SMARTBoard: A quick(er) way to download free sound effects to use within SMART Notebook

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: The SoundJay (www.soundjay.com) website contains hundreds of pre-recorded sound effect files that can be downloaded to be used within your SMART Notebook presentations.  Easy and quick.  No registration required!

How can it be used in the classroom? Sounds from this site can be used within the SMART Notebook software so that if your student taps on an image or word, they will hear a specific sound effect played back.  The SoundJay site includes sound categories such as button beeps, background, human, household, machine, mechanical, nature, transportation, music tracks, and more. The sounds on the site are free of charge and royalty free for typical classroom use. For more specific information in regards to the legalities, you may want to read the terms of use on the SoundJay website.

Video Tutorial: For a quick tour of the SoundJay website, I’ve created an on-line video tutorial which can be viewed below:

How do I insert these sounds into my SMARTBoard presentations? If you’d like to know how to insert these sounds into your SMART Notebook presentations, please refer to my other ICT Blog posting on inserting pre-recorded sounds into your SMART Notebook presentations.

How does this compare to other sound effect websites? For regular readers of my blog, you may recall that I wrote about the Freesound Project website in a previous blog posting. To compare the two websites, the SoundJay website provides the advantage of allowing you to download sound effects WITHOUT having to first setup an account. In addition, sound files on the SoundJay site are all available in MP3 format which are guaranteed work with the SMART Notebook software.  On the flip side, the Freesound Project website allows you to search for specific sounds by keyword and has a much larger library of sounds to choose from. The SoundJay website only allows you to browse by category – no keyword searching allowed!  My advice?  Use both!

SMARTBoard: Inserting YouTube and digital video files into your SMART Notebook presentations

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Quick overview: A step-by-step video tutorial on how to convert videos from YouTube or other digital video files (i.e – videos from a digital camera) so that they can be inserted into your SMART Notebook lessons.

How can it be used in the classroom? If you have access to a SMARTBoard in your classroom, you now have an alternative to dragging in a bulky TV with outdated VHS cassettes or DVDs to support your lesson. Instead, why not think about inserting pedagogically relevant digital videos from YouTube (or other sources) directly into your SMART Notebook presentations? These could be videos of current events or clips that best relate to your students’ interests.

What are the advantages to this approach? One of the advantages to embedding videos directly into a SMART Notebook presentation is that you can showcase videos from blocked sites, such as YouTube.  However, even if YouTube isn’t blocked in your centre, you won’t have to worry about finding the video at a later date or if you’ll have a fast enough Internet connection to play back it back smoothly. This is all possible because the embedded videos are stored locally (i.e – not on the Internet) within the Notebook presentation. In addition, digital videos have the potential to be more current that what you’d find on an older DVD or VHS cassette.

ICT Note: At this point in time, the SMART Notebook software only accepts Flash Video files (.FLV) and will not accept any other types of video files. This Blog posting focuses on how to convert video files into .FLV format with the Zamzar website.

Video Tutorial: This video demonstrates how to convert digital videos so that they can be embedded into presentations created with the SMART Notebook software:

SMARTBoard: How to install the SMART Notebook software on your computer at home

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Quick overview: A step-by-step video tutorial on how to install the SMART Notebook software on your personal computer at home. A SMARTBoard at home is NOT required.

How can it be used in the classroom: A common question I hear is, “How am I supposed to prepare a SMARTBoard lesson at home without an actual SMARTboard?” Well, you can use the SMART Notebook software. This is the same software that runs on the SMARTBoard in your classroom, but it is also available for use on your home computer and doesn’t require a SMARTBoard to operate.

What is the advantage to doing this: SMARTBoard lessons prepared in advance using a combination of the text tool, images, and other interactive elements from the Notebook Gallery, tend to be more polished than those created “on the fly” in front of students. In addition, it also forces teachers to move away from relying only on using the SMARTBoard pens (similar to chalk on a regular blackboard) when presenting a lesson. The true strength of the SMARTBoard is evident when lessons are developed with functions that make them interactive and student driven. Remember, there is more to a SMARTBoard than simply using the pens like a fancy blackboard!

