Tequipment: Blogging About SMART Boards, Resources, Lessons, Training, Games

A question we have been getting a lot recently is whether to upgrade to Notebook Service Pack 2 (SP2). As with any new software release, we encourage people not to upgrade immediately.  With summer just around the corner, it may make more sense to wait until the end of the school year.  This would allow any potential bugs to be found and fixed by September!

The major bugs that were present in SP2′s initial release have been ironed-out, and we have found it to be an improvement over SP1 — especially for Mac users who incorporate a lot of Flash into their Notebook files.

If you were considering upgrading, we recommend that you try it out on a spare computer first to make sure it works with your particular system specifications.

We didn’t want this info on Notebook Service Pack 2 getting lost among our recent posts, so here it is again:

There’s been a flurry of software updates to Notebook 10 over the past few weeks: SMART released Response, the revision of Senteo; a driver service pack for Mac; and Notebook Service Pack 2 for all platforms.

We’d like to highlight some of the great changes introduced, as well as ask for input for future revisions. Without further adieu, our top three changes are:

Floating Tools

A major change from Notebook 9 to Notebook 10 was the appearance of the floating tools. NBX’s tools used to appear as a long, thin column, dockable on each side of the screen. To use different color pens or highlighters, you would select the pen, then choose the color from a collapsable menu. Service Pack 2 goes a little “old school” by bringing single-color pens back. The highlighter icon has also changed, making it much easier to identify visually.

Tables

When SMART included tables with NBX, we heard a lot of positive feedback, as they finally included a key missing feature. What users really wanted though, was something similar to a “distribute rows/columns” feature. Thankfully, that’s now part of the tables feature. No more funky sized tables!

Floating Tools, Part 2

Hey, who said we couldn’t list one change twice? Another great revision in to the floating tools is the addtion of columns. With just a couple of clicks, you can greatly reduce the amount of space your tools will occupy. Adding a couple of columns to the tools will help prevent all of those pens and highlighters you’re going to be adding from monopolizing all the space on the side of your SMART Board.

There’s been a flurry of software updates to Notebook 10 over the past few weeks: SMART released Response, the revision of Senteo; a driver service pack for Mac; and Notebook Service Pack 2 for all platforms.

We’d like to highlight some of the great changes introduced, as well as ask for input for future revisions. Without further adieu, our top three changes are:

Floating Tools

A major change from Notebook 9 to Notebook 10 was the appearance of the floating tools. NBX’s tools used to appear as a long, thin column, dockable on each side of the screen. To use different color pens or highlighters, you would select the pen, then choose the color from a collapsable menu. Service Pack 2 goes a little “old school” by bringing single-color pens back. The highlighter icon has also changed, making it much easier to identify visually.

Tables

When SMART included tables with NBX, we heard a lot of positive feedback, as they finally included a key missing feature. What users really wanted though, was something similar to a “distribute rows/columns” feature. Thankfully, that’s now part of the tables feature. No more funky sized tables!

Floating Tools, Part 2

Hey, who said we couldn’t list one change twice? Another great revision in to the floating tools is the addtion of columns. With just a couple of clicks, you can greatly reduce the amount of space your tools will occupy. Adding a couple of columns to the tools will help prevent all of those pens and highlighters you’re going to be adding from monopolizing all the space on the side of your SMART Board.

We are pleased to announce that SMART Response (the interactive response system formerly known as Senteo) is now ready for download with the updated driver sets for both Mac and Windows! Please take the time to read all install notes! If you are upgrading to SMART Response you must also upgrade to the latest drivers (Mac / Windows).

Mac users follow this link to upgrade

Windows users follow this link to upgrade

Check back here for product highlights!

Hello everyone: Do not install SMART Response yet. For the past couple of days we have been testing the new version of SMART Response, and we have found a major glitch. On the PC, the select tool will not work within the workspace of the Notebook. On the Mac, none of the tools will work within the workspace.

We have notified SMART and will keep everyone updated as we receive word from them.

In the interim please uninstall Response and reinstall Senteo 2.

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UPDATE

SMART has acknowledged the issue with SMART Response and has released a new service pack for the SMART Board drivers.   SMART’s website has not yet been updated to reflect this change.  For now, the service pack can be downloaded from the following links:

Service Pack 5 for the PC

Service Pack 5 for the MAC

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We’ve been asked a few questions about Senteo lately and thought we’d take a moment and answer some of them here.

