An experiment with the common .IWB file format in Smart/Promethean (and Easiteach)
A new feature with the latest version of ActivInspire is the ability to export your files as the Becta-driven .IWB file format. This is an interesting step for Promethean to take since previously they’ve removed the ability to move your files out of their own flipchart format – even removing the old ActivStudio/Primary feature of being able to export to PowerPoint. For teachers who don’t want to be “locked in” to one particular file format if they ever change schools, the need for a common whiteboard file format is quite important, as is the need to be able to move from one brand of whiteboard to another. You could also use this to create files for Easiteach.
There’s been discussion about the .iwb format over on this thread on Promethean Planet, with teachers asking about which features survive the export to .IWB. So I decided to run a little experiment seeing as a whiteboard trainer I am lucky enough to have both Smart Notebook and ActivInspire on my computer.
I created a simple file with many of the basic features in ActivInspire. I exported that file as the .IWB file format and then import it into Smart Notebook. To do this yourself, in ActivInspire go to File -> Export -> Becta (.iwb) and then in Smart Notebook go to File -> Import and then choose .iwb as the file type.
My first page was a basic plenary circle that I’ve used many times before. Lots of words around a simple shape. Here’s how it looked before the export as an .IWB file.
And here’s how it looked once imported into Smart Notebook.
Basically as you can see it moves all the words up into the top left hand corner and loses text formatting. With a little work it would be pretty quick to move everything back into place.
Here’s the same file imported into RM Easiteach:
The next page I tried used lots of the simple features that I would often use in an ActivInspire flipchart. I grouped some shapes with text, added a text hyperlink, attached a sound to a shape.
The page in Inspire looked like this:
And in Smart Notebook looked like this:
Most of the features transferred OK, again the text needs to be rearranged and restored to its original positions. The red circle still had the hyperlink to a sound file. And once I’d retrieved it from the top left corner the text with a hyperlink to the BBC website worked fine. Images and clipart pictures moved across fine. And the yellow background was kept intact.
The Drag a Copy/Infinite Cloner feature of the yellow arrow had been lost. The biggest problem was the grouped shape with text, which became this:
The shapes and text were still grouped together, but the text had been moved a long way away from the original shape. Again with a quick ungroup and regroup it could be fixed.
Here’s the same page imported into easiteach:
In Easiteach the infinite cloner works, but the hyperlinks to sounds and web pages are lost. Grouped object works fine though.
I then tried a page with some shapes and a grid background. Not surprisingly the grid was lost on the transfer, although the curve was kept.
But a page with a background image from the Promethean Resource library kept its background when transferring.The page below looked identical in both versions.
So I decided to try something more complicated, but still using basic shapes. Here’s one of the pages from my 5 Lesson Start ideas files. The page uses a graduated blue and yellow rectangle as a background, locked in place, then several pieces of clip art with a line and a shape grouped together hidden behind a clip art boy.
This file, once exported and imported becomes this :
Basically quite a mess. Again, it’s fixable, but you’ll need to invest a little time in ungrouping, rearranging, regrouping and resizing everything on the page.
The other pages in the file were affected in the same way. All would need work to become useable again, but not insurmountable.
I also tried importing into RM Easiteach – the files did look a lot better. Here’s the same page for comparison:
Which suggests that maybe the text issues is more a problem with the Smart Import than the file format.
So from what you can see, although the possibility is there to now export files from Promethean into Smart (or Easiteach) via the .iwb file format, the format itself is very limiting. You can have shape, text, hyperlinks and grouping. But more advanced features will not survive the move. I haven’t even attempted to try some of the page actions that you will find in Promethean, they just won’t move across as they’re Inspire-specific. Also if you are doing this be prepared to have to rearrange every single piece of text. I do wonder if it’s almost quicker to build the files again from scratch.
With the demise of BECTA I doubt there is any drive to work on the .IWB file format and make it a more robust standard. At least being able to remove the need for rebuilding would be useful. Hopefully someone will pick up the project.
If you’ve had any more luck with a similar experiment – or have any other questions, please let me know in the comments below!
Update 1 – you can also get a IWB file Board Viewer applet via this site.
Update 2 – I have since tried this with Mimio v8. Mimio doesn’t handle the .iwb files very well – they end up looking very similar to they did in smart Notebook, which was not very good. But I was impressed to see that Mimio Studio opens Smart .notebook and ActivInspire .flipchart files really well. This is quite impressive – but you will need a mimio device to unlock the software – I don’t know if you can purchase a licence for the software separately. Can anyone advise?
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Espresso Education : Video in the Classroom
A short video by Espresso Education about the power of video in the classroom. Take a look!
