SMART Boards

Airliner - New Win Bluetooth Drivers

Interfacing your AirLiner wireless slate to your Win XP computer is easier than ever before.  Just download the newest Broadcom drivers from their website.  Start up your Win XP computer.  Insert the white Bluetooth dongle that came with your AirLiner into any USB 2.0 port.  Run the drivers.  Restart your computer.  Open up My Bluetooth Places.  Disable the old Airliner devices and "Search for Devices in Range."  Installation time is about 10 minutes.

Mounting Projectors #1

  "What is the diagonal measure of a SB680?" someone asked in a recent email.  It's 77" diagonal.  But why would someone want to know this?  My guess is they are trying to figure out the proper throw distance to mount the projector.  I'd calculate this differently.  The SB680's ACTIVE screen area is 61.65" wide x 46.40" high and the SB660 is 51.25" wide x 38.40 high.  At Projector Central's website, I'd click on Calculator Pro at the lower left corner of the screen and choose the brand and model of projector to use (marked with green arrows).

  Then, scroll down to the bottom of the page (marked with blue arrows) type in the horizontal width in the box, click on the + and - buttons to the right of the entry box, to enter the value in for calculation.  Finally, go to the Throw Distance table (marked with green arrows) and read the maximum and minimum throw distance.  Throw distance is the distance from the lens at the front of the projector, to the screen surface.  In a "perfect world" the lens should be mounted at the throw distance midpoint, to allow for as much zoom adjustment as possible.  The lens center should be mounted perpendicular to the center of the SMART Board.

  This is the throw range box.  Using an Epson 82c projector (one of my favorites, because it's bright, affordable and good resolution), the throw distance for a SB680 is a minimum of 7.5 feet (that's 7 POINT 5 feet, which is the same as 7 feet 6 inches) a maximum of 9.1 feet (9 feet 1-1/4 inches) and a midpoint of 8.2 feet (8 feet 2-1/4 inches).

For the SB660, using an Epson 82c, the throw distance is 6'1-1/4" to 7'4-3/4".  Other useful information you might want is SMART's Textless Installation Guides for the SB680, SB660, SB640 or the Quick Help Guide.

High Demand for SB6i

Demand for SMART Technology's SB680i and SB660i is been so great that orders placed this week will be shipped in early June.  Read our November 11 review on the features of SMART's new integrated projector/sound/interface/board system.

Order Senteo today

  Be among the first to get the SMART Senteo interactive response system.  You can now place your order with your favorite SMART dealer.  The 24 keypad system (order number SNT-24) is $1599 (school price) $2399 (business-government price).  The 32 keypad system (order number SNT-24) is $1999 (school price) $2999 (business-government price). 

Senteo will ship in June 2007 and will come with quiz creation software, which works with SMART Notebook software.  SmartChoice AV Solutions will also offer an intensive full day training seminar "Getting the Most Out of Senteo" for $199 per person, with a discount on the seminar fee for Wisconsin customers purchasing Senteo from us.  Please call 866-676-9338 for details.

See our Jan. 15 and Feb. 8 weblog entries for more Senteo information.

Senteo is Simply Spectacular

  Senteo is Latin for "to vote," "to sense," "to perceive."  After seeing a product demonstration at SMART's Chicago office, I "senteo" that this interactive response tool will be another educational blockbuster for SMART.  In the ever increasing assessment driven educational world, there's growing interest in using "clickers" as a response tool for every classroom student.  Using response pads also gives teachers immediate feedback on how well ALL students mastered the learning concept just presented, to quickly determine if reteaching is necessary.

  Having used such systems before, my wish list includes RF technology (more reliable, don't have to aim at a receiver), cost effectiveness (less than $70 per pad), USB receiver (easy computer interface), hand raising feature, numeric entry, multiple answer responses, good user feedback (e.g. LCD monitor), AA battery powered (low ownership cost), highly durable, and SIMPLE software to create content, deliver quizzes and lessons, import tests from elsewhere, store results and create reports.  Senteo met all of my wish list desires for $1999 (education price) for a 32 keypad system and $1599 for 24 keypads.  Extra keypads will also be available, and because students type in their student ID number, you can use the spares with any class (you don't have to buy numbered or serialized keypads).  My only unmet desire... I want it NOW, not on June 1.

  SMART Notebook software 9.7 (to be released in June) makes this system EASY TO USE.  If you already know how to use Notebook, your learning curve is almost zero.  A Senteo pulldown tab in 9.7 lets you access a question creation wizard.  Choose T/F, multiple choice, etc. and then the number of answers.  Type in your question and answers and viola, your questions are created as seperate notebook pages.

  You can easily reposition and resize each object, import graphics, bring them in from the Gallery.  Then build the Notebook file by inserting new pages, and linking graphics to new pages as you desire.  The ease of doing this "authoring" is really amazing.                                                                                         .

  Here's a completed first question for a Wisconsin History test.  I simply moved the answers around, inserted pictures that were stored on my hard drive, brought in the Wisconsin map from the Gallery (Geography/Maps/USA), resized it, selected the map's properties to change its color, added some arrows, and created a "next page triangle" to navigate to the next Notebook question.

  I also made some pages to reinforce different student answers, to allow for additional classroom learning.  Many students will answer "A. Madison" because they know Madison is the state capital, but in fact "B. Belmont" was the first capital of Wisconsin territory.    So, the teacher can click on the Madison capital picture, to go a Notebook page with more info.  Then click on the green "Back-Navitation" arrow that I created on the lower right side of the page to go back to the question, or the "Blue-Navigation" arrow to go to the next question.

Most teachers already have large banks of text questions saved as Microsoft Word documents.  SMART's programmers wrote special algorithms, to analyze a Word document, to recognize questions and answers.  In a quick demonstration, it looked easy to convert test documents created in Word to Notebook files.  It won't be 100% flawless, because formatting is unpredictable, but the idea is very good.  I'm looking forward to importing test questions, to see for myself how well this works.  You can also import ExamView XLM files, and there's several thousand textbooks with ExamView test banks already created, so that's a big plus, too.

In April, SMART, in conjunction with its dealers, is going to start demonstrating Senteo to customers.  In fact, RIGHT NOW, you can get an online demonstration of Senteo's software features.  If you are a Wisconsin school, give us a call at 866-676-9338 and let's talk about Senteo.

Administrative AirLiner Use

A SMART AirLiner can be handy in unforseen ways.  Because of Ink Aware, the AirLiner can be used to quickly cut and paste information into Microsoft Excel.  We are currently doing a list management project, and we're using Excel to invite school staff to our upcoming SMART Board seminars.  This information is spread about and we're consolidating it in Excel (bottom window).  One school librarian just registered for a seminar on our website and the website triggers a registration email (top window).  Open the email and the Excel file, position and size them where you desire on your desktop.

  With Ink Aware (part of SMART Notebook software) you point the AirLiner stylus to the text you want to copy.  "Huck" is highlighted. ..... ...... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ......

Drag the highlighted text down to the Windows XP program bar, dragging it into the Microsoft Excel tab.  Wait a couple seconds (you may see the Windows hourglass) and the Excel file you originally created will pop up on the screen.

Using the AirLiner stylus, drag to the Excel cell you want to paste into.  Hover over the cell, and you will momentarily see the cell frame turn to dotted lines (showing that you have selected it).  Lift the AirLiner stylus off of the AirLiner surface to drop the selected text into the cell.  You will then see the hourglass (telling you to wait for a split second) and then the placed text will appear in the cell.

This is what the cell looks like when you first drag the text to it.  The cell frame turns to a dotted line, to show you where you are placing the text, and the hourglass is displayed, signaling you to wait.

If you are manipulating A LOT of information, such as if you were going out to a lot of websites and datamining contact information, using an AirLiner Wireless Slate can save you a lot of time, as well as reduce arm, wrist and hand stress.  In this project, we collected over 500 contact names, and then used Excel, Outlook, Word and the AirLiner together to do a 1,000 piece individualized e-mailing.

SMART Senteo Response System

  SMART Technologies introduced the Senteo interactive response system last week at the BETT international educational technology show in London.  As a big fan of educational technology, I heard rumors about this handheld assessment tool for a few months now.  Schools won't be able to purchase Senteo until June 2007, but you can start learning about it today at SMART's website.

I started experimenting with handheld response devices three years ago, because I believe in the power of getting feedback from EVERY student in the classroom.  What I read about Senteo really looks good.  The USB receiver plugs into the teacher's computer and students hold the two AA battery powered Senteo response pad in their hand.  Because Senteo is RF, it's not necessary for students to aim it at a receiver, making it a more reliable answer gathering tool.  The batteries should last about a semester.

Senteo is built heavy-duty to withstand classroom uses and has 21 buttons, to allow students to enter numeric data (including decimals).  It's also possible to enter multiple answers.  The RF range is 98 feet, and there are icons on the remote to show battery power status, signal strength and network location.  In the test mode, students can page through answers to make corrections before submitting the results.

You don't have to assign a specific numbered handheld transmitter to a particular student, which makes the system easier to manage.  You can use SMART Notebook software to easily create answers, either ahead of time or on the fly.  You can use Senteo with just a computer and projector, or in conjunction with a SMART Board, AirLiner or Sympodium. 

  Teachers will appreciate the ease of using Notebook software for question creation, and its ability to integrate graphics and Flash animation, as well as hyperlinks to the Internet.  As media resources proliferate on the Internet, teachers can take students to informational websites and then using Senteo to reinforce learning concepts.

  Students get immediate feedback of right answers as part of Notebook software and on a LCD display on the Senteo handheld.  Questions can be imported from Microsoft Word and answers can be exported to PowerPoint.  Senteo can also be used with other third party software (e.g. PowerPoint).  As a teacher, it's nice to get immediate visual feedback, such as shown in this pie chart.  It lets you know what percentage of the class mastered the content you are presenting, and if you need to go back and reteach the information in a slightly different way.

Senteo information includes: general product info, interactive demonstration, literature, notify me form.

More on PC Projection

Getting laptops to display can sometimes be very challenging.  The problem may be in the video display driver settings.  Manage this through the Windows XP Control Panel.  Go to the XP Start menu at the menu bar (usually on the lower left of your screen) and highlight "Control Panels."

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Here are some Control Panel icons.  Double left click on the Display icon to open it up. 

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Left click on the Settings tab at the top of the Display Settings window.  On the lower left corner, choose the resolution you wish to display (typically 1024x768 or 800x600){whatever the native resolution of your projector is}.

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  Using the Adapter tab, choose the refresh rate {typically 60-75 hertz} to match the signal speed of your projector.  Most of the remaining settings you don't want to change, because it's possible to goof up your display drivers by making too many changes, and then your computer and monitor won't work together at all.

Projecting with a PC Laptop

"How do I get my PC laptop to project to my SMART Board?" several users recently asked us.  Although laptops usually have HDD-15 VGA output connections on them, there's a "control-function key-toggle" that you have use, to actually make a displayed image switch to the VGA output port, which then is routed to the display input port of your projector.

To "toggle" your laptop monitor display, look at the top "F-keys" above the 1...9 keys on your keyboard.  Here you see the F keys in white, with a gray symbol on the lower right corner of each F-key.  Look for an F-key labeled "LCD/CRT" or with a picture of a monitor and laptop on it.  On one of my laptops, the F5 key has the monitor/laptop icon on it. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Hold down on the Fn (Function) key with your thumb (or any other finger), and push once the proper F-key (in this case, F5) with another finger.  The first F-key push toggles the laptop into "laptop display only mode," the next F-key push toggles it into "concurrent laptop display and monitor output" mode (which is what you want, to concurrently display to the projector), and the third F-key push toggles it into "monitor output display only" mode (you would see a blank laptop monitor screen).

Understanding the monitor display F-key toggle technique is the key to making ANY PC laptop work with ANY projector.  The particular F-key may vary between laptop manufacturer models, but the concept is always the same.

OTHER ISSUES: If you are a Macintosh User, you go into the Control Panel and change the Display settings (typically 1024x768 - 60 Hz).  On some Macintosh laptops, you may need a seperate $29 VGA break-out cable to convert the video output to a HDD-15 jack.

If you are a Windows XP user and have a wide screen laptop screen, in order to get the projector image to properly fill the screen, you may have to go into display settings (in the Control Panel)(or right click on the Desktop, and pull down to Display Properties) and change the screen resolution to 1024x768.

680i in Downtown Chicago

Smart Technologies employee, Katie, showed me the 680i at Smart's downtown Chicago offices on November 10th.  The cart behind Katie houses a VCR/DVD player, computer and Samsung document camera.  The 680i is advanced in several ways.  The short throw projector reduces the amount of presenter shadow on the board (look at the shadow just below Katie's arm) making it easier for the teacher to create notes. 

  The 680i has some simple software built-in, to allow someone to annotate over video or computer images, or to take notes, without using SMART Notebook software (you CAN use SMART Notebook software, too, if you desire, but this is designed to be SUPER SIMPLE and EASY TO USE.  This menu is in the lower left of the SB680i, and one of the menus even switch projector sources.  It's also very easy to create a digital freeze frame of ANYTHING that you are projection (video or computer images) and then annotate over it.

  Katie switched sources to display a piece of paper on a low end Samsung document camera, she then annotated over the page by picking up the stylus in the "red pen" tray.  She then switched sources and captured a DVD screen image and clicked a thumbnail of the image at the bottom of the screen to recall the page from the document camera.

  Here you see the rest of the "680i simple virtual tools."  I guess you could call it a "stripped down" version of Notebook, and I see huge benefits of using the 680i and this simple software in a conference room, where people aren't daily SMART Board users.  There's a small box that comes with the 680i, with input jacks for a computer, VCR/DVD, s-video and a USB Thumb Drive.  You can save your work as a SMART Notebook file, PDF file and JPEGs.  You don't even need to turn on a computer to make this simple software work... it's part of the 680i.

  The projector is built into this "bulby head" of the 680i.  Smart sales rep, Joe Haupt installed this 680i and built a wooden backplate to mount the projector base to the wall.  (There's a volume control knob on the left side of the stylus tray.)  Katie played a DVD so I could walk around the room and listen to very good quality audio sound, loud enough for a classroom.  The projector is adequately bright (1500 ANSI) and overall looks like a very nice installed solution.

Last I've heard, the 680i is supposed to begin shipping in January 2007 and there is quite a bit of pent-up demand for it, already.