Activprimary vs ActivStudio

[dentje]

Hi,

I have been using AP3 intensively for the past 6 months, including training teachers, and now I want to focus my energies on AS3, also with a view to teacher training.

I have used AS3, but generally quite lightly. I wonder if anyone would be able to give me a brief breakdown of the differences between the two, and their respective strenghts/weakness.

I already know of the layout differences and the tool store, but what are the differences in terms of functionality. This is quite important information as I want the teachers (and me!) to start from a position of strength (i.e. we already know that we can do x,y and z in AP3) and I want to be able to say in what situations (apart from the obvious student age-group issue) I would use AS3 to do womething that I can't do in AP3.

Thanks for your time,

Dennis

n.b. I hope it's ok if I double-post this in the AS section as well - I'd like to get different perspectives from as many different types of user as possible. If you have already answered me in one, then of course you don't need ot answer me in the other. :)

[Dug]

This is the subject of my first ever post:
http://www.prometheanplanet.com/common/html/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=1670

I am delighted with how the gap has closed and this is wholly down to Version3. There are now far fewer differences in terms of features and functionality - although the 'biggy' for me is the ability to have more than one flp open at a time in Studio which is not (so far) possible in Primary.

[Margaret Allen]

In terms of functionality there is no difference apart from being able to customise the toolbar and having desktop overlay mode in AS and as Dug says having more than one flipchart open at one time. However, this last element, I believe has become less of an issue with Flipchart Builder now being in place.

I would like to suggest that what you are proposing needs to be carefully thought through. In my experience it is much safer to keep to one product. I think there are individuals who can cope with both but on the whole as this is a teaching tool it is imperative that teachers feel comfortable and completely at ease within their working environment. Given the timescale I would gently like to suggest that to offer a second platform so soon could be detrimental to the impact you have already made with your teachers. Because the functionality is virtually identical there would be no significant value to bringing in a different interface and so my advice is to keep AP for Primary Schools and AS for Secondary.

My experience also is that the only time there is any "disquiet" is only when people have tried both. AP users are very content and happy with their lot and it is only a very few who ever see both. +wave+

[dentje]

I would like to suggest that what you are proposing needs to be carefully thought through. In my experience it is much safer to keep to one product. I think there are individuals who can cope with both but on the whole as this is a teaching tool it is imperative that teachers feel comfortable and completely at ease within their working environment. Given the timescale I would gently like to suggest that to offer a second platform so soon could be detrimental to the impact you have already made with your teachers. Because the functionality is virtually identical there would be no significant value to bringing in a different interface and so my advice is to keep AP for Primary Schools and AS for Secondary.

My experience also is that the only time there is any "disquiet" is only when people have tried both. AP users are very content and happy with their lot and it is only a very few who ever see both. +wave+

I fully agree with your points, but we do have a rather different situation here. We are a private language school that works with the age range 5 to 60+, and many teachers teach the whole range.

We started with AP as we saw that it was a simpler interface. Although adults students have generally not minded the use of AP, there have been some comments about the babyish nature of the interface, and, as you know, an image of professionalism can sometimes make a difference between students returning or not.

I recognise the need to take care with this process, so we are working firstly with a small set of confident/competent teachers who will then act as multipliers. It is then a matter of taking your comments into account to perhaps train AS for teachers with a majority of adult students.

We have made huge strides this semester. Our school is rather traditional in its outlook, and having the Activboards has made a huge difference to students' perception of us, and to teachers' perception of themselves and the school. We have been relatively low-tech in the classroom until now, and that fact that so many teachers have adapted so well, and are producing some excellent material is something I don't wish to jeopardise.

So, thinking as I write, I would perhaps now split our training into two streams:

1. Continued training/support in AP for teachers with a majority of young learners.

2. Initiation of training in AS for teachers with a majority of adult learners.

The only downside to this idea is that most teachers teaching younger learners are themselves younger, and often have a much larger comfort zone in dealing with computers. To counter this, many of them will act as multipliers in delivering the basic training.

Thanks so much for your comments. Any further thoughts would be much appreciated.

[Peter Lambert]

Although not strictly relevant to this thread - there are some excellent EFL flipcharts submitted to Promethean Planet by the British Council:
http://www.prometheanplanet.com/uk/server/show/nav.3591