Making the most of your interactive whiteboard (I): using layers

Tweet If you are an experienced user of interactive whiteboards, then you probably know about using layers in your interactive whiteboard flipcharts. However if you are reading this and you are still thinking what on Earth are layers? then read on and watch the video: Get the Flash Player to see this content. I have used [...]

Posted by José Picardo on December 31, 2007

If you are an experienced user of interactive whiteboards, then you probably know about using layers in your interactive whiteboard flipcharts. However if you are reading this and you are still thinking what on Earth are layers? then read on and watch the video:

Get the Flash Player to see this content.


I have used Smartboard software in this example, but I used to work with Promethean’s ActivStudio and the principle is the same: what you add first to your drawing board goes to the back and every successive addition goes on top of it. If you learn to use this to your advantage, you will be able to create more exciting activities for your pupils.

In the video, I used white, black and grey because it seems to be the theme going on here at BoxOfTricks.net, but, needless to say, you can customise the shapes and colours to suit your own taste. A word of warning though: be careful which colours you use, something that looks good on your computer screen might not transfer so nicely to the interactive whiteboard.

I hope this helps and please let me know if you found this video useful.

You can see the second part of this tutorial if you click here.

José Picardo

José is Head of Modern Foreign Languages at Nottingham High School, a secondary school in England, and is interested in the way technology can be used to enhance and transform teaching and learning. José has been curating Box of Tricks since 2007 and holds a MA in ICT and Education.

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  • John

    Nice idea, but this technique isn’t transferable to many other packages (especially non-whiteboard ones). I’d prefer to see the ‘wrong’ answers being selected and ‘sent to back’ or ‘lower’; and the correct answers being brought to the front.
    If we teach children and adults transferable skills they will understand why something is happening, rather than if I do x, y and z it’ll work in this package.

  • John

    Nice idea, but this technique isn’t transferable to many other packages (especially non-whiteboard ones). I’d prefer to see the ‘wrong’ answers being selected and ‘sent to back’ or ‘lower’; and the correct answers being brought to the front.
    If we teach children and adults transferable skills they will understand why something is happening, rather than if I do x, y and z it’ll work in this package.

  • John

    … although it is a clever feature, thank you for sharing your video. I just wish I’d re-read my comment so it actually made sense!

  • John

    … although it is a clever feature, thank you for sharing your video. I just wish I’d re-read my comment so it actually made sense!

  • Guest

    Many thanks for your comment John. I am a bit unsure about what you mean:

    not transferable to non-white board packages

    I intended to demonstrate some simple techniques to use on Interactive Whiteboards only, as the title suggests. Perhaps you could clarify it further for me.

  • http://www.boxoftricks.net José Picardo

    Many thanks for your comment John. I am a bit unsure about what you mean:

    not transferable to non-white board packages

    I intended to demonstrate some simple techniques to use on Interactive Whiteboards only, as the title suggests. Perhaps you could clarify it further for me.

  • John

    I’m sorry to have caused confusion. In my experience of other IWB software titles the technique of dragging to another thumbnail page doesn’t work in the same way as in Smart. However if you had demonstrated the same idea by sending objects forward or backwards in relation to the black box, that method would have been tranferable to all the whiteboard titles I have used, as well as other multimedia packages too (which I have used regularly with a projector/IWB).
    This isn’t meant to be critical, and Smart and Promethean are nationally our largest sellers, so most people will find this incredibly useful, I’m just aware of many of the schools I have worked with who don’t have those makes of board, or infact a board at all (just a projector, but still can find lots of relevance from IWB based examples like this).
    As I said in my email to you, thank you for providing such useful, high quality videos – I’ve bookmarked you!

  • John

    I’m sorry to have caused confusion. In my experience of other IWB software titles the technique of dragging to another thumbnail page doesn’t work in the same way as in Smart. However if you had demonstrated the same idea by sending objects forward or backwards in relation to the black box, that method would have been tranferable to all the whiteboard titles I have used, as well as other multimedia packages too (which I have used regularly with a projector/IWB).
    This isn’t meant to be critical, and Smart and Promethean are nationally our largest sellers, so most people will find this incredibly useful, I’m just aware of many of the schools I have worked with who don’t have those makes of board, or infact a board at all (just a projector, but still can find lots of relevance from IWB based examples like this).
    As I said in my email to you, thank you for providing such useful, high quality videos – I’ve bookmarked you!

  • Chris

    Do you have a recommendation of a cheap or online (free, hopefully) software that I can use with a regular touchscreen monitor where I can create multiple choice type questions very easily along with embedded videos. For example, I would ask the question directly into the video and then there would be 5 choices presented in text and the student with their hand pressed the button of their choice. Any thoughts? Chris cms120@yahoo.com

  • Chris

    Do you have a recommendation of a cheap or online (free, hopefully) software that I can use with a regular touchscreen monitor where I can create multiple choice type questions very easily along with embedded videos. For example, I would ask the question directly into the video and then there would be 5 choices presented in text and the student with their hand pressed the button of their choice. Any thoughts? Chris cms120@yahoo.com

  • Guest

    Hello Chris. It sounds to me as if Hot Potatoes is ideal for you, as it is free and you can embed video to the quizzes or cloze exercises (click here for an example).
    You can embed the html code for the video manually or you can use a html editor. That’s what I do. Click here to read some more about embedding video into Hot Potatoes.
    Hope that helps.
    José

  • http://www.boxoftricks.net José Picardo

    Hello Chris. It sounds to me as if Hot Potatoes is ideal for you, as it is free and you can embed video to the quizzes or cloze exercises (click here for an example).
    You can embed the html code for the video manually or you can use a html editor. That’s what I do. Click here to read some more about embedding video into Hot Potatoes.
    Hope that helps.
    José

  • Chris

    Jose, thanks a lot. I reviewed the Hot Potato website but I am still confused. I basically have touch screen monitors for kids and I wanted to create a video of me asking the question and then with text, when the video is over, ask the question and have the student choose the multiple choice answer by touching the screen to the answer. Once they answer the question, it goes to the next. This would incorporate video as well as testing and grading. Does Hot Potatoes do all of this? Maybe I am asking for something too complicated for me to create. Any thoughts?

  • Chris

    Jose, thanks a lot. I reviewed the Hot Potato website but I am still confused. I basically have touch screen monitors for kids and I wanted to create a video of me asking the question and then with text, when the video is over, ask the question and have the student choose the multiple choice answer by touching the screen to the answer. Once they answer the question, it goes to the next. This would incorporate video as well as testing and grading. Does Hot Potatoes do all of this? Maybe I am asking for something too complicated for me to create. Any thoughts?

  • Guest

    Yes Chris. I think you can do all that with Hot Potatoes. My suggestion to you is that you download the programme and have a play around.
    It may be worth having a look at JClic as well. That’s also free and does allow you to insert video content.
    José

  • http://www.boxoftricks.net José Picardo

    Yes Chris. I think you can do all that with Hot Potatoes. My suggestion to you is that you download the programme and have a play around.
    It may be worth having a look at JClic as well. That’s also free and does allow you to insert video content.
    José

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