Nintendo Wiis Enhance Learning At Wrentham Elementary Schools

Wrentham elementary teachers had the opportunity to try out a new piece of teaching technology this year, as nearly 50 Nintendo Wiis were installed to classrooms at the Delaney Elementary School.

The system uses a projector to make any regular white board an interactive learning tool. The system uses Bluetooth and infrared technology to allow students to interact with various educational programs for nearly every subject.

"The kids want to play regular Wii games," said Cindy Fuller, a second grade teacher at Delaney Elementary. "Personally, I want Wii Fit."

The students are adapting very well to the technology. Using an infrared pen, the Wii picks up the signal and performs the appropriate action according to the program. For instance, if a math program is asking for the correct answer, a student can highlight it with the pen. In literature programs, the student can underline certain words for vocabulary lessons and so forth.

Johnny Chung Lee, PhD., originally developed the technology in 2007, but according to Wrentham Schools Technology Director Becky Stockbridge, it just wasn't reliable enough at the time of inception to be of real use.

"The Wiis had batteries, you had to have them directed just right and that kind of thing," she said. "I figured that some company would come out with a scenario to make it more reliable, and they finally did."

Stockbridge added that the systems are now very reliable and that linking the systems is much easier. She also said the Wii systems themselves are much more reliable and self sufficient than when the technology was first developed.

"I knew I wanted to do it when it first came out, but there were just too many problems at the time," she said.

The original initiative for interactive boards was first poised to use the SMARTboard brand of touchscreen interactive boards. The only problem is that each of these boards cost $1000-$2000 apiece, while each Wii-based system costs about $150 each, allowing the Delaney School to install one in virtually every room.

There is still one fundamental problem with using the projection system; if the infrared signal is blocked, it will not work. Though it is a disadvantage compared to the SMARTboard system, the problem is easier to work around than to pay thousands of dollars for the expensive alternative.