World Wide Telescope

Microsoft have finally released the public beta of their World Wide Telescope project, and I just had to write about it. It's a must for any Science teacher, or anyone interested in astronomy.

Basically, its Microsoft's version of Google Earth/Sky and if you've used the Google version in the past then you'll pick this up very easily.

The software provides a virtual planetarium and lets you study the night sky with great detail. Some of the images are astounding. You can also switch the view to study planets and moons such as Jupiter and Io.

When looking at the stars, right clicking will bring up a star identifier which tells you the name of the star (if known) and some information about it. You can even link direct to the relevant wikipedia page.

Maybe a quick activity would be to search for their star sign (I looked up Aries) and find the names of the stars in the constellation. Maybe even find out how far away they are from Earth.

You can also point the camera downwards and study the Earth instead just like Google Earth, although not in as high resolution. A nice feature is the Earth at Night view which shows just where all the populated areas are. Interesting to use for Geography perhaps?

This is highly recommended and would be an excellent piece of software for anyone who has to teach about the Earth and space. Download it from here.

IWBs and Interactivity

One thing that a lot of people get wrong is that they believe that the IWB is inherently Interactive. That just by using it, they are making their lessons interactive. This is something I try and get across in my training sessions - that you need to work a little to put the Interactive into Interactive Whiteboard.

From a posting on Classroom2.0 I came across this fantastic presentation that challenges teachers to think about how they are using this great piece of technology. I'm reposting it here, but please go to the original post to show your appreciation.

| View | Upload your own

Senteo

I've recently got my hands on a set of Smart's new Senteo voting kits. They look really nice and I can't wait to try them out with a class soon.

Smart is moving into a quite crowded market, against products like Activote, TurningPoint, Quizdom etc but this is a pretty nice product.

Once the software is installed you get a Senteo option on your Smart Notebook toolbar (and also in Powerpoint, but I've not investigated that yet). Adding questions for the students to answer couldn't be easier and I've made a short video to show how to do it.

Take a look at the video here.

The handsets are quite chunky, and less "nickable" than the TurningPoint ones. They come in a very nice padded bag with a carry strap for ease of transport. The receiver was installed pretty quickly and it was really simple to import a class list into the Senteo Manager. I'll do some more tutorials soon to show how to do this.

First impressions are very positive. I set up a test, logged in some handsets and ran the quiz very quickly. Output to Excel was also simple. I don't know how good the data mining is yet, that's something else I need to investigate.

Will post more on here once I've had more of a play.

Smart 10 and Tables

Smart Notebook 10 now comes with a tool that a lot of Smartboard users have been wanting for a long time - the ability to make tables. It was always such a pain messing about with lines to draw a table, and it never lined up as easily. The new tables tool makes this so much easier!

The "Insert Table" icon is on the toolbar, next to the Select arrow. Click on it and choose the size of table you wish to add. It's no different to adding a table into Word.

What's nice about the tables is that you can drag images into cells - and the images will automatically resize to fit the cell.

You can merge cells by dragging to select them, then clicking the right mouse button and choosing "Merge Cells". You can also right click in a cell and choose Split - to split one cell into more.

Another interesting tool is the Cell Shade. Right click on a cell and choose "Add Cell Shade". This will add a mini version of the screen shade that just covers one cell. Click on the shade to remove it. This would be good for hiding answers or additional help. You can see the cell shade on a few cells in the image below:



I have produced a quick video about the Smart 10 tables tool. You can view the video here.

Doctor Who Trailer Maker

Doctor Who has been a part of my life since I was a kid, hiding behind the sofa when the Daleks came on the screen. The "new" series is now on Season 4 and I've been really enjoying it so far, even if it does have that awful Tate lady (TATL) as an assistant.

The BBC have embraced a lot of the interactive features of the Internet, and their Doctor Who website is no exception.

The Comic Maker was pretty cool but I really like their Trailer Maker.

It allows you to make a 30 second trailer using clips, music and sound effects and then save your effort to share with others. It's great fun and has great potential for using with a class.

You can see my quick effort here. It's not much, but gives you an idea of what you can do with it.

I have a feeling the site won't be accessible outside the UK I'm afraid. But for UK teachers - get your class creating!

Magic Pen Game

No, not related to my earlier post about the Smart Magic Pen, but more related to my post about Phun the other week.

Thanks to Science Punk for linking to another fun little Real Physics application called Magic Pen.

