Activinspire Modes: An Overview of Design and Presentation Modes

Today, we’re going to dive into the basics of Activinspire and learn about its two modes, lock and unlock actions and drag and copy actions. If you’re interested in adding images, sounds, and videos, check out this.

First up, we have the Presentation mode. This is the default mode when you open a new project and the mode you’ll use when teaching. You’ll know you’re in this mode because of the blue icon in the top right corner of your menu bar.

Next, we have Design mode. In this mode, the icon in the menu bar changes from blue to orange. You’ll use this mode when building your projects because it allows you to move and resize objects that have actions associated with them.

Lock and Unlock

The lock and unlock feature in Activinspire allows you to control the movement of objects on your project. Let’s give it a go.

Lock / Unlock

1. Create a new document
2. From the tool menus, select a shape.
3. Once you have added your shape, click the pointer tool.
4. Click on the shape. You will notice that you can drag it around the screen or resize it.
5. Click on your object and then click on the Menu icon
6. Click on “locked” from the menu.
7. Our object is now locked in place. No matter what you do, you can’t move it any more.
8. Now click the presentation mode button to switch to Design mode. In Design mode, we can move the object around as we did before.

The great thing about this mode is when we notice an object in the wrong place. We can switch to design mode and move it.

What if you decided that you don’t want it locked anymore? Follow the same steps above and uncheck “locked” in the popup menu.

Remember, in design mode, any action you have applied to your object won’t work. If you wonder why something is not working, it could be because you have the software set to design mode.

Drag and Copy

The Drag and Copy action allows you to quickly duplicate a shape or object in a document by dragging it. This is useful for creating multiple copies of an object without redrawing it each time, saving time and effort.

We can create a simple class scoreboard using the Drag and Copy feature.

1. Open a new file
2. Type in your students’ names using the “text tool.”
3. Add a shape using the shape tool in the menu
4. Click on the shape and select “Drag and copy” from the menu
5. Every time you drag the shape, it will create a copy!

Now, you have a quick and efficient way to keep track of your student’s scores.

Activinspire offers two modes, Presentation and Design, which allow you full control over your projects. Using the Lock and Unlock feature, you can control the movement of objects, while the Drag and Copy feature saves time by quickly duplicating shapes or objects. With these tools, you can make projects more efficiently and create more engaging content for your classes.