ActivInspire Training Videos and Resources
Here are two very handy links if you are an ActivInspire user and are looking for ActivInspire training materials.
ActivInspire flipchart creation help and resources : This wiki has some very useful ActivInspire helpsheets and handouts, including help on using containers and actions. There are sheets for other software such as Audacity, Excel and Photostory too.
ActivInspire Training videos : These videos, produced by Denver Public Schools, cover many features of ActivInspire and are well worth a look for some extra help.
Dont forget my ActivInspire training videos here, and please get in touch to book ActivInspire training/CPD for your school or college.
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Annotate Word Documents with Promethean ActivMarker
This post was inspired by a Promethean ActivInspire training session that I delivered recently. An English teacher wanted to annotate on top of Word documents, but didn’t want to use the transparent flipchart, or capture sections of text with the camera and annotate them within ActivInspire.
It is possible to do this, using a little known tool that comes bundled with ActivInspire called ActivMarker. It’s a slightly hidden feature and many Activ users don’t seem to know about it, which is a shame as it’s a handy feature.
To launch ActivMarker go to the Start menu and click on -> All Programs -> Activ Software -> Activ Inspire -> Activ marker
Once launched, the next time you open Microsoft Word you will notice a new floating tool over on the right hand side of the window, which looks a bit like this:
To start writing, click on the Pen icon, then start drawing over the top of your Word document. Or click on the highlighter to highlight different words. You can change pen size and colour.
The annotations will be added as clip art into your document. This will work with any Microsoft Office application, including PowerPoint and Excel.
When you save the document you can save it with these extra annotations, and call it back in the future. Or quit without saving to keep your document pristine.
Don’t forget if you want to annotate over PDF files you can use the File -> Import feature to import the PDF file into ActivInspire. It will put each page of the PDF onto it’s own page of the flipchart. Use the Page Zoom tool to zoom in and out to display the text larger on the screen if you wish. You (and your students) can then annotate on top of the flipchart – good for group editing tasks, or examination technique using past exam papers.
If you are a SMARTboard user you also have a similar feature to ActivMarker, called InkAware, which runs automatically.
Let me know what you think of ActivMarker in the comments section.
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Promethean ActivInspire Training Resources
Here’s a summary of the Promethean ActivInspire (and ActivStudio) training resources that you’ll find in the Guides section of this blog.
Promethean Helpsheets
- Using Desktop Tools in Activinspire
- Making an Anagram Starter in ActivInspire
- ActivSoftware Inspire Studio Toolbars
- ActivSoftware Inspire Primary Toolbars
- Activstudio 3 Toolbars
- ActivExpression voting guide
- Promethean ActivInspire – Adding Graph Paper and Grids
- Check your Interactive Whiteboard Gallery
- Moving between IWB Platforms
- Screencasting with IWB Software
- Creative use of colour in IWB files
- Lesson Starter Ideas for your Whiteboard
Promethean Training Videos
- Making an Anagram Game in ActivInspire
- Desktop Tools and Screen Capture in ActivInspire
- ActivSoftware Inspire Edition – A first look
I am working on some more guides and resources, watch this space!
Also take a look at the Promethean section of this blog, which has lots of other articles I’ve written that you might find useful.
Other websites
The official guides and resources can be found on PrometheanPlanet.
A great wiki of resources from Tom Cooper : http://promethean.york.wikispaces.net/su10training
Some useful resources from Technology Resource Teachers
The Promethean Playground : http://prometheanplayground.wikispaces.com/
Promethean ActivInspire CPD/INSET
Don’t forget, you can book me to deliver Promethean ActvInspire training, check out my Think Bank website or just get in touch for details.
Read MorePromethean ActivInspire 1.6 released
Promethean have recently released version 1.6 of their ActivInspire software. If you are already an Inspire user then it’s free to upgrade.
As well as some bug fixes and feature tweaks there are new features such as an equation editor to allow you to create equations and add them into the flipchart page. These can be edited once on the page. To use the equation editor go to Insert and Equation.
