ActivInspire Advanced Training

I was fortunate to participate in an ActivInspire Advanced training session yesterday in Albany with three colleagues from different levels of the school, representing Years 0-4.  The session was taken by Claire who was an excellent trainer.  I particularly liked the way she asked us if we'd like some time to explore after she'd introduced a new tool/technique and then she would use the clock tool with a countdown for 2 minutes just like you would in a classroom!  Very effective!
I had done the online training prior to the session so was already quite knowledgeable which was great as the session was very fast paced and this allowed me to help others and absorb the new ideas.  I was very happy to learn how to create my own magic spy glasses which I hadn't quite managed to do on my own!  I also learned how to extract text, bounce images and text into flipcharts (sorry this feature is not possible on Macs) and alter the settings in Windows Media player to allow the camera tool to take still images from a video player.  This involved opening Media player then right clicking on the toolbar and choosing tools, options, performance, then unticking the use overlays box. 

You then need to click ok and apply several times to save the change!  Once I had removed the video clip from the flipchart and re-inserted the camera tool worked perfectly.  We were taught to drag the clips straight into the flipchart or else use zamzar to convert the file and this is a very reliable way of turning the clip into either flv, avi or wmv.
We ran out of time to learn about using the activotes for assessment but I am going to do the online training for learner response systems at Promethean Planet and then when we have further training with Marnie later this Term I will be able to ask her any questions that I have!