>In our quest to define groupware and its benefits, we often seem to
forget that not everyone can type or likes to type on a keyboard.
Facilitating meetings where the preference for freehand notetaking can
still be done--even remotely--with electronic whiteboards. In my work, I
use a technology called a SoftBoard which, in many cases, enables me to
accomplish tasks that "traditional" computing technology still will not
allow.
For those of us who use techniques such as mindmapping, the freehand
approach is fundamental even though there are some software products in
the marketspace that are designed to support such nonlinear approaches.
The ability to capture "flipchart" pages electronically, to have
participants "draw" the stuff, and to share in the visual and kinesthetic
exercise in a safe and inspiring environment provides a rush for those of
us in the learning game. As a self-proclaimed "techie", I recognize that
the need to tap into our multiple intelligences is basic to our ability to
"walk our talk" as learning organization enthusiasts.
I once was trained to believe that "if you can't count it, it doesn't
count." Now, as a recovering academic, I would hate to think that "if you
can't type it, you can't see it."
--
Alex N. Pattakos
President/Co-founder
Creative Learning Technologies, Inc.
404 South 8th Street, Suite 224
Boise, Idaho 83701 USA
Alex N. Pattakos, Ph.D., President
Creative Learning Technologies, Inc.
P.O. Box 418
Boise, Idaho 83701
E-mail: alexp@primenet.com
Phone: (208) 345-4235; Fax: (208) 345-3350
Renaissance Business Associates, Inc.
P.O. Box 197
Boise, Idaho 83701
Phone: (208) 345-4234; Fax: (208) 345-3350