Announcing SMART Notebook Math 2009

I received this email from SMART yesterday. It should definitely be of interest to secondary maths teachers and KS2 school teachers. UK teachers, just stick an "S" after each use of the word Math ;)

"Math tools for SMART Notebook software are high on educators’ wish lists. This June, SMART will grant their wish with a beta version of SMART Notebook Math.

SMART Notebook Math extends the capabilities of SMART Notebook collaborative learning software by incorporating math-specific tools for teachers. With SMART Notebook Math, teachers and students can now create, solve or graph mathematical concepts directly in SMART Notebook.

SMART Notebook Math features include the following:

• Equation creation and editing
• Equation handwriting recognition
• Graphing tool
• Real-time linked relationships between tables, equations and graphs
• More shapes additional to those that come with SMART Notebook 10
• Shape manipulation and feedback
• Advanced-measurement tools
• Ability to launch and operate Texas Instruments™ emulators from within SMART Notebook

Details on pricing and sales tips for SMART Notebook Math will be provided later in the year.

To find out more. visit this page to sign up to receive the beta version of SMART Notebook Math."

I've signed up for the Beta, so hopefully will be able to let you know more about what this entails later this year. I would guess it's a suite of tools like the Lesson Toolkit - but it may also be something that "plugs into" Smart Notebook like the Senteo software does.

Watch this space.

Smart Notebook 10 Activation

I know that people are still having issues upgrading to Smart Notebook 10, so here's a quick post to explain how to do it.

For those of you who want to upgrade to Smart Notebook 10, the download process is a little more complicated than it used to be. You can't just download the Smart software and promise them that you are a valid Smart user anymore. You need to prove it by having a Smart product serial number.

Annoyingly you can't just use that serial number to activate the Smart software. You need to go to a website, use the serial number to have them send you a product key. Then you can use the product key to activate the Smart Notebook software.

In a nutshell you install a 30 day trial, then you need to activate it so it becomes a full version. If you don't activate it, then it stops working after 30 days.

You can read more about the process here: http://www2.smarttech.com/kbdoc/124761

The Process

First you should get yourself a product Key. So go to this page:

http://smarttech.com/nb10productkey/

On this page you need to know your Smart product serial number. This will be on the side or on the bottom of the smart board or on the back of your Airliner tablet. There's a guide to finding it here

http://smarttech.com/nb10productkey/FindYourSerial.aspx

For those of us on our summer break, you may not be able to do this until you get back to school. Don't panic, you can still install the software and activate it at the end of the 30 day trial.

Once you have entered your serial number, Smart will email you with a product key that you can use. You can use this product key on your classroom computer, but also on your home computer if you want to prepare resources away from the Smartboard.

Next you need to download the smart 10 software go to the software download page

http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Support/Downloads/SBS/NBSv10WinEval.htm

Download the "trial version" - this version is OK to use, once you have the product key we can activate it and make it work permanently and then install the file that you downloaded

If you did not type the product key during the installation, you can activate Notebook software after the installation.

1. Press the SMART Board icon in the notification area, and then select Welcome to Notebook.

2. Press the Help/Support tab.

3. Press Activate Software and the Software Activation dialog box appears.

4. Follow the on-screen instructions - this is when you will enter your product key that Smart emailed you.

Hope that helps!

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.

Smart 10 Beta released

Looks like they've finally released the Beta version of Smart Notebook 10. The placeholder download page now seems to work and I managed to download something ;)

Haven't installed it yet. As far as I know it won't run alongside Smart 9 so I will have to remove the old version. I may try it out on an older laptop first to avoid messing up my desktop.

Visit the download page here.

The Notebook software 10 beta version is available until February 29, 2008, so you have plenty of time to get hold of a copy and evaluate it. Don't forget to send your feedback to Smart via the feedback forms to help polish the final release.

If you are going to download this, please be careful. This is a beta version and so will still contain bugs and will probably crash and freeze on you. You can't install it on the same computer as your Smart 9.5 install without taking the old version off first. Files made with the new version will probably not be able to be opened with 9.5.

I would suggest you install this on a different computer to your main PC that you usually use on the SmartBoard or use for lesson preparation. Only install if you are keen to play with the new features or want to help with the testing of it. Don't expect it to be release-ready.