Alternatives to SMART Notebook

[Debbie99]

Hi We currently have SMARTboards in the school and use SMART Notebook 11.4. This is still running - just!

 

One of our users is having continuous problems with the Notebook software. Keeps on freezing and she is having to load the file up again. A short disruption, but we are a special needs school so any disruption has a disproportionate affect on the children.

 

So far I have uninstalled and reinstalled the software.

Replaced the PC entirely with a brand new image (so new hardware and a new image - not the old image updated)

Local Profiles so effectively a new profile as well.

She is making a note every time it happens, so different classes, different files and different links and different types of links (ie not all sound files etc).

 

Obviously SMART Notebook 11.4 is well out of support, but has the perpetual licence, so we are not breaking any licensing agreement.

 

So do we bite the bullet and upgrade to the latest version and pay the annual costs, where they have the option to increase the prices at any time?

Or can anyone recommend any other (free or cheap) software that could be used instead?

 

We are moving to Windows 10 shortly, so definitely needs to be compatible with Windows 10. (We could always upgrade her early so it doesn't have to be compatible with Windows 7)

 

Thanks from someone who needs to think of as cool avatar and sign-off.

[tmoon-mint]

You could look at using Onenote instead? Only trouble with switching software is that depending what you go for all the staffs existing planning and resources may not be compatible anymore.

[Debbie99]

Thanks tmoon-mint.

It just looks a bit too different!! Also we would probably want to import out existing files.

Thanks

that might mean we have to spend the money...

[chrisakak9]

you could always install the trial of smart 17 and see if your issues persist.

[localzuk]

Take a look at Prowise Presenter.

[Clevertouch_Rob]

Give Lynx a try - 30 Day free trial

 

https://www.clevertouch.com/software/lynx

 

You'll be able to open Notebook files.

[Reverend_Dan]

We are replacing our old smarts with Promethean displays, some of our staff are using the built in app as a stock whiteboard, others are liking the new Microsoft whiteboard app for windows 10 which has multi user support and 365 sharing. Not many actually using activ inspire but that will import smart notebook files, however most of the animated things are now dead anyway with the death of embedded flash.

[dhicks]

Or can anyone recommend any other (free or cheap) software that could be used instead?

 

Online, there's AWebWhiteboard and Explain Everything. If you currently use Microsoft Office, Powerpoint actually has suprisingly good annotation tools built in (just move the mouse cursor while in presenting mode, the annotation menu pops up in the bottom left corner). I haven't used the Office 365 version, but that might be worth a try, too.

[free780]

I've got Smart Notebook 11.4 running on Windows 10 x64 1709 and not had many issues. Though it is a ticking time bomb. Trying to move staff to use PowerPoint, the builtin Windows 10 functionality, the whiteboard app. The export to PowerPoint function is broken unless you have a legacy version of Office installed.

[Fazza]

There's a free IWB software solution called openboard you might want to look at or got with Teams which Microsoft have been pushing for Schools for a couple of years now - it's basically a collaborative version of Onenote and is free.

[TechMonkey]

Take a look at Prowise Presenter.

 

+1 and some words

[Debbie99]

Wow, thank you all for the many suggestions.

Something to keep me busy until Christmas!!

[lewisVeryPC]

I second Reverend_Dan, from personal experience the Microsoft Whiteboard app is fantastic and allows easy collaboration.

 

I've had a play with Promethean's Classflow and with it being online and having the ability to push the presentation out to student devices it has very similar capabilities to SMART Notebook.

[Planehazza]

Hi all,

Fast forward almost 6 months, and just wondering what people are going for these days? We're even more behind the times than the OP; we're running 11.0, also on a perpetual license. We're running 1609 LTSB W10, but we will be looking to catch up to the latest LTSC in the near future. From testing, Smartboard 11 will likely cease to work entirely, and given that it's already sketchy (we have to use M$ ink in powerpoint, as the SMARTInk plugin doesn't work with Office 2016), we seriously need to find an alternative sharpish.

