What's new in a nutshell

You've kept the feedback coming, and we show our appreciation with new features and a wealth of improvements to enhance your teaching experience.

What's new in ActivInspire 1.4

ActivInspire 1.4 includes exciting new features to engage learners, and make lesson preparation, presenting and analysis of voting results even easier and effective.

Learner Response Systems

Export results from Self-Paced Question Sets to Microsoft Excel®

You can now export voting results from Self-Paced Question Sets to Microsoft Excel®. Finally you have the freedom and flexibility to use this versatile teaching tool in all classroom situations, including for graded assessment.

For details of how to export results, see More about ActivInspire > Importing and exporting files > Exporting files.

Support for ActivEngage

ActivEngage software is the latest addition to Promethean’s family of Learner Response Systems for the ActivClassroom. It enables networked Windows® and Mac® computers to act as voting devices.

For more information about ActivEngage, see www.prometheanplanet.com/activengage.

New languages for ActivExpression devices

You can now send questions to ActivExpression devices in the following additional languages:

Languages

 Note

Swedish, Brazilian Portuguese, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish

Requires a firmware upgrade of the ActivExpression devices. All files and instructions on how to perform the upgrade are available on the Promethean Planet website www.prometheanplanet.com/selfpacedlearning

Arabic, Russian, Turkish, Kazakh

Requires new ActivExpression devices with Cyrillic or Arabic keypads.

 

Page Turn Effects are back!

Much loved by users of earlier Promethean software, animated page turn effects can add an extra element of suspense and delight to any lesson.

For details, see More about ActivInspire > Making flipcharts interactive > Using Page Turn effects.

ActivInspire Studio

Pen Modifiers

Ever felt frustrated because objects you create with the Shape tool don't behave like annotations?

The new Pen Modifiers Toolbox lets you use the Pen, Highlighter or Magic Ink tools to draw shapes that behave like annotations.

For details, see First steps with ActivInspire > Writing on a flipchart.

Multi-page Select

Lesson preparation is now even easier with the ability to select multiple pages and drag-and-drop them to another location in the same flipchart, or in another one, or to cut, copy duplicate or delete the selected pages.

For details, see First steps with ActivInspire > Working with pages.

What's new in ActivInspire 1.3

ActivInspire 1.3 includes a number of significant upgrades to make teaching with ActivInspire smoother, quicker, and more integrated with ActivExpression, and the new visual presenter, ActiView.

Integration with ActiView (all platforms)

Available for Windows, Mac and Linux, ActivInspire 1.3 offers seamless integration with Promethean’s visual presenter, ActiView, so you can capture live images, import them directly into the flipchart and even create your own personalised Resource Packs.

For details, see More about ActivInspire > Working with objects > Adding images.

Windows 7 & Snow Leopard Support

ActivInspire is now compatible with the latest Windows and Mac operating systems. Don’t forget that there is also a Linux version available for downloading!

Global Language Variations

Even more teachers can now experience teaching with ActivInspire with global language versions in 22 languages, including French, Arabic, Swedish, Chinese and many more.

Over 30 New Enhancements

Promethean listened to your feedback and have enhanced the annotation function speed for Handwriting Recognition, Highlighter and Magic Ink tools, as well as made a whole host of other functionality improvements.

What's new in ActivInspire 1.2

 


Unless otherwise stated, you need ActivInspire Professional Edition to take advantage of these new features.

 

Local Resource Search

 This feature is also available in ActivInspire Personal Edition.

Use the Local Resource Search feature to index and search all your resources so that you can quickly find exactly what you need for your lessons.

In ActivInspire Studio, the Local Resource Search feature is in the Resource Browser.

In ActivInspire Primary, the Local Resource Search feature is in the 'Resource Locations' Popup Box.

To search resources, you enter a search term and use these new icons:

  •  Start searching the current folder (enabled when you enter a search term)

  •  Show search options. You can choose:

    • To search for resources with matching filenames or keywords.

    • Which types of resources you want to include in the search.