To upgrade – open ActivInspire, choose “Configure” from the Dashboard, then choose Check for Updates. Choose to run the update and have the latest version installed on your computer.
Keep an eye out on Promethean Planet for a breakdown of the changes and updates in 1.6.
Don’t forget, for Promethean training check out my Think Bank website.
Read MoreCheck your Interactive Whiteboard Gallery
One of the issues that I find when I go into schools to deliver Smart or Promethean whiteboard training is that quite often the software on teachers computers is not installed completely. The software will work fine, but the bank of resources that’s comes as part of the install is often missing.
This is a real shame as, on both Smart and Promethean boards, the gallery contains loads of very useful images and interactive resources that can add additional impact to your lesson resources.
I find that it’s an unknown unknown situation – most teachers don’t know the resource library should be there – so they don’t know what they are missing out on. And often when it’s installed the technicians don’t know to install it either. So it’s only when a whiteboard trainer comes in that they can see what they’re missing.
So, if you are a Smart or Promethean user, here’s what to look out for.
Smart Notebook 10
In Smart Notebook, click on the 2nd tab on the side of the screen – it looks like a picture frame – to open the gallery. You should hopefully have a folder called Gallery Essentials. It might, in earlier installs, be called Essentials for Educators. Click on the plus to the side of the folder to open it up and see the subfolders.
You should also have a second folder called Lesson Activity Toolkit. This contains lots of different interactive resources which can be used to build simple interactive activities such as sorting, labelling and hangman games.
A cut down gallery is normally always installed – this is the Gallery Sampler. It contains a small fraction of some of the resources of the rest of the gallery.
If the gallery essentials is not there – you can try and install it yourself by doing a “Check for updates” from the help menu – but this may not always work on a school install where the admins have locked things down.
I’d suggest you point your network technicians to the Administrator Downloads page where they can download the Gallery Essentials and Lesson Activity Toolkit as zip files and install them sitewide.
Promethean ActivInspire – Studio View
In ActivInspire the resources are known as Shared Resources. In Studio view it can be found on the Resource Browser on the side of the screen – click on the image of the clapperboard/musical note and then the image of the multiple heads. If you can’t seen the browser, then make it appear by going to View and then Browsers.
Click on the plus to open up each category – the bulk of the clip art and subject resources should be found in a folder called Subjects. You might also want to look in Grids for various graph papers.
If the subject resources are not here you should be able to download the Resources file via Promethean Planet here.
ActivInspire – Primary View
In ActivInspire Primary mode the resources are slightly different to Studio mode. You can open it by clicking on the clapperboard/musical note icon from the toolbar on the right hand side of the screen.
The Resource Gallery will open at the bottom of the screen. You might not see anything in there yet. In the bottom right of the screen you should see a yellow button with a triangle on it. Click that to open up the index of resources. The button with several heads on it should open the shared resources. Like the studio mode the subject resources should be there under Subjects.
If the subject resources are not here you should be able to download the Resources file via Promethean Planet here.
So that’s it – do check your gallery is installed. And if it isn’t have a word with the network technician about getting it installed. Send them a link to this page.
Good luck!
Don’t forget, for Promethean training check out my Think Bank website.
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Moving Between IWB Platforms
This post is in response to a question raised on the Whiteboard Blog Facebook Page. Stephen Taylor wanted to know what his options were when moving away from a SMART school to a school that uses other boards. There are a few options open to teachers in that position. And also for those teachers heading the other way, away from Promethean boards.
Moving away from SMART
1. Import into ActivInspire
If you are currently using SMARTboards in your current school, you’ll probably have a lot of SMART notebook files. If your new school is using Promethean ActivInspire then you should be able to import these notebook files straight into the new software. Activ Inspire will do a little converting, but you should be able to retain most of the formatting, with only a little touching up needed.
This may not always work, depending on file versions and versions of ActivInspire/Smart Notebook used to save/open the files.
