Pen Attention - highlights your pen cursor for giving presentations
I wanted to pass on something I saw from Kenrick Mock which helps give presentations with the Tablet. Here is a quick description:
I've been using my Tablet PC to deliver lectures for years, and I love having the ability to record lectures, mark-up PowerPoint, and write by hand using OneNote. However, it's always bothered me that the pen cursor is a tiny little dot. An example is shown below from OneNote:
In that image, the cursor is right below the number "2" but it's REALLY hard for my class to see on a projector since it's a teensie weensy dot. The problem is that I like to use the pen to "point" at things as I give the lecture, but it doesn't help if the class can't see it. To remedy this, I've been using the eraser mode of the pen while in hover mode to "point" at things I want to talk about. It works, but is a little klunky.
After lots of searching around for ways to change the pen cursor to no avail, I finally (after 5 years!) got the idea to make my own program to highlight the cursor. A few afternoons of hacking later, and the result is PenAttention v1.0. This program draws a circle highlight, pencil, or pointer at the location of the pen, when the pen is detected on the screen:
The class can easily see the location of the pen…
You can download the software from here: https://www.math.uaa.alaska.edu/~afkjm/PenAttention/ and read his blog where he updates everyone on new features: https://www.math.uaa.alaska.edu/~afkjm/techteach/
I thought this would be useful for all of the teachers or other educators who are using a Tablet to present their material.
Thanks Kenrick!
Comments
Anonymous
June 05, 2011
That's great! Thanks a lot for this SW. That will help for the training sessions that I give. Therefore, I must admit that my writing is poor with the pen. Don't you have something in your toolbox to change the style of the pen to something like a fountain pen under OneNote ? I've tested such a style within Paint and it's much nicer. Thanks, EmmanuelAnonymous
October 17, 2011
Congratulations on your excellent work. It's just a shame that MS has not provided this in the program (onenote). I wonder: are the guys at MS using their own programs? Or they also use OSx?Anonymous
August 28, 2012
Thank you that you took the time to make this, its just great!Anonymous
November 05, 2013
Exactly what I need right now. I can hardly see where it is. The situation is more serious when I use onenote in teaching.Anonymous
November 08, 2013
Thanks so much!! May make it possible to use OneNote now. I'd given up because the "dot" cursor is almost impossible to see.Anonymous
March 22, 2014
Thanks for this mate. Just what I needed.Anonymous
October 14, 2014
Thanks for this. I'm not a presenter, but this works great with OneNote to show the location of the cursor when you're using a Wacom tablet. Otherwise in handwriting mode the cursor is a tiny tiny dot that I can never keep track of. As a feature request, would be nice to be able to enable it when certain applications are in focus and otherwise have it turned off. Thanks! -AndrewAnonymous
October 26, 2014
The comment has been removedAnonymous
November 20, 2014
Thanks Daniel Escapa for provide the information about highlights pen . I really liked your idea you have mentioned the logical & unique fact about highlights pen. We provide best quality highlights pen at best prices.Just visit:homareshop.comAnonymous
December 30, 2014
thanks a lot, i have been looking for this for months.Anonymous
May 07, 2015
You are a genius! Thank you, I needed this feature not only for OnteNote but for other programs while making video-lectures.Anonymous
July 02, 2015
Does this work on Windows 8 for others? I tried installing, but the pointer doesn't highlight.Anonymous
August 24, 2015
Thank you! Perfect for lectures and online lectures! :-)Anonymous
October 04, 2015
The comment has been removedAnonymous
October 17, 2015
This is brilliant!!! Thank you VERY MUCH!!!