Magic Pen is like Phun in that you use a crayon to draw objects that then behave on the screen as if they were real. Balls roll, oblongs topple down under gravity etc. This time, there's an actual objective. You need to get the little ball to the flag. You might need to just roll a ball into it to make it move, or you could build a more complex solution.

It's very neat, and would be great on an IWB as a lesson starter activity.

Play Magic Pen here: http://magic.pen.fizzlebot.com/

The Magic Pen

One of the small niggles I had with Smart 9 was that there was no spotlight tool on the toolbar in Smart Notebook. I know you could get it via the floating toolbar, but it annoyed me that I couldn't get it quickly in Notebook without having to use workarounds.

So I was really happy when I was first shown a beta of Smart Notebook 10 with the tool called the Magic Pen.

The Magic Pen is brilliant.

If you write with the Magic Pen it stays on the screen for a few seconds and then fades away. This is great for adding quick annotations that you don't want to last - underlining an area on the screen, circling a key point etc.

If you draw a circle on the screen with the Magic Pen then it automatically turns into a Spotlight tool! This is my favourite!

If you draw a rectangle on the screen it will turn into a magnifyer - making an area of the screen larger. Good for making text larger such as web addresses etc.

Here's a quick video that shows how to use the Magic Pen. I made this with the beta but couldn't show them due to the NDA, which is why it talks about being the second video... I can't find part 1!!

http://www.screencast.com/t/WBCypM5Pcn0

The IWB Challenge

I just wanted to direct you to the blog of Jess McCulloch who has decided that April is Interactive Whiteboard month and has been writing about her use of the IWB to teach Modern Foreign Languages. Read part 3 here, which has links to the previous posts.

As well as Jess, three other teachers at My Languages, The Langwitch Chronicles and Sans Problemes have also taken up the IWB challenge and written about their experiences. I'm looking forward to seeing more as they continue the challenge.

This has also been linked to the Passion Quilt meme, where teachers blog about what they are most passionate about in education. Again, well worth a look.

There is a growing network of inspirational teachers sharing their ideas on the Internet for others to use to develop their own teaching. I always love stumbling across a new one, there are some truly inspirational ones out there.

Smart Notebook 10 Toolbar

I've always found it useful when doing IWB training to give teachers a sheet with all the icons on the toolbar and what they do. Many teachers like to print this off and stick it on the wall next to their IWB.

Here is my new guide to the Smart Notebook 10 toolbar. If you want, you can download it as a pdf file here.



In the future I'll do a post that explains what each of these buttons actually does.

YAYTB

or.. Yet Another You Tube Downloader

ConvertTube is yet another website that will let you download YouTube videos and save them as different file formats to use offline. Again, handy for teachers that can't get YouTube at school.

http://www.converttube.com/

Thanks to Lisa Thumann for the link.

IWB Research

I'm using this post as a bit of a brain-dump to collate some research articles. I haven't read any of them yet, but am linking them here to remind me to start going through them.

The ICT Impact Report: A Review of Studies of ICT Impact on Schools in Europe.
http://insight.eun.org/shared/data/pdf/impact_study.pdf

MILLER, D. J. (2006). The magic box – enhancing interactivity, Mathematics Teaching, 197, pp. 28-31. http://www.atm.org.uk/mt/archive/mt197files/ATM-MT197-28-31.pdf

MILLER, D.J., GLOVER, D., AVERIS, D., & DOOR, V. (2005). From technology to professional development: How can the use of an interactive whiteboard in initial teacher education change the nature of teaching and learning in secondary mathematics and modern languages? Training and Development agency, London. Report made to the Teacher Training Agency.
http://www.ttrb.ac.uk/attachments/0d65acf3-488a-4fca-8536-918d6dafd694.pdf

MILLER, D.J., GLOVER, D., & AVERIS D. (2005). Developing Pedagogic Skills for the Use of the Interactive Whiteboard in Mathematics, British Educational Research Association, Glamorgan
http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/ed/iaw/docs/BERA%20Paper%20Sep%202005.pdf

MILLER, D.J., GLOVER, D., & AVERIS D. (2005). Presentation and pedagogy: the effective use of interactive whiteboards in mathematics lessons. In Hewitt, D. & Noyes, A., Proceedings of the sixth British Congress of Mathematics Education, BSRLM proceedings, vol. 25 (1), pp. 105-112. London: British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics.
http://www.bsrlm.org.uk/IPs/ip25-1/BSRLM-IP-25-1-14.pdf

