In today’s competitive environment and constant change in content, educational institutions and corporations are challenged to continually deliver high quality instruction and training to both students and employees. Factors compounding this problem include finding quality instructors, containing travel and training facility infrastructure costs, upgrading employee skills, creating and managing new and existing content, increasing learning productivity as well as delivering an engaging and enriching student and employee learning experience.

Catura’s SmartDoodle™ Collaborative Conference is a simple, yet effective and compelling solution for delivering Virtual Classes and Training, Real Time Web-based Training (WBT) and asynchronous Computer Based Training( CBT) using the Internet.

A snap-on receiver converts any standard whiteboard or a flat surface into an electronic board. With a projector and an inkless stylus (acts as a pen and a mouse), the whiteboard transforms into an E-Notebook (Electronic Notebook) and a live desktop. The instructor writes using the inkless pen in any one of the unlimited pages in the E-Notebook which is captured by the software and projected back on the screen. Using the E-Notebook’s drawing tools your free hand, drawings, text, diagrams, formulae and figures can be easily captured. Additionally, the instructor can drag and drop any documents, URLs, images, audio notes, and video clips, which he can place adjacent to the relevant objects created during the instruction. With the ability to select colors, line thickness, and fills and editing commands like select, cut, copy, move and paste, the entire classroom instruction can be significantly enriched. Furthermore, Microsoft Power Point Presentations and Web Browsing can be conducted and captured in the E-Notebook. With integrated voice recording and synchronization, the entire class can be replayed with the display highlighting the appropriate object during the discussion for a live replay of the classroom session.

The class can be broadcasted live over the internet to remote sites. The remote sites can hear and see everything that the instructor is saying and writing on the whiteboard. Remote sites can optionally interact through voice. It can also take control of the E-Notebook upon instructor’s permission and perform any edits to the instructor’s material for all participating sites to hear and see. Optionally, the instructor can also publish the class on a web-site, by simply pushing a button for controlled access and replay, by the students at any time after the class. Captured content can be organized, added, or even deleted for easy and dynamic management. Students can also replay the encrypted content with a read-only capability using a custom reader which is provided for the institution or corporation.

With optional full-featured client software, students and instructor can collaborate and communicate from any PC with an internet connection. The client software includes an Instant Messenger, E-Notebook and integrated Voice Over IP (VOIP) module. Students and instructors can conduct individual or group meetings using text and voice chat, or they can use the full functionality of the E-Notebook. Additionally, students can record any of these sessions, in order to further customize the content, by adding text or voice annotations, handwritten notes, URLs, documents as well as Images offline. These capabilities make it an ideal tool for extended learning, discussions, brainstorming, group as well as individual projects and personalized content.