I deliver freelance training for Espresso and think it’s a fantastic resource to have in the classroom. Access some free Espresso resources here.
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The Ed Tech Blog Carnival 2012 #1
A few weeks ago I asked for educational bloggers to share some of their posts as part of a Blog Carnival. The idea would be that they would write about aspects of technology in education, and I would then collate into a single post that points to them all. Hopefully you the reader will discover some blogs you haven’t seen before.
So here’s the posts that make up the first Ed Tech Blog Carnival for January 2012:
To start, I’ll point to a post by me about the options available to use interactive whiteboards without the software.
Expat Educator Janet Abercrombie has written a great post about using student news videos as an alternative to newsletters. Learn the process of creating a classroom video news report.
Stephen Lockyer has written about some of the best iPhone apps that he uses in school. Some very useful recommendations.
Kevin Hodgson has written a post entitled: “Considering Mentor Texts 2: The Evolution of an Idea“. Exploring the ways that Make Your Own Adventure novels/stories might be used in the classroom with students, with wikis as one platform for writing and then with YouTube annotations.
Chris Coleman, a grade 4 teacher, has written about using the Pearltrees website to create a bookmark web to embed, share and collaborate
Tyson Seburn introduces the pros and cons of 3 different ways to use Google apps for scheduling with students.
Student teacher Dr Jo Badge has written about Blogging, Tweeting and Being a PGCE Student.
Greg Russell has written about his thoughts on the current state of using e-books for learning.
Seth Dickens gives the first in a series of 5 video interviews he did at BETT 2012, approaching his favourite stands at BETT and asking them why they come to BETT and what are they doing to make teachers’ lives easier. Interesting stuff.
Brad Patterson gives 4 key factors that are changing the business of ELT learning.
Doug Peterson gives his first look at the LiveBinders iPad application which lead to LiveBinders supporting the Ontario Curriculum.
Tom Hesmondhalgh writes about using Google+ to Help Improve Your Teaching. Google+ has generated its fair share of hype since its launch, and while it’s still officially in beta it’s growing at an incredible rate. Tom describes how teachers can harness some of the unique features of Google+ to help improve their practice.
Lisa Butler has written a post about trying a different approach with students and copyright – give them responsibility and ownership and take away the grade.
Terry Freedman gives 4 reasons why the ICT Programme of Study “had” to go. Interesting stuff with some excellent points about the state of ICT teaching in our schools right now.
And finally, Jen Deyenberg has written about creating your own geocaches featuring some of her students’ fabulous creations!
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Desmos Interactive Graphing Calculator
I’ve written about Desmos before – they are developing some very interesting online whiteboard software which is still currently in beta.
But while we’re waiting for the full release, Desmos have released something else they’ve been working on as a side project, and thats their Desmos Calculator, available at www.abettercalculator.com
You can very quickly enter equations using a combination of the keyboard and the pop up equation builder. The lines immediately appear on the graph. Change the equation and see the change in the line straight away. Or layer multiple lines on the same graph.
Here’s what Desmos had to say about it:
We set out to reimagine the graphing calculator from the ground up, building on the best technologies available. This is beautiful, powerful, intuitive math that lives in your browser. Graph multiple functions in vivid color and watch them update as you type. Save your work to the cloud or share it with friends. Transform your computer or tablet into a math engine. This is just the beginning—and it’s all completely free.
Maths teachers should definitely bookmark this. It’s a totally free resource running in HTML5 so it will even run on your iPad via mobile Safari.
Go take a look at Desmos Graphing Calculator here, and let me know what you think in the comments below!
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Circus Physics – videos and teaching resources
Here’s a really fun website for science teachers from PBS. The Circus Physics website uses jugglers, clowns and high-flying acrobats provide an entertaining and engaging way to introduce basic physics concepts to high school students.
Eight videos feature footage from the PBS television series about the circus and interviews with the performers to illustrate the laws of physics at work. For deeper exploration, each video has a corresponding Study Guide for students and an Activity Guide for teachers, as well as raw video clips of performances which can be used for analysis in the classroom.
It’s handy resource – go check it out at http://www.pbs.org/opb/circus/classroom/circus-physics/
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Using interactive whiteboards without whiteboard software
This is my contribution to an Ed Tech Blog Carnival, you can find out more by going here.
While I wandering around the BETT show the other week, there were many interactive whiteboards on show that did not come with what I’d recognise as Notebook/Flipchart software. This was especially true of some of the cheap chinese boards who seemed to purely be demonstrating that you could use their board to to use Google Earth.