GLOVER, D., MILLER, D.J & AVERIS D. (2004) Panacea or prop: the role of the interactive whiteboard in improving teaching effectiveness, the Tenth International Congress of Mathematics Education, Copenhagen
http://www.icme-organisers.dk/tsg15/Glover_et_al.pdf

Interactive Whiteboards and Learning: A Review of Classroom Case Studies and Research Literature
http://dewey.uab.es/pmarques/pdigital/es/docs/Research%20White%20Paper.pdf
(SMART Technologies Inc. , Apr 2004)

MILLER, D.J & GLOVER, D. (2001) Missioners, Tentatives and Luddites: leadership challenges for school and classroom posed by the introduction of interactive whiteboards into schools in the United Kingdom, part of the Symposium: New Technologies and Educational Leadership at the British Educational Management and Administration Society Conference, Newport Pagnell, UK.
http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/ed/iaw/Missioners.pdf

Delivering E-Learning Using Interactive Whiteboards
http://www.e-learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/whiteboards.htm
(E-Learning Centre, United Kingdom, 2004)

List of resources on interactive whiteboards and how to use them.

What the Research Says About Interactive Whiteboards.
http://web.archive.org/web/20061208064641
(British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA)ICT Research, Coventry, U.K., 2003)

How is the Interactive Whiteboard Being Used in the Primary School and How Does This Affect Teachers and Teaching
http://www.virtuallearning.org.uk/whiteboards/IFS_Interactive_whiteboards_in_the_primary_school.pdf
Cogill, Julie. (Virtual Learning, 2002)

Interactive Whiteboards.
http://www.peterli.com/spm/resources/articles/archive.php?article_id=1705
Kollie, Ellen
Explains features of interactive whiteboards, illustrated with cases where they have helped students who are mildly learning disabled, autistic, or have low test scores.
School Planning and Management; v47 n1 , p88-90 ; Jan 2008

Whiteboards Inc. Interactive Features Fuel Demand for Modern Chalkboards.
http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2007/09/12/02board.h01.html
Davis, Michelle R.
Digital Directions; Sep 12, 2007

The Case for Interactive White Boards in the Classroom
http://www.scholarsearchassoc.com/MICRA020503.htm
DeCraene, Tom
Scholar Search Associates; 2006

How Can You Use Research Evidence to Enhance your Mathematics Teaching?
NCETM 2007
http://www.ncetm.org.uk/files/140592/NCETM+Evidence+Bulletin.pdf

Embedding ICT in the Literacy and Numeracy Stages.
Higgins et al. Newcastle University (2005)
http://partners.becta.org.uk/page_documents/research/univ_newcastle_evaluation_whiteboards.pdf

Articles taken from here and here. Others are included on this list that I haven't linked to, but may be useful. When I get round to it, I'll try and draw some of these together.

Why IWB

I stupidly got into an argument on the TES forum yesterday with two guys who are not in favour of IWB's and have made their feelings clear on several threads. They wanted to be convinced as to what the IWB could offer over and above just presenting using a laptop and data projector.

I thought it might be useful to add my thoughts here as well.

Here is my response;

I have no doubt that you can do a lot with a PC and a data-projector - even more so if you couple that with a wireless mouse/keyboard and wireless slate which could be passed around the class.

And for showing video clips, powerpoint presentations etc, this is fine. If you want the students to sit and watch something.

The Review Project, when they looked into the use of IWBs said this

*****************************
Anecdotally, teachers who have taught firstly with a data projector and then with the addition of a whiteboard all say that they would feel very awkward having to return to their computer each time they want to do something on screen. One remarked that he didn’t feel part of the class when working on his computer. The students are looking at the screen while the teacher is talking somewhere else in the class. With a IWB the focal point is both the teacher and the screen.
*****************************

With just projector and laptop the lesson is disjointed. Kids are focussing on one area of the classroom while the teacher is in another. An IWB puts the teacher at the focal point alongside the materials

With a laptop and projector there is more chance of the teacher just "presenting" and pupils being spectators. The boards allow better interaction with the materials - annotating over the top.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of training, teachers still use the IWB to present and there is little interactivity.

Like I said, I agree there is other tech out there too - a tablet PC and projector could do a lot of what is done on an IWB in terms of annotation, interaction, but again you still have the disjointed classroom.

