Frequently asked questions
What is Boardmaker Online and what is the Boardmaker Community?
The Boardmaker Community is a FREE membership level for sharing Boardmaker activities with over 200,000 other Boardmaker users. Your free membership can be upgraded to a Boardmaker Online subscription with access a host of amazing web-based services for creating, editing, assigning, printing, and playing activities online. With your subscription you can also track and report on student progress towards IEP goals and educational standards.
Is the sharing Community still free?
Yes! You can still join the Boardmaker Community for free and upload, share, find, download, and do all the things you always could. The only difference is that now you can upgrade your free membership to add all the wonderful new features to your existing account.
How is Boardmaker Online different from other Boardmaker software products?
Boardmaker Online is a web-based subscription service that not only allows you to create and edit activities, plus…
- Create and edit activities on any Windows or Mac computer… nothing to install.
- Assign activities to students
- Play activities from a web browser or on an iPad*
- Track performance towards IEP goals (Professional and higher) and educational standards
- Access extensive collection of Common Core- aligned samples and Activity Packs
What is the difference between a Personal, Professional, and District account?
The functionality provided is largely the same, with the main difference being the number of student and instructor logins…
- A Boardmaker Online Personal account allows a parent or professional to login and find or create activities and put them in a playlist for their student/child to access through the web or an iPad*.
- A Boardmaker Online Professional account allows a single instructor to find or create activities and assign them to many students.
- A Boardmaker Online District account allows an organization to have many instructors creating and assigning activities to many students.
Can I still use my current Boardmaker software?
Sure! You can still use Boardmaker, Boardmaker Plus, Boardmaker with Speaking Dynamically Pro or Boardmaker Studio to create activities and upload them to your Boardmaker Online account. Once they are uploaded, you can print them or play them from anywhere, assign them to students, play them on the iPad and much more. Think of Boardmaker Online as a tool to extend the value of Boardmaker to more students anywhere they are!
NOTE:Activities that track student results can only be created in Boardmaker Studio (v1.3 or later) or in the Online Editor (Coming Fall 2014).
Is there a trial available?
Yes! Go to www.boardmakeronline.com and sign up for a free 30 day trial! You get your choice of trying either a Personal or Professional account.
Can I create new activities with Boardmaker Online?
Yes! Starting in the fall of 2014 you no longer need special software installed on your computer, simply login to your account and select “Create Activity” and either start from scratch or start from one of hundreds of included print and interactive activity templates. Filling in those templates is as simple as click and type!
Is it true I can really play activities on an iPad?
Yes! This is one of the most exciting aspects of Boardmaker Online. In the fall of 2014 you will be able to go to the iTunes store and download the free Boardmaker Student Center App. Enter a student’s login information and immediately see the list of activities the instructor has assigned. Just touch an activity to start playing it. Or login with an instructor’s username and password to access your personal playlist for one-on-one or group instruction.
What if I just want to make print activities? Can I still do that?
Yes! Next to every Print activity on the site you will see a Print button… allowing you to print directly from the website. You can create a new print activity from scratch or from a template and print them out from anywhere. You can edit all your old Boardmaker boards, and we’ve even included all the digitized device templates for making device overlays. Anything you could do with Boardmaker, you can now do on the web… from anywhere.
Can I use the Boardmaker v6 and Boardmaker Studio activities I already have?
Absolutely! Simply upload those activities to your account and edit them online. It takes minutes, and once you have them uploaded to your account, they are with you wherever you go!
Do I have to create everything myself?
No, your Boardmaker Online subscription gives you access to a huge collection of Premium Activities (professionally designed and aligned activities) divided into two main groups. The first is a collection of example activities aligned to most of the K-5 English Language Arts Common Core State Standards and K-2 Math Standards. These examples are there to get you started teaching Common Core concepts to your students with special needs. In addition, we’ve including our entire collection of Boardmaker Activity Packs such as Quiz Show, Virtual Field Trips, Beginning Board Games, and many more.
What are the technical requirements for running Boardmaker Online?
Boardmaker Online website
This includes the ability to login, upload activities, create activities, assign activities, print/play activities, manage student information, and report results.
| Browser | Browser Plugins | Minimum Operating System | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Recommended | Adobe Flash v11 or later | Windows XP SP3 or later Mac OS 10.6 or later |
|
| Firefox | v38.0 | |||
| Chrome | v49.0 | |||
| Internet Explorer | v10.0 | v11 or later | ||
| Safari | v9.0 | |||
Boardmaker Student Center App (Available Fall 2014)
When the app has been launched, you will be able to downloaded it for free from iTunes. The app allows a student or instructor to log in and play activities. No activity editing can be done through the iPad.
| iPad Model | Minimum Operating System | Internet Access |
|---|---|---|
| iPad 2 or later iPad Mini or later |
iOS 6.0 or later | Connection needed for login and activity download only. Activities can play offline. |
How will my staff learn how to use Boardmaker Online?
There are a variety of options for learning how to use the system…
- Built-in Training Material: The Help & Training Center within the Boardmaker Online site includes articles, videos, and links to more detailed information.
- Live & Recorded Web Classes: We will offer a steady stream of web-based classes to teach your staff how to get the most of out the system.
- In-Person Training: For district purchases, ask your sales rep about in-person training options.
Will I have to buy symbols?
No! Boardmaker Online includes a collection of over 25,000 PCS symbols and when new symbols are created they will be made available to all Boardmaker Online subscribers automatically!
Will the Online Editor allow me to do everything I can do with Boardmaker v6 or Boardmaker Studio?
The Online editor is being designed to include the best features of Boardmaker v6 and Boardmaker Studio. For instance, the toolbar is modeled after the v6 toolbar to help you feel at home, and the handy Project Panel will help you keep track of all the pages of an activity just like Boardmaker Studio. It will allow you to access all of the amazing templates that come with Studio and many of those have been modified to track performance when played by a student in Boardmaker Online. We’ve simplified the action editing in the Online Editor to only contain the most popular actions, and a few popular options (Symbol Editing and Gadgets) are still in the works. While we can’t say that it will do everything (yet), we feel that it will do most of what you need in a way that is faster and more convenient than any Boardmaker product ever offered.
How many student logins can I add to my Professional account?
We allow you to create a login for every current student who you support directly. Since you are not allowed to share a Professional account with other instructors, there is a reasonable limit to the number of students a single account can serve at one time. If we see that being abused, we will prevent you from adding additional students. Our goal is to help you serve your students, not place limits that are fine for one person and too restrictive for another.