Mrs. Spear

Although you won’t notice a huge difference between design mode and presentation mode in ActivInspire, here’s the lowdown.

The Blue Icon in the upper right hand corner is Presentation Mode.  Clicking on this icon will toggle it to red which is Design Mode. 

The big difference, you ask?  When in Design Mode, actions objects won’t run and any restrictors you have set on objects won’t be used.  Also, locked objects can be moved and hidden objects can be seen in Design Mode.

Use Presentation Mode when delivering a lesson to your class to make sure that all of the “interactivity” works as you set it. 

If you go to your settings (Control-U) and click on Design Mode (last one on the left), you can customize!

Decided to spend more time in the Resource Browser (View -> Browsers then click on the second icon at the top) and found some great science activities in the Shared ACTIVities folder.

In that folder you’ll find a 9-12 Science folder then Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.  Take your pick from cell structure to photosynthesis to shapes of molecules to ohms.  Drag these resources onto your flipchart page for a wonderfully created interactive lesson.

Seriously science people . . . go get a lesson from the resource browser, already created and ready for action in your classroom.

Mostly for math and science, don’t miss out on the Grid Designer in ActivInspire.  Here’s how: 

• Utilize the many, many types of grids in the Shared Grids folder in the Shared Resources (go to View, Browsers, and click on the Resource Browser OR if you have the Resource Browser icon on your toolbar, just click it)
• Drag a grid onto your flipchart page
• Right click on the grid and choose Grid Designer (or Ctrl, Shift, G)
• Design away!!

There are four layers to each ActivInspire flipchart page:  Top, Middle, Bottom, and Background.

The reason for four layers is to allow for much interactivity . . . thus, the name Interactive White Board!!

Here’s a breakdown of what goes where:

Top Layer

• Annotations
• Always over objects on Middle, Bottom and Background layers

Middle Layer

• Images, Lines, Shapes, Text
• Always under items on Top layer and over items on Bottom or Background layer

Bottom Layer

• Empty by default
• Items must be placed on the Bottom layer

Background Layer

• Always under all other Flipchart items
• May be a Color, Image or Grid 

And here are the basic rules of layers:

• All Flipchart objects on a page are ordered within their own layer.
• The Order of items on any layer may be changed.
• When the Order of an object on its layer is changed, the object will keep the same behavior and properties.
• When the Layer of an object is changed, the object’s behavior and properties will change. 

Finally, you can view all the layers and the objects on them in the Objects Brower.  Access the Objects Browser from the View pull-down menu, Browsers, and click on the circled icon in the example above.

Want to get your students’ attention when they walk into your classroom . . . or make it a practice to provide important class announcements on your interactive white board?  Use the tickertape feature for either of these ideas and more.  Go try it out.  Here’s how:

1.      Dropdown the Tools menu and click More Tools . . .
2.      Click on Tickertape (or use Ctrl, Shift, T)
3.      Key in your message
4.      Decide if you want the message to continuously scroll across the board
          (loop) or not
5.      Change the font, style, size, color, position
6.      An additional Tickertape Speed slider will appear on your screen
7.      Adjust the speed, and move the slider box to a corner of your screen
8.      To stop the tickertape, close the slider box

Watch and Listen!

If you would like to view this screencast in full screen, click here: http://www.screencast.com/t/k4UmTudLPw

You can have the trash can or not.  Here’s how . . . 

To view (or not to view) the trash can on your board:
 

·      Go to View -> Customize (or Ctrl-U) and click on the Layout tab (first one)

·      Check (or uncheck) the box at the bottom for Show Flipchart Trashcan

And . . . when at the board, you do not have the drag items to the trashcan to delete them.  Just select objects you want to delete, then tap the trash can with your pen.  Viola . . . gone!

Another great “take away” from http://www.prometheanplanet.com are Resource Packs.  These are collections of vibrant images, videos and more that will liven up your lessons and make students sit up and take notice! The Resource Packs cover a variety of curriculum areas and topics, and are easily installed into your ActivInspire resource library.  Here are the steps to take advantage of the Resource Packs from http://www.prometheanplanet.com:

1.   Log into the Promethean Planet website

2.   In the link bar, click on Resources then Resource Packs (this page contains lots of good information about the Resource Packs, by the way)

3.   Key in and choose your search criteria and make sure you select Resource Packs (see the image above)

4.   Click on the thumbnail results to view more information about the Resource Pack

5.   If it looks like something you want, click the Download resource pack link

6.   Click Save and choose your location (you can change the filename too if you desire)

7.   Then head on over to your Inspire software, and click on the File pull-down menu

8.   Choose Import and then Resource Pack to My Resources

9.   Navigate to where you saved the resource and double click the file

10.  To access your new resources, open the browser pane (Control B or View, Browsers)

11.  Choose the Resource Browser icon and click on the single head (this is My Resources)

12.  Your new resources will be available!

Go do a little digging at the Promethean Planet website for a Resource Pack that suits your classroom.  New ones are added weekly.

 To create text on your flipchart pages, use the Text Tool.  And there are lots of great “text” tools which pop on your screen when creating and editing textboxes.  This post is mostly visual.  Take a look at the following images then go try out all the text tools in ActivInspire.

Oh, and here’s an extra bonus.  Text options you choose remain even after closing ActivInspire (until you change them again).

Mentioned briefly in a previous post, this one deserves a bit more attention.  You must visit the settings in ActivInspire.  To get there, click the View pull-down menu and Customize (or Control U if you are at your keyboard).    

First notice the dropdown in the upper left corner of the dialog box.  There are five different options for profile settings.  So you can customize Inspire to look and react one way while “authoring” or creating flipcharts at your keyboard and another way while “at the board” with your students for instance. 

After choosing which profile to customize, click on the Settings tab in this dialog box.  You’ll find 14 areas in Inspire to “customize” from effects, to tools, to multimedia.  Spending a little time in the settings options not only allows you to customize, but also will educate you in lots of features you may not have realized even existed in this program. 

In tools, you can choose what the default tool is upon opening ActivInspire.  Is it the pen or select tool that you’d like to start off with in your ActivInspire sessions?  Do you use the dice?  You can change the default amount of dice as well as how fast they roll! 

In flipchart, you can choose the default size of your flipcharts.  Do you want Best Fit, Fit to Width, or 100%?  And, why settle for white as your default page color . . . go ahead and be daring.  Choose a calming blue as your default page color. 

You get my drift.  Go learn more in Settings and customize while you are at it.