And I say again, It's not about the clipart - you're taking a point I made out of context. But for some teachers, having a ready made resource bank that they can quickly access really helps speed up the creation of lesson materials. The Smart Lesson Activity Toolkit with its interactive flash games, or some of the Promethean flash materials and see how they could be used for lesson starters and plenaries. Yes you can find these online if you know where to look, but many teachers don't have the time to do this

A lot of boards are being used badly, by teachers who haven't been trained on how to get the most out of them, or who just want to "present" to a class rather than interact with them. This needs to be addressed with CPD.

Take a look at the blogs that are appearing from young teachers who have embraced this tech and are doing some amazing things with it to enhance the teaching and learning of whatever subject they are delivering. All agree that there is something that the board adds that makes it more than just a projector

for example Joe Dale's blog: http://snipurl.com/251qt

More research articles (for and against) can be found here;
http://www.schoolfacilities.net/rl/interactive_whiteboards.cfm


If anyone else can post "a defence of the IWB" then it may be worth adding to the thread.

Smart Lesson Toolkit

A while back I wrote about the beta version of the Smart Lesson Activity Toolkit, which was a fantastic way of adding interactive elements to your Smart Notebook page.

Well, with the release of Smart Notebook 10, the full version of the Lesson Activity Toolkit has been released.

If you don't yet want to upgrade to version 10, but want the new Lesson Toolkit, then you can download it separately via this page. Installation instructions can be found there too as well as some videos on how to get the most out of it.

Smart Notebook 10 Released

Quick blog post as it's late as I've just been watching the season openers for Battlestar Galactica, my favourite show! But I wanted to get the following onto my blog, and will write more another time.

Anyway, The final release version of Smart Notebook 10 is now available for download!

You can download the software and any new drivers here.

Please note that the version on this page is a 30 day trial version, it looks like Smart are taking steps to stop people buying lesser whiteboards and running Smart Notebook on them. Be aware of this before upgrading version 9.7

To activate and get hold of the full version, you will need to know the serial number of your Smartboard (or other Smart product such as an Airliner slate) and visit the registration page. One serial number will do multiple installations - so you can still activate your classroom version and your home version for preparation purposes.

More information about Smart Notebook 10 when I get a chance tomorrow.

Update: Some more information, and a few new demos to watch on the new Smarttech Notebook page at: http://www.smarttech.com/notebook

Download YouTube Video

I've given a few links before to sites that allow you to download YouTube videos.

Well now I have another one to add to the list. This Script can be added to the toolbar of the Firefox web browser. When you see a video you want to save, click the button and then the page changes to allow you to save the file as an .mp4 video file.

All the instructions are on the page and it seems relatively straightforward. The thing to remember is to change the filename from .htm to .mp4 when you save it.

Obviously it goes without saying that you need to be aware that you may be infringing copyright by storing these clips - but this does provide a good workaround for those teachers who want to show a YouTube clip in a lesson where the school have blocked YouTube access.

Smart Seminars

If you are a school in the UK you may be interested to hear about a series of seminars that Steljes/Smart are running at venues around the UK. Or you can have the session come to you!

The sessions will focus on getting the most out of your Smart board as well as a demonstration of Smart Notebook 10 and Senteo, their new voting system. You can view a course agenda here.

These sessions are taking place during April/May in 5 locations around the UK. For more information on the locations, and to register a place then click here.

If the dates don't suit you, Steljes can also arrange to have an approved Smart trainer (like me!) come into your own school to run a twilight 60-90 minute session with your staff. Even better, if you arrange this as part of a cluster of 5 schools then they'll pay your school £100 as a hosting fee.

If you are based in the South-East of England, then there's a chance it will be me delivering this session. If that interests you, then get in touch with me and i can explain more. Otherwise get in touch with Steljes on 08450 724800 and they can explain more about this and organise a more local trainer for you.

If you have Smartboards in your school, and you feel you haven't been making the most effective use of them, or you feel you'd like to see what's new or maybe get a look at the Senteo voting kits, then its well worth getting in touch with Smart and having a free training session.

Video Screenshots

One of the really useful features of most IWB software is the ability to be able to take screenshots from videos and use them in your presentations. Both Smart Notebook and ActivStudio have a camera tool that allows quick screenshots to be made.

This can also be done using the Print Screen button on any computer and then pasting the resulting image into Word or Powerpoint.

One issue I often come across when demonstrating this to teachers is that instead of a picture from the video they get a black box instead. This mainly happens with avi or mpg files that open in Windows Media Player. Quicktime videos seem to work OK all the time.

