:promethean in 30 seconds

If you’re anything like me, you probably get really tired of always writing the date on your flipchart pages.

On the plus side, ActivStudio does feature a timestamp function. Whenever you click the Timestamp icon (shown opposite) you end up getting something like this:

Unfortunately this is far too small for any pupils to read from across a classroom. It’s a text object, which means you can edit it and change the font size, but this is far from an ideal solution.

The flipcharts below each contain a Flash object, which has been programmed to automatically update itself with the current date in a large, friendly font whenever you open the flipchart.

There’s three fonts to choose from:

Full instructions are included on each version of the flipchart. To download, right click on any of the different dates above and select Save Target As…

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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

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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

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Hi again! Sorry to all my many thousands of readers who’ve been eagerly awaiting the next installment for so long.

While I’m trying to find out about how to publicize this blog thing, please enjoy the latest addition to my downloadable flipcharts page… an ActivStudio version of Tetris!

To download the flipchart, right click here and select Save Target As…

Instructions for Use:

In case you’re wondering where all the playing pieces are, there is a massive stack of them hiding behind an invisible rectangle, just above the top of the white playing area. To get a new piece, just drag one down into the playing area.

Whenever pupils make a line of bricks, you will need to ungroup all the blocks to delete that line and move the remaining blocks down a row.

To do this, select all the pieces in the playing area and press Ctrl+U. Alternatively you can use a User Customisable Button for ungrouping, which will be explained in full at a later date…

The game can be saved whenever you like and reloaded from its previous position, just be careful not to save over the original or you’ll have to download it again

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