ACTIVote User Guide PC version US Edition TP-1430-US Issue 3
All rights reserved All information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. Any use of the contents of this User Manual other than for the purpose intended requires express written permission of Promethean Technologies Group Ltd. All trademarks noted with the ™ mark are the properties of their respective companies. NOTE: All utility and driver software provided to operate ACTIV products is the property of Promethean.
ACTIVote User Guide Table of Contents ACTIVote ..........................................................................................1 Concept.........................................................................................1 What's New .......................................................................................2 ACTIVote .......................................................................................2 Question Master ............................................................
ACTIVote User Guide Exiting the program ................................................................... 16 Device Maintenance ...................................................................... 17 Changing batteries in a device that has been registered.................. 17 How do I know which device entry needs to be removed? ............... 17 Replace Batteries ...................................................................... 17 ACTIVote Modes...................................................
ACTIVote User Guide Creating Categories ................................................................... 36 Adding Questions to Categories ................................................... 37 Sort Questions in Library ............................................................ 37 Add to Library........................................................................... 37 Import Questions from CSV File................................................... 38 Remove Question from Question Library ........
ACTIVote User Guide View Response Times .................................................................... 58 Summary Graph ........................................................................... 59 View ACTIVote Results................................................................... 60 Prepared Question Flipchart ........................................................ 60 adhoc Question Flipchart ............................................................ 60 Saving Your Results .................
ACTIVote User Guide ACTIVote Concept The purpose of ACTIVote is to generate user response via the ACTIV board when called upon to do so by the presenter. It gives instant feedback on user performance. Questions can be prepared using the Question Master software, alternatively you may ask adhoc questions. Both of which can receive feedback. Feedback can be displayed in various formats immediately on screen or may be exported to a spreadsheet for further analysis.
ACTIVote User Guide What's New ACTIVote View the response times to questions by each individual. Temporarily pause the timeout for further explanations or adhoc discussion. Overwrite the timeout of prepared questions to ensure continuity during an ACTIVote session, by altering the timeout option in the ACTIVote Settings. Question Master Select a background style from your Shared Resource Library. Define a font style and color for your question and answer text.
ACTIVote User Guide Getting Help You can find more information about using ACTIVote in the following resources. User Guides on product CD You can find information about ACTIV products in the User Guides, which can be accessed from the Product CD. If Auto Play is enabled on your PC, the main menu screen will automatically appear. If this menu does not automatically appear, choose Run from the Start menu. In the Run dialog box, type the drive letter that contains the CD and type \Menu.exe. For example d:\Me
ACTIVote User Guide Contacting Promethean Promethean address 8601 Dunwoody Place, Suite 108, Atlanta, GA 30350 Website www.prometheanworld.com Available from the website: • Notification of related products or software releases • Free upgrades or revisions to keep you informed of the latest features • Access to the User Forum • Helpful resources and education material for you to download • Links to useful websites Technical Support http://www.prometheanworld.com/uk/html/ customer_care/contact.
ACTIVote User Guide Registration About Registering the ACTIVote Devices Your ACTIVote devices work by sending radio signals to and receiving them from your ACTIV board. Therefore it is essential that before you can start using the ACTIVote devices you must register their existence with the ACTIV board in the room that they will be used. Once the devices are registered they can then be used by your audience for the purpose of answering questions.
ACTIVote User Guide Initially there will be no devices registered and the list will be empty. First, click on the drop down arrow and select the country in which you are using ACTIVote. When you select a country, the software will check your hardware to ensure that it is approved for use in your selected country. If permitted, you can then continue with registering your ACTIVote devices.
ACTIVote User Guide Channel – This allows you to set ACTIVote devices to use one of three unique channels. Board ID – This allows you to set the ACTIV board to be defined with one of 99 unique ID numbers. Therefore with systems in close proximity, you should set the channel and Board ID to different values in each room.
ACTIVote User Guide Adding Further Devices It possible at any time to return to the Device Registration program and click once more on the Register button. Follow the procedure outlined above to add more devices to the list. Removing Devices It is possible to remove selected devices or all devices from the list. To remove all devices click on the Remove All button. To remove selected devices simply highlight the devices you wish to remove and click the Remove button.
ACTIVote User Guide Device Testing The Device Registration program also has a test facility. This is useful at the beginning of the day to check that all devices are functioning correctly and in addition have sufficient power levels. To test your registered devices run the device registration program once more: Click on Menu > ACTIVote > Devices Note: If you are running ACTIVprimary, first click on the Teacher Tools Menu button so you can access Menu > ACTIVote > Devices.