There is a setting in Windows Media Player that you need to change to be able to take screen grabs. It's pretty straightforward, and once done should not need to be done again.

Firstly - open up a video file and right click on the icon in the bottom left corner of the window (It may look like a small thumbnail of the video):

From the menu that appears, choose Tools > Options

From the tabs at the top of the window, click on Performance and then the Advanced button.

From the window that appears, find the option for Use Video Mixing Renderer and click in the box next to Use Overlays to remove the tick.

Then click on OK a few times. When it asks you if you want to continue with the change click on Yes.

The video should now be able to be captured using either the Camera tool in the IWB software you are using, or with the Print Screen button (and then paste into whatever application you are using)

I have also created a Video Tutorial to show you how to do this. Apologies if the sound is a little quiet.



Hope this helps!

Effective Presentations

Here is my first attempt at using SlideShare to share a PowerPoint presentation I have used in the past.

The presentation covers some of the advice I give to teachers when using PowerPoint or Interactive Whiteboard software such as Smart Notebook or ActivStudio.

It's amazing how many teachers never check the IWB resources they make to see if they can actually be read from the back of their classroom. Often the text is too small, the background too busy and the colour combinations very bad.

This quick guide should help

| View | Upload your own

Next Generation Interfaces

Becta have just released the latest edition of their report into Emerging technologies for learning.

'Emerging technologies for learning' aims to help readers consider how emerging technologies may impact on education in the medium term. The publications are not intended to be a comprehensive review of educational technologies, but offer some highlights across the broad spectrum of developments and trends.

It should open readers up to some of the possibilities that are developing and the potential for technology to transform our ways of working, learning and interacting over the next three to five years.

You can access all the articles here, plus the previous editions.

One article of particular interest to this blog is the chapter entitled: Interactive displays and next generation interfaces by Michael Haller, Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences. This is an interesting look at the history of the Interactive Whiteboard as we know it, and a look at some of the new technologies that may well replace or enhance it in the near future such as Interactive Tables, Interactive Paper and Digital Pens.

Download the pdf file here

Biology on the IWB: 10 Quick Ideas

Here are some quick ideas for using an IWB for Biology teaching.

1. Sequence the stages in Mitosis or Meiosis using images or statements

2. Drag and Drop animals and arrows to create Food Chains and Webs

3. Label diagrams of the various body systems using images captured from the Internet or from the gallery.

4. Investigate genetic crossing using drag and drop punnet squares. In Smart you could use the Infinite Cloner on the B and b, or just stack several letters on top of each other so when you drag one down, the rest remain.

5. Use the camera to capture pictures from the internet to illustrate a lesson on the dangers of alcohol and smoking. Or use the Inside Body powerpoint presentations from the ASE site as a source of images.

6. Sort foods into 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' foods, then use as basis for a discussion about whether there is actually any such thing as an unhealthy food.

7. Simulate how to use a quadrat before going out into the field using random dots and a square annotation, or the square spotlight tool.

8. Combine the IWB with a digital microscope to demonstrate and label slides as a whole class.

9. Keyword Plenary – pupils choose keywords from a selection, drag them into the middle of the screen and use them to explain one thing they’ve learned from the lesson.

10. Use a visualiser (Document camera) when carrying out dissections of the heart or flowers to make it easier for the whole class to see what is going on. Use the camera tool to capture images during the various stages of the dissection and add labels to the images. A cheaper alternative would be to use a webcam clamped to a retort stand

Smartboard Browser

I just found this post on the Smart Exchange forum by Quentin D'Souza of teachinghacks.com. He has written a fab little flash tool that you can add to a Smart Notebook page which will let you browse the internet within Notebook itself.

You can add it to the My Content area of your Gallery, and drag it onto a page whenever you want to use it. It's PC only for now, see the note from JoeS about it not working properly on Macs.

The instructions to use it are as follows:

a) To Bring Into Notebook

1. Right-Click on http://www.teachinghacks.com/files/Browser.swf and select 'Save Target As" and place on your desktop
2. Open up Smart Notebook
3. In Notebook - Select from Insert Menu "Flash File" and then locate the "Browser.swf" on your desktop
4. Drag the SWF in your Notebook file to your Gallery.

b) To Use:

1. Click on the Browser to Activate it
2. Enter the url and select enter.
3. Default Web Browser Opens to the Web Page You Entered.

Thanks Quentin for sharing this!