How do I get my lesson on the SMARTBoard at school: Once you’ve completed your lesson at home, you would save your SMART notebook file (.notebook) to a USB thumb drive. Next time you are at the school, you would load it up on your SMARTBoard connected computer in your classroom.

Video Tutorial: To see an on-line video of how to install the SMART Notebook software on your computer at home, please click the large play button below:

SMARTBoard: How to calibrate your SMARTBoard

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Quick overview: How to ensure that the SMARTBoard accurately registers where you press with your finger or a pen. Beginner technique.

How can it be used in the classroom: As a rule of thumb, I highly recommend that you calibrate your SMARTboard before EACH class.  This quick and easy procedure (literally just a few seconds) will ensure that your SMARTBoard accurately registers where you press with your finger or pen during a presentation. An uncalibrated board will make it difficult for you to move around small objects or manipulate toolbars. A SMARTBoard will become uncalibrated if your digital projector or SMARTBoard is moved even a fraction of a inch!

Video Tutorial: To see a short on-line video of how to calibrate your board, please click the large play button below:

SMARTBoard: Common problems when preparing SMART Notebook lessons in advance and how to fix them!

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Quick overview: Common problems encountered when preparing SMARTBoard lessons in advance and how to fix them. Intermediate to advanced techniques.

How can it be used in the classroom: In the 2008-2009 school year, I provided many hands-on SMARTboard workshops.  In these workshops, I began to see a pattern of common problems that frustrated many teachers when preparing lessons on their home or school computers (i.e – not on a SMARTBoard) in advance of their classes. As this is the case, I’ve prepared a small video tutorial to help you avoid the same frustrations. Topics include working with the text tool, layers, lock in place, allow move, and the text splitter tool.

Important notes: As the tips presented in the video are intermediate to advanced, it is primarily intended for teachers who would like to start preparing SMARTBoard lessons at home or for teachers already using the SMARTBoard on a regular basis. If you are not familiar with the SMART Notebook text tool, I would suggest you first consult my earlier ICT blog posting before watching the video below.

Video Tutorial: To see an on-line video of common problems that occur when preparing SMART Notebook presentations, click the large play button below:

SMARTBoard: Using the text tool with the SMART Notebook software

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Quick overview: An overview of the SMART Notebook text tool. Basic technique.

How can it be used in the classroom: If you prepare SMART Notebook lessons on a home or school computer without a SMARTBoard connected to it, you should familiarize yourself with the text tool. The text tool is needed when you are preparing your lessons in advance and don’t have access to the physical SMARTBoard pens to create handwritten text in your lessons. The following video also contains some useful tips for math and science teachers using the text tool.

Video Tutorial: To see an on-line video of how to use the text tool, please click the large play button below:

SMARTBoard: An on-line bank of sound effects to use within your SMART Notebook presentations

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: The FreeSound website contains thousands of pre-recorded sound effect files that can be used within your SMART Notebook presentations. A free account signup is required to download files from the site.

How can it be used in the classroom? The FreeSound website (www.freesound.org) allows you to search for sound effects of animals, nature, household noises, ambiance, vehicles… pretty much whatever you can think of! These sounds can then be used with the SMART Notebook software so that if your student taps on an image or word, they will hear a specific sound effect played back. These sound effect files could also be used with other ICT applications too. Great for language classes!

Copyrights: Please note that the sounds on the site are freely available for download under a Creative Commons license, which you should quickly consult before you start using these sounds in your classroom. (Don’t worry, it’s not a long read!).

Important note: If you’d like to know how to insert these sounds into your SMART Notebook presentations, please refer to my earlier ICT Blog posting on “Inserting pre-recorded sounds into your SMART Notebook presentations“.