 

Our smartboards/projectors are 8 years old at the youngest, with the average age being older than the Yr7s... We're about to go out for tender for new interactive displays, and have sampled solutions from Hitachi, Sharp, Promethean, and BenQ thus far.

 

The problem that we've got is that teaching staff are hanging on to Smart Notebook like a vice; they REALLY do not want to let it go, and I can understand it given their last decade of lesson planning has been done using this resource. But, it will not work forever, and one day it will simply be taken out of our hands and it WILL cease to work entirely. The simple solution is to buy back into SMART, but it is a subscription and I don't need to explain to fellow education based IT people why this won't happen...

 

So, we have two (and a half) options:

 

1) Buy SMART hardware products, get the year's free subscription, then fall back to free restricted mode. Has anyone any experience with the current SMART range (MX, 6000, 7000)? Specs they seem about on par with alternatives, but with the benefit of having the physical pens etc. for use with SMART software.

 

1a) Don't buy SMART hardware and go for the likes an alternative such as BenQ etc., but install the free restricted version of SMART Notebook. This would entail having to put up with the "Restricted Mode" watermark in every SMART document/application. Assuming it's backwards compatible, the watermark won't show up in the rooms that are staying with projectors/smartboards (we're not replacing all 100+ classrooms).

 

2) Find a SMART alternative that, ideally, will open up Notebook files. If it can't open them, then we'll need to find a way to convert existing files due to the sheer amount of them in use. We've tried Oktopus which seems to be a direct competitor but so far we're not too impressed, and the teaching staff weren't either.

 

Particularly regarding 1a) and 2), long term, we could look at exporting all SMART resources as powerpoints or PPTs to slowly get staff to move away from SMART. I think education has fallen into SMART being the de facto choice so many staff are set the SMART way.

 

Thoughts from you fine people?

[yac2016]

1) Buy SMART hardware products, get the year's free subscription, then fall back to free restricted mode. Has anyone any experience with the current SMART range (MX, 6000, 7000)? Specs they seem about on par with alternatives, but with the benefit of having the physical pens etc. for use with SMART software.

 

From my experience with SMART boards after the 1 year you don't fall back to the restricted mode. You will just not be able to get the latest versions, so say you purchased a board with SMART 17 you would get updates for a year but be licensed to use 17 fully.

 

Pricing for SMART Panels is pretty competitive as well on multiple panels.

[Planehazza]

1) Buy SMART hardware products, get the year's free subscription, then fall back to free restricted mode. Has anyone any experience with the current SMART range (MX, 6000, 7000)? Specs they seem about on par with alternatives, but with the benefit of having the physical pens etc. for use with SMART software.

 

From my experience with SMART boards after the 1 year you don't fall back to the restricted mode. You will just not be able to get the latest versions, so say you purchased a board with SMART 17 you would get updates for a year but be licensed to use 17 fully.

 

Pricing for SMART Panels is pretty competitive as well on multiple panels.

 

Thanks for this. I'm waiting on a call from a UK SMART rep, so I'll ask the same questions. That certainly matches our experience with SMART, however this is version 11 and prior to their current subscription model. Perhaps our shared experiences was valid then, but has changed since going subscription based? I suspect that once the year's subscription has expired, it drops to a restricted mode (unlike with older versions). I'll report back with SMART's answer to this

 

Going with SMART stuff would be win win, but I won't do it just to keep notebook files working.

[hallb15]

We have a dozen SMART panels, a mixture of E70, 4065, 6265 and mx265.

Gone are the old days of being able to use the most current version of software you had paid for I'm afraid. SMART Notebook does now change to a restricted version once the subscription is up - I've experienced it recently. However, there are some pretty decent deals to be had for 4 year subscriptions when you purchase at the same time as the hardware. We paid less than £80 for a 4 year subscription.

