Using iPads, notability, and onenote to replace the chalkboard in the lecture hall and to deliver content to students remotely
Traditionally, organic chemistry lecture notes are dictated to students while writing on the chalkboard in large lecture halls. Writing on the chalkboard has practical limitations, including limited visibility, wasted class time spent erasing the boards, and separation of the instructor from the students while their back is turned writing. To address these issues, we employed an iPad or Microsoft Surface, the Notability app or OneNote, and Apple TVs installed in the lecture halls to project a simulated blackboard on the large, highly visible projector screens. In doing so, we face our students and are closer to them, and there are no longer issues with seeing the chalkboard. We can also simulate multiple chalkboards with multiple devices, to digitally replicate a traditional multiboard learning environment. Having implemented these techniques in the classroom, the pivot to distance-learning as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic was largely seamless. The physical and remote setups are described, and options for hardware, software, and tips for customization are discussed.