Whiteboards - a beginners guide #3

There are many different ways of interacting with the IWB to support teaching and provide learning opportunities.

Introduction: – Lesson starters, giving the lesson aims and objectives, “Awe and Wonder” introductions

Main body: Explaining practical work/tasks or illustrating main concepts. Using software/ simulations or other software.

Plenary: collecting in results, analysing data as a group, summarising the lesson aims (can easily call them back up from the screen used at the start of the lesson)

The following techniques can all play a role in each of these sections of the lesson.

1. Drag and Drop: This allows the user to move items – either text or pictures around the screen. This is ideal for matching activities, ordering items or labelling diagrams.

There are a range of uses for this simple technique:

• Sequencing – putting events into the correct order, eg steps in an experiment, phases of the moon, stages of digestion, timelines,
  


• Ranking – putting things in order of importance or magnitude eg electromagnetic spectrum in order of wavelength


• Matching – matching words to their definitions, putting matching halves of sentences together, characters and moods, sums and answers
  


• Sorting – eg renewable and non renewable energy sources, healthy and unhealthy foods


• Labelling – eg Putting labels onto diagrams


• Word Walls – drag words to fill in the gaps in cloze procedures.

2. Rub out to Reveal:this involves placing a layer of colour over the top of a word or picture in order to hide it. Use the eraser to reveal the hidden item. If you want to, you can cover the item in the same colour as the background – this makes the item invisible but you do need to remember what you have hidden underneath. Use this for hiding labels on diagrams, or words in sentences.

3. Annotating over Windows: Being able to write over the top of any other software (for example a CD ROM, an internet page or a Microsoft Office document) is very useful. Adding comments, highlighting items, writing additional notes, drawing arrows – all things that can be done by the teacher or by the pupils to discuss and analyse what’s on the board. For example adding annotations over a graph in Excel show how to read data from the graph or pausing a video of different levers and adding arrows to show the direction of different forces.

4. Screenshots: Bringing in resources from other software and the internet can be done easily by using a screenshot. This can be a whole screen, but it is often more useful to take an area screen shot. Google images can be a very useful source of pictures for all subjects. Please note that there are copyright implications and the pictures should only be used in teaching and not sold or widely distributed without the consent of the website owner.

5. Spotlight and reveal: Some whiteboard software allows you to place a spotlight over the area of the board where you want to focus the pupils’ attention. You can also use a reveal technique to show a bit of the board at a time.

6. Using simulation software: Using a combination of data projector and interactive whiteboard it is possible to interact with simulation software such as Crocodile Physics or Focus Science Investigations. The whole class can observe the experiment and suggest changes etc.

Nearly all the features discussed above are available whichever interactive board software you are using. What you need to do is take time to think about the interactivity of each page you create or each task you set.

Whiteboards - a beginners guide #2

There are many ways an IWB can benefits your teaching. Some of them are summarised here:

Motivation: Pupils say that they find it motivating because it is big, bright, and colourful and they can get more involved with the lesson. Teachers find it motivating because it opens up a wealth of resources from which they can select their teaching materials.

Use of images and colour: The IWB/Projector provides a much better quality of image over a traditional overhead projector acetate. This can make diagrams easier to understand. Photographs have more impact. Colour can be used on concept charts/brainstorms to link related ideas.

Use of multimedia: Watching a video has been possible in lessons using a video/dvd player and television but now including short bursts of multimedia is much easier with an interactive whiteboard. These can provide excellent lesson starters or form part of a plenary.

Items can be moved on screen: Text and pictures can be ‘dragged and dropped’ on screen. This can help with a variety of tasks (see below). Using traditional methods, this could only have been achieved through using cut-out pictures or words and blu-tac which was time-consuming for the teacher and may not have been as visually clear for the pupils.

Saving and retrieving materials: All teachers have banks of resources which they use from year to year. However, having them stored as computer files on a laptop or USB stick means that a teacher has all their resources with them all the time. Recapping at the beginning of lessons is proving to be very useful (reload last weeks notes) and saving completed lessons provides a record of work done. The sheer volume of material that can be accessed from a networked computer leaves a well-prepared teacher with a huge bank of resources to draw on. This would be almost impossible in a classroom with no computer.

Hard Copy: It is possible to print a copy of the notes that have been written onto the screen. This means that the teacher can have evidence of work carried out or a group could each be given the results of some collaborative work such as a brain storm task. The screens can be printed for revision purposes too.

