Ask a Master

Question:

My district has switched to the Google Apps for Education platform for communication, collaboration and its productivity package of writing tools. Can Google docs and Google presentations be inserted into a Mimio notebook page like Word and PowerPoint?

• Submitted By:

  Sharon M.

• Date:

  Nov. 6, 2011

Answer:

Thank you for this very, relevant question since many districts are beginning to move to "cloud-based" applications and management due to 21st century demands like acquisition of specific information literacy and technology skills as well as recent initiatives like B.Y.O.D.(bring your own device or technology) in our schools. With reference to your question as to whether or not Google docs and presentations can be inserted into a Mimio notebook, the answer is yes! Here are the steps that you'd need to take. As I'm sure you are aware of, your Google docs are not stored on your local computer like traditional documents. They are stored in your "cloud" to be easily shared out with others. So, what this means is that you'll need to download the file to your computer before you can insert it into the Mimio notebook. To do this, just have your file open in your Google documents, then go to File and choose download. You will have a choice of downloading as a .pdf or Word document (if you have a document opened) or .pdf or PowerPoint (if it's a Google presentation opened). Once they have been downloaded and saved somewhere on your computer as one of those downloadable types, they can now be inserted into a notebook page. Just keep in mind that those files, once inserted into the notebook, become static and no changes can be made or animations activated to the documents themselves. Remember that you still have the originals back in your Google docs home. For more tips and suggestions, check out the other Ask a Master questions and answers on MimioConnect!

Mimio Master:

Tracy Tishion    

Question:

Can I create a slide show in Mimio with animations or is the best way to create in PowerPoint and use Mimio tools when showing?

• Submitted By:

  Derek McEwen

• Date:

  Oct. 11, 2011

Answer:

Thank you so much for your recent submission to Ask a Master. We are so glad to have you as part of our wonderful online community of educators! You are wondering about using PowerPoint slide shows with Mimio. You can always import your PowerPoint document into MimioNotebook. Just remember that when you import a PowerPoint into Mimio it becomes a static file, meaning that only the content will be brought in losing all interactivity you had in the file (such as hyperlinks, transitions and other flash animation). The good news is that you can now add your own interactivity to your file in a new way using the Mimio Software! Try using Screen Annotation or the many wonderful reveals you can find right in the Gallery to get your students involved in your lesson. If you have any specific file that you would like to add to your lesson (picture, audio, flash, video) you can easily insert it right into Mimio Notebook by using the “INSERT FILE” button located on your toolbar. I hope you have found this helpful and please let me know if there is anything else you may need as we are always here to help. Have a wonderful weekend!

Mimio Master:

Cameron.Nichols   

Question:

How can I share a lesson with a group after I have already uploaded it to MimioConnect?

• Submitted By:

  Stephanie C.

• Date:

  Oct. 2, 2011

Answer:

This is a question that has a fairly simple fix. What you will need to do is click on your “View profile” next to your picture. From there, choose “Lesson Plans and Activities.” A list of the lessons that you’ve uploaded will appear to the left. Click on the lesson you need to modify. Once the lesson comes up, you should have a few tabs across the top, one of which allows you to “edit.” Click on that tab. Scroll through the form that you originally filled out but this time when you come to “Groups,” which is right below the “file attachment,” choose the group you’d like to add it to as well. Lastly, scroll to the bottom of this page and click on “Update.” Now it’s been added to the group. Don't forget to read through the other Ask a Master questions and answers for additional tips and suggestions!

Mimio Master:

Tracy Tishion    

Question:

How can I incorporate an eBook into a Mimio lesson?

• Submitted By:

  Elizabeth L.

• Date:

  Aug. 16, 2011

Answer:

There are many good quality eBooks on the Internet and they add so much to your Mimio interactive teaching in your classroom when used effectively. Depending upon your objectives, there are a couple of things that you can do to incorporate eBooks. If you want to project the pages of the eBook for classroom use, such as marking them up, then you could project them on your board, outside of a Mimio notebook page but have the toolbar on the screen. Click the annotation button on the toolbar (last icon in lower right hand side of toolbar) and the screen will freeze to allow you to mark up the page. This would allow you to highlight text, analyze paragraphs, isolate vocabulary, determine author’s style, study images, etc. To leave annotation mode, click the button to the left of this button (called the mouse). This will “unfreeze” the page so you can move onto additional pages and continue the process. All annotations get saved in your gallery for future use or reference in the "Screen annotations" folder. Many of the above mentioned uses can also be accomplished through another feature called “screen clipping.” The screen clip method allows you to be more precise with particulare images or text that you want to concentrate on instead of whole pages at a time. Screen clips actually get placed right into your notebook page. Let's say no illustrations are used in the book. You could create/add your own to the pages to bring the words of the eBook to life that you choose to screenclip into the notebook. Students can even draw their own sketches of what certain parts of the book means to them and add them to the pages in the Mimio Notebook file instead of using the ones that may have been provided by the book as well. The possibilities are limitless. Get creative and let your imagination carry you into new ways at instructing interactively and engaging your students! As always, we encourage you to check out the other posts on Ask a Master for many more tips and suugestions.

Mimio Master:

Tracy Tishion