SMART Board
To use the SMART Board:
- When you turn the SMART Board on, login with your SUNetID as usual.
- You will see the normal Language Lab desktop, but on the right you will see the SMART Board Start Center .
- If this disappears for some reason, you can get it back by right-clicking on the SMART Board icon in the right side of the Taskbar .
- Choose the icon on the Start Center that suits your needs (most common applications are starred *).
The Start Center has 9 icons:
- *Notebook - for writing using the pens in the SMART Board tray.
- Recorder - Captures a movie of what you do on the screen
- Video Player - plays captured screen movies
- Keyboard - on-screen keyboard
- *Floating Tools - a handy set of tools that are useful when you are using the touch-screen and don't have a mouse handy. Includes area * capture, select, pen, highlighter, undo, eraser, and right-click.
- Control Panel - for changing the settings of the SMART Board
- X Videoconferencing – we don’t have the camera or the subscription for this
- Help - Actually a very good set of instructions, if a little thin on helpful pictures
- More .... - Some really cool things like Screen Capture Toolbar, Screen Shade (grays out the entire screen), Pointer (unlike the mouse, you can drag this and leave it somewhere), Calculator, Magnifier, and Spotlight (blacks out all but a portion of the screen).
To mark up a web page, Word document or PowerPoint Presentation:
- Pick up the pen and mark on the screen
- To erase, put the pen back in the holder and pick up the eraser.
- To highlight, use the Floating Tools to change the pen to a highlighter.
To watch VHS tapes and DVDs:
- Press the lower middle triangular button in the control panel to the right of the pens. Use the VHS/DVD player in the cabinet below the screen.
- The upper middle triangular button will return you to the main PC.
To connect a laptop:
- Connect the laptop using to the VGA cable on the right side of the SMART Board.
- Press the upper right triangular button.
- Please note that the touch screen and pens will ONLY work when using the main PC.
The lower right button will bring up the Notebook function The left buttons control the volume of the speakers.
Notes:
- Using the pens:
- By default, the pens are active for the desktop.
- For example, if you have a website open in a browser. You can use a pen to mark up the screen, but once you use the mouse again (by clicking on a link or something), your writing will disappear. A small icon will appear in the lower right corner of the screen to give you the opportunity to restore your writing, but this will disappear after a few seconds.
- If you want to save what you write, you should use the Notebook function on the Start Center. You can save what you do on the hard disk of this computer and retrieve it later. This is especially useful if you teach in this room on a regular basis.
- The Notebook has a number of useful features like the ability to select what you have written, move it and transform it. There really are also an amazing set of tools in the notebook under the Gallery tab on the right. Feel free to arrange a time with the Language Lab staff so you can come in to explore all the options there.
- Controls just to the right of the pens:
- The keyboard button brings up the on-screen keyboard
- The mouse button changes any click to a right-click
- The touch screen can be very sensitive and you can actually move the cursor without touching the screen, if you get close enough. The downside to this is that if you happen to brush against the screen with your shoulder, it will turn on the machine, or erase your writing. So keep your distance.
- The touch screen also occasionally gets out of calibration and the place you touch may not actually be the place that gets clicked. When this happens, let one of the Language Lab staff know and we will recalibrate it.
- Also, like any computer, if you run into anything that you just cannot fix, try rebooting the machine. Just like a cluster PC, go to the Start Button, choose Shut Down, and then choose Restart. If the machine has frozen, use the power switch on the computer in the cabinet below the screen.