Some brands of board came bundled with third party software such as Easiteach or Wizteach, while some had very cut down software that was not fit for purpose. Others came with no software at all, apart from a hardware driver, in which case they’re just selling a giant mouse/tablet and leaving it up to the teacher to find the content.
This got me thinking. I’m primarily a SMART and Promethean user. For me the Notebook and ActivInspire software is the heart of your interactive whiteboard – allowing teachers to pre-prepare lesson resources which they can display in class, and to capture and record any notes written on the whiteboard for use later on.
But I guess the question is, do you need software like smart notebook/activinspire/easiteach to get the most use of your board? Can you get by with a mixture of PowerPoint and interactive resources found online?
There are certainly a lot of good quality, free resources that can be used by teachers in their lessons. I’ve shared links to enough of them over the years on this blog. There are even more available if your school subscribes to a managed resource such as Espresso or BrainPop. And the benefit of these resources is that they don’t need any investment in teacher time to create them. You can also access resources such as Triptico for free which provides a bank of free resources and templates.
So what are the options if you have a cheap interactive whiteboard, an interactive projector, or just a projector/interactive slate combo without any useful notebook software bundled with it?
1. Buy a licence for IWB software
You can buy standalone licences for software such as ActivInspire/Easiteach/Wizteach. Prices vary from about £80 to £200 per licence, which needs to be factored in to the savings your school is making by buying the cheaper boards in the first place. Currently it’s not possible to buy SMART software at present, but I’ve heard rumours that may change in the future.
Buying into this software does give you access to additional resources as well, in particular Promethean Planet’s large library of ready-made flipcharts.
2. Use Powerpoint
It’s often seen as the work of the devil, but used correctly you can still make good use of PowerPoint. Don’t load the slides with too much text, use plenty of images. You can even draw and write on slides using the pen tool (look to the bottom corner of the slides when in slideshow mode). Maybe one day PowerPoint will add a whiteboard mode as a half-way mode between full slideshow and design mode. But not yet.
It is possible to buy into ready-made resources such as those by BoardWorks which do have some level of interactivity with embedded Flash files. But this can be expensive.
3. Open source alternatives
I don’t know of many open source alternatives to the IWB software apart from Open Sankore but features-wise it is nowhere near ready to be used in a classroom. If you know of any others, post them in the comments.
4. Online alternatives
One of the best tools I’ve seen recently is a collaborative whiteboard tool called Desmos, but sadle it’s not yet out of bet. You might also be able to use online pages such as Dabbleboard or similar. You could possibly use some of the various online noticeboard tools, but these are limited and most do not allow for handwritten notes..
So what do you use?
If you are a teacher who doesn’t have access to what I would class as “proper” notebook software (ActivInspire/Easiteach/Smart Notebook) – what do you use on your interactive whiteboard? Have you moved away from a whiteboard completely and just use a wireless slate to control third party resources on your computer? Can you get by on just online resources? Is it essential to be able to write and annotate in a dedicated piece of flipchart software?
As an extra thought – I know some teachers are looking at a combination of an iPad 2 and Apple TV hooked up to a projector, allowing you to project the iPad screen onto the wall. I only have an iPad 1 so haven’t been able to try this yet. While you can show any iPad app, you do limit yourself from being able to use all the Flash resources that are on the internet. Only a fraction use HTML5 right now.
Please share your solutions in the comments below. I’d be interested to hear what you do.
Photo Credit : Evaluation Scale by BillsoPHOTO
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ICT Reviews for Schools – Whiteboard Guide
You may not know this but PC Pro magazine produces an occasional supplement for education called ICT Reviews for Schools. The free guide is packed with buyer’s guides, reviews and features to help schools spend their IT budgets wisely.
Issue 4 is just out, and this time features a very interesting article written by Terry Freedman entitled “Getting the most from your interactive whiteboard”.
The guide also includes head to head reviews of a Promethean and Smart whiteboard as well as a great guide to 10 free online tools.
It’s well worth a look. It’s a free download, and you can get hold of a copy here.
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Dumpr – fun with your photos
Dumpr is a great little website that has lots of tools for doing creative things with your images. Simply choose an effect from the 21 on offer, upload your photograph and Dumpr will do the rest. You can then save your image to use elsewhere.
For example, turn an image into a Rubiks Cube:
This is a great way to create avatars images for social media, or present your images in creative ways in blog posts or student presentations. The site is free to use. Take a look at : http://www.dumpr.net/
And if you like Dumpr. also check out Big Huge Labs which has some other fun tools.
Thanks to Jan Webb (@janwebb21) for the link.
Got any other sites like this you can recommend? Share them in the comments!