Why not just use a Data Projector?

One question often raised is “Why have an interactive whiteboard?” Many teachers have already experienced the benefits of linking a computer to a projector but why not just work at the computer – what difference does it make working at the board?”

Research has provided two answers here:

1) being able to write on the board, either on a blank screen OR over the top of other software is very useful- you couldn’t write with a mouse – you would have to type and this isn’t as spontaneous.

2) working at the board: many pupils enjoy being able to come and work at the board. They perceive the position at the front of the class as being important and enjoy having the opportunity to make their point before their peers.

There is something almost theatrical about working at the board. The fact that a teacher can pick something up and move it in front of an audience and the fact that other events can be triggered by pressing on certain buttons. This could be done on a computer at the side of the board, but the visual impact is not as great and this creates a certain effect on the observer.

Anecdotally, teachers who have taught firstly with a data projector and then with the addition of a whiteboard all say that they would feel very awkward having to return to their computer each time they want to do something on screen. One remarked that he didn’t feel part of the class when working on his computer. The students are looking at the screen while the teacher is talking somewhere else in the class. With a IWB the focal point is both the teacher and the screen.

(source - The Review Project)

Whiteboards - a beginners guide #1

It might be useful to start at the beginning and explain a few basics for those readers who are coming here to find out about Interactive Whiteboards from the point of view of a complete beginner.

What is an interactive Whiteboard?

Wikipedia defines an Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) as

An interactive whiteboard is a large interactive display that connects to a computer and projector. A projector projects the computer’s desktop onto the board’s surface, where users control the computer using a pen, finger or other device. The board is typically mounted to a wall or on a floor stand.

Basically, an interactive whiteboard is a type of touch-sensitive computer screen. They are used in a variety of settings such as in classrooms of all levels of education, in corporate board rooms and work groups, in training rooms for professional sports coaching, broadcasting studios and more.

The basic kit consists of three parts

• The Whiteboard - touch sensitive
• A data projector
• A laptop or PC

The computer projects an image of the computer screen onto the Whiteboard. The user can then interact with the whiteboard screen and move the mouse pointer from the board, rather than having to use a mouse.

Some newer versions involve adding touch capabilities onto a very large LCD monitor. As the price comes down I can see this eventually replacing the need for the data-projector.

Most whiteboards do not have built-in speakers. But often they are bought as part of a kit that includes a speaker and amplifier to enhance the multimedia experience. A decent set of speakers is highly recommended when installing a whiteboard system in your classroom.

There are three main types of board:

1. Membrane / Resistive Boards

This uses several thin layers of material that are stretched across the front of the board. When the surface layer is touched it makes contact with other layers and causes the board to respond. The main type of board that uses this technology is the Smart Board.

Advantages: anything can be used to write on the board, different coloured pens and an eraser can be picked up without having to click on floating tool bars, generally cheaper than solid-state boards of a comparable size. Many children like the fact that they can move things on the board just using their finger. Very nice with SEN pupils.

Disadvantages: board is activated if touched by mistake (you can't lean on it), the surface could be more easily damaged than solid-state boards. If two children are working at the board they need to take turns to touch it as touching it at the same time will confuse the system.

2. Electromagnetic Boards

These boards have a durable hard surface that covers the mesh of electrical wires buried in the board. A special pen containing a magnet is used to interact with these sensors and activate the board. Some of these pens work on their own, others need batteries or to be recharged. Some boards come with a small writing tablet that can be passed round the class, and is used to enter information onto the main board. The main example of this type of board is the Promethean ActivBoard. Cambridge / Hitachi boards also work in this way.

Advantages: Durable surface, higher resolution, faster tracking speeds. Pupils near the board cannot interact accidentally unless they have the pen. Newer boards allow two pens to work at the same time.

Disadvantages: Will only operate with supplied pen (replacement pens can be expensive), changing pen colour or to erase mode requires clicking on floating tool bars. Pens can be prone to cracking or breaking. Buttons can stick and give odd effects.

3. Infrared / Ultrasound

these devices clip on to a conventional non-interactive whiteboard and give it some of the functionality of a 'true' interactive board. They consist of a receiver unit attached to the edge or the corner of the board or flipchart and a set of large pens that transmit a signal to the receiver unit when pressure is applied to the tip. Examples of this kind of system include Mimio and EBeam.

Advantages: Very cheap (about a fifth of the cost of dedicated boards), very portable, comes with several different coloured pens and eraser.

