eLearning For Teachers: Di Goodman (Epoff)

Equations and ActiveInspire

The following tutorials will help Maths teachers who are new to using ActiveInspire and who wish to create lesson flipcharts with equations. Equations created with the equation editor in Microsoft word will not copy across into ActiveInspire, although news on the net suggests that the creators of MathType are collaborating with ActiveInspire to streamline the process of inserting and editing equations in flipcharts. Following are some tutorials for working around the problem. MathType is used to create a library of equation resources which are saved in a folder and can then be inserted in flipcharts as needed.

Remember to Save your flipchart as you work, to avoid pain!

Tutorial 1. Make Equation resources with MathType

Step 1: Open MathType and create as many equations as you need on the one page, leaving some white space around each one. Leave this page open on the desktop.

Step 2: Open ActiveInspire and a new Flipchart will launch

Step 3: Make sure that you have the Area Snapshot tool in your toolbox. (If you don’t, go to Edit menu > Profile > Commands > Scroll down in the All Tools window to select it. Click add to add it to the main toolbox)

Step 4: Click on the Desktop Annotate tool and the Flipchart will disappear, leaving the ActiveInspire toolbox visible. Click on the Area Selection tool and then click and drag around the first equation. With the equation selected, locate the Area selection dialogue box open on the desktop and click on My Resources. Save the equation in a new folder called Equations inside your Flipcharts folder. Give it an appropriate title. To save time, repeat this step, saving all equations inside the Equations folder.

Step 5: Click back on the Desktop Annotate tool in the toolbox to take you back to the Flipchart. Make sure you have the correct Flipchart open (look at the tabs at the top of the page. Always save and name your flipcharts so that you know which one you are working on. Close any ‘Untitled’ flipcharts that you have accidentally created.

Step 6: Go to Insert menu > Insert Media > locate your Equation folder and click on the desired equation.

Step 7: With the pointer tool selected, click and drag the equation object into the desired location. You will not be able to type-edit the formula as it is now an object. To rescale/resize, right click on the object and drag the bottom right handle out or in.

Tutorial 2: Copy text/pics/objects from Word files

Step 1: Have both the Word file and the Flipchart open.

Step 2: Highlight and copy the text in appropriate sections from the Word document

Step 3: Go to the Flipchart page and Edit menu > Paste. The text comes in as a block. Select the Text tool from the toolbox. You may need to add the text tool to your toolbox first (see previous tutorial). You can now position the text cursor inside the copied text and edit it. You can also use the right hand handle of the text box to resize the width of the box. Click on the Move icon just above the text box to move it on the page.

Step 4: Pictures and objects can be copied in the same way however you cant edit an object although you can resize etc via the right-click menu. Use the pointer to reposition it on the page.

Tutorial 3. Combining equations with copied text in a flipchart for a lesson

Step 1: Copy and paste your text from Word onto the flipchart page. Break your text up into legible segments. Its important to copy the text in small blocks that can be easily moved around the flipchart page to provide sufficient space for inserting equations or diagrams etc.

Step 2: Use the text tool to edit any text as required.

Step 3: Position the text block using the pointer tool.

Step 4: To insert equations: Insert menu > Media files > locate the folder where they are stored.

Step 5: Select the pointer tool to move the equation/object diagram into place.

Step 6: Right click on the equation/object to resize etc.

Tutorial 4. Add Pages to flipcharts

Step 1: Go to Insert menu > Page and select whether you want it before or after current page. Use the Previous Page or Next page tools to move through the pages or click on the page thumbnails in the Page Browser (View menu > Browsers)

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