First open your PowerPoint file and go to File and then choose Print. In the drop down menu tha allows you to choose which printer you want to use, select Smart Print Capture. Choose your other options for example do you want a note taking page with three slides or each page to have one slide. Once your options are correct, click print and the slides will appear in either a new Notebook file if you didn’t have a Notebook file open or in the Notebook file that is already open.

This solution, however makes each PowerPoint slide into an image. If you had any interactive elements, animations or transitions in your PowerPoint file, they are now gone. Many teachers have created review games with numerous links so this solution will not work. Typically these teachers have neither the time or the desire to recreate the file in Notebook even if it is a much more interactive program.

This issue had me stumped until I came across a free program for Windows called iSpring Converter. This little program will take files created in PowerPoint and convert them into a Flash file while preserving sounds, animations, transitions, and hyperlinks. The main idea behind the app is that it is an easy way to display PowerPoint files in a website but since Notebook easily handles Flash files it is a handy and fast way to put PowerPoint files into Notebook. As a bonus, iSpring Converter compresses the PowerPoint files as it converts making the resulting Flash file smaller in size than the actual PowerPoint file. Since each PowerPoint exists on one Notebook page, you can even have more than one PowerPoint file in one Notebook file.

The steps are pretty easy. When you install iSpring Converter it will place several new buttons in PowerPoint. (2007 version seen below, 2003 versions and below will have similar buttons.)

Open the PowerPoint file that you want to convert. Press the Publish button (as seen above) in the iSpring toolbar. Name your new Flash file and choose where you would like to save the file. Then publish your PowerPoint file.

After iSpring has converted your file, open Smart Notebook. Go to the Insert menu and chose Flash File… Navigate to the .swf file that you created and insert. Once in Notebook you can easily resize it to fill the whole Notebook page. There is also a button that allows you to go to full screen mode.

iSpring also offers iSpring Presenter as a paid product that allows a user to have more control over the Flash files that you can create as well as allowing you to create quizzes.

If you have a question that you would like to ask the edTech Ninja, leave it in the comments or e-mail the edTech Ninja:

The Ninja has collected these links from one of his favorite blogs  Teachers Love Smartboards. Jim has a wonderful collection of resources and ideasfor the SmartBoard using Ninja. Check him out!

The Notebook file covers:

• When elections are held
• Jobs of the President
• Requirement to be President
• The two major political parties
• Primaries and Caucuses
• Nominees for 2008
• Vice Presidents
• Campaigns
• Voting Day
• The Electoral College
• Mock Elections
• Election Online Resources

The hyper-cool interactive electoral college map on page 15 was created by the awesome ninjas over at TeqSmart. They have more from where that came from. They have Notebook files and gallery elements available for free and for pay over on their website: http://www.teqsmart.org. The Tech Ninja highly recommends them. Click here to check them out.

Technical Information: This file was created in Smart Notebook 10 SP 1. Notebook versions older than 9.5 may not be able to
open this file correctly. To prevent download issues, I have zip compressed the file. To view the file on Windows, right
click on the compressed file and choose "Extract All..." Double click the resulting file to view.

>>Download now<< 16.25 MB

When you open up NSE it starts on a very different screen than you plain jane Notebook installation. The first stop is the new “My Home” page. Here, Smart gives several templates that allow students to have their own schedule as well as areas to customize with their own pictures.

Across the top of the My home area, there is a new tab bar with three tabs. The first takes you to the “My Home” area, a tab labeled “My Binder” (more on that later) and then a tab with the day’s date called “My Notes”. Any new notebook files opened will create another tab with the name of the file on it. If you hover over a tab, a small x will appear that you can click to close the file similar to most tabbed web browsers.

Down the right (as in the picture above) or left side of the screen depending on the preferences is the normal toolbar tabs with the addition of one new tab at the bottom for Quick Links indicated by a picture of a pencil and ruler. The other tabs, page sorter, gallery, attachments, and property tabs are unchanged from Notebook 10 (though they are a wider width than in Notebook 10 Service Pack 1). The new Quick Links tab provides handy links to recent files that have been opened and links to files that are due in the coming week. Included in the Beta version are some links for some surveys about the new program that I imagine will not be in the regular release.

During the installation process, the user is asked to choose a location on the computer to put the My Binder save date. Here, students can create and import Notebook files. After they add files, students can edit the properties of the document to add due dates, subject and keywords. Students and browse these files under the My Binder tab. The ninja wonders if a teacher could set up and binder save location on a network to multiple installations of NSE in a lab setting. Would that then allow a teacher to drop a notebook file into that save location on the network and it be available to all the student computers.

A new button is also included in the default toolbar.

This new button give you a link to tutor.com which is a pay-for-use website that allows students to fine tutoring help on homework via the internet. This button can easily be removed.

So what are your thoughts on Notebook SE? How can it be used in a class settings? Share your ideas in the comments.

Smart has just released a new piece of software. The Ninja is installing it now. The new software is called SMART Notebook Student Edition (SE). The program is only in BETA right now which means if you don’t feel comfortable playing around with what could be flakey software, you shouldn’t install it. BETA is a version before it is officially released. Just a warning.

The student edition appears to be just the same as Notebook but it does add a few features. I will leave those for a larger post.  Coming soon.

