:promethean in 30 seconds

The basic range of colours in ActivStudio is not very wide, and also not often ideal for use with a data projector.

If you want to get the most out of your toolbox, a good starting point is to increase the range of available colours.

Start by clicking on the Promethean man in the top left of the main toolbox. A small system menu will appear. Click on Toolbox Customise, then Colours. Finally, click on 24 to expand the range of colours to maximim.

This will produce a larger colour palette with a slightly random selection of colours, including two identical purples. Thankfully it is not difficult to reorganise this selection by choosing your own colours.

This is done by simply right-clicking on the colour which you want to change, and selecting a new colour from the list which appears. Alternatively, click the    button to mix your own colour from scratch.

No Comments

Although there are only three basic Layers in any flipchart page, it is also possible for objects to be stacked on top of each other within the same layer.

For example, in the image below all the objects are on the Top layer, but some objects are stacked above others within this layer.

To move an object to the front of its layer, right click on it and select Edit, then click To Front. Similarly, clicking To Back will send an object to the back of whichever layer it happens to be on.

No Comments

An extremely useful feature of ActivStudio is the ability to arrange objects on different layers. Layers make it possible to place objects either in front of, or behind one another along the user’s line of sight, as shown in the diagram below.

Every flipchart consists of three main layers, Top, Middle and Bottom, plus the background layer. To move an object to another layer, start by selecting the Cursor Arrow from the main toolbox.

Right-click on the object you want to move to another layer. A small popup menu will appear. Click on Edit, then Layer. Finally, click on Top, Middle or Bottom to move the object to that layer.

No Comments

Hmmm. No new blog posts in over a week then two at once! It must be nearly Christmas or something…

The main advantage that PowerPoint has over ActivStudio, and the only reason some teachers still use it, is the ability to reveal information or solutions one step at a time.

This is especially important with complicated worked examples in Maths, where layers of understanding must be built up gradually. Although there are various ways of revealing information in ActivStudio, these have always felt complicated and slightly inelegant.

Thankfully help is at hand The flipchart below contains a ‘revealer’ rectangle, which will disappear whenever you click on it. This allows information or diagrams to be revealed one at a time and in whichever order you like, significantly enhancing the thought process for pupils.

Full instructions are included in the flipchart. To download, right click here and select Save Target As…

It’s probably worth nothing that there are still quite a few things which PowerPoint is extremely useful for… but then that’s another story

3 Comments

Apologies to regular readers who may already be aware of these resources… they’ve already been available for some time but I wanted to point them out properly in a blog post.

The first of the two flipcharts contains various ‘magic’ x-ray magnifying glasses, which can be used to reveal hidden text or diagrams on the flipchart page. This is often an incredibly effective way of increasing pupil involvement in a lesson… it also beats writing out an answer hands down

The second flipchart provides a solution to an ongoing problem with ActivStudio, concerning its inability to produce a square root symbol.

Both flipcharts contain full instructions on how to add these features to your own pages. To download, right click on either of the links below and and select Save Target As…

The Magic X-Ray Magnifier

My Solution to the Square Root Problem

1 Comment

By far the most effective way of grouping and ungrouping objects is to set up a User Defined Button in the toolbox.

These are normally found in the resource area on the right of the toolbox, and look something like this:

These icons are customizable tools, meaning they can be assigned to perform a wide range of different functions… including grouping and ungrouping multiple objects

If for some reason these icons are not present in the main toolbox, they can be added from the Tool Store at any time.

Start by right clicking on one of the icons. A new window will appear titled Keystroke Definer, allowing you to change what the icon does.

Select Special Keystrokes from the three options on the left, then place a tick in the box marked Ctrl and select the letter G from the drop down list. If you want, you can also type the word ‘Group’ in the text box marked Tool Tip (this is the text which will be displayed whenever the mouse hovers over the icon).

Your window should now match the one shown in the screenshot below. Once it does, click OK to close the window.

From now on, clicking this icon will be the same as pressing Ctrl and G on the keyboard. If you want another button for ungrouping objects, simply repeat the process for the other icon and select Ctrl and U in the Keystroke Definer.

Try selecting a few objects and click the icon to see what happens!

1 Comment

The most basic way of grouping and ungrouping objects in ActivStudio is by going into object properties as described previously.

Although this method of grouping works, it’s not exactly simple or easy to remember, and neither is it quick to do in front of a class of pupils. Thankfully there are other ways which are much simpler.

If you are beside the computer, select the objects to be grouped and simply press Ctrl and G on the keyboard. It is also possible to press Ctrl and U to ungroup them again.

This still does not solve the problem of grouping objects quickly when you are standing at the whiteboard. However, help is at hand in the form of User Defined Buttons…

No Comments