As before, you can also browse for resources on Promethean Planet   .

ActivInspire Studio

ActivInspire Primary

Before you start your first search, you must index your resources. The indexing process may take some time, depending on the number of folders and resources to be indexed.

If you forget to do this, ActivInspire prompts you to index before starting the search.

Once it has been created, ActivInspire maintains the index automatically.

For more information, see More about ActivInspire > Working with resources > About resources.

Learner Response Systems

This release includes several major enhancements.

Self-Paced Question Sets

Energise your classes with our revolutionary new tool for  teaching and assessment!

Self-Paced Question Sets let learners work through sets of questions at their own pace. With Self-Paced Question Sets, learners receive the text of each question on their ActivExpression devices and respond in their own time. All responses and response times are logged and can be displayed dynamically if desired.

You can:

  • Quickly create multi-level question sets and tailor them to the needs of your learners.

  • Encourage stress-free competition by letting learners answer questions at their own pace.

  • Turn a voting session into a race by displaying responses on the board as soon as they have been received.

  • Monitor general patterns as well as individual performance.

To bring you this enabling new technology, we have also built major new capabilities into other components of the ActivClassroom.

To use Self-Paced Learning in your classroom, you need to install the latest free upgrades of the following:

  • ActivDriver - automatically installed with ActivInspire 1.2.

  • ActivHub firmware - see link to Promethean Planet below.

  • ActivExpression device firmware  - see link to Promethean Planet below.

All files and instructions on how to perform the upgrade are available on the Promethean Planet website www.prometheanplanet.com/selfpacedlearning

For more information about using Self-Paced Learning, see Using Learner Response Systems > Self-Paced Question Sets.

New LRS reports

Two new tabular reports provide clear summaries of your students' performance:

  • 'Response Timeline' shows how long each student took to answer each question, and which questions they answered correctly or incorrectly.

  • 'Level Summary' shows how many questions each student answered correctly or incorrectly at each level, and their average response time.

For more information, see Using Learner Response Systems > Self-Paced Question Sets.

New application settings and other enhancements

New application settings for ExpressPoll and Prepared Questions let you do the following:

  • Decide if you want to allow a retry if some learners have not sent a response when the timeout is reached.

  • Close results windows when you navigate to another page.

  • Include or exclude devices that have not responded to a question from statistical calculations.

  • Show or hide unassigned devices. You can override this setting in the Settings part of the Voting Browser.

  • Choose which type of device to select by default during voting sessions.

The default is ActivExpression devices, but you can override this setting when you select another type of device from the Voting Browser or from ExpressPoll.

For more information, see Reference > Settings > Learner Response System.

 

Now you can also do the following:

  • Remove a question from a page. This options is available in the Pop-Up Menu.

  • Remove all results.

PDF import (all platforms)

You can now import PDF files into your flipcharts. Each PDF page is imported as a single image, one image per flipchart page.

For more information, see More about ActivInspire > Importing and exporting files > Importing files.

TWAIN import (Windows only)

On Windows computers, you can import graphics files directly into your flipcharts from a scanner or camera that conforms to the TWAIN standard.

For more information, see More about ActivInspire > Working with objects > Adding images.

Windows Meta File support (Windows only)

Graphics files in Windows Meta File (.wmf) format are now supported.

Improved power tools

Area Screen Recorder (Windows and Mac)

Now you can choose to record an area of the screen, thus reducing the size of your animation files and giving greater visual focus to your demonstrations.

for more information, see More about ActivInspire > Working at the board > Using the Screen Recorder.

Improved Shape  creation

Thanks to a new application setting, you can now choose between creating shapes by dragging the cursor from the centre or from the top left.

For more information, see Reference > Settings > Tools.

New Clock

The new slimline clock saves space, while offering greater flexibility.

Now you can:

  • Drag any of its corners to change its size proportionally and alter its dimensions.

  • Click the + or - symbol to show or hide the Clock toolbar and make the clock even smaller.

  • Add and remove buttons.

For more information, see More about ActivInspire > Working at the board > Using the Clock.