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BETT Show 2012 Roundup Part 2
Here’s the second part of my BETT 2012 roundup, taking a look at the things that caught my eye in addition to the Interactive Whiteboards which I talked about in Part 1.
Here’s a quick summary of some of the things I saw:
BrainPop UK : BrainPop were showing their excellent range of videos which are perfect for the classroom. Moby was there for photo opportunities as always. They were also demonstrating the various new ways to access the BrainPop resources, including on a Playstation 3 and iPad – even more ways to make the BrainPop resources accessible at home. Also check out their free BrainPop Featured movie iPhone and iPad apps. Now you don’t need to have a PC at home to be able to use BrainPop.
2Simple – Purple Mash : 2Simple were there in force again this year showcasing their superb software range. The highlight of course was their Purple Mash online package which has an amazing selection of tools. If you teach in a primary school and haven’t seen what Purple Mash can do, then you must take a look!
I Am Learning : I Am Learning is a games-based revision and homework system which encourages learners both in and out of school. Students take park in games and quizzes with their scores tracked and stored for teacher assessment. I’ll be taking a look at this in more detail in a later blogpost but I liked what I saw, and it could prove to be a very useful resource for teachers.
Play Brighter : This is another website that allows teachers to set up games for their students. On PlayBrighter, you set your students ‘missions’. The games are designed so that success (which might be releasing a Number One single, or becoming a millionaire) is a clear goal that really means something to the student, not just a score that has to reached. It’s free, and looks like quite a fun tool. Like I Am Learning I think I’ll need to come back to this in a later blog post and have a proper play with the resources.
PoraOra: Pora Ora is a FREE 3D world designed to make learning fun, where primary school children are rewarded for completing educational tasks that are linked to the national curriculum. The educational content is embedded in games and quests throughout the world, so children really are learning while playing. Pora Ora is also a safe and supervised social networking site where children can learn how to interact safely online with parents gradually relaxing security settings as they get older. Looks interesting.
Primary Games : Mark Cogan at the Interactive Resources website has always produced some superb interactive games for maths, and other subjects. The online version allows teachers to subscribe and make the resources available across the school and the wider community. This year he was also showing off the new range of Primary Games apps for the iPhone and iPad which look great.
Zu3d - The Zu3D animation software was on show with a new version and animation kit. Owners of the older version can upgrade for a small fee. It’s a fun easy-to-use piece of software for making stop-motion animation and I highly recommend it. In a similar vein, also check out I Can Animate from Kudlian.
Skoog Music : I loved the look of this. A Skoog is an exciting new musical instrument designed to empower those unable to play traditional instruments. The Skoog is a soft, squeezable object that simply plugs straight into your computer or laptop’s USB port. By touching, pressing, squashing, twisting or tapping the Skoog you can play a wide range of instruments, intuitively. Designed for people with any degree or combination of physical, mental or behavioral difficulties. Looks like fun, especially for the musically-challenged such as myself.
Turning Point : The Turning Point range of response ware/voting systems has been expanded with the ResponseCard NXT which has a larger screen and a mobile phone style texting keyboard to respond to questions with full text or numerical answers. There was also the Presenter Card which is a radio device that allows teachers to physically move around a classroom while controlling their TurningPoint session. Teachers can start/stop polling as well as move forwards and back in a presentation, letting them ove away from the IWB.
I was also able to attend the launch of a book written by my good friend and colleague Angie McGlashon. Her book “Brilliant Ideas for Using ICT in the Inclusive Classroom” is an excellent guide to using ICT in the SEN classroom,but has lots of ideas for teachers in mainstream schools tool. You can buy a copy on Amazon, and I highly recommend you do!
And briefly: Word Wall were demonstrating their advanced student response system, which had quite a rugged feel to it, with a screen in the middle. Looked interesting. I also liked the look of AVerMedia’s wireless visualiser which has great potential in freeing up the visualiser so that it doesn’t have to be right next to the computer. Will make using it in science practical demonstrations much easier. Twig Science were proudly showing off their BETT award for their excellent science video collection – well worth a look. Oddizi also won an award for their primary digital content for geography.
So that’s it for BETT 2012. Next year it will be leaving Olympia and heading for the Excel centre in Docklands – for me this is a good move as it’s much easier to get to but it will be interesting to see how being at the new venue shakes up the exhibition. BETT 2013 is also a few weeks later in the year, giving me more time to recover from the ASE conference which is usually the week before.
See you next year!
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About Me
Danny Nicholson : Educator, Science teacher, ICT Consultant, PGCE lecturer, Author and Web2.0 / SMART Masters/ Interactive Whiteboard Trainer. Contact me for any training requests. 
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