To open this new category of useful tools for online teaching and education 2.0 I chose Dabbleboard.

Here are the Top 10 Reasons you should use Dabbleboard:

1. Dabbleboard is easy and fun to use. Unlike other whiteboard applications, Dabbleboard feels as natural to use as a marker on a whiteboard, or a pencil on a sheet of paper. Just draw strokes and Dabbleboard will detect most common shapes. Click anywhere and start typing to enter text. And if you need to modify anything you’ve already drawn, all the tools are there right next to the selected objects. No more visiting the toolbar a hundred times just to make a quick diagram!
2. Dabbleboard is fast. Since you don’t need to spend time constantly changing tools in the toolbar, you can draw much faster. The natural interface also requires less of your attention, so you can focus on your ideas rather than on the software. Dabbleboard gets out of your way and just lets you draw.
3. Dabbleboard is flexible. Everything you draw can be moved, resized, deleted, and replicated. Even freehand strokes. And with unlimited Undo and Redo, you’ll never have to think twice about trying something new.
4. Dabbleboard produces pretty drawings. Okay, we admit you don’t need your whiteboard drawings to look like works of art. But other applications that make you scribble with the mouse produce messy drawings that your friends or coworkers would have trouble even understanding. Unlike a marker or a pencil, a mouse is difficult to control precisely, so Dabbleboard steps in and cleans up your strokes for you.
5. Dabbleboard lets you easily reuse previously-made drawings. With drag-and-drop simplicity, you can add drawings to your personal library, and copy something from the library to your current drawing. You can even visit the public library and copy drawings others have made. You’ll never have to draw the same thing twice. The more you use it, the more useful Dabbleboard will get.
6. Dabbleboard allows sharing and real-time collaboration with anyone anywhere in the world. Your friends and coworkers can view and edit your drawings whenever they like. Or you can log in at the same time to brainstorm ideas together.
7. Dabbleboard works with hardware you already have, including your favorite computer. Unlike some other solutions, there’s no need to purchase additional proprietary equipment. You can even use it in a conference room with a projector.
8. Dabbleboard works with other software you already use. You can upload images made with other applications and embed them into Dabbleboard drawings. And you can download images made with Dabbleboard for use in other applications. Users with Pro accounts can also download SVG files and open the drawings with Microsoft Visio, Adobe Illustrator, and many more applications.
9. Dabbleboard is secure. Unless you make your drawing public, each drawing can only be viewed by those you’ve shared it with, and by no one else. We even make sure no one can guess the location of your drawing by using random 160-bit keys. All users log in securely, and users with Pro accounts access everything securely with SSL.
10. Dabbleboard is free! We want to help the world think and communicate visually, and we won’t let a little money get in our way. We also offer Pro accounts at reasonable prices.

With Dabbleboard you have basically a virtual classroom at hand. The only thing you need as an extra is a voice chat. And as I mentioned in my other posts, I think nothing beats Skype in this sector anyway.

Dabbleboard is really quick and has all the basic features you need:

• uploading pdfs
• uploading pictures
• drawing tools
• sharing per link or email

Your student does not have to register on a site he does not know, which sometimes can be a problem. Just send him the link via email or Skype chat and he can immediately see the whiteboard and start doodling around.

With its intelligent shape recognization, drawing is nearly as quick and simple as on a real whiteboard. And if you want to write something you just click anywhere on the board and start to type. Really smooth.

Dabbleboard offer paid services, too. You can find them here. But even the free version is ready to use without annoying limitations.

They even offer a ROI calculator for businesses to show you how dabbleboard can help you reducing your costs.

Try it out today, I think you will like it.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 at 1:52 am and is filed under Toolbox. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.