with a tablet
- 00:22 – Who is Salman Khan
- 01:23 – List of all the equipment to teach with a tablet
- 02:42 – Which tablet should you use?
- 03:30 – Best USB microphones to teach online
- 04:26 – Best whiteboarding apps for sketching
- 04:58 – Best screen recording apps
- 06:22 – Cheap tablet setup vs Fancy tablet setup
- 06:52 – Best practices to teach using a tablet by Sal Khan
- 07:38 – Record a lesson using a tablet, Sketchpad, and Screencast-O-Matic
- 16:56 – Record a lesson using a tablet, Adobe Sketchbook, and ScreenFlow
WANT TO TAKE YOUR TEACHING SKILLS TO THE NEXT LEVEL? Join Grumo School and get access to hundreds of hours of training on course creation, online teaching tips, and the best tools and equipment to become a top notch online educator. To see more online course creation tutorials subscribe to Grumoschool on YouTube.
This post is republished with permission from the Wacom Americas’ Blog.
Necessary Tools to Teach Using a Wacom Tablet
As mentioned in the video, you will need (at least) a tablet, computer, microphone, whiteboard app, video recording tool. It will also be helpful to have some drawing skills and legible handwriting — and, of course, your voice!
In the video, Miguel mentions two Wacom tablets — the Wacom Intuos Creative Bluetooth Pen Tablet, Medium and Wacom Cintiq 16 Full HD Creative Pen Display. Read below to learn more about these tablets….
Wacom Intuos Creative Bluetooth Pen Tablet, Medium
The Wacom Intuos Creative Bluetooth Pen Tablet boasts a sensitive and precise pen, delivering an authentic pen-on-paper feel. The pressure-sensitive pen recognizes varying levels of pressure, enabling users to create strokes of different thicknesses and intensities. This level of control enhances the artistic expression and makes the tablet suitable for a wide range of endeavors. The tablet’s active drawing area provides ample space for creative work. Additionally, the tablet supports multi-touch gestures, enabling users to zoom, pan, and navigate their work effortlessly.
Wacom Cintiq 16 Full HD Creative Pen Display
The Wacom Cintiq 16 Full HD Creative Pen Display is perfect for those seeking a professional-grade drawing experience. This tablet has a 16-inch full HD screen for crisp and vibrant visuals, allowing the user to see their work with exceptional clarity and accuracy. The Cintiq 16 also has customizable ExpressKeys and on-screen controls, allowing users to personalize their workflow and access frequently used functions with ease.
Ways to Utilize the Wacom Tablet
Digital Whiteboarding
Wacom tablets provide teachers with a digital whiteboard-like platform that can be shared with students during live classes. This feature allows educators to write, draw, or annotate their lessons in real-time. Teachers can easily illustrate complex concepts, solve problems, and explain diagrams while maintaining student engagement.
Interactive Presentations
By connecting their Wacom tablet to presentation software, teachers can create captivating and interactive slides for their online classes. Using the tablet’s pen, instructors can add handwritten notes, highlight key points, or draw attention to specific areas of interest, making their presentations more visually appealing and engaging. These interactive visuals can enhance student understanding and retention of the material being taught.
Record Lectures
Recording lessons with a Wacom tablet allows teachers to create a library of educational content that students can access at their convenience. Students can revisit the recorded lessons whenever they need to review or reinforce their understanding of the material. Teachers can also use these recordings to review their own instructional techniques, content delivery, and classroom management skills by watching their recorded lessons.
How to Prepare for Online Teaching
As Miguel discusses in the video above, Salman Khan has three recommendations when preparing to teach online using a Wacom tablet: rehearse your lesson, make the lessons short, and make sure you’re in a good mood and ready to teach! But there are a few other things to know:
- Familiarize yourself with the Wacom tablet. Understand the software you will be using. Explore its functions and play around with the stylus. This will help you navigate confidently during the lesson.
- This goes without saying, but make sure all your necessary equipped is either fully charged or correctly plugged in. You’d hate for anything to die in the middle of your lesson!
- Organize and prepare your lesson materials in advance. If you typically use physical resources in your traditional classroom, consider how you can adapt them for digital use. This can include a slideshow presentation, drawings, or annotated documents.
- Set up a digital workspace. Organize your files, applications, and teaching resources in a manner that allows easy access during your online lessons.
Conclusion
As online education becomes increasingly prevalent, the integration of Wacom tablets offers numerous benefits for teachers seeking to enhance their online teaching methods. From digital whiteboarding and interactive presentations to personalized feedback and practical learning experiences, Wacom tablets empower educators to create dynamic and engaging virtual classrooms. By leveraging this technology, teachers can foster active participation, encourage creativity, and ensure a more inclusive and effective learning environment for students worldwide.
