The mouse that changed my life

A mouse entered my world a couple of months ago, and ever since then, my life has been changed for the better, forever.

Enter: the Microsoft Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000! (a mouthful, I know!)
Allow me to explain.

I just began teaching at Northside Christian College this year, and over the summer holidays they installed in every classroom a projector, a set of speakers, and a simple trio of cords (VGA, LAN and 3.5mm audio) for easy laptop set up. In addition to that, they also gave every teacher this year a new laptop (thanks in part to Mr. Rudd) - a DELL Latitude E6400. To be used for school purposes of course.

All this has meant that I can walk into class and have the powerpoint presentation for that lesson up and running within 30 seconds, if my laptop is already on. And boy has that influenced my teaching. During my pracs last year I taught mostly without powerpoint slides, which has it benefits too. But if you know how to use them, having visual slides are pure gold.

Anyhow, I found that during my lessons, I was often locked within a 1m radius of my laptop, because I needed to hit the spacebar to change slides. I figured that a way I could free myself from this was to get a wireless mouse, so I could operate the slides from anywhere in the classroom.

Most wireless mouses have an operating range of about 1-2m. If you want anything beyond that, you'd have to go bluetooth or 2.4Ghz, and that costs upwards of $60. And then there was the issue of battery life, the type of tracking technology, etc. After a lot of homework, I ended up with the best mouse ever.
Microsoft has a large range of keyboards and mouses, but in particular has designed one mouse that suits every need of the presenter. And that is the Microsoft Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000. Here's a quick run through of its features:

• 10m wireless range, thanks to its 2.4 Ghz bluetooth transmitter
• High definition laser tracking technology
• Dedicated buttons for presentation (in particular Powerpoint)
• Media remote control functionality
• A built-in laser pointer (!)
• An on/off switch

By this point, you should be lying on the floor in shock.

So on one hand, this mouse looks just like any ordinary mouse (bar a cord), with a couple of extra buttons on top. And indeed, it works just like a mouse, except much smoother, and from up to 10m away from the computer (which is ages!). But turn the mouse upside down, and voila - it turns into a remote control, or a presentation device! If you're in windows media player, those buttons will move back or forwards through tracks, play/pause, even adjust the volume. If you're in powerpoint, those buttons will move back or forwards through slides, and even blank the screen. And if you press the yellow sun-like button, it becomes a high-powered laser pointer! How crazy is that?

This means that in Mr. Ting's classes, he can roam around the whole classroom (very effective for controlling behaviour - proximity) while keeping total control of the presentation of his lesson via his wireless mouse. I've even been able to give the mouse to students while at their own desks for them to "write" stuff on the screen (using powerpoint's Digital Ink - aka the pen tool) or complete drag and drop activities, etc.

Even cooler is the fact that my laptop has an inbuilt bluetooth receiver, which means I don't even have to plug in the bluetooth receive dongle! I just turn my mouse on and go!

And to top it off...this mouse retails at A$130, but I got it for $50! :) All thanks to internet shopping (never pay retail price!), plus a cashback offer that microsoft was offering earlier this year - 25% off retail price for all keyboards and mouses. Beautiful.

I absolutely love my mouse, and amusingly, so do my kids. (When I first used it, one grade 8 stared at it for ages before finally saying - "that is so cool".) It's made my lessons very flexible and dynamic, which is something I strive for.

If you're someone who needs to do a lot of presentations and like to move around, this is definitely a mouse for you. Otherwise, stick to your own mouse. It's probably all that it needs to do for you already. I just wanted to share how this mouse has changed my teaching life ;)