The Whiteboard Blog » Interactive Whiteboards

Promethean Science and Technology User Group

Danny — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:33:31 +0000

Thanks to Promethean for making me a “SuperUser” of their Promethean Planet website. What this means is that I’ll hopefully be putting up a few blog posts on their website once or twice a month, making and sharing some whiteboard resources and generally hanging about a bit more on the Promethean Planet forums.

What this also means is that I’ve set up a special User Group on the Promethean Planet website which will discuss the use of technology in science education. I’m hoping that some of you will join!

The purpose of this group is to enhance the teaching and learning of Science through the use of digital technologies such as whiteboards, but also datalogging, visualisers, Learner Response devices, interactive websites, science videos, science software and more.

You don’t have to own a Promethean product to join Promethean Planet and take part in any of the user groups. To visit the Science user group, and also see some of the other user groups on the website, click here. There are user groups on lots of other topics.

Don’t forget that the Promethean Planet website is home to thousands of lesson resources – not just Promethean flipchart files, there are powerpoints, worksheets, lesson plans and more. It’s well worth a look, and it’s free to join!

Promethean Science and Technology User Group The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

New and Updated Scale of the Universe Tool

Danny — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:36:26 +0000

There’s a great new Scale of the Universe tool from the people who brought you the original Scale of the Universe tool that I wrote about last year.

This one is clickable – and tells you a litle more about the different planets and objects you can see as you drag the slider to view bigger or smaller objects.

I loved the original version, but this one is even better. Will work really well on an IWB in a science lesson.

Take a look at http://www.htwins.net/scale2/

New and Updated Scale of the Universe Tool The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

Futurecade – online games from the Science Museum

Danny — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:38:08 +0000

The Science Museum has launched a suite of online games designed to raise questions about the future of medicine, robotics and technology. Their ‘Futurecade‘ features four titles exploring topics such as geo-engineering and synthetic biology.

Futurecade‘s four games – Bacto-Lab, Robo-Lobster, Cloud Control and Space Junker – are based on scientific research happening today. Use them as a stimulus to engage your students in a fun, interactive way, and get them thinking about how technology might impact on their future.

For example, in Batco-Lab, players must engineer their own E.coli bacteria to make useful products, while making sure that no harmful mutant bacteria are accidentally unleashed on the world. Cloud Control, allows students to guide Flettner ships which brighten clouds so they reflect sunlight and lower the Earth’s temperature.

Futurecade can support the teaching of How Science Works and help your students consider the applications and implications of science.

Teaching resources are also available, and can be found here, including science background notes and teacher briefing notes.

Take a look at http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/futurecade to play the games. And if you haven’t seen the other great resources on the Science Museum site, visit their teacher resource area and take a look!

Futurecade – online games from the Science Museum The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

Safer Internet Day 2012 Esafety Resources

Danny — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:47:50 +0000

Safer Internet Day (SID) aims to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world. Safer Internet Day 2012 will take place on Tuesday 7 February 2012, centred on the theme “Connecting generations and educating each other”, where they encourage users young and old to “discover the digital world together…safely!”

The Safer Internet Day website contains teaching ideas, posters and lesson resources for teachers who want to cover internet safety with their classes, for both primary and secondary schools.

You can also find some very useful resources to help teach SID on Promethean Planet website: These include some exclusive e-safety quizzes from Millionaire for Schools, fun flipcharts for use with 2–9 year olds from Hector’s World, and advice for educators from the Teachers TV archives. You can find out more at the Promethean Planet Safer Internet Day page.

For more information about Safer Internet Day, visit the SID website : http://www.saferinternetday.org and also the Insafe website: http://www.saferinternet.eu

Also check out this post from last year with some very good esafety videos and this post about internet safety and social networking for trainee teachers.

You can also find some great resources, and links, on the TES Safer Internet Day page.

Safer Internet Day 2012 Esafety Resources The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

An experiment with the common .IWB file format in Smart/Promethean (and Easiteach)

Danny — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:33:59 +0000

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?

An experiment with the common .IWB file format in Smart/Promethean (and Easiteach) The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

Espresso Education : Video in the Classroom

Danny — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:17:05 +0000

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.

Espresso Education : Video in the Classroom The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

The Ed Tech Blog Carnival 2012 #1

Danny — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 12:35:13 +0000

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!

So that’s it! Thanks to all the contributors who have written some excellent posts for this carnival. I’d like to make this more than an annual event, so if someone wants to host another one, say in April, then let me know and I’ll help promote it here and on Twitter etc.

If you’ve written a blog carnival piece and I haven’t included it here, please let me know and I’ll add it. Make sure you include a link to this blog post so your readers can find the other blogs that make up the carnival.

The Ed Tech Blog Carnival 2012 #1 The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

Desmos Interactive Graphing Calculator

Danny — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:16:46 +0000

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!

Desmos Interactive Graphing Calculator The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

Circus Physics – videos and teaching resources

Danny — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:30:50 +0000

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/

Circus Physics – videos and teaching resources The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

Using interactive whiteboards without whiteboard software

Danny — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:03:41 +0000

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

Using interactive whiteboards without whiteboard software The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom