The Whiteboard Blog

Interactive Transit of Venus Model

Danny — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:10:07 +0000

The folks over at the Sun Aeon website have put together a cool simulation of the 2012 Transit of Venus. which takes place on 5-6 June. It’s a neat way to demonstrate what’s taking place when Venus passes in front of the Sun in ths very rare astronomical event.

Take a look at : http://www.sunaeon.com/venustransit/

You can even get an embed code to host the model on your own school website or learning platform.

Interactive Transit of Venus Model The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

Integrating Promethean ActivExpression With BrainPOP

Danny — Fri, 11 May 2012 06:08:31 +0000

If you are a BrainPop user, did you know that you can use the quizzes on their excellent website with your Promethean ActivExpression or ActiVote handsets?

If you didn’t know that, and want to find out how, then here’s a guide by teacher Steve Figurelli on how to do this.

For additional information – click on either the BrainPop or BrainPop UK links below then click on the Quiz Integration tab. You’ll also find links to download the Flash Bridge software which does the integration between the Promtethean software and the BrainPop site.

You can also get more help, and watch a short video, via the BrainPopUK blog here.

If you are a BrainPop user you can also download a BrainPop resource pack which offers a set of cross-curricular resources for that you can use to create your own flipcharts and enhance your web-based lessons. It includes images of Tim & Moby, other fun visuals, graphic organisers and more. You’d need to be a Promethean Planet member to download, but it’s free to join.

If you haven’t seen BrainPop before, it’s an online subscription resource for ages 7–14 that delivers some excellent content for Science, Humanities, Maths, English, PSHE & Citizenship, Arts and Design & Technology. If you want to get a taste for what BrainPop is, take a look at their free movies, or download the free Movie of the Day app for your iPod/iPad. (UK Link / US Link)

And for Promethean ActivInspire Training and ActivExpression Training, please get in touch.

Integrating Promethean ActivExpression With BrainPOP The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

Smart Notebook App for Ipad Announced

Danny — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:09:18 +0000

Rumours of this app were leaked last week, then it all went quiet, so its good to see that there’s now an official announcement on the EdCompass blog. From this summer, teachers and students will be able to use SMART Notebook software on an iPad using the SMART Notebook app.

Using the SMART Notebook app, it will be possible to use many of the tools typically used on the SMART Board. It will be possible to open SMART Notebook file on their iPad, from an e-mail or site such as Dropbox, and write, erase, add text, move objects and insert images.

The app will be AirPlay enabled and so will supports AirPlay for Apple TV to share iPad screens.

More info is on the EdCompass Blog and also check this area of the Smart Website over the next few months.

I’m looking forward to finding out more!

Smart Notebook App for Ipad Announced The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

Using an iPad as an alternative to an interactive whiteboard

Danny — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:38:43 +0000

With more and more schools (and teachers) getting iPads, I’m increasingly being asked how a teacher can hook up their iPad to their interactive whiteboard.

There are several ways to use your iPad. The first is as a way to control your computer, and the other two involve connecting your computer directly to the projector, removing the IWB from the equation.

None of these methods let you connect your iPad to your IWB. That’s not possible right now.

1. Control your PC with Splashtop Remote

I’ve written about Splashtop Remote in the past. By using it, you can’t control the IWB directly – but you can control the computer thats connected to the IWB. The app requires you to also download and install some client software on the PC that you want to control. Both device also need to be connected to the same network for this to work. You can set up a password to prevent anyone just connecting to your PC.

The way the Splashtop app works is that when you connect to the PC, the PC’s screen is mirrored on your iPad’s screen. Simply touch and click on the icons as if you now had a touchscreen PC. This can be a problem with software that wasn’t designed for fat figners and so has small icons. You might want to pre-open something like Smart Notebook before you take control on the iPad.

Control of the computer isn’t perfect. And I do find the system can run a little slow sometimes, which can be frustrating. But if you do have an iPad it does open up a new way of using your computer/IWB setup.

