Whiteboard Wizard FAQs

Q. Do I need Connect & Learn together with the Whiteboard Wizard?

A: Yes. Connect & Learn is the name we give to the Dolphin classroom kit, designed for students with partial sight. Connect & Learn kit includes SuperNova software. It replaces the need for laptop, tablet, magnifier & scanner as seperate products. It gives students easy access to Microsoft apps such as Word, Edge, Outlook, and together with Whiteboard Wizard, they can use it to magnify the whiteboard content on their own screen. The Whiteboard Wizard is used on the teachers’ laptops, and is controlled by the teacher. It is available as a free download.

Q: What does the Whiteboard Wizard do?

A: The Whiteboard Wizard makes screen sharing simple. Importantly, it also makes withdrawing that access just as easy, so teachers can be confident that they aren't sharing their screen content after class has ended.

In technical terms, it helps you to install a Virtual Network Computing (VNC) tool and takes care of security by helping you to set a 'view-only' password to give to your students.

Q: Does Connect & Learn do more than let partially sighted students see the whiteboard?

A: Yes, Connect & Learn is a full Windows 11 laptop which includes SuperNova. Students can also use it as a video magnifier. The laptop has a keyboard/cover, which can be removed so the screen can used as a touchscreen tablet. It also includes EasyReader, so students can download books from accessible textbook libraries such as RNIB Bookshare Education Collection. Find out more about SuperNova Connect & Learn

Q: Where do I get the Whiteboard Wizard from?

A: The whiteboard wizard is a free download from Dolphin. Request the Whiteboard Wizard and we will email it to you straight away.

Q: Can my other students with low vision benefit if they don’t have a Connect & Learn device?

A: If students are using any edition in the SuperNova range, they can also access the information on the whiteboard through Whiteboard Wizard. 

Q: What is the difference between Connect & Learn and Connect & View?

A: Connect & Learn is the computer kit which contains a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet with a stand, wireless keyboard and mouse and has SuperNova software installed on it.  

Connect & View is a feature in SuperNova software that enables users to view and magnify a shared whiteboard, and enables users to magnify paper documents or objects placed under a document camera. Watch this Connect & View video to find out more. 

Q:  What types of Whiteboard does Connect & Learn work with?

A:  Any that connects to a teacher's computer. Technically, the teacher is sharing a presentation from their computer to the whiteboard. With Whiteboard Wizard, this presentation is also shared with individual students' computers through SuperNova. In reality there doesn’t even need to be a whiteboard, the teacher or presenter can share their own screen with a SuperNova user.  

Q:  Do the students with low vision need a distance viewing camera?

A:  No. Using Connect & Learn students can view the whiteboard without using the camera. The information on the whiteboard is streamed to their laptop, and they can use magnification to zoom in or enlarge the content on screen.

Connect & Learn does have a built-in camera, this can be used for magnifying paper documents and objects.

Q: Do students need to sit near the whiteboard?

A: No, students can sit anywhere in class. There is no need to have a clear line of sight with the board. The whiteboard contents are delivered straight into the SuperNova users' screen. This has an additional benefit in that the line of sight is never blocked if someone walks in front of the whiteboard, a common problem where a traditional camera is used.

Q: My student has very low vision, will they be able to magnify the whiteboard?

A: Yes. This is why Connect & Learn with Whiteboard Wizard is so unique and so popular. Designed specifically for students with low vision, SuperNova Connect & Learn enables students to:

• Magnify the whiteboard, and zoom in up to 64 times the original size.
• Change colour schemes to improve contrast. Choose from six different high-contrast colour schemes.
• Split the screen, view the whiteboard on one side and make notes or work on the other.

Q: What does student see on their screen when viewing the whiteboard?

A: The Connect & View feature creates a viewer – a portion of the screen that displays the contents of the Interactive whiteboard.

The student can adjust the viewer to be top, bottom, left or right side of the screen. The viewer can be set to fill 80%, 50% or 20% of their screen. 

The remaining portion of the screen displays the student’s standard desktop, complete with SuperNova magnification with their preferred settings.   

Q: What happens when the teacher changes to the next slide in the presentation?

A: The whiteboard display is live in SuperNova and changes as the teacher changes the view for the whole class.

If the student needs to hold or pause their magnified view and stop it changing, students can lock the view with a single button, and unlock in the same way.

Students can take screenshots of the whiteboard at any point, which enables a more in-depth inspection, or to refer back to when completing homework.

Q: Can student work and view the whiteboard at the same time?

A: Yes. It's possible to multi-task with SuperNova and the Whiteboard Wizard. Students can view the whiteboard and work on a document, research online or complete another task on their computer.  

Q: How can students view the whiteboard display and complete other tasks?

A: Students can switch (Alt-Tab) between the whiteboard image and their standard work magnified by SuperNova. 

