SMART Notebook 10

Posted on May 2, 2008 by MissSignal.
Categories: IWB, SMARTBoard.

This week I had the new SMART Notebook 10 installed onto my computer and so far I must say I am quite impressed. There seems to be alot of changes and updates to things I used to find frustrating. There are plenty of new tools and gadgets to play around with in the new Notebook too - I am looking forward to getting my kids to play around on it the first day of term to see what they find and discover is new to Notebook.

The newest additions I like are:

Magic Pen: The magic pen serves 3 roles depending on what you do with it. Draw a rectangle and it turns into the magnifier, draw a circle and it turns into the spotlight tool. The third option, the fading tool is great - if you just want to point out something and don’t want to have to erase use the magic pen to draw. Once you write or draw the next thing the pen starts to disappear. Great when looking at images and artwork where the kids are examining parts of it but you don’t want to tonnes of lines all over it.

Object Animator: Think Powerpoint whizz and bang and you’re on your way. Notebook has a few animation functions that add a little extra pow and effect into your Notebook.

Page Recorder: There has been this function for a while but it is even easier to use with the recording embedded into your page with a remote that appears at the bottom of the page allowing your to rewind, pause, play and stop. This is a fantastic feature for re-creating artwork, maths problem solving and more. (There will be a post about this coming up)

Groups: Groups allow you to navigate your pages easier. When dealing with your pages you are now able to group them. For example with the Notebook below each new feature is grouped so that I can easily locate certain pages.

Themes: There are readymade themes that you can use as a background and set up to automatically become your new background when adding a new page. The best part of the themes feature is the ability to create your own theme. Just create your page to how you want it to look, set it up as a theme in your gallery and it’s good to go!

Active Alignment: This is a great feature and handy for adults and kids that have trouble aligning objects. Notebook now has active alignment lines that you can personalise to 4 options. It will be great for kids making Notebooks to stop continuous page aspects from jumping to different spots on each page.

Shape Recognition Pen: Draw a shape and it changes it into a lovely straight shape. Fantastic!

I have created a Notebook that looks at the toolbars and some of the main new features which you can download here: Notebook 10 Features or as a Notebook 10 Features PDF.

Here is a link to SMART’s full list of all the new features.

8 comments.

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Comment on May 2nd, 2008.

Hi Amanda
Nice review, I am looking forward to downloading on Monday and having a play.

Thanks for the PDF too. You out some effort in there and its a very nice, well laid out and useful resource.

Cheers and again thanks

A

  Marnie
Comment on May 3rd, 2008.

Thanks for sharing that. I hadn’t realised there was a new version out. I will have to update mine now!!

  janelowe
Comment on May 3rd, 2008.

Hi Amanda, I have had my IWB for 2 weeks now and although it is not a Smartboard I would be interested in knowing what effect an interactive whiteboard has had on your teaching?

  MissSignal
Comment on May 4th, 2008.

Hi Jane

This is my fourth year teaching with an IWB and it has changed my teaching in a lot of ways. I think it takes time to get used to integrating the full potential of an IWB within your teaching and feel that i’m continuously changing and challenging the way I use it in the class. I noticed how much I am dependent on having information available and being able to allow kids to interact with objects when we our projector was stolen (therefore not being able to use it). This made me see how much my teaching has changed and integrated the use of it into all aspects. My biggest suggestion is to start with one key area i.e. I chose handwriting and develop it as a strength and then often things you learn you can cross over and sparks an idea in a different subject. If you want to talk more leave a comment or msg me on twitter! I would love to help if I can! :)

  Barb
Comment on May 6th, 2008.

Hi Amanda
Thanks for the info on the update to SMARTboards. I have some teachers who need to know that. I will also be able to share your great resources with them. I find it quite difficult to assist teachers with IWBs when I haven’t had extensive time with them. Might need to spend a day or two sitting in classrooms to see how they are using them and give them some direction. I don’t think they have had much training. A new challenge for me.

  MissSignal
Comment on May 7th, 2008.

Thanks Barb - I think it is really hard to understand the set of skills and pedagogy that underpins an IWB without tinkering with it. I know when I first started teaching with one it took a while to figure it all out - I was the only one in the school with one. It would be really good for you to have the chance to work in a class and see how the multimedia and interactive nature of a IWB works. It would be interesting to know how much training your teachers have had with the IWB’s? Thanks Amanda

Comment on May 14th, 2008.

Hi, thanks for sharing this, I have also downloaded this software and am enjoying using it. Have you tried the lesson toolkit, there are some great flash files that you can customise to use for your lessons.

  Mark
Comment on May 14th, 2008.

Amanda - I write lesson plans and curricula freelance and I’m just adding the IWB and notebook to my game. I’ve taught for years and used the IWB but the notebk is new to me. A basic question that I can’t seem to find the answer to anywhere: is a SMART Notebook to be used only in conjunction with an IWB or do the notebks have a use alone? Is the notebk hardware like the IWB, with a special screen, or is it just software that loads onto a laptop? And just what is so special about these Smart Notebks? What do they allow you to do? How would my teaching a math lesson on a chalk board be changed, for example? And thanks you. This changing technology is making me feel a bit out-of-it!

Best,
Mark

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