Getting into the "Real-World" with SMART Ink

Internet connected classroom computers link us and our students with the world. A web browser is a powerful teaching and learning tool providing access to current information, real data sets, rich media, interactive applets, and collaborative authoring tools. When used with a web browser, you might think of your SMART Board then as a centrally located computer interface, with the added benefits of easy annotation and capture.

Introducing SMART Ink

With the release of SMART Notebook 11, the "ink layer" has been replaced with a new program called SMART Ink.

Write Anywhere

SMART Ink is activated when a computer which has SMART Board Tools running is connected to a SMART Board or another SMART interface like an Airliner. A small toolbar is added to the title bar of each program. Picking up a pen adds a pen colour indicator to the SMART Ink tool bar to show that it is ready for writing. You can write or draw anywhere on the program window. Writing on the screen does not block interaction with the program like it did with the old "ink layer," and ink is associated with the underlying program so that it follows the location of the program window even when minimized. Unfortunately, ink does not scroll with the underlying program, so annotations will become misaligned on a web page if you scroll to read more.

Insert Writing as Text

Through SMART Ink, handwriting can be inserted as text in any application. First write the phrase to insert on the application. Next select the writing by returning the pen to the tray and touching the writing.[1] Make sure that the cursor is at the location you would like to insert the text by touching that place. Finally touch the icon beside the writing to recognize and insert the text. Unfortunately SMART Ink handwriting recognition is not as accurate as within SMART Notebook.

Choose a variety of Tools

Different pens and additional tool like a highlighter can be selected from the SMART Ink toolbar at the top of each window, or from the floating toolbar at the edge of the screen. The floating toolbar can be shown by choosing "Show Floating Tools" from the icon: in the tray in the lower right of the screen.

SMART Ink Setbacks

There two key features that were present in the old "ink layer" system that have now been removed: Ink can only be used outside of SMART Notebook when a SMART device is attached, and a few tools like the Magic Pen no longer work outside of SMART Notebook.

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[1] On boards with Touch Recognition enabled it is not necessary to put the pen back before selecting the writing because the board can sense the difference between the size of a pen tip and finger.