ACTIVote User Guide User Device Allocation Note: Before you can use ACTIVote in Named Mode, you must add your users to the User Database so you can allocate a user to each ACTIVote device. The following procedure assumes that the All Users folder, created during installation, is intact. Start a Named Mode session Click on Menu > ACTIVote > Session. Note: If you are running ACTIVprimary, first click on the Teacher Tools Menu button so you can access Menu > ACTIVote > Session.
ACTIVote User Guide Select the User Database The User Device Allocation program automatically opens the default User Database, as specified in the ACTIVote Settings. To open an alternative User Database, click on the Open button then navigate to the required .udb file. Click on the filename to select it, then click Open to open the User Database file, or Cancel to use the User Database which is currently open.
ACTIVote User Guide Note: If you have selected an alternative folder, it may contain a list of names within a series of sub folders. In this case, click on the Sub Folder down arrow to see a list of names contained in that sub folder. Select User Names for Registered Devices If the folder list contains the same amount of names as devices registered, click on the Select Group button. All names in the folder list will be added to User Name list.
ACTIVote User Guide To add individual names to the list, highlight the user you want to add then to add the user. You can also use the Shift and click on the Select button Ctrl keys to select a group of user names in the folder list.
ACTIVote User Guide Use the Clear Users button to remove all users from the allocation list. You may use the Absent column to exclude a user who is unable to participate with the group. This facility allows you to select whole groups from your User Database and selectively remove those that may be absent. To declare someone absent, click into the Absent column for the user name to mark the column with a cross.
ACTIVote User Guide 2. Each User must now enter their three letter code which is displayed at the side of their name. Sequence: There is a feedback sequence that will occur via the LED lights located on the ACTIVote device.
ACTIVote User Guide The Device list will now show that, in this example four people successfully registered their three letter code and a device is now allocated to each of those users. This information will now be used by ACTIVote to display the user name, when that person takes part in an ACTIVote Named Mode Session.
ACTIVote User Guide Device Maintenance Changing batteries in a device that has been registered. When you remove batteries from an ACTIVote device it will lose the settings it stores within the device, and the device will need to be registered with the system once more. Before you replace the batteries, it is recommended that you remove the existing registration details for this device from the Device Registration program.
ACTIVote User Guide ACTIVote Modes Demo Mode using adhoc question You may use Demo Mode along with the concept of the adhoc question. The term 'adhoc' is used to represent 'on the spur of the moment' questions. For example you may think of a question whilst half way through a presentation. At this point, you could either ask the question to your audience or write it on a Flipchart page. The system has been designed to easily accommodate the asking of such adhoc questions. 1.
ACTIVote User Guide or write it on a Flipchart Page. The system has been designed to easily accommodate the asking of such adhoc questions. To use this feature, open a new Flipchart Page then ask your audience a question and give possible answers either verbally or by manually writing the question and possible answers onto the new Flipchart Page using the ACTIVpen (recommended). Procedure: 1. Click on Menu > ACTIVote > Session.
ACTIVote User Guide The term 'adhoc' is used to represent 'on the spur of the moment' questions. For example you may think of a question whilst half way through a presentation. At this point, you could either ask the question to your audience or write it on a Flipchart Page. The system has been designed to easily accommodate the asking of such adhoc questions. If you require feedback on how individual users voted you will need to switch to Named mode. Procedure: 1. Click on Menu > ACTIVote > Session.
ACTIVote User Guide Demo Mode using a Prepared Question Note: You must have done the following before you can use this ACTIVote mode: 1. You must have created your Flipchart containing your questions. You can use the Question Master program to do this. Procedure: 1. Open the Flipchart containing your questions. 2. You will automatically be asked to choose the type of ACTIVote session you require, choose Demo. 3. Click in the box and type in the number of 'assumed' devices you require 4.
ACTIVote User Guide 2. You will automatically be asked to choose the type of ACTIVote session you require, choose Anonymous. 3. Select the number of devices you will use (i.e. one per user). 4. Click on the OK button. 5. If you elected to have a title page in your question Flipchart then this page will be displayed now. This is your cue to introduce your question paper and give any instructions you feel are necessary. 6. Turn to the first question page.
ACTIVote User Guide You will automatically be asked to choose the type of ACTIVote session you require - choose Named Your current users should be listed since you were asked at the beginning of this section to register users. If your current users are not listed then refer to the section on Allocating devices. Click the OK button 2. If you elected to have a title page in your Question Flipchart then this page will be displayed now.
