Wrote a grant to get Activotes--have questions

[deannakc]

Hi,
I got my Promethean board a month before school dismissed for the summer. We loved it, so I decided to write a grant to purchase Activotes for my First Grade classroom, since I used one in a Technology workshop and thought they were awesome. [clap] I know Activotes will keep all the kids involved in the lessons.
Well, last week I was notified that I received the grant.....now I see no training tutorials for using Activotes. Is it real simple to install? Will it work with all Promethean boards? I just read on another post that they may work with a hub..or is that just the older versions? Now I see Expressions are new...I thought they looked a little advanced for "Little Hands." Are Actvotes being phased out? Where can I get the best information so when I purchase them I get the most for the money I am spending? ????
Thanks for your response. I am learning so much just reading around this site. (I spent 3 hours here and it seemed like 30 minutes!)
Deanna

[htemske]

Deanna,

The newer votes are the ones with the hub. They WILL work on any board. Once the units are registered to the hub they can even be moved around from computer to computer (if you felt the urge to share and spread the good news). Expressions are the newest response system but they are NOT phasing out the votes. They both have their uses and benefits in a class. I would probably agree that votes are a good for the little ones although there is a thread around here with someone using them with "infants" (whatever level that is) very effectively. The votes are certainly easier for you and the kids to get going on, but the expressions are pretty intuitive as well. I think there is a Activote pdf manual on the Activstudio installation CD. There is also training with the Level 1 Advanced class online for $50. I would highly recommend the online classes (the basic one is even free). I'm sure you could find out who the local reseller is in your area by calling Promethean. I also know that CDW-G sells anywhere and they usually have good prices. That is where I bought my Expressions. My experience has been that once the representative does the quote it is less than the price they have published online.

Good Luck!

[LisaD]

No, Activotes are definitely not being phased out. You will just have a choice of which one will work better with YOUR students. The Activotes are simpler with responses A-F. The Activexpressions give many more ways for your students to respond other than A-F. They can input text the the build-in keypad, put things in order and use Likert scales. Some feel that Activexpression is too complex for little ones but others have used them with absolutely no problem with small children.

There is a cost differential though. The Activotes should be less expensive than the Activexpressions so if you got a grant for the exact cost of the Activotes, you may not be able to purchase Activexpressions for that same amount of money.

Both of them use a small "hub" that plugs into your USB port which is how they will communicate their answers wirelessly.

As far as tutorials or Activote ideas go, try looking at the Teacher Features and the Activtips to give you some ideas.

Activtips
http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.1147

Teacher Feature
http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.1135

Lisa

[sqircle33]

Congratulations on your grant. I hope you enjoy your activotes as much as I do.[clap]

[Alison]

Hi Deanna,

Congratulations on getting your grant! That's how I got my expressions. I badly wanted them, but knew that we could never afford them without a grant and like an activfairy granting my wish, our local education authority for the first time in years announced that they would be giving out a limited number of grants.

I'm also the one from that other thread who uses expressions with 'Infants'. Infants are 4-7 year olds and I teach the same year group as you. We're lucky that we already have activotes and my children loved them. The simplicity means that they require almost no input and the children can use them straight away. The expressions can do so much more, but will require training. The children will accept how to use it implicitly, but they will need to be taught how to text.

Ultimately, the choice will be yours! Personally I think it depends on how far you want to use them. If you know that they're going to be an essential part of your teaching and you're going to be using them often, I would go with expresions. Yes they take more input, but you can do far more with them. They give you the option of more open ended questions and a greater level of understanding of what the children know. On the other side, if your children are new to the technology, they will find activotes much less threatening and easy to use. They don't have to be used just for multiple choice answers, there's a thread on here where people share different ways of using them.

Let us know what you decide! +wave+

Alison

[DBarnwell]

Hello, Deanna. I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for, but we have a manual available at prometheanworld.com (linked below) that will walk you through the registration process and the basics of how to use the votes in your software.
http://www.prometheanworld.com/us/upload/pdf/Revised_Activote_Quick_Start_Guide_20071030093216. pdf
You really shouldn't need to install anything, as the votes use the same software and drivers as the board, though you may need to update to the latest version of both. You will need to register the votes to the hub, and this process is detailed in the manual above.

[DCantin]

THANKS to all of you who responded to this plea for help. I went today to my school board office with my principal and three other teachers to receive the grant checks, so now I will be diligently shopping! I will definitely be online in the training as I know I have so much to learn....so little time sometimes!
Maybe I can get things organized at school so I can spend a little time here every week. I know I learn something new each time I come to the promethean planet! This website and forum are so wonderful.{}
Thanks again and I will be back to read and post.
Deanna

[jescover]

PLEASE tell me where you obtain the grant information? I have a new board as well and several teachers including myself want the activotes. We need help pointing us to a grant location>:)

[LisaD]

There are tons of places to look for education grants.

Here's some links to try:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/funding/deb-wards-column/
http://www.techlearning.com/article/20088
http://k12grants.org/
http://www.fred.org/tech.html

Also, there is a great new program from Promethean that if you submit flipcharts you can win some Promethean equipment. It is called "Where's Flippy?"
Find info about that here:
http://www.prometheanplanet.com/flippy/

Lisa

[LisaD]

You could try this one, too!

http://www.donorschoose.org/teacher/index.html

Lisa