Team of former teachers creates innovative gadget to modernize teacher coaching, student learning

Kickstarter campaign to fund production and fulfillment

A team of former teachers and education technology entrepreneurs is launching a Kickstarter campaign for their latest innovation: perchiT, a universal mobile laptop mount initially designed as a tool of convenience for administrators/coaches who wanted to “perch” their cell phones on their laptops to record classroom observations while simultaneously typing observation-aligned notes/feedback.

PerchiT is the brainchild of the creators of Sibme.com, a web and mobile coaching and collaboration platform that uses time-stamped video feedback to help teachers improve their practice. Sibme allows teachers to record video using a smartphone equipped with Sibme’s iOS or Android apps, and then transfer it via WiFi to laptop, where it is synced with time-stamped observation notes for evidence-based feedback, reflection, and conversation.

The perchiT is the perfect companion to Sibme, allowing users to easily clip an adjustable tripod to their laptop. The perchiT’s spring-loaded clips expand and contract to fit most laptop screens using rubber-coated clips that protect your screen from scratches. A standard tripod thread attaches the base to a universal clamp that can hold any smartphone in portrait or landscape orientation, including larger models such as the iPhone 6 and 7 + and the Samsung Galaxy s7.  The ball and joint provide extra mobility, allowing you to find the perfect angle as you record video or view the smartphone screen.

David Wakefield, founder of Sibme.com, said his team heard countless stories from instructional coaches and administrators about the time-consuming process of recording teacher observations with a video camera and traditional tripod mount and then having to transfer their electronic or paper-based notes to the video after the completed observation.

“90% of our Sibme users have an iPhone or Android phone in their pocket that is equipped with a camera, but the problem has always been that it’s hard to capture what you want during an in person observation,” Wakefield said. “PerchiT helps solve this problem since the phone is now accessible from the observer’s laptop workstation.”

But the Sibme team soon realized the perchiT is useful in other settings, too – for students taking notes during a lecture or mobile professionals who want an easy way to create a second monitor while working from their office or a coffee shop.

“Students and professional are on the move more and more these days, and it can be hard to balance functionality with mobility,” Wakefield said. “With the perchiT, I can keep a document handy for reference or keep an eye on the Astros game without cluttering my laptop screen. And at the end of the day, I can just toss it in my bag and go.”

For more information and to pledge visit perchiT’s Kickstarter campaign and become one of the people that helps bring this useful gadget to market.