Using the Sympodium for Instructors

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1 Using the Sympodium for Instructors Objectives: This workshop will enable the instructor to: Turn on the Sympodium Use the Sympodium pen in place of a mouse to mark on the Sympodium screen and o Click and drag o Click o Double click o Right click Use the eraser to undo marks Change the appearance, size, and color of the Sympodium pen and eraser. Use blank PowerPoint slides to write notes which can be saved, printed, or sent electronically to students. Using the Airliner for Instructors Objectives: This workshop will teach the instructor to understand: Turning on the tablet Using the pen Drawing Pen Shortcuts Using the wireless mouse What to do when you are finished using the Airliner

2 Sympodium Quick-start Directions What is it? The Sympodium is a computer monitor and tablet rolled into one. It allows you to manipulate the screen using the included pen in a variety of ways. As a replacement for the mouse. You can draw on the screen with the pen to annotate whatever you are displaying at the time. Using PowerPoint you can use the screen as you would a whiteboard, using the special pen as a marker. You can save your material for later use. 2

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4 Introduction to the Sympodium Power Before doing anything, make sure the power led is glowing. If it is off, turn the Sypodium on using the rightmost button on top. The Pen The Pen is stored in the back of the Sympodium. Pull on the tether it get it out. Please return the pen to its holder when you are done. Adjusting the angle of the stand You may prefer the Sympodium be horizontal. To adjust the display, pull up on the tab in back of the unit and raise/lower it to suit your preference. 4

5 Using the pen as a mouse To activate Mouse Mode, click on the arrow button, leftmost on the upper controls. Left click: Touch the screen with the pen to click the mouse there. Click and drag: Keep a light steady pressure on the pen while you move it to click-and-drag. Double click: Double-tapping is the same as double-clicking. Right click: Two identical buttons with mouse icons on the bottom controls let you right click. Press the button, then tap on the screen where you want to right click. Computer tip: A left click normally selects whatever you click on. Double leftclicking often tells the program to do the default action with whatever you double-click on ( default action varies!). Right clicking calls up other actions you can do with whatever you click on. 5

6 Using the pen to draw. The Sympodium display can be used like a normal monitor on a normal computer. You can call up a website, for example, or a PowerPoint presentation. If the overhead projector has been turned on, it will normally show what the Sympodium is showing. To mark: You can, at any time, turn the pen tool into a marker to write on the display, in one of three colors. By default, these are black, blue, and red. With the pen-tip or your finger, push one of the middle three buttons on the top controls to activate the marker of that color. With the pen active, move the pen across the display to leave a mark. You can switch between the three colors freely. To erase: If you want to erase your line, click the eraser button next to the three color buttons, pen. then draw over the area you want to erase with the Tip: You cannot manipulate most open applications while drawing with the pen (You cannot click hyperlinks or press buttons). To affect the application, you must return to mouse mode. When you do so, your pen marks will disappear. Plan for this when you consider how you intend to use the system. On notable exception is MS PowerPoint, which works well with the pen. 6

7 To configure the pen beyond your basic options: To change the pen size or color beyond your basic three options, press the button with the wrench icon on the bottom controls. This will call up a toolbar on the upper left corner of the screen. 7

8 The third button over on the top row activates the pen. Double-clicking on it opens the pen properties dialog. The fourth button over on the top row changes the pen into a highlighter. Again, double-clicking on it brings up detailed properties. You can also activate the eraser or right-click modes from this menu. Double-click on the eraser button on the toolbar to set the eraser size. 8

9 Draw on PowerPoint slides The Sympodium interacts fluidly with PowerPoint when you are viewing a slide show. You can mark freely on a PowerPoint presentation when it is running, and still make use of a special toolbar to move through the presentation without losing your work. Anything you draw on the slides will remain in the presentation. When you exit the presentation, it will ask if you want to keep your markings. Be sure to say yes, or it will discard them. Instructional tip: Preparing and running a presentation that just a set of blank slides is a great way to use the Sympodium as a digital whiteboard and save your notes to distribute to your students after class. Anytime you want to clear the board, just advance to the next slide. When you quit, you can delete the unused slides, and then save the PowerPoint presentation with the markup included. Sympodium Get going with PowerPoint in 5 minutes. This no-frills guide will get you using the Sympodium display like a simple whiteboard in under 5 minutes. To get you oriented, the Sympodium looks like the image on the next page. 9

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11 1. Turn it on. 2. Pull out the pen from the back. 3. On the desktop, go to Start, All Programs, Microsoft Office, Microsoft PowerPoint. 11

12 4. Click on PowerPoint 5. PowerPoint will open. 12

13 6. Click the New Slide Button on the Formatting Toolbar to create 10 new slides (or more or fewer, as you prefer.) 7. You will now have a PowerPoint slide show consisting of 10 blank slides. 8. You will want to choose a blank slide layout. 13