Alternatively, split the screen to display the interactive whiteboard and another application, such as a Word document, at the same time.

Q: What if the two things they’re viewing require different adjustments to see clearly?

A: When the student splits their on screen view in SuperNova, they can apply different levels of magnification and colours to each. For example, they might zoom in to see the detail of the teacher’s presentation and keep the original colours. While on a Word document they might only need a small amount of magnification, invert the screens colours. Both applications and their unique views are displayed on-screen simultaneously.

Q: Can the student take snapshots or screen grabs of the teachers’ whiteboard?

A: Yes, the snapshot button is conveniently located on the SuperNova toolbar. Students can click this button to capture the unmagnified image displayed on the whiteboard. These images can then be  pasted into a document or saved to explore later.

Q: Can students use Scan & Read with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to capture and read whiteboard content?

A: Yes. Scan & Read can extract printed text (not handwriting) from an image. Accuracy of the scan depends on quality of the image. Though Scan & Read with OCR is is usually used for printed documents. 

Q: Can my student watch a video I am playing on the whiteboard?

A: Yes. However, there is a possibility that the video will not be the best quality if it's viewed in this way. We recommend sharing the video link directly with the student where possible.

Q: How easy is it for the student to control their view of the whiteboard?

A: It is very easy for students view and adjust the display on their own computer screen to suit their own accessibility needs.

With the toolbar, students can zoom in, zoom out, rotate the image, capture image or scan text. They can also use Hotkeys, shortcuts to jump between the desktop, the camera and the whiteboard.

Q: How does the teacher share the class whiteboard?

A: The teacher launches the whiteboard connection at the start of class by double-clicking the green Whiteboard Wizard icon located on their desktop.

They can then select how long to share screen access, usually for the duration of the presentation or class.

Then they simply share the access password with the low vision student who adds it in to Connect & View as appropriate.

Q: What happens at the end of the class when the students leaves?

A: Click the red Whiteboard Wizard icon on the desktop to immediately close the connection.

Alternatively the connection will close automatically after the share screen access timing the teacher sets at launch.

Q: We have lots of teachers with lots of laptops and a lot of classrooms. How does the student know which machine to connect to?

A: Each whiteboard that the pupil needs to see is either associated with a teacher’s laptop or a classroom’s specific computer.

When installing the Whiteboard Wizard to these machines, we recommend naming the machine with either the teacher’s name or the classroom name. This way the student can select the connection associated with that teacher or classroom.

Q: Can my student interfere or change things on my computer?

A: No. The Connect and View feature in SuperNova Connect & Learn delivers information in one direction - from teacher to student. Students can’t make any changes to teachers’ computers. 

The free Whiteboard Wizard is a tool that helps you to install a Virtual Network Computing (VNC). This takes care of security as it helps you set a view-only password to give to students.

A secure password should be set for full control. The SuperNova Whiteboard Wizard is free to download and includes an installation guide. Whiteboard Wizard can be downloaded and used by anyone giving a presentation or lesson to a student who uses any product in the SuperNova range, including Connect & Learn.

Q: Can the student still see my computer display after the lesson?

A: The Whiteboard Wizard installs an icon on your desktop where you can open and close viewing access with one click. Simply click 'close' when you finish the lesson or presentation.

Q: Can I control which students have sight of a teacher’s whiteboard?

A: Yes. Connect & View comes with password control. The password can be changed at any time.

Q: Do I have to have Wifi?

A: No, it is possible to connect the student’s computer to the school network with a network cable.

Q: Do I need a Wifi access point in each classroom?

A: No, as long as the student can get a good wifi signal from the school network, you shouldn’t need an access point in each classroom.

Q: My IT team are going to have questions. Can you help me answer them?

A: Yes. Although VNC is standard technology already in use in many schools, we appreciate there may be technical questions your IT teams will want to ask. We recommend you book a Connect & View support appointment with the Dolphin Support Team. The SuperNova Whiteboard Wizard is designed to simplify the VNC installation process and makes it easy for anyone to use.

SuperNova Whiteboard Wizard is free to download and can be used as needed by anyone giving a presentation or lesson to a student who has a visual impairment and uses any edition of SuperNova, including Connect & Learn.

Q: What does VNC mean?

A: VNC stands for Virtual Network Computing. VNC is a type of software that makes it possible to view another computer over a network connection.

SuperNova Whiteboard Wizard is VNC software that must be installed and run on the presenter's computer for Connect & Learn to make a connection. The VNC software does not need to be installed onto SuperNova Connect & Learn.  

Q: Can my student use Connect & View with their Apple iphone?

A: No. Connect & View is a SuperNova feature and as SuperNova is compatible only with Windows tablets, laptops and PCs, it will not support apple devices.

Q: Can the teacher be using an Apple device?

A: Yes. Macs include a VNC function called Screen Sharing. This is compatible with students using Connect & View on their Windows device.