The Splashtop app is only £1.49 on the UK app store, and the client software is free, so it’s not an expensive gamble. Check it out

2. Using a VGA Cable

A simple way to display the contents of your iPad screen to a class is to buy a VGA adaptor and connect the iPad directly to a projector in exactly the same way you’d connect a laptop. This works pretty well, although you are tethered by the cable and sometimes the connector can work loose. Not every app will work in landscape mode, so you do get some flickering as the mode shifts.

This does work very well with note taking apps such as Notability = especially if you invest in a cheap stylus to make writing easier.YouTube videos, BBC iPlayer and any movie files on the iPad will play very well.

Here’s a great blogpost by Marc Faulder about using an iPad hooked up to a projector via a VGA cable.

3. Using Apple TV

The other way to connect your iPad to a display is to buy an Apple TV device and connect that to your projector. You can then connect your iPad to the Apple TV over a wireless network. The Apple TV connects to your projector via an HDMI cable. If your projector does not support HDMI then you’ll need a converter.

This gives you the advantage of being able to be anywhere in the classroom, and to share your screen with the class. Many apps support “Air-Play” and you can also turn on “mirroring” which does the same thing as the VGA cable and display your iPad screen.

Also see this guide by Brad Ratcliffe which explains how to set up Apple TV in your classroom.

Other Links

Here’s some great advice on using Apple TV and other methods from James Hollis.

Have you tried any of these? Got any other good links to share? Put them in the comments!

Update : Just as I published this, there has been an official announcement from Smart about their forthcoming Smart Notebook iPad app. Looks interesting. More here.

Using an iPad as an alternative to an interactive whiteboard The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

TED-Ed : Lessons worth sharing

Danny — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 08:45:03 +0000

TED-Ed is the latest initiative by the people behind the popular TED talks. TED-Ed’s videos aim to capture and amplify the voices of the world’s greatest educators. They have paired educators with talented animators to produce a library of educational videos.

This platform also allows users to take any useful educational video, not just TED’s, and easily create a customized lesson around the video. Users can distribute the lessons, publicly or privately, and track their impact on the world, a class, or an individual student.

Like the Khan academy and other sites, resources like this may not be suitable for all classes and all students – use wisely. The animation aspect does make them feel more student-friendly than just a recording of someone giving a lecture.

The “flip this video” button allows you to turn a video into a customized lesson that can be assigned to students or shared more widely. You can add context, questions and follow-up suggestions. You’ll need to register with the site to do this.

Videos are hosted on YouTube so you’ll need to check your settings in school before using. Pupils will be able to access these at home quite easily.

For example, here’s a video about atoms:

To take a look at the videos available visit : http://ed.ted.com/lessons

TED-Ed : Lessons worth sharing The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

Science lectures from the Royal Institution

Danny — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:35:25 +0000

The Ri Channel is an online project by the Royal Institution showcasing the very best science videos from the Ri and around the web. The project continues the Royal Institution’s charitable mission to “connect people to the world of science”.

Alongside highlights from recent Ri events, the Channel features re-digitised footage from the Ri archive and a range of high-quality videos from filmmakers and scientific institutions across the UK and beyond.

You can also find an archive of past RI Christmas Lectures, with lectures by such greats as Sir David Attenborough and Carl Sagan. Excellent stuff.

Some of the videos can be embedded into a blog or VLE using a Vimeo embed code. Many also come with a subtitles and a full-text transcript too, which is very useful.

It’s an excellent resource and Science teachers should be able to find some great videos to use to supplement their lessons. Most videos will be suitable for KS3/4. The site is in beta, so expect some changes along the way, as well as more content being added. Well worth bookmarking.

Take a look at www.richannel.org

Science lectures from the Royal Institution The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

Smart Notebook 11 : Activity Builder Tutorial

Danny — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:54:17 +0000

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!

Smart Notebook 11 : Activity Builder Tutorial The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

Magnifying the Universe – visualise the big and the small

Danny — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:21:00 +0000

Here’s another cool tool to visualise objects and their relative sizes – from the very small to the massively large. Magnifying the Universe accurately illustrates the scale of over 100 items within the observable universe ranging from galaxies to insects, nebulae and stars to molecules and atoms. Numerous hot points along the zoom slider allow for direct access to planets, animals, the hydrogen atom and more. As you scroll, a handy dial spins to show you your present magnification level.

This would be very useful for both Science and Maths teachers. Would work well on an IWB but it’s flash-based so won’t work on iPads.

You can even get an embed code to use on your on class blog or VLE.

Try it out now at www.numbersleuth.org/universe/

And if you like this, also check out The Scale of the Universe tool too!

Magnifying the Universe – visualise the big and the small The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

Cloud Cuckoo World – A great site for KS2 MFL teachers

Danny — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:20:07 +0000

Cloud Cuckoo World is an new interactive website designed to support the delivery of languages at Key Stage 2 both at school and at home.

Developed by sister teachers, Sara and Louise Mason, their dual language stories cover the QCDA suggested topics for primary school children and aim to provide an accessible introduction to languages for children from 4 years upwards. The site has French language resources at launch, with more languages promised including Spanish, German and Welsh.

The website incorporates simple storytelling in an online interactive environment to help to foster an early enthusiasm for foreign language with each story focused around one particular character. The stories are all illustrated with eyecatching artwork by artist Sophie Green who has produced artworks for sites such as StoryNory.

The website is HTML-based rather than Flash, so will work just as well on iPads and other tablet devices. The site is simple to navigate and the pages aren’t too “busy”

Each story contains audio of the main text read out in english, with the foreign language words being read out in a different voice. Once played these words can be read out again by clicking on the loudspeaker icon next to each word, or the whole paragraph can be read out again.

Each story comes with a glossary page containing the entire word list, and also suggested activities to do in the classroom.

As well as the stories, there are also Cloud Cuckoo Places which outline lists of vocabulary specific to a certain area – such as around the house, at school, at the zoo or at the cafe. You can click on the hotspots on the image, or view a glossary of words.

I really liked it! It’s a great-looking site that will provide a very handy additional resource for teachers.

The site requires a subscription to access all the resources, but it’s not very expensive. A multi-user account costs £50 for the year and a single user costs £10 a year. Some resources are free – so you can take a look and see what you think of the site.

Take a look at www.cloudcuckooworld.com. Let me know what you think in the comments!

No related posts.

Cloud Cuckoo World – A great site for KS2 MFL teachers The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom

Smart Notebook 11 – A first look at the new version

Danny — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:27:54 +0000

The wait is nearly over and Smart Notebook 11 is set to be released on 23rd April. (Edit : It’s here.) I’ve been lucky enough to download a copy early and have a sneak peak of the new version of the Smart software and see how much it has changed since it was previewed at BETT back in January. Thanks to the folks at Smart for letting me have a copy.

I’ll try and sort out some videos in the near future that demonstrate some of the new features, and I will also have to update some of my training materials, but for now here’s an initial run through of some of the things that caught my eye.

The first thing that caught my eye is the redesigned main toolbar. This was beginning to get quite cluttered by version 10.8 and not every tool would fit on the single row. The new toolbar has two rows so more tools can fit on. As before you can customise the tools available, and move the toolbar to the bottom of the screen. The icons to do this are on the far right of the toolbar.

The left hand side of the toolbar stays the same. The right hand side is a contextual toolbar: If you choose a tool such as the Pens, the toolbar changes, to reflect the options available to you.

All the pens are grouped together now – Regular pens, creative pens, calligraphy pen and the new crayon tool. It’s also now possible to customize the creative pen which lets you build your own stamp using any image you choose.

Likewise if you choose a shape, then the various shape options appear. From here you can choose the type of shape, as well as colour and outline style.

A new tool is the regular polygons tool – which has a few new shapes, and clearly shows how many sides each shape will have when you draw it. This will definitely be of interest to maths teachers. It allows shapes from 3 to 14 sides.