All About Us has students filling in answers to questions about some of their favorite things, or about their families. When finished, students can share their presentation with the teacher and the rest of the class. This activity not only functions as a get to know you activity, it is also a good activity to get students familiar with the Notebook Software without being overwhelming and it could also be an excellent activity to introduce students to using a computer lab.

On the Attachment tab, I have included the a PDF version of the file. If going to a computer lab, you can print out the PDF file before hand and have students fill out the needed infomation in the classroom and then moving to the lab. With the work already finished, students can focus on using the Notebook Software rather than coming up with the information on the spot.

This file can easily be modified so each student is creating his or her own file by simply removing the “Person 2″ pages. This activity can also be easily adapted to other programs such as PowerPoint.

Technical Information: This file was created in Smart Notebook 10 SP 1. Notebook versions older than 9.5 may not be able to
open this file correctly. To prevent download issues, I have zip compressed the file. To view the file on Windows, right
click on the compressed file and choose "Extract All..." Double click the resulting file to view.

>>Download now<< 444 KB

Before we get into the nitty gritty of the how, there are a few issues that the tech ninja would like to touch on. First, just because the video is up on a video sharing site and you have the ability and the know how to get said video doesn’t mean that you should. This is the part of the presentation that the Tech Ninja reminds you about NETS Stardard 4a that says:

4. Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices. Teachers:

a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.

Yeah, I know copyright is a bummer, but it is something that we need to be weary of, if for no other reasons that to keep ourselves out of trouble. Secondly, there are many different ways to get these videos and put them in Notebook, I am going to share the way that I find the easiest.

To get the video and to embed it you will need the following software:

• Firefox web browser. I really like the new version 3.o. If you aren’t using Firefox, the Tech Ninja recommends this. You can get it at Firefox’s website.
• A browser plug-in called Video Download Helper VDH).
• Of course you will need Notebook.

Got everything installed? Good.

Step #1: Finding and Downloading your Video

When you are looking for a video to use for one of your lessons, you will need to use the Firefox browser. Double click the Firefox icon. If you are familiar with Firefox, you will notice the addition of a new icon in Firefox after you download and install Video Download Helper. The icon is seen below.

If you don’t see this icon, the Video Download Helper isn’t installed, go back to the site linked above and install the plug-in.

When the plug-in detects a flash video on the website that you are viewing the icon will become animated and begin spinning.

To download the flash video (.flv) click the down arrow next to the Video Download Helper icon. The menu that comes up will list all the media on that webpage that is available to download.

Click the video that you want to download. A Save dialogue box will come up. Choose the place you would like the movie to be saved and click the OK button. VDH will begin the process of downloading. Remember where you saved it.

Step #2: Now what?

If you want to use the movie file in a Smart Notebook file you are lucky, Notebook can handle the .flv file that you downloaded without any extra fuss. In your notebook file, go to Insert -> Video File… and navigate to where you saved the video file. Select the file and choose okay.

The video should appear in your Notebook file.

Near the bottom of the video will be an arrow pointing to the right. Click it to access the video controls like play, pause, volume, and mute as seen below.

In order to drop this video file into some other kind of presentation or to just view it on your computer without using Notebook, you will need some kind of conversion tool. For our purposes here today, I will just deal with free solutions. The Tech Ninja recommends Media Convert because he doesn’t like waiting for an e-mail that might get caught in some kind of spam filter. Media Convert will allow you to upload and wait to convert and download it immediately. Another nice solution is Zamzar. They offer free and for pay solutions, however you will have to wait for an e-mail to let you know when your file has been converted and ready for download. Once that is completed and depending on what type of file you created, you can view it on your computer, drop it into a PowerPoint (the ninja suggests .wmv) or Keynote (the ninja suggests .mov) presentation or drop it onto a video iPod, iTouch, or iPhone (the ninja suggests .m4v) or any other multimedia device.

That’s all there is to it! Share the videos that you find with ease!

If you have a question that you would like to ask the edTech Ninja, leave it in the comments or e-mail the edTech Ninja:

This Notebook file includes the Theme Music, several versions of the Think Music, the Banker’s phone and the Deal Music, and No Deal Music built in.

Here is how to play:

• Before choosing a case, students must make a “Probability Statement” using words like certain, likely, unlikely, and impossible. For example: “It is unlikely that briefcase number 15 has one million dollars.”
• A student chooses and circles one case. This is the class case.
• First round, students must choose 6 cases. X through cases and dollar amounts that have been selected.
• The Banker (the teacher) makes an offer after 6 cases are opened. The students take the deal or reject the deal (no deal).
• If no deal, move on to round 2 and the students must open 5 cases, making “Probability Statements.”
• Banker makes another offer. Students must accept or not.
• If no deal, students must choose 4 cases in round 3.
• In round 4 students must choose 3 cases.
• In round 5 students must choose 2 cases.
• In round 6 and after, students must choose 1 case.
• Play until a deal is taken or you get to the last case.
• Check the student’s circled case to see how much was in it. Was it a good deal?

Use the music buttons at the top of the main game board to enhance the experience.

There are two different games boards. You can create your own game by switching up the links on either of the two game boards.

Technical Information: This file was created in Smart Notebook 9.7.46. Notebook versions older than 9.5 may not be able to
open this file correctly. To prevent download issues, I have zip compressed the file. To view the file on Windows, right
click on the compressed file and choose "Extract All..." Double click the resulting file to view.

>>Download now<< 3.4 MB (ed. note: Link corrected 04-18-08.)