SMART Notebook Express 3.0

Last week a teacher mentioned she wanted her students to have access to her lessons from home via the internet. All lessons in question exist in Notebook software. Several lessons had already been shared on the SMART Exchange while others had been posted to her classroom website. The problem, as this teacher saw it, was how students would view the files without having Notebook software installed on each one of their individual home computers. As I thought about how to solve her problem several solutions came to mind.

Notebook software for everyone!
Each student could purchase their own license and install the software on their computers. While SMART has made the purchase of individual licenses of Notebook software a possibility this would not be practical for two reasons: First, the cost for an individual would be prohibitive. Second, this would create a logistical nightmare with the teacher supporting software on personal computers. Teacher’s need something that is simple for them and makes the process transparent for the students. Enter SMART Notebook Express.

Notebook Express
Notebook express is a lightweight version of SMART Notebook software available as a cloud-based solution as well as a natively installed program. The simplicity of Notebook Express is both its greatest strength and weakness. As I explained to the educator, Notebook Express will open any file created in SMART Notebook software. To demonstrate, I entered express.smarttech.com into the browser (more on system requirements in a moment).

Anyone familiar with Notebook would recognize that several things are missing. For one, the toolbar has only the most basic options available. Compare this image of the default toolbar in Notebook 11…

with the toolbar in Notebook Express.

The tools at your disposal from left to right are:

• Previous Page
• Next Page
• New Page
• Open File
• Undo
• Redo
• Delete
• Screen Shade
• Select
• Pens
• Eraser
• Text

With the exception of Pens and Text, the functionality of these tools can be taken at face value. The Pens tool does offer a few colors and patterns as shown here:

Text has a few basic options as well:

Unlike Notebook 11 these tools have settings that cannot be customized. While you might complain about limited functionality and lack of customization, the software is available at no cost.

The only option available but not shown on the icons of the toolbar is Order (Layering). This is accessed by selecting DRAW from the menu as shown here:

System Requirements

Since this is a cloud-based solution the list of system requirements is simple. Any operating system with a standards-compliant modern browser with the most current version of Flash will run Notebook Express. But wait, there is another option! SMART Notebook Express 3.0 is available as an installable program for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The system requirements are a little different here and are noted below. Why install the program? My personal experience has been a more responsive interface with the installed version. The cloud-based solution takes one to two minutes or longer to load depending on your connection speed;the installed version still takes a good 30 seconds to load but it sure feels much faster comparatively. Once the program has loaded on either solution I find the interface to be very responsive.

Installed Windows system requirements:

• XP with SP3 and 7
• Chrome 7 or greater
• Firefox 3.6 or greater
• IE 8 or greater
• Flash 10.1.85.3

Installed Mac system requirements*:

• Mac OSX 10.6.4 or greater
• Chrome 7 or greater
• Safari 5 or greater
• Flash 10.1.85.3

Installed Linux system requirements**:

• Ubuntu 10 or greater (32bit only)
• Chrome 7 or greater
• Firefox 3.6 or greater
• Flash 10.1.85.3

*Note that Firefox is not supported on Mac
**Note that Opera and other FOSS browsers are not supported on any platform.

The main comparison points between the Cloud and Installed versions are:

Cloud-based version

• Runs in a browser window via the cloud
• No installation needed
• Slow loading due to cloud based nature of solution
• Runs in any OS with a compliant browser
• Browser dependent

Installed version

• Runs in a browser window natively on your computer
• Installation is required
• Linux, Mac, and Windows supported

Considering that SMART offers this for free, I am impressed that there are options like Ordering (Layering) and the Screen Shade available. But don’t forget, there are other basic tools not available in SMART Notebook Express including:

• Lines, Shapes, and Fill Tool
• Grouping
• Keyboard Shortcuts
• Measurement Tools
• Tables
• Response Integration
• Doc Camera Integration
• Screen Capture

Realistic Expectations
Remember, if you are opening an existing file, SMART Notebook Express will show all of the content. For example, shapes created in Notebook will show up in SMART Notebook Express; you just cannot create shapes in SMART Notebook Express. The only oddity I experience in SMART Notebook Express is while using the Screen Shade over Flash content: The Screen Shade initially covered all content on the page, but once I moved my mouse or clicked on the page the Flash content was brought to the front over the Screen Shade. Once you understand the limitations and capabilities of SMART Notebook Express, you can put it to use in the most appropriate and effective way.

Ray Sahagun

Ray Sahagun is a graduate student at Southern Utah University seeking a Masters in Education. He earned a B.A. in Communication from California State University, Fresno in 2002. He has taught Third, Fourth, and Fifth grade students over four years in the classroom. Ray's background is in telecommunications and he has worked in customer service, provisioning, and was a supervisor of technicians in a network operations center. Driven by the belief that technology can open many doors for students that have previously remained closed, Ray looks for meaningful ways to integrate technology into classrooms. Ray is an Education Solution Specialist at The Chariot Group, Inc.

More Posts