Wii-mote hacks: why are we excited?

Will has a post mentioning the Wii-mote hack by Johnny Chung Lee. Lee has developed some software allowing for the use of a Wii-mote to interact with your computer in a similar fashion to an electronic whiteboard. Will's post is clear that it's not the hack that's super-impressive — although it is awesome — it's the fact that Lee has made the work available to others.

I don't think this came through clearly enough, and it's worth stating again: the project is cool not because it creates $60 white boards. It's cool because of the openness and the sharing. A state-wide rollout of Wii-mote powered whiteboards is a pipe-dream that's never going to work. We have a hard enough time deploying technology that has been tested and has training, support, and content. Giving people the ability to interact with their computer using a home-built pen doesn't add much to a lesson. With most whiteboards (Promethean, Smart, etc.), it's the additional software and functionality that's the real draw.

Another issue is that tech administrators aren't going to jump at soldering infrared emitter pens together, mounting Wii-motes to the wall, or compiling C# drivers and programs together for deployment. If you click through some of the documentation Lee posted, you'll see a note from the developer of one of the APIs saying that your bluetooth adapter may or may not work with the wii-mote. Some work, some don't. If your adapter doesn't work, get a new one. That's not the type of technology most teachers want in their classroom. It's certainly not the type of technology administrators want to deploy.

The whole project is fantastically cool. You won't hear me deny that. What's cool about it isn't that it's cheap, hard to deploy technology though. It's creative thinking, freedom of ideas, and sharing of work. It's the "maker meme" that Tom mentions. We need to be clear that this is the type of thinking we want from our students.