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!

Continuing my delight with ActivInspire!

I decided today, after communicating with my colleague and friend Mrs P who I co-lead the eLearning team with, that I would prepare our upcoming presentation to our staff in an ActivInspire flipchart. I wanted to use as many of the tools/actions as possible to showcase the possibilities of the software to the staff who might not get the opportunity to attend training sessions. The online training at Promethean Planet is great and I happened across a brilliant site while doing a Google search which has helped me a lot today, however, I hope I get a lot faster at creating flipcharts as this one took me several hours and I'm not quite finished yet! The previous link goes to the magic ink section as this is what I have been wrestling with today! I cannot recommend the ActivInspire program enough it is absolutely brilliant and as an ex-Smartboard user I have quickly switched my alliegence to Inspire! Thanks Promethean! Click here to access excellent support materials. Here is a good blog with ideas for Activ. I would highly recommend downloading the Top Tips pdf.

Here is an introductory videos to help you get started: