ActivInspire

Wiki on Activeinspire
http://cedarcresthighschool.wikispaces.com/ActivInspire

http://akonsur.wikispaces.com/ActivInspireBasics

**ActivExpressions Tutorial**
http://wths-cff.wikispaces.com/ActivExpression+Clickers

**Learning How to Use Activinspire**
=1. Creating Text on Flipcharts=

To create text on your flipchart pages, use the Text Tool. There are lots of great “text” tools which pop on your screen when creating and editing textboxes. Take a look at the following images then go try out all the in ActivInspire. Text options you choose remain even after closing ActivInspire (until you change them again). =2. Customize or Control U= 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. You can customize Inspire to look and react one way while “authoring” or creating flipcharts at your keyboard, nd 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.

=3.Shapes and Fill Outlines= Once you created shapes, grouped them with a textbox, and pulled them onto your flipchart page to reveal concepts. There are a lot of options with those shapes! Don’t ever settle for the defaults. . . add your own splash of creativity. Here’s how:

1. Access the shapes with the shapes icon on your toolbar 2. Change the outline weight 3. Change the fill color 4. Change the outline color

=4. Making Multiple Copies= Doing an interactive lesson at the board and you want to be able to easily create multiple copies of either an image or textbox.? An easy way is to use the drag a copy feature. Here’s how:

· After adding an image or textbox to your flipchart page, right click it to select it and show the object edit menu. · Click on Drag a Copy to turn on the feature. · Notice that when you are hovered over the image or textbox, the icon changes. · When you select and drag the image or textbox, a copy will be made, leaving the original in its place. · To turn off the feature, simply access the object edit menu with a right click, and click Drag a Copy again to turn it off.

=5. Groups and Pulley= Here’s a [|presentation tip] you can use to gradually introduce concepts from your flipchart pages. It involves grouping and [|pulleys]. Take a look at the flipchart page at the top of this post. You see the arrows at the left of the page. These arrows are grouped together with textboxes and can easily be pulled from the left of the page as you present this information in your lesson. As you pull (or drag) the arrows, the text will appear on the flipchart page. Here’s how:

· Create an arrow shape from the shape tool in your toolbox. Feel free to choose a different color before you create the shape. (notice the blue color in the image above) · Select the arrow, copy and paste, or use the duplicate tool, to make more copies of the shape. · Next, use the Text tool to create textboxes containing the information you want to present to your class. · Line up the textboxes to the left of the arrows. · Using the select tool, highlight the first textbox and arrow and click on the group icon from the object toolbar. This will **//“group”//** the arrow and textbox together so that when you **//“pull”//** the arrow onto your flipchart page, the textbox will be included. · During your lesson, use your pen to pull (or drag) the arrows and reveal the concepts on your flipchart page! To learn even more about grouping and pulling, visit [|http://www.prometheanplanet.com] click on [|professional development] in the link bar, then on Activtips. These are great little movies which will show you how to use many different features of ActivInspire. Look for the movie Groups and Pulleys.

= 6. From ActivStudio to ActivInspire = Now that we’ve kissed ActivStudio goodbye and are embracing ActivInspire, here are two items to keep in mind: 1. Any ActivStudio flipcharts that you created are completely compatible with ActivInspire. If you download any “studio” flipcharts from promethean planet, they will easily open in “inspire.” However, if you create an “inspire” flipchart, you will not be able to open it in “studio.” But then again, why would you? Also, the [|file extension] for “inspire” flipcharts is .flipchart. While the file extension for “studio” flipcharts is .flp. 2. And, now that you’ve had a chance to learn a bit about ActivInspire, keep this in mind as you build flipcharts for your classroom: When constructing a flipchart lesson, begin by using the same lesson planning strategies you would typically use when building any lesson. Establish objectives, expected outcomes, and a description of specific material to be covered along with the actual content. Try to “mix up” the types of interaction as well. [|Students] can interact verbally, come up to the board individually, [|work] from their seats with the Activslate, or participate as a group using Activotes. =7. Adding Your Own Images to the Resource Library= You can add your own resources to the Resource Library from a flipchart page. To add a resource to the Resource Library:


 * 1) Copy (or snip) and paste the image into your flipchart page.
 * 2) View your Resource Library and click on the “single head” icon (My Resources)
 * 3) Click and drag the object from your flipchart page into the items part of the resource [|browser] and release it.
 * 4) The newly-added resource now appears in the items section of the Browser. It has the default name of ‘resource//n’ where ‘n’// is a number.
 * 5) To rename the resource: Right click the resource in the Resource Browser.
 * 6) Select Rename Resource File from the [|Popup Menu].
 * 7) The ‘Rename Resource File’ Dialog Box opens.
 * 8) Enter a name and click on OK.

=8. Getting to the Resources =

ActivInspire includes a set of useful resources, contained within the Resource Browser.
To access the Resource Browser:

This browser helps you to quickly view, navigate and use the resources provided with ActivInspire to enrich your flipcharts. The Resource Library contains a huge range of games and activities, annotations, assessments, backgrounds, concept [|maps], images, shapes, sounds and other items too numerous to list. The Resource [|Browser displays] thumbnails of resources in a film strip along the bottom edge of the display pane. Use the Resource Browser to: If you haven’t explored the Resource Library in ActivInspire yet, go to it! You’ll find tons of useful items to bring your Promethean board to life for and with your students.
 * Click the View pull-down menu
 * Click Browsers (the browsers [|pane] opens at the left of your screen/board)
 * Click the icon shown above to access resources
 * Quickly navigate to and view all the resources in a particular [|folder], for example My Resources, Shared Resources or other locations on disk or on the [|network].
 * Display thumbnails and filenames of selected resources.
 * Drag and drop resources such as [|page templates], activity pages and question pages from the browser into your flipchart.
 * Drag and drop your own creations from a flipchart page into a folder in the Resource Library.
 * Change the transparency of a resource in your flipchart.
 * Use the Rubberstamp to quickly create multiple copies of a resource in your flipchart.

= = [] And as you begin to create engaging, interactive flipcharts, it’s easy to give back. Notice in the File pull-down menu in ActivInspire. . . Submit Flipcharts to Promethean Planet. It’s that easy.

=9. Annotations= When you want to mark up or write over a PDF, Word, or [|Excel file] at your board, use the [|Desktop] Annotate icon on your tool bar. However, these annotations do not become part of the file, they are simply layered over. So when you scroll through your file, the annotations stay put. Use the clear annotations tool to easily remove them. To write on a [|PowerPoint] file, however, don’t use Annotate Desktop. In this case it’s better to use the pen tools right in the [|PowerPoint program]. When running a slideshow on your board, you’ll find the pen tool in the bottom left corner. Hover over to make the tool visible, click on the pen, and choose [|ball point] or felt tip. And, with these [|writing] tools, the annotations become part of the slides. But don’t worry, you’ll have the option to keep them or discard them.