Did you know that all SMART Boards come with FREE SMART Notebook software? 

by | education technology, interactive whiteboard, News, SMART Board

There have been many improvements to the FREE SMART software since it was first released in 2013 and it’s available for anyone to try out!  

If you already have a SMART interactive board, you will know all about the FREE software that comes with the display that allows you to create, edit, and deliver engaging lessons to your students.

So, what’s new & what does the FREE software let you do? 

  1. SMART iQ is a built-in Android™ that supports interactive whiteboarding, collaboration through screen sharing, and access to apps without having to connect to a PC.
  2. SMART Ink® is free annotation software that lets you convert notes to text or write into PDFs, Microsoft Office files, and websites. Capture screens, change ink colours and thicknesses, spotlight and magnify, convert writing to text, assign favourite tools, and use a screen shade. All without an overlay or special ink mode. You can then save these notes in almost any file type.
  3. SMART Notebook® basic version – Free interactive lesson software that helps you to create interactive lessons. The features enable you to;
    • Creative pen tools
    • SMART Ink for writing and drawing in digital ink
    • SMART Ink presentation tools such as screen shade, spotlight, and more
    • Infinite cloner
    • Add shapes, text, and images
    • Interact with page objects
    • Add text, tables, lines, and shapes
    • Insert images and widgets (such as interactive dice, timers, and spinners)
    • Import PowerPoint (Windows only) and PDF files and convert them to SMART Notebook files
  1. SMART Exchange® is a site dedicated to giving you access to thousands of free games, activities, lesson content, and classroom resources. The following link will let you get activities, games and SMART Notebook lessons created by teachers for teachers https://exchange.smarttech-prod.com/

If you haven’t tried out the free Software –  there is no cost, no subscription & no obligation to buy a subscription to the SMART Learning Suite Software.

Download it https://www.smarttech.com/products/education-software/notebook/download/basic

So, you love the SMART FREE software and are thinking you would like to upgrade to the SMART Learning Suite software subscription version

What would this upgrade let me do?

The following table lists the additional SMART Notebook features that come with a subscription and compares them to how they behave in the basic version of SMART Notebook.

Feature With a subscription to SMART Learning Suite With the basic version of SMART Notebook
Activities Use game-based activity templates to create interactive activities. Type of activities include matching, fill-in-the-blanks, label reveals, sorting, and more. Learn more about activities.

These activities help students memorise concepts and facts, identify objects, learn vocabulary definitions, and more. Activities can be played as a class or students can connect to the activities using their devices and play them in small groups or individually.

 If the file has existing activities, the content is maintained but cannot be edited. New activities cannot be created.

Existing activities can be played as a class at the SMART Board.

Only activities that require student devices (such as Monster Quiz) can be played individually on student devices.
Formative assessments Use the response 2 wizard to create actionable question sets. Focusing on formative assessments, this feature supports the need for educators to effectively assess students in order to guide learning. Students can complete assessments using their own devices. Learn more about assessments. If the file has existing assessments, the content is maintained but cannot be edited. New assessments cannot be created.
YouTube add-on Use the YouTube add-on in SMART Notebook to search for YouTube videos or paste a link and add YouTube videos into pages. If the file has existing videos, you can play them, but you cannot search for or add new videos.
Image Web Search add-on Search and add images directly from Bing into your lesson. Only royalty-free, age-appropriate image results will turn up. If the file has existing images, they still appear, but you cannot search for and add new images using this add-on.
Concept Mapping add-on Use Concept Mapping to quickly create concept maps that encourage dynamic participation from students. You can use ink gestures along with traditional interactions to build concept maps. Learn more about concept mapping. If the file has existing concept maps, these are maintained. New concept maps cannot be created.
Lesson Recorder add-on Using SMART Recorder, you can record your actions on your interactive product. If you connect a microphone to your computer, you can record your voice as well.

After you create a recording, you can play the recording on any computer using Windows Media Player (Windows operating systems) or QuickTime software (macOS operating system software).

Learn more about recording lessons.

 Any existing recordings will play, but you cannot create new recordings.
SMART Blocks add-on SMART Blocks is an add-on that enables you to perform math activities with your class by writing numbers on the page, and then connecting them to a SMART Block. You can choose from seven different equation types to work with.

Learn more about using SMART Blocks.

 If the file has existing SMART Blocks, you can run them.

You cannot add new SMART Blocks.
Kapp add-on Save notes taken on a SMART Kapp whiteboard directly into the SMART Notebook page. You can take your Kapp notes and erase, resize, convert-to-text or graph them within your Notebook lesson.

Use the timeline feature to replay the work students have done and observe their decision-making and how their ideas evolved.

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Maestro The Maestro add-on connects SMART Notebook software and the SMART Notebook app for iPad enabling you to remotely control and interact with lessons from the SMART Notebook app on your iPad.

Learn more from the SMART Notebook Maestro quick start guide.

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Screen View When presenting lessons you can use the following views:

  • Full Screen view expands the page area to fill the interactive screen by hiding the title bar, toolbar, taskbar and sidebar.
  • Transparent Background view enables you to see the desktop and windows behind the SMART Notebook software window and continue to interact with the open, transparent page.
  • Dual Page view displays two pages side-by-side.
 Dual page and transparent background options are not available.
Share files to board or share using a link Share files using the Share to Board or Share using a Link features. These features are not available.
No watermark When you subscribe to SMART Learning Suite, this watermark is removed even if you are not connected to a SMART Board. A SMART watermark appears on each page when the computer is not connected to a SMART Board.
Overview Overview of the basic version of SMART Notebook and how it works
Products
  • SMART Notebook
Concepts
  • basic version
  • free software version
  • about features

Want to try the SMART Learning Suite software?

You can start a free 45-day trial to experience how you can transform static content into interactive lessons –  https://www.smarttech.com/products/education-software/smart-learning-suite/download/trial
You can check out other lessons and resources at the Visionext Academy portal. It’s FREE to join @ https://academy.visionext.com.au/
Look for our course SMART Learning Suite In Depth

Got any question about SMART Boards and their amazing software?
Give us a call 1300 139 292