We see the world in color, so we like to draw in it as well. Students and instructors are now able to draw on slides in LectureTools using a variety of colors.
Click or tap the Pen Tool as before, and a palette icon will display. Click to select a color, and begin doodling.
For those who feel constrained by the color selection shown in the palette, a full selection of 16,777,216 colors is actually available. To draw in other colors, enter the six-digit code corresponding to your favorite hex color in the text field and press Enter.
The simple addition of more color options, however, is not the only benefit of the improved Pen Tool. Students and instructors can now draw on slides using a Windows Tablet and stylus.
Students can draw graphs on the slides or circle important bullet points to supplement their text notes.
Instructors can now use their Windows tablet or their lecture hall’s touchscreen kiosk computer to easily draw graphs, write equations, or make other annotations to display on the projection screen.
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One area where desktops have a distinct advantage over laptops is display area. Most laptops have displays that range from 13-16 inches, making every pixel that much more valuable. For students using LectureTools, there is often little need to access Course Tabs or the Lecture Dates Sidebar once class has started.
This fact combined with some of our student users’ requests for a way to zoom-in on slides inspired our newest feature: Expanded View.
Maximizing screen real estate for the things that matter
Students can now utilize more of their valuable screen real estate on the Student Notebook and the Slides or Question Tab. This makes it easier to read smaller type on the slides, and also allows a greater portion of laptop screens to be dedicated to in-class content and activities.
It’s as simple as clicking the 
button on the lower right corner of the slides.
The new button is integrated into the slides toolbox students are already familiar with.
In Expanded View, the Lecture Dates Sidebar collapses and all top navigation is minimized. This maximizes the screen space for the slides, student questions, and notebook, allowing students to see a larger, “zoomed-in” version of the slides.
Returning to the standard view with all of the Course Tabs and top navigation links is as simple as pressing the Exit Expanded View button.
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Although the beta version of LectureTools allowed students to take notes associated with particular lectures, our feedback from students has always indicated that they prefer to take notes synchronized with specific slides. Recently the student notebook was overhauled to allow students to take notes associated with slides.
How the new notebook works
While navigating through the instructor’s slides, the notebook will automatically navigate to the corresponding notes “page” for that slide. Additionally, clicking on the page number of a notebook page will not only load the page, but also change to that page’s corresponding slide.
To maximize screen real estate, a particular notes page can be collapsed with the [
] icon. The Lecture Dates Sidebar can also be toggled on and off by clicking the [
]. This frees up more space for the notebook.
Students can also print their notebook such that the notes print alongside the slides. This enables students to export their notes as a PDF to access offline and lets students make a physical copy for study purposes. Of course, all digitized notes are searchable, allowing students to find particular slides and notes in seconds.
To catch a glimpse of the new student notebook in its natural habitat, watch the video below: