What with the scarcity of shareable open source IWB-content, particularly for Modern Languages, I am happy to pass on this blogpost at The Whiteboard Blog as it looks such good news! 

I have always been a big fan of both Smart Notebook and ActivStudio/Primary. I am less of a fan of the software that runs on other interactive whiteboards. They just don’t have the useability that I am looking for. I have also found that these the makers of these boards have not really invested in developing banks of resources for their users. Try looking for a Hitachi flipchart anywhere online and you’ll see what I mean.

The solution for users of these boards was either to struggle on with the software provided with your board or purchase a third party piece of software such as RM Easiteach. The third option was to use Smart Notebook or ActivSoftware in breach of the user licence - which is not something you should really be doing.

Now it should be possible for the user of any interactive whiteboard to download and run ActivInspire Personal Edition on their board legally. This gives them the basic whiteboard tools, plus more importantly access to open and use all of the Promethean flipcharts available on Promethean Planet, and on other websites (such as mine).

ActivInspire also opens (and converts) Smart Notebook files (for now). So whiteboard users running ActivInspire can pretty much get access to the majority of IWB files available on the Internet. For example on my site I have files I produced only as Smart - those files can now be used by any ActivInspire user. How long it will be before Smart releases a update patch that stops Promethean from opening their files, only time will tell. I hope they don’t - I’d like to see resources made more open for teachers, not locked into proprietary formats.

 For teachers in schools that have mixed platforms, and I have been in many, it can be a real problem to have materials you have written to use on the Smartboard in your classroom only to find the room you are now timetabled in has a Promethean board - or a Hitachi board etc. Schools could now put the personal version on all computers to give teachers a common platform which they could use if they wish.

It’s worth making clear that the Personal Edition of ActivInspire is a cut down version. It does not have all the tools that the full version has. You can see a comparison chart here. It does not have design mode, or desktop annotation, or screen recorder. There’s no handwriting recognition, or dice tools or on-screen keyboards. But these are often tools people can do without. And if you do llike the software the school can purchase the full version of the ActivInspire anyway.

More on this at the Source: The Whiteboard Blog