[Planehazza]

We have a dozen SMART panels, a mixture of E70, 4065, 6265 and mx265.

Gone are the old days of being able to use the most current version of software you had paid for I'm afraid. SMART Notebook does now change to a restricted version once the subscription is up - I've experienced it recently. However, there are some pretty decent deals to be had for 4 year subscriptions when you purchase at the same time as the hardware. We paid less than £80 for a 4 year subscription.

 

Thanks for that, very useful to know! What you've said is how I understood it work now, sadly. £80 per device for four years? That cannot be a site license, surely?! We're planning on replacing ~50 smartboards so I'm hoping we can get some bulk discount

 

Everything is xAAS, where is x your smartboard, app, OS, car, washing machine, toaster...

Edited May 9, 2019 by Planehazza

[hallb15]

Thanks for that, very useful to know! What you've said is how I understood it work now, sadly. £80 per device for four years? That cannot be a site license, surely?!

 

Everything is xAAS, where is x your smartboard, app, OS, car, washing machine, toaster...

 

That's per device! I don't think you can get a site license anymore.

[StevieM]

However, there are some pretty decent deals to be had for 4 year subscriptions when you purchase at the same time as the hardware. We paid less than £80 for a 4 year subscription.

That's per device! I don't think you can get a site license anymore.

 

Gulp! And that's when you purchase the hardware with the subscription!? How much will it cost for in-place SmartBoards and (double-gulp!) non-Smart devices?

 

I need to check when our current subscription expires...

[Planehazza]

Yeah it's not cheap, and frankly we're of the opinion we'd just want to go to an alternative and use their built in features or M$ Ink tools. It's just trying to convince staff to drop SMART and offer them a transition solution.

[ItechDave]

We have moved nearly all our schools to Benq, they now have their own smartboard software called oktopus aswell. Another option could be googles jamboard.

[Planehazza]

We have moved nearly all our schools to Benq, they now have their own smartboard software called oktopus aswell. Another option could be googles jamboard.

 

How do you find Oktopus in comparison? We have had in on a couple of devices with CTOUCHs and I haven't like it much. It doesn't seem to play well with Windows 10 multi screen, but it may be that our GPOs need tweaking as we have customisation and display settings locked down. We have a pretty much 50/50 split between people preferring extended/duplicate mode in their rooms, and we tell them to use Windows + P to select their mode, but it breaks the tablet/touch settings if they change from the mode that we set it up for. For example, if we set the room up in extended, and tell Windows which is the touchscreen and save it using our admin accounts, when a user returns and switches to duplicate, the all the Windows Ink tools in PowerPoint 2016 cease to work until they Windows + P back to extended. Oktopus adds more frustration; a quick F12 switches screens, but it won't default to the touchscreen.

 

On a related note, does anyone know of a display/power setting I can configure that will stop Windows from loosing connection to the interactive HDMI monitor (CTOUCH, BenQ etc.) if the monitors source is switched from HDMI to android for example? This seems to break things too, but, again, I suspect it's a display/power setting I need to tweak.

 

Thanks!

[Debbie99]

Hi

Would you believe moving to Windows 10 fixed my original issue.

In case anyone else wants to take the risk we are using Windows 10 with Smart Notebook 11.4.

We have SMART SPNL 6065 v2 boards, they replaced the older ones at some point last year, before I started in September.

 

I have warned SLT & teachers, that we are living on borrowed time and one day there will be a Windows update or something that will mean that this might never work again. Meanwhile everyone is happy.

 

I know this is going to bite me on the bum one day. But worst case scenario - reimage the PC's to the version of Windows at this point in time.

[TwistedHelixis]

From my experience with SMART boards after the 1 year you don't fall back to the restricted mode.

 

They do now :0( the software goes in to restricted mode when the licence date expires. We have always just paid the small amount for the site licence as the teachers really love the software and it's not my place to make life harder for them.