Smart Notebook 11 : Activity Builder Tutorial
Here’s a short video tutorial that demonstrates how easy it is to create a simple drag and drop activity in Smart Notebook 11 using the activity builder add-on.
As well as putting things into groups, you could also use this to add labels to diagrams. Simply create a small containing shape for each label, and have it accept the one correct answer and reject all the others. Very simple.
Let me know what you think of the activity builder in the comments below!
Read MoreAn 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?
Read MoreICT 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.
Read MoreSmart Notebook 11 announced
SMART have announced that the new version of Smart Notebook – version 11, will be released in the Spring. No exact date is given yet.
Headline features appears to be the ability to embed online content into your notebook files, an activity builder, and new tools such as the customisable creative pen, the crayon, and an updated table tool. I also like the sound of the embedded audio tool – easily record and add your own audio into a page.
Being able to add webpages and content such as YouTube videos etc sounds very interesting.
The full list of new features includes:
Embedded web browser: Insert web browsers directly onto a SMART Notebook software page and use tools to draw and write over web pages and drag and drop images into your lesson. You can also open the live page directly from within the lesson.
Activity builder: Create activities where objects react to actions by accepting or rejecting other objects or by triggering animations or sound. The activity builder is great for arranging, sorting and labeling and for creating VENN diagrams.
Enhanced contextual toolbar: Choose an object and the toolbar changes, so all the tools you need are right in front of you.
Crayon: Create authentic crayon drawings on a SMART Board interactive whiteboard.
Customized creative pen: Build your own creative pen using any image you choose.
Audio recording: Record sounds directly into your SMART Notebook lesson.
Shape image fill: Adjust the size of an image to fit into a shape.
Reset page: Use this feature to return your page to its last saved state.
New gestures: Shake objects to group and ungroup them.
Updated tables: Scale, move and interact with tables more easily.
New text engine: Provides improved text formatting and consistency within SMART Notebook.
Fade ink: Fade any regular ink.
There’s also going to be a SDK (software development kit) made available for developers to create their own widgets and applications. More here.
Some of these new features sound great – and would be great additions to an already good product.
I’m off to the BETT show tomorrow, so I am assuming that this will be being demonstrated on the SMART stands. If I find out any more, and get a chance to play with it, I’ll be sure to share what I find out on the blog here. Watch this space.
You can find out more here : http://smarttech.com/notebook11
Read MoreBack to School : Got a new interactive whiteboard?
So it’s mid-August and for many teachers the new school year has begun and for others it’s not too far away. Some of you will be starting at new schools and with that there’s a chance that you’ll be coming to terms with a new interactive whiteboard. You may already be familiar with whiteboards already, and are just starting at a school with a different brand.
Either way, here’s a summary of blogposts I’ve written in the past that hopefully will prove useful to you.
Photo Credit : Library Cart by Sweetjessie
For those changing whiteboard brands.
First of all, if you are moving to a new school with a different whiteboard, here’s a guide to moving between Smart and Promethean and vice versa
General IWB Ideas
Here are 8 ideas to keep it Simple when getting to grips with your interactive whiteboard. Stick to the basic tools and use them well.
In addition here are some Lesson Starter Ideas which are simple to make, yet very effective.
Also here’s a simple guide on the Creative use of colour in IWB files.
For some ideas of websites to use on your IWB take a look at 20 Interactive Whiteboard Resources for Teachers and 10 More Cool Teaching Resources for Your Whiteboard.
If you want to add more oomph to your presentations, check out Powerful Images to Give Lessons Punch and 12 Useful Image Search Tools.
If you want some ready-made IWB files you can find some here on my Think Bank website.
New SmartBoard Users
Getting hold of a copy of Smart Notebook. Download the latest version here. It will run as a 30 day trial version until you activate it.
How to activate your copy of Smart Notebook and What to do when the network technician says you can’t have a licence key.
Smartboard software guides are in the Guides section of this website, and all my Smart articles are here.
Do check that you have the Gallery installed. Click on the icon of a Picture on the side of Smart Notebook. You are looking for “Gallery Essentials” or “Essentials for Educators”
Get more resources from Smart over at the Smart Exchange.
New Promethean ActivInspire Users
To get hold of a copy of ActivInpsire : Download here. You will need a serial number from your ICT technician to make this copy work at home. Otherwise it will run as a trial version and then as a cut down personal version.
Promethean software guides are in the Guides section of this website, and all my Promethean articles are here.
Get more resources from Promethean over at Promethean Planet.
To everyone starting back at school – I hope the new term starts smoothly for you. Any whiteboard questions please get in touch. And if your school need any Smartboard or Promethean INSET sessions run then please let me know. I can do bespoke courses for any level of user. More of that over at my Think Bank website.
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SMART Notebook 10.8 released
SMART have released an update for Smart Notebook, taking it up to version 10.8. Currently the auto-updated won’t pick up the new version, you’ll have to go to the SMART website and download it.
So what’s new in 10.8? From the release notes:
Smart Notebook
- Compress image files, typically up to one-tenth the original size, to reduce overall file size
- Click a button within the software’s interface to link to the SMART Exchange website
- Access Mixed Reality Tools to explore and manipulate mixed reality and 3D content (Microsoft Windows only)
Smart Response
- Create answer keys for self-paced assessments with the answer key wizard
- Use multiple hardware remotes, including those from the Senteo, SMART Response PE, SMART Response LE, SMART Response XE and SMART Response VE interactive response systems – in the same assessment
- Superimpose SMART Response software tools and questions over websites and other applications, with a touch of a button.
I haven’t had a chance to test out the Smart Response changes. When I do I’ll write about them here. I was rather excited about the ability for Smart Notebook to handle 3D objects having seen this at BETT in January.
Sadly it appears that this will be a “premium” feature. If you have a Smart Document Camera plugged in this will unlock the feature. Or from what I understand from the Smart website you can purchase it. On Install you can test it out for a 30 day trial. It’s a shame as I can’t see the point of using the document camera to control the object – it just looked like a crowbarred-in way of finding another use for the document camera.
If I’ve missed out a way to do this after the 90 day trial, please let me know.
If you do take up the trial – or have a SMART document camera – then take a look in the Gallery Sampler and you will see a folder for 3D Objects which can be added to the page in the same way as any other notebook gallery item (drag and drop)
You can add any other Google Sketchup items, but you might need a little converting into .dae format. Instructions on how to do that are here. There’s also a link to the Google 3d Warehouse within the gallery.
You can download SMART Notebook 10.8 here. It appears there’s one version now that includes SMART response etc. The release notes are here.
Read MoreVideo Tutorial – Smart Notebook Desktop Capture
Another short video tutorial that shows how to use the Desktop Capture tools in Smart Notebook 10 to capture images from web pages and stills from video sites such as YouTube.
More tutorials can be found in the Guides section of this site.
Read MoreSmart Notebook Search Engine
While at the Teacher 2 Teacher conference, it was a pleasure to meet up with Obe Hostetter, who runs the Smartboard Revolution Ning. Obe has created a very useful search engine for finding Smart Notebook files – this used to be featured on the Smart Website but I can’t find it anymore!
You can access the Search Engine Here
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Smart Notebook 10.7 Released
SMART Board users should be aware that the brand-new Version 10.7 of the Notebook software is available for download now for free for all registered users.
I’m currently stuck in a Premier Inn on a dodgy 3G connection so I won’t be able to download a copy of this until later in the week. So for now I’ll have to quote from the press release.
New SMART Notebook 10.7 software features include:
Multi-touch experience* – Enables two users to interact with digital content simultaneously, with no special tools or multi-touch mode selection required
Freestyle interaction* – Enables two users to work together, performing different tasks, while working in the same SMART Notebook lesson, anywhere on the interactive whiteboard surface
Touch gestures* – Accepts common multi-touch gestures, including one- and two-finger gestures, such as pinching, zooming and tossing
Object awareness* – Distinguishes between a finger, pen, fist, eraser or other object to recognize what action the user is performing and responds accordingly, requiring fewer clicks to perform various tasks
Calligraphic pen – Selecting the calligraphic pen button in SMART Notebook 10.7 software will automatically stylize writing into regular, sleek lines
SMART Ink – Uses ink-smoothing algorithms to make handwriting look smoother and more refined
SMART Notebook software tutorials – Provide an overview of common features and tools that are available through the Help page
SMART product integration – Integrates seamlessly with most SMART hardware and software products, including the SMART Board 600 series interactive whiteboard and SMART Board 800 series interactive whiteboard
* SMART Board 800 series interactive whiteboard only.
The bulk of these features will only be of interest if you if you have one the new 800 series boards and can take advantage of the new multitouch features. But the Smart Ink, Calligraphic Pen and Software Tutorials should be useful for all users.
I’m hoping also that the common IWB file format has also been implemented, but I’ll need to download a copy first to check as it’s not mentioned in this press release. Watch this space. Also not mentioned was the ability to insert 3D Google Sketchup models.
You can download Smart Notebook 10.7 here. IMPORTANT: If you have SMART Response 2009 software or earlier, download and install the latest version on the SMART Response Downloads page.
Update - You can import and export the Common Whiteboard Format .IWB files from Smart Notebook 10.7. Use File -> Import or File -> Export to do this rather than using Save or Open. This does mean you can share files with software such as RM Easiteach.
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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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