To create more engaging video lectures, Northwestern University engineering professor Michael Peshkin created Lightboard, an ingenious transparent dry-erase board that allows him to face the camera while drawing notes and diagrams in front of him. The board consists of a double pane of glass that is lit from within by LEDs. Peshkin uses fluorescent dry-erase markers which are highly visible on the lit glass. If you’re wondering how his writing is not backwards, it’s because he films his lectures through a mirror. Peshkin has posted instructions on how to make your own Lightboard.
Tom Woodward on 13 Nov 15"Later in his commentary Ragusea touches on transparency: "just trust me I know what I'm talking about doesn't work anymore, even if you are trustworthy and you do know what you're talking about," he says. "It's like math problems in school: it is not enough to get the right answer you have to show your work." Since at least 2011 in journalism developer circles show your work has been a mantra, and it is slowly spreading to other parts of the newsroom. Ragusea argues that Thompson's idea of discovery is important not because "people enjoy watching their hero sleuth chase down a mystery" but because nobody will believe you anymore when you "report a bunch of facts, even if you explain where you got them from. You have to show how you got them." Show, don't tell. It's writing 101 and it is the basic idea of active versus passive transparency. I like putting the emphasis on active transparency, in part, because it reinforces the idea of journalism as a process not a product."