14 9. Click the Edit menu, then Select All (Ctrl + A) to select all of your slides. 10. Click the Format menu, then Slide Layout 11. In the Content Layouts Section of the Slide Layout task pane, Select Blank. 14

15 12. Click the drop down arrow at the right side of the Blank Content Layout choice, and click Apply to Selected Slides. (Because you selected all of your slides in step 9 above, this will apply the blank layout to all of the slides in your show. That is what you want when working with Sympodium.) 15

16 13. This your PowerPoint slide show with ten blank slides. 14. Press F5 to start the slide show going. You will get a blank white screen. 15. Press one of the top three buttons on the Sympodium to start drawing. 16

17 16. If the projector is active, as you make notes they will appear on the projected image. 17. When you are ready to erase the screen and move on, click on the right arrow in the controls to advance to the next blank slide. You can do this up to 30 times by default. 18. When you are done, press ESC. PowerPoint will ask you if you want to add your drawings to the presentation. If you want to keep your notes for distribution to your students after class, click Yes. 19. Important: The Sympodium is still in drawing mode. Click this button to go back to mouse mode. 17

18 20. Finally, if you want to keep your work, save your presentation. Click on File in the menu then Save As. You must have a USB Flash Drive or similar to save your presentation on! You cannot save it on the Sympodium computer. It will disappear when the computer is turned off! 18

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20 Airliner Quick-start directions What is it? The Airliner is a wireless tablet that allows you to draw on the screen with the included pen. It is a wireless device, so you can take it around the classroom with you. Unlike the Sympodium, it does not display the current screen while you draw, so you must look at the Sympodium or the projected image on the wall to see what s happening. Using these directions, you will learn how to use the tablet to draw on whatever is currently displayed on the computer s screen. However, in most cases anything you draw will be lost when the mouse or keyboard are used (to move to a new webpage, for example). Certain applications are an exception to this rule, the simplest of which is a presentation running in Microsoft PowerPoint. To get up and running with a blank PowerPoint presentation, see the Get going with PowerPoint in 5 minutes guide for the Sympodium. 20

21 Introduction to the wireless tablet Power First, you must power on the tablet. To do so, press the power button on the upper left. Next, you need to unplug the power cord, located on the right side of the tablet. Unplug the power cable. The pen Finally, remove the pen from its holder on top of the display. You are now ready to carry the tablet around and draw. Note: When you are done with the pen, put it back in the holder. Leaving the pen outside the holder can eventually damage it. 21

22 Start drawing Once the tablet is active, you can draw on anything displayed on the computer s monitor. Press the pen to one of the pen icons to start drawing in one of four colors. If you have to erase, press the pen to the eraser, then draw with the pen to erase previous markings. To use the pen as a mouse (press buttons, follow hyperlinks, select menu items, click and drag, etc), click on the arrow icon. Pen shortcuts You can also activate the black pen and the eraser using the buttons on the side of the pen. The pen tip has to be within ¼ 22

23 inch of the tablet for the buttons to work. 23

24 Using the wireless mouse You may, at any time, use the wireless mouse on the tablet. Just set it down on the tablet and proceed normally. This will work at all times, regardless of what mode the pen is in. If you use the mouse, you will normally clear the screen of drawings unless you are working in a PowerPoint presentation. Be careful not to lose the mouse when you set it aside to start drawing with the pen. When you are finished When finished with the tablet, please be sure to Return the pen to its holder on top of the tablet. Do not leave the pen sitting on its tip, as that may damage it. Plug the tablet back into the power cable, so it will be fully charged for the next user. Set the tablet on top of the PC. Set the mouse on top of it, so it does not get lost. Turn off the tablet with the power button. 24

25 Technical addendum What to do if the tablet keeps turning itself off or How to re-establish the connection between the tablet and the computer. The tablet communicates with the computer via a Bluetooth connection. By default, it will renew that connection when it is turned on. If the computer is off at the time, it will shut down and wait, rather than lose its connection information. However, in the event that the tablet somehow loses connection to the computer permanently (someone accidentally hits the reset button, or the Bluetooth adapter is broken and replaced), it is possible to re-attune the tablet to the computer. First, run the computer s Bluetooth control program (My Bluetooth Places in the Start->Programs menu by default), Locate the Find New Bluetooth Devices option, but do not activate it yet. Return to the wireless tablet, and look for a small recessed button labeled Connect on the underside of the tablet, near the top-right when looking at the bottom. Press the button, and the power light will start to blink blue. It is now in Discoverable mode, and will remain so for three minutes. Return to the computer and run the Find New Bluetooth Devices routine. It will locate the tablet. Tell it to connect to the tablet. It will process for a moment, and the tablet mouse and pen will become functional. It may ask you to click OK on a box using the tablet s mouse. Do so using the tablet, not the regular computer mouse. The tablet should then be operating normally. 25

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