Look under File -> Import -> Smart Notebook File
2. Export as PowerPoint
In SMART Notebook, you can export your files as PowerPoint format. This will allow them to be used on any IWB or even just a projector. You can find this feature under File -> Export -> PowerPoint
3. Save into the Common .IWB format
SMART Notebook 10.7 and higher will let you export as a CFF – Common File Format – file. This has the extension .iwb and should in theory let you transfer your files to other IWB software such as Easiteach which also supports this format. At present ActivInspire does not use these files. Use the same menu as above, and select CFF instead.
4. Use Smart Notebook Express
Smart Notebook Express (http://express.smarttech.com/) lets you open Notebook files via your web browser. This won’t let you legally run Notebook content on another board, but it will give you access to your resources once you’ve moved schools.
Moving away from Promethean
Your options are a little more limited moving this way. ActivInspire no longer allows export in PowerPoint format like the very early versions (and ActivStudio) did. Which is a shame. Likewise it does not (yet) support the common .iwb file format. If your files are in their .flipchart format, you’re pretty much tied to Promethean software I’m afraid.
1. Import into Smart Notebook
Smart Notebook does allow you to import from Promethean, but only the older .flp file format and not the newer .flipchart that ActivInspire uses. It’s a little flakey even then, and may not always work. But it is worth a try.
Look under File then Import. Make sure to select the file format to “All Promethean Files”
2. Import from PowerPoint
The same feature will also allow you to import PowerPoint files into SMART Notebook. Change the file type to “PowerPoint” and open. Again this may be a little flakey and need some work once converted. Of course, you can’t get your ActivInspire files into PowerPoint format, so this option is limited. Also if you do have PowerPoint resources you’ve been using at your old school they will work in PowerPoint at your new school. Import them into SMART notebook if you want to jazz them up a little.
3. Use ActivInspire Personal version
You can get hold of ActivInspire on a personal licence which will at least allow you to access your files and explore them from your computer. You could also purchase a full licence which you can legally use on other brands of interactive whiteboard
Other workarounds might be possible. If you know of any please let me know via the comments, or via email and I’ll add them to the blog post.
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Video Guide : Desktop Tools in Promethean ActivInspire
Another quick video tutorial. This time showing how to find the Desktop tools in Promethean’s ActivInspire software and use it to take screenshots.
More tutorials can be found on the Guides page.
Read MorePromethean ActivInspire 1.5 update released
The latest version of ActivInspire (v 1.5) is now available and ready to download. Most of the new features in this version have come about as a result of the new Activboard 500 Pro which has touch capability
This version of ActivInspire contains the following updates:
- Brand New Question Manager — Everything in one place to quickly create, edit and manage questions and question sets. Create a single question in seconds, generate question sets in an instant. Drag and drop, cut, copy and paste information and questions across pages and flipcharts.
- Dual User Pen and Touch Capability — Delivers new and extended learning opportunities – use with ActivBoard 500 Pro.
- Math Tools — European Set Square added to the math tools which possesses pen and touch capability when connected to an ActivBoard 500 Pro.
- Enhanced Self-Paced Learning — Supports Assessment for Learning activities with individual students, groups and whole classes. Teachers and students gain immediate feedback via meaningful data. New ‘Groups’ feature brings a new dimension to collaborative learning – greater engagement for the student, immediate information and analysis for the teacher.
- Six New Languages — Now available in Basque (Euskera), Catalan, Galician, Indonesian, Irish and Slovenian.
To update – open ActivInspire, click on Help and Check for Updates. The software will automatically download the most recent version which you can then install. Find out more on the ActivInspire download page.
Read MoreActivInspire Guides from Frederick County
A quick link to a really handy set of resources, from Frederick County Public School, Maryland USA.
Here are some excellent guides to using ActivInspire: https://sites.fcps.org/trt/promethean_activinspire
There is also an excellent blog with lots of useful information about Promethean whiteboards and other educational technologies.
Please be aware of the copyright on the resources. Use the resources for your own inspiration but if you want to reproduce them and pass them on you’ll need to contact the authors.
It’s a really great set of resources though. Definitely go take a look!
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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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