Disadvantages: Pens are big and bulky and use batteries or need charging. The system is more fiddly to set-up and does not respond as quickly or accurately as other technologies. Often the software supplied is quite lacking in features when compared to that supplied with "proper" interactive whiteboards.

Software

The whiteboard is simply an input device that gives the user control of the computer where their finger/pen becomes the mouse. Any computer software can be used on an interactive whiteboard in exactly the same way if you were sitting at the computer.

Most boards will come bundled with their own software which allows the board to be used like a regular whiteboard - but the notes you write can be saved, stored, manipulated, printed. They allow multiple pages, banks of clipart, different page backgrounds such as graph paper and desktop capture.

Not all software works the same way and allows the user a simple interactive experience. If you are buying a board - please test the software out first. Usually you are tied to the software provided. The cheapest boards often come with very user-unfriendly software. This can be a false economy if your teachers then do not use the board because they cannot do the things they want to do easily.

Also be aware of the TDS ActivBoard. TDS is the parent company to Promethean and they sell a board which is almost identical to a Promethean ActivBoard - and does come a lot cheaper. Unfortunately, what is not usually explained is that it does not come with ActivStudio/ActivPrimary software and that this software will not run on the boards. Again you are saving money but getting the useful software that will make using the board a much better experience. I have been in so many schools that have bought these boards thinking they are Promethean boards.

Smart and Promethean do generally have the best software, and are the two boards I would recommend. It then becomes an issue of whether you want to use your pen or your finger and this can be a personal preference.

Science Notebook Files

Two years ago I produced a pack of Smart Notebook files for Steljes, the distributors of Smartboards over here in the UK. They formed part of a teachers pack that was distributed to schools around the UK.

The files were also available via the Steljes Software site. For now, that site is no longer up, and the files are no longer available online.

I have copied the files onto my Think Bank website so that Smartboard users can still access them. Each file has a corresponding teachers' guide in pdf format.

The six lesson packs cover the following topics:

• The Blast Furnace (KS4)
• Cells (KS3)
• Forces (KS3)
• Metals (Ks3)
• Muscles and Joints (KS4)
• Reflection and Refraction (KS4)

To download the files, and the corresponding teachers guide, click here.

Smartboard Spotlight

James Hollis over at Teachers Love Smartboards has posted a link to a great video about how to use the Spotlight tool in Smart Notebook.

I love the Smartboard tool, its a very fun tool for focusing attention on one part of the screen and removing any distractions.

I commented on James' post about how you can access the spotlight without being attached to the board, but I thought it was worth posting it here too.

Basically on your computer go to the C:/ drive and Program Files.. look for a folder called Smart Technologies Inc, open it and then open a folder called Smart Board Software... in here will be a file called Spotlight.exe.

Copy this file to your desktop, or make a shortcut to it and put that on your desktop. Then all you need to do is run this file/shortcut to run the spotlight on your desktop.

Cool eh?

It's a shame that the spotlight tool isn't on the toolbar of Smart Notebook. You can access it via the Floating Toolbar though (if you customise it a little). I can't wait for version 10 to come out which, if you've seen the videos Smart released, has a Magic Pen tool that will create a spotlight wherever you draw a circle... which is just fantastic (OK, I am easily pleased!)

Google Sky

Previously only available via Google Earth, which you had to download and run locally, Google have now made Google Sky available online to access anywhere with an internet connection.

Now you can browse the night sky and zoom in on any interesting galaxies or star clusters that you like.

Google Sky via kwout

If you haven't tried them, also check out Google Mars and Google Moon for surface maps based on information from various Moon and Mars missions.

Remember you can use the camera function in your interactive whiteboard software to make any screengrabs from any part of the map and bring it into your IWB software to annotate over the top. You can also put these images into your resource library/gallery for later use.

Whiteboard training day - links

A big thanks to those who came to London today for the Lighthouse IWB training day. It was good to meet you all. I hope some of you are now checking out this blog.

I'll put in this post some of the links that cropped up on the day.

How to save YouTube videos
A good guide on how to do it from Teachers Love Smartboards
Video Downloader for FireFox
ZamZar.com

Saving Flash Animations
SWF catcher for Firefox
Flash Saver for Firefox
Flash Saver for Internet Explorer

Smartboard Training Materials
Printable Materials and Two Minute Tutorials here.

Promethean Training Materials
Training Manuals from Promethean
Top tips on using Promethean boards

Getting Smar