ACTIVote User Guide 1. The ACTIV board has accepted all responses from your audience, whereupon it will disappear from the screen. 2. The timer has timed out having accepted all responses received within the set timeout period. Whereupon it will disappear from the screen. 3. It has received no responses, whereupon the message No answers received! will appear. 4. All simulated responses have been received (Demo Mode ).
ACTIVote User Guide Once you have created your Flipchart you may wish to save the source file you have just been working on. This is a separate step from creating and saving the Flipchart. Step 1 - Set Title Page You can elect to include a title page or not, the default is that a title page will be included. If you wish to include a title page, click in the Title text box and type in a suitable heading representing the topic of your Flipchart questions.
ACTIVote User Guide Short Question - Long Answers Long Question - Short Answers Short Question - Image with optional label Answers Long Question - Image with optional label Answers Short Question + Medium Image - Short Answer Long Question + Large Image - Short Answer It is possible to alter the Layout of a question at any time without losing your answers. 4. If you would like to use the same layout for all of your questions, select the Use this layout for all questions checkbox.
ACTIVote User Guide Step 3 - Flipchart Options Having input all of your questions you can now choose a style for your Question Flipchart and also the screen resolution that it will be created in. Style This option allows you to output your Question Flipchart in a variety of styles from very simple black on white to detailed texture rich backgrounds. The program points to a folder called Question Master, located in your shared backgrounds folder.
ACTIVote User Guide Step 4 - Create Flipchart Having entered your questions and possible answers, using the layout and styles of your choice, it is now time to output this as a Question Flipchart. Clicking onto the Create Flipchart tab will open up the Create Flipchart dialog. This points to the Flipchart resources folder in your personal Resource Library. Type in a suitable file name reflecting the type of questions you have used then click on the Save button.
ACTIVote User Guide Image Questions There are two image layouts you can use within the Question Master program. Layout 3 Short Question - Image with optional label Answers This question style is used where your answers require the use of images. This type of question requires you to input your question and choose the question type (i.e. multiple choice, yes/no, or true/false). If you choose a multiple choice question type you will need to type in your possible answers.
ACTIVote User Guide You are advised to copy all images used in your Question Flipcharts into a known place in your Resource Library, to prevent such an occurrence. The Flipchart itself will still contain all images since copies of the images are embedded into the Flipchart. Select the correct answer from the drop down list.
ACTIVote User Guide Note: When you include images with your Question Master files, you are loading the location reference only into Question Master, not the image itself. If the image is subsequently moved or deleted then the reference to the image will be lost. You are advised to copy all images used in your Question Flipcharts into a known place in your Resource Library, to prevent such an occurrence.
ACTIVote User Guide Question Library Add Question from Library The Question Library is a utility that allows you to very quickly add questions to your project from pre-written questions. To add a question to your current question paper: 1. Click on the Show Library button.
ACTIVote User Guide Add Question to Question Library In addition to outputting your question to a Flipchart and saving it within the Question Master Source file, you can also add your question to the Question Library. The Question Library is a utility that allows you to very quickly create a question paper from pre-written questions. To add a question to the library: 1. Click on the question you wish to save so that it is highlighted. 2. Click on Question on the menu. 3.
ACTIVote User Guide By default All Questions will be displayed. You can use the Folder and Sub Folder groups to randomly select questions from a particular topic, provided you have setup these topics and populated them with questions. 2. Click on the down arrow and select the Number of Questions you wish to add. 3. Click on the Select button. The questions will be added to your project. You may click the Exit button if you change your mind about adding random questions.
ACTIVote User Guide 2. Select Save to... and select whether to save it to your personal or shared Question Master resource folder, or browse to save it in another location. 3. Type in a suitable filename for your Question Master Source File, then click on the Save button. The file will be saved with a .qmf extension. Opening a Question Master Source File To open an existing source file: 1. Click on File. 2. Choose Open from...
ACTIVote User Guide Maintain Question Library Maintaining the Question Library In order to use the Question Library effectively it will need to be organized. Click on the Maintain Library button to open the Question Library: All questions added to the question library are placed in the main index, it is up to you to categorize and organize your questions into Folders and Sub Folders, so that they are readily available by topic.
ACTIVote User Guide Naming convention is entirely dependant upon the type of questions you generate. You may, for example, be the math teacher and have your questions categorized by syllabus subject and by level, or you may categorize your questions by suitability for various classes etc. Adding Questions to Categories Having established your question categories you can now start to move your questions into suitable categories: 1. Highlight the question(s) you wish to categorize. 2.
ACTIVote User Guide Use the Add Question dialog to: • Type in a new question • Type in the possible answers • Select the type of question, for example change from a Multiple Choice 6 to a Multiple Choice 4 • Select the correct answer setting • Set a timeout in seconds • Choose a question layout. For example you may choose a long question short answer type or a short question with Image and short answer type layout.