Video Tutorial: To see an on-line video overview of how to create a FreeSound account and get started with the website, click the large play button below:

SMARTBoard: How to group images or text in your SMART Notebook presentations

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Quick overview: How to group (i.e – combine together) multiple objects in your SMART Notebook presentations.  Intermediate technique.

How can it be used in the classroom? Let’s say you insert a picture of a house and then write the word “house” underneath it on the SMARTBoard. By default, the SMART Notebook software considers the word “house” and the image of a house as two separate objects. Why could this be problematic? Well, if you or a student tries to tap and move the image of the house on the SMARTBoard, the word “house” underneath it will NOT follow along. By grouping multiple objects together, you can move, resize or rotate them as one single object. (Note: Grouping is a little tricky to explain without actually seeing it in action. If you’re still not still not sure why you’d want to group objects, please watch my video tutorial below!)

Video Tutorial: How do you group objects? To see an on-line video overview of how to group objects in your SMART Notebook presentations, click the large play button below:

SMARTBoard: Using Layers in your SMART Notebook presentations

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Quick overview: How to work with “layers” on the SMARTBoard. Intermediate technique.

How can it be used in the classroom? When dragging images or words on the SMARTBoard, you may notice that they do not behave the way you would expect them to. For example, the object you’re dragging may appear “underneath” or “on top” of another object. This may cause your object to either be hidden or cover another important element of your presentation. How do you control the “layering” of objects? Watch my video tutorial to find out..

Video Tutorial: To see an on-line video overview of how to work with layers in your SMART Notebook presentations, click the large play button below.

Special note: In the video, I explain that you can “tap and hold” any object to make a context menu pop-up on the SMARTBoard to control your layering. However, if you are using a computer to prepare your SMART Notebook lessons, the same thing can be accomplished with a click of the “right mouse button” of your mouse.

SMARTBoard: Using the Magic Eraser to reveal correct answers in your SMART Notebook presentations

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Quick overview: How to use the “Magic Eraser” technique on the SMARTBoard. Intermediate technique.

How can it be used in the classroom? The Magic Eraser technique allows you or your students to use the SMARTBoard eraser (i.e – the eraser in the pen tray) to reveal hidden text and images within your SMART Notebook lessons, sort of like a lottery scratch card. It’s a great little trick for revealing the correct answers when you’re finished with an activity! How do you use the “Magic Eraser” technique? Watch my video tutorial to find out..

Video Tutorial: To see an on-line video overview of how to use the Magic Eraser technique in your SMART Notebook presentations, click the large play button below:

SMARTBoard: Inserting pre-recorded sounds into your SMART Notebook presentations

This ICT tip could be best applied to the following subjects:

Quick overview: How to insert a pre-recorded sound into a SMARTBoard presentation.

How can it be used in the classroom? Individual sound files (.MP3, .AIF, or .WAV format) can be inserted into your SMARTBoard presentations. You can link each word (or sentence) to a unique recording of your own voice. When the student taps on the words, they will hear your voice read aloud! This technique works great for language teachers teaching proper pronunciation to their students. If you’d like to know more about how to record your own sound files, please refer to my earlier blog posting on Audacity.

Video Tutorial: To see an on-line video overview of how to insert sounds into your SMART Notebook presentations, click the large play button below:

Workshop: An introduction to the SMARTBoard

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Quick overview: This blog posting is a video excerpt from an Interactive Whiteboards workshop (SMARTBoard) that I provide for General Adult Education teachers. I recommend that you watch this video if you are curious about SMARTBoards or would like to see a basic overview of how to use them.

SMARTBoard Workshop: Topics covered in this video include an overview of the SMARTBoard, using the SMARTBoard to view websites, SMARTBoard tools, and other possibilities of how to use the SMARTBoard in the classroom. The video is a 12 minute excerpt from the Galileo Adult Education Centre that was given on November 6th, 2008.

Video Tutorial: To see an on-line video overview of my SMARTBoard basics workshop, click the large play button below: