0 Time Saving ActivInspire Tips

Time Saving Tips to make Creating Flipchart Lessons Easier!

Creating a Promethean flipchart lesson with many interactive components isn’t something that is done very quickly.  In fact, when I first began using ActivInspire (ActivStudio originally), it took me many hours to create one.  Over the years I have learned (and still continue to learn) many little quick techniques that have cut ample time out of my flipchart lesson making.  Here are a few that have saved me the most time:

1. Control+Shift+K  

 The Quickest and Easiest Shortcut for the Area Snapshot Camera Tool

      I was actually aggravated when I discovered this.  I thought, “Really?  I have wasted so much time, either clicking on the camera tool from my toolbar or even going to the top menu - to tools, camera, and then area snapshot.” I later was grateful to learn this tidbit and now, within seconds, I have the camera tool on the screen ready to take a picture of something. 

 2. Taking Pictures in Order

      The camera tool also retains memory from the last image you took a picture of, so it’s best if you have to take many pictures of things to do them in an order by category.  For example: if you are taking pictures of a rectangular shape with text in it on each of your flipchart pages, do all of these first, since you won’t have to move the marquee handles around and re-size the area.  Then, move on to the other similar objects that you have to take pictures of. 

3. Temporarily Grouping Objects

      I do this next step so much, that I don’t even think about it anymore.  Basically, when you have more than one item on your page that you want to move simultaneously, draw an imaginary box around the images using the arrow (marquee select tool).  This will group them temporarily to move them.  For instance, these three addition problems were already lined up and spaced equally apart from each other; however, I wanted to move them to a different location on my flipchart page.  Rather than move them individually, I just temporarily grouped them. To do this, I used the arrow to draw an imaginary box around them and moved them as one image.  Once you click away to another area of your flipchart page, the grouping disappears for them to act as individual images again. 

4.   Using the Page Browser to Copy Objects     

     This step is one I use frequently.  When you don't need to duplicate an entire page, but want to just copy images, resources, text, or other items from one flipchart page to another, this is the quickest and easiest way.  Open up the browser (Control B) is the quickest way.  Look at the top and make sure you are on the first icon from the left hand side.  The top of your browser should say page browser.  Just go to the flipchart page that you want to copy objects from and drag them onto your new flipchart page.  It's like magic!  You can see in the picture that I just drug the items over onto the new flipchart page.  They even go into the exact same location as the other images. 

Of course these aren't all of the time saving tips, but are the ones that I use the most frequently.  Do you have any time saving tips on creating Promethean flipchart lessons?  I am continuously learning more about ActivInspire and would love to hear from you!

Enjoy!

Mrs. K. Gilchrist

National Board Certified Teacher

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