A new feature that I’m very pleased to see is the Freehand Fill. I’m not quite sure why it’s taken so long to get this since MS Paint has been doing it for centuries But now it’s here. Draw any irregular shape with the pen tool, and you can fill it in with the paint bucket.

It does not group the fill and the outline automatically. So if you want both to move together you’ll need to group them after filling. Personally I’d like them to autogroup and then be able to ungroup if I wanted them as separate shapes. I think more people would be expecting it to work that way. But then Promethean software has always worked this way too, so maybe it’s just me

Another new feature is the Embedded web browser: This means that you can insert a live web page directly onto a SMART Notebook software page. You can interact with it as normal, plus use the pen tools to annotate on top of the page as well as drag and drop images from the browser into your lesson. I found it worked well, and will be a handy addition.

You need to remember to use the pin icon to “pin” a particular page in place so that it’s there when you next open the file, otherwise you start with a default welcome page from Smart. There is another “pin” button with a green arrow that returns you to the pinned page, if you go off on a browse and need to go back to that page.

One niggle is that there’s no browser zoom option so that you’re stuck on a page resolution/size dictated by the browser. If you want to see more of a page you may have to scroll a bit. I think it would also be good to have an “open in browser” button so that you could go straight to IE or Firefox to get a regular page view too (rather than having to hyperlink).

Another brand-new feature that looks really interesting is the Activity builder. Basically it lets you create activities where objects react to actions by accepting or rejecting other objects. So you could create containers that would only accept a correct set of answers – such as odd numbers, kings of england or the correct text label for a diagram.

So in the example below I set up the box to only accept red objects, and to reject green ones. Incorrect objects will move back to their start position, and if you wish you can also have them play a sound.

I can see lots of potential for this – and I’ll work on some examples and a tutorial in the future. Watch this space.

A very interesting new feature is the Audio recording option. You can now record sounds directly into your SMART Notebook lesson. This means you can quickly add audio of yourself or students to a page as a link. To play the sound, click on the link. If you want to attach a sound to an object such as an image, right click on the object and select Sound, then record yourself. The sound is automatically attached.

I had a great chat with Jim Hollis from Teachers Love Smartboards and he pointed out that this records sounds as an .ogg file rather than an .mp3 file – so this will mean sounds added in this way won’t work if the file is opened in older versions of Smart Notebook. So do be aware of that.

Other tools to be aware of include a Reset page feature to return your page to its last saved state and a Show Page border feature which will show you where the page borders will be when the file is shown on other computers – useful if you make your pages at home on a different resolution monitor to that used in schools.

The tables have been improved too. It does feel easier to scale, move and interact with tables more easily. You can also quickly turn a cell shade back on once you’ve clicked on it to reveal the cell contents (Thanks Jim for showing me that!). I need to play a little more with the tables, and will report back on those another time.

In terms of the common whiteboard file format, I was interested in how well this new version would deal with .IWB files, following the experiment I had a few weeks ago. I tried Smart 11 with the same .IWB files as before, and like Smart 10.7+ it was pretty awful at opening them up. I hope this is something Smart can look into with later releases of 11 in the future. It’s not a big issue right now, but it would be nice to see sometime.

So on the whole I really like the look of Smart 11. It looks great, and it was very easy to get up and running. I’ve always been a big fan of Smart notebook and this version builds on that legacy well. If you are already familiar with version 10 then you should be able to migrate to 11 quite easily. The new features will be very welcome by a lot of you I’m sure. If you do have version 10 then the update to 11 will be free of charge. Activation keys work in the same way as before.

Thanks again to the folks at Smart for letting me get a sneak preview of the new version. Keep an eye on the Smart website for more details. Not long to wait now!

Update : Notebook 11 for PC is now available here and download Smart Notebook 11 for Mac here.

Smart Notebook 11 – A first look at the new version The Whiteboard Blog - Supporting the use of technology in the classroom