ACTIVote User Guide Enter data into Excel Spreadsheet Open a new spreadsheet and enter your data so that each part of your question resides in its own cell. Enter the data in the same order as described in the text file method above. Example: Save the file as a comma separated variable (.csv) file. This file is then ready to import. Import Question Click on the Question menu and select Import questions from csv file from the menu. Navigate to your csv file and click Open.
ACTIVote User Guide From here you can: • Re-type or edit the question • Re-type or edit the possible answers • Alter the type of question, for example change from a Multiple Choice 6 to a Multiple Choice 4 • Change the correct answer setting • Alter the timeout setting • Alter the question layout, for example you may switch from a long question short answer type to a short question with Image and short answer type. Once you have edited the question, click on the OK button to save your changes.
ACTIVote User Guide Save a Copy of the Question Library Since the Question Library automatically saves any editing or additions to the library, there is another facility available that allows you to save a copy of your library. This allows you to share your question files with other users. 1. Click on File. 2. Choose Save to... and select whether to save a copy of the question library to your personal or shared Question Master resource folder, or browse to save it in another location.
ACTIVote User Guide Exit Library Click on the Exit Library button to exit the Question Library when you have completed any maintenance. If you have not saved any changes you may have made you will be prompted to save. Click Yes to save your changes and return to the Question Master program. Click No to abandon any changes and return to the Question Master program. Click Cancel to return to the Question Library program. Altering Question Order To alter the order of the questions in your question file: 1.
ACTIVote User Guide To move multiple answers at once, use the Shift and Ctrl keys to select the answers you want to move, then click the up or down arrows. Note: If you have previously selected the correct answer as being for example answer number three, then move answer number three, the correct answer indicator will move with the answer to the new location.
ACTIVote User Guide Exiting Question Master To exit from the Question Master program, click on File > Exit. If you have not saved you will be prompted to do so: Click Yes to save your Question Master source file. If you have not previously saved your work, you will be prompted to type in a suitable filename and click the Save button. Click No to close down the program instantly and not save your source file. Click Cancel to return you to the Question Master program.
ACTIVote User Guide Initially this will only contain the Man UTD folder with three sub folders, this is provided for training purposes and is referenced in this help system. You will need to decide how you will categorize your groups of users, this may be by class name or subject group etc. or any classification that uniquely identifies them as the group of users you will use the ACTIVote devices with. Add Users to Database 1. Click on User > Add.
ACTIVote User Guide Description Field Depending upon how many users are added to the database you will undoubtedly come across a situation where you will add users to the database who have the same name. The description field of the database allows you to type in some information that will uniquely identify which of the users are referenced. You may choose to use class groups as a description, you may decide to input more personal descriptions such as 'the cheeky one'.
ACTIVote User Guide 2. Click on User. 3. Click on Edit. The database grid will open displaying the details for the users you selected. 4. To make a change, click in the field against the user name and type in your alteration to the database record. 5. Repeat this until all editing has been completed. 6. Click on the OK button to update the database. Changing your mind If you are not happy with the editing you have done it is possible to reset the database to how it was when you first opened it. 1.
ACTIVote User Guide 5. Continue to rename the tabs according to your preference. When you have finished re-naming the Folder and Sub Folder tabs it may look like the illustration below: Add Users to Groups In order to use Named Mode you must add the appropriate users to the ACTIVote user groups that they belong to. To add users to the Geography ACTIVote group, you must first ensure that you have selected the Class 1a Folder, and then select the Geography Sub Folder by clicking onto the tab.
ACTIVote User Guide Removing Users from a Group To remove an individual user or multiple users from an ACTIVote group you must display the ACTIVote group in question. Select the user(s) you want to remove, then click on the left arrow remove them from the group. to Note: This action only removes the names of users from ACTIVote groups, it does not delete the user from the database.
ACTIVote User Guide When you click on the arrow you will be presented with the Folder Selection dialog: If necessary, use the vertical scroll bar to locate the correct folder, then click on the folder you require. The selected users will be copied to the chosen folder. Repeat this procedure for each group you wish to copy. Saving User Database When you have added your users, created ACTIVote groups and associated your users with appropriate groups you will need to save the database.
ACTIVote User Guide Importing User Details A facility exists that will allow you to import database information from other sources. You must save the information from your other database file in the form of a comma de-limited file. The file must have the extension .csv in order for it to be imported. Most database programs have the facility to do this, it is usually an export feature, consult the documentation that accompanies your proprietary database for further information.