Q: “If I create a class list on my Mac at home, can I save it on a flash drive and use it on my PC in school?”

A: You definitely can! Just like Notebook files, Senteo has cross platform compatibility. Remember, Senteo files are just Notebook files. For more information about roaming Senteo profiles read our post on Saving & Accessing your Senteo Teacher Profile

Q: “How do I activate my Senteo Software?”

A: It’s very easy to activate your software. If you are using Senteo 1.0, all you need to do is plug in your receiver. This will load the necessary drivers and validate your software. If you are using Senteo 2.0, you will have plug in your receiver and start a new class.

A Senteo Teacher Profile encompasses the class lists, student profiles, and assessment results.

Some of our blog readers have had questions about where Senteo stores this information, how it can be retrieved, can it be saved in a specific location, and can several teachers have their profiles on a single computer.

When creating a teacher profile, you can save it to any location. Open Senteo Teacher, select “New,” and a new Teacher Profile will be created. Make sure you use a unique name when naming your teacher profile. If a profile is created with the same name as an exiting profile, the older profile can be over-written, and the previously-retained grades, class lists, etc. will be lost.

Next, when filling in the appropriate teacher details, there is an option to save to a specific location: “Save in…” Click the “Browse” button and fine a nice, safe place to save the profile (Pictured above, click the image to enlarge it).

REMEMBER THIS!: Senteo 2.0 will always open the most recently used teacher profile. So, make sure you open your teacher file when you start Senteo Teacher, click File > Open and then browse to your teacher profile.

This allows multiple teachers on one computer to save their Teacher Profiles. It also provides you with the location on your computer or school network where the profiles can be accessed.

One of the most frequent questions we’re asked is “How do I get a product key for Notebook 10?”

You can find a link to download the software directly from our website. Here is the link: http://www.tequipment.com/software-downloads/. Choose the appropriate operating system, either Windows or Mac. Once you have made your selection, a new window will open (On SMART’s website, pictured here).

The very first link in this new window, “Obtain a product key,” will explain that to retrieve a product key to activate the Notebook software you will need a serial number from a SMART product.

You can use a serial number from any SMART product in your school. On most SMART Boards the serial numbers can be found under the pen tray or on the back of the right hand side of the SMART Board.

You can also take a serial number from an AirLiner or Senteo.

Once you’ve entered the serial number and completed a customer information form, SMART will email a product key for Notebook 10 to you.

Obtaining a product key can be done before you actually download and install Notebook software. Without the product key, Notebook will be limited to a 30-day trial period.

A question we often encounter when discussing Senteo quizzes is “What if some of my students are absent?”

The simple answer is to re-run the quiz.  We recommend saving assessments under different names, so that you can easily review the Notebook file later.  If you don’t want to save the Notebook data, you can re-run the quiz, and elect to “clear th results and start this assessment.”  You won’t lose the data that was saved in Senteo Teacher.

When you re-run the quiz for the missing students, they won’t be included in the data set with the other group(s) of students.  To fix this, you’ll need to change the date of the assessment in Senteo Teacher, so that it matches the original date on which it was given.  When you print out class progress reports, the data for the “missing” students now appears on the same date as the “present” students.

We’ve come across this issue a lot recently. So here’s a post on what to do if the speakers attached to your SMART Board appear to not be working.

1. The first thing to check is whether or not the speakers are plugged in to the wall. This may seem obvious, but this actually trips a lot of people up. The confusion is caused by a couple factors. While the SMART Board is powered by your computer, the speakers need to be connected to a power source. Also, when the speakers are only plugged into your computer and not to a wall outlet, the operating light will come on. It will be a faint light, but it can still be confusing. Also, the power cord is comprised of two parts. Make sure they are plugged into one another securely.
2. Make sure your speakers are set as the default audio device. To do this for a PC: (A) Go to the Control Panel. (B) Select Sound (C) Select USB Audio Device to be the Default. For a Mac: (A) Go to System Preferences. (B) Go to Sound. (C) Select USB Audio Device to be the default.
3. Make sure the volume is turned up both on the speaker and the computer itself. If you share computers, another teacher might mute the audio.
4. If a pterodactyl lands on your speaker, you have most like accidentally activated the time travel function of your SMART Board. Remain calm and contact technical support. Please do not harm the pterodactyl as it might cause a rift in the space-time continuum.

If this doesn’t help you or you have other questions, please comment below. Have a great day.