New and improved math tools

New Compass

Advanced options on the Popup Menu now let you place the pencil on the left and the spike on the right, display the angle and/or the radius, mark the center with a + , increase or decrease the length of the arms and reset their length to the default.

 

Ruler

When you change the properties of the Ruler, these are saved in the current profile. Next time you use the Ruler, the tool will have the same characteristics as last time you used it.

The Ruler's Pop-Up Menu has a new Show Angle option. The angle changes when you change the inclination.

Protractor

Like the Ruler, any changes to the properties of the Protractor are saved in the current profile. Next time you use the Protractor, the tool will have the same characteristics as last time you used it, for example,  Full Protractor or Half Protractor.

The Protractor's Pop-Up Menu also has a new Show Angle option. The angle changes when you change the inclination.

Other enhancements

Improved object scaling

Objects created with this release of ActivInspire scale without displaying disproportionate outlines.

Protection against accidental deletion

Previously, you could accidentally delete a flipchart page by pressing the Delete key or using a keyboard shortcut when nothing was selected on the page. In this version of ActivInspire, this is no longer possible..

Automatic help updating

Previously, the help files were not automatically updated when you checked for and updated ActivInspire from the Dashboard. English language versions of ActivInspire help are now updated when you update the software.

Connectors created on top layer

Previously, connectors were created on the top layer, then moved to the bottom layer on completion. Now connectors remain on the top layer unless you move them to another layer.

Duplicated objects automatically selected

When you duplicate an object, the duplicate is automatically selected, rather than the original object.

Resource Browser

Improved layout and the new Resource Library Settings Popup Menu makes the Resource Browser easier to use.

 

Keyboard shortcuts

We have changed some of our keyboard shortcuts to bring them in line with standard usage for Mac computers.

For information, see Reference > Keyboard Shortcuts.

What's new in ActivInspire 1.0

Whether you are used to working with PowerPoint®, Keynote, SMART Notebook, ActivStudio or ActivPrimary software, ActivInspire customizes your working environment according to your preference. You choose the look and feel.

You don't have to get out of your comfort zone to create great lessons and deliver them effectively. You decide how much of ActivInspire's enabling technology you use and when.

Once you're up and running, you can customize ActivInspire to suit your preferred ways of working at your computer and at the board. You can save your preferences in a profile and create as many profiles as you need. You can switch profiles at the click of a button to give you just the tools for the job.

ActivInspire's clear new layout and intuitive tools make creating and presenting lessons a breeze.

Integrated voting and assessment allows you to quickly take the pulse of your class and tailor your activities to the results.

 

Collaborative learning is now even easier with Dual User mode and our new ActivBoard V3 (or an upgraded ActivBoard V2). Teacher and student can work side by side at the board. Alternatively, you can hand over your pen for a collaborative student session, safe in the knowledge that students can only do what you have enabled them to do in the flipchart.

And you don't need to create special flipcharts to use two pens at the same time! You can collaborate on any new or existing flipcharts.

Power tools help you engage your students and keep their interest.

You can quickly add multimedia content to your flipchart, from your computer or the internet.

Integrated handwriting recognition means you can write on the board and let ActivInspire turn it into typed text for you.

Tabbed browsers make all aspects of your flipcharts and resources transparent and instantly accessible:

 

View and manage your flipchart pages in the Page Browser.

 

Quickly navigate and choose from a wealth of ready-made elements for your flipchart with the Resource Browser.

 

View and manage all settings for objects such as text, pictures, files and shapes in the Object Browser.

 

No more hunting for those vital flipchart notes! View, create and edit them quickly with the Notes Browser.

 

View and change object properties with the Property Browser.

 

Have you ever wondered how to add interactive elements to your flipcharts? Now it's easy with the Action Browser.

 

Voting and assessment is flexible and easy to manage with the Voting Browser.

 

For a visual demonstration of what's new in ActivInspire, see the interactive online courses on Promethean Planet www.prometheanplanet.com/activlearning/online