ACTIVote User Guide You will notice that each field is separated and currently has the Not Mapped status. Also note the first gray column entitled Ignore. This column is used to exclude records from the import. You may need to exclude the first row from being imported, this would be the case if the first row of information is the field names from the original database. 4. To exclude a row, click once in the gray column at the side of any entry you wish to exclude.
ACTIVote User Guide Once you click on the Surname entry the list will close and the data, when imported, will be mapped to the Surname field: 6. Repeat the procedure for each field of information you require to import. In this example, the first name field needs to be mapped to the User database Forename. Note: Leave any un-required fields in the not mapped state. This information will then be ignored during the import process. 7. Once you have mapped all appropriate fields you may continue.
ACTIVote User Guide Exiting User Database To exit the user database click on the Exit Database menu button. If you have not saved any changes to the database, you will be prompted to save: Click Yes to save the database and exit the program. Click No to exit the program immediately and not update the database with any changes you may have made. Click Cancel to return you to the database for further editing.
ACTIVote User Guide You can view a pie chart showing the percentage of who got it right, wrong or didn't know/respond The correct answer will be displayed provided it was chosen during creation of prepared question. Anonymous Mode Graph Output adhoc Question Once all responses have been accepted, the results will be displayed in the form of a graph. It is then possible for you to indicate the correct answer to your adhoc question by clicking on the appropriate answer button.
ACTIVote User Guide None is the default until you select the correct response Assuming answer B is correct, selecting button B will now give a visual indication of how many participants gave the correct answer. You can also Paste this result into your current Flipchart page by clicking on the Paste button. Prepared Question Graphs output from Prepared questions will have the correct answer displayed provided that it was set during the creation of the prepared question.
ACTIVote User Guide The graphical output is the same no matter what ACTIVote mode you are in. However Named Mode allows you to see the registered names appearing in a list with an indication of how they voted. This information is only available in the Who Answered What style graph: You can paste this result into your current Flipchart page by clicking on the Paste button.
ACTIVote User Guide The information provided here tells you how many questions each anonymous device or named user got right. View Response Times Select the Response Times checkbox to view how long it took each individual to answer each question. The time is displayed in seconds. Display the graph on any question page (if not already visible, right click and choose ACTIVote > Results..., or ACTIVote Results... if you are using ACTIVprimary. Click on the Response Times checkbox.
ACTIVote User Guide When the checkbox is selected, the graph will display the response time, in seconds, for each individual to answer each question. Note: The response time will only be displayed on graphs which show individual user feedback. Summary Graph Having generated an overall score you will also be able to see the summary graph: The information presented here is a detailed list of each device (anonymous) or user (named) and what they voted for in each question.
ACTIVote User Guide View ACTIVote Results The results of each question asked are stored in the current Flipchart page. Prepared Question Flipchart When using a prepared question Flipchart, the results will be stored on each question page and can be viewed immediately or you may go back to a question page and use the right click popup to view the ACTIVote results. adhoc Question Flipchart When using adhoc questions the results are also stored in the Flipchart page.
ACTIVote User Guide Exporting ACTIVote Results to Excel You can export the results in the current Flipchart to Excel. Having conducted your ACTIVote session: In ACTIVstudio, click on Menu > Flipchart > Export > ACTIVote Results > XLS (Excel) In ACTIVprimary, click on Teacher Tools Menu button > Menu > ACTIVote > Export Results to Excel. An Excel worksheet will be generated that contains the overall results summary. If you wish to save the Excel worksheet use the File, Save routine of the Excel program.
ACTIVote User Guide Adhoc/demo mode Question timeout You can set a default timeout that will be used when you ask an adhoc question and also when you are using Demo Mode. To change the default timeout, type in a new value. Apply timeout to prepared questions Apply the question timeout for prepared questions. Results to new Flipchart page Select this option if you would like to save the results of the current question on a new Flipchart page.
ACTIVote User Guide Question Flipcharts If you open a Flipchart that contains ACTIVote questions then you will immediately be presented with the ACTIVote Session window: Note: If the Flipchart also contains results (from a previous ACTIVote session), you will see the warning message 'The current Flipchart contains results..' Click on the Remove Results button if you want to remove the results and use the question Flipchart with a new group.
ACTIVote User Guide Update Thumbnails Note: This information is relevant to ACTIVstudio users only. The Question Master software will have generated outline thumbnail images, these images are used by the Page Selector to show previews of each page in a Flipchart. These images are not a true thumbnail of the actual page. The diagram to the left shows the thumbnails as generated by Question Master. Note the black blocks representing images. It is however, possible for the correct images to be generated.
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