Oh So Many iPad Apps - new blog adventure

I am constantly looking for educational apps and ways students can use the iPad in the classroom.  I have found that I am not very organized with my findings, meaning they are not in one central location.  With that in mind, I decided to start an iPad app blog and Pinterest board. I don't have much there ..YET... but I am working on adding more resources.

Enjoy!

Oh So Many iPad Apps

iPads in the Classroom

mobile learning on mobile devices - Kahoot!

With more district moving to BYOD and BYOT policies, it is becoming critical to provide cross platform resources and suggestions to teachers.  Training can no longer be on just one program but rather how multiple resources can help a specific concept or standard.

In this blog series, We are going to look at a few mobile learning resources that can be used across a variety of platforms.  The first one we will look at is Kahoot!  I first learned about Kahoot! at FETC.  I actually heard it mentioned in two different sessions, so I made sure to check it out immediately.

Teachers start by going to getkahoot.com and creating a free account.

Once you have registered, you can sign in and start creating your first quiz, discussion, or survey.

After you have titled the quiz, you can start adding questions.  Questions can include images and videos taken straight from YouTube.  You can adjust whether the question is worth points and how long the students have to answer.

After you have added questions, you are ready to play with the students. When you launch the quiz, students can join using the website kahoot.it and the game-pin code. This game-pin code will change for every quiz. As the students join, their names will appear on the screen.

The questions will appear on the computer screen and the students will answer using their device. 

     

Your competitive students will enjoy Kahoot! After each question, students are ranked based on the speed at which they answered.

Kahoot is a great resource for lower elementary students because of its simply design. Secondary classrooms can also benefit from Kahoot because of its cross platform ability.

Have you ever used Kahoot? What are you thoughts?

The Awesomeness of Twitter

Twitter is awesome! Twitter gives you the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and share ideas. You get to connect, create, and collaborate with people miles and hours away from you.  If you are lucky, you get to meet those people you connect with virtually. I was lucky this week at FETC. I was able to connect with one of my Twitter friends, Melissa Edwards. Melissa and I connect with each other on Twitter as well as present for Simple K12.



This conversation allowed us to connect!  We talked, shared ideas, and even have some collaboration projects in mind. Had to not been for Twitter, I would have never met my new tech integration friend from North Carolina.

Melissa wasn't my only Twitter meet this week. I had the opportunity to meet the awesome leaders of #edtechchat and so many more at the #edtechchat Tweet Up. I got to put a real faces to the Twitter handles I talk to every week. I look up to these people as ed tech leaders and when I would say "Hi, I'm Eva" they would say hey I know you and comment about what I say on Twitter. That's just awesome to me!!

Because of Twitter, I caught to have a conversation with two authors about writing a book. I got to have a conversation with Kathy Schrock and Meg Ormiston. That made my night!

Because of Twitter, I get to learn from these ed tech leaders. Because of Twitter and FETC, I got to meet these ed tech leaders. All because I joined Twitter.

So what is your excuse? Why aren't you on Twitter?? What is stopping you from connecting with experts in education?

Do you have the digital skills?

On February 2013, Med Kharbach wrote an article "The 22 Digital Skills Every 21st Century Teacher Must Have". This article provides multiple resources teachers (and students) can use to meet the demands of working in the digital world within the K-12 classroom.

We are going to dive further into a four of these digital skills and some of the resources suggested by Kharbach.  I do highly encourage you to click on the link above and read the full article.


Use Social Bookmarking to Share Resources With and Between Learners
~ Pinterest
~ Live Binders

I am a Pinterest addict, both personally and professionally!  Pinterest is a like a really big cord board that you have divided into sections, like recipes, apps, science lessons, and home decor. You then pin ideas, suggestions, and images within each section.  You also have the ability to follow other Pinners as well as other boards. So when you find someone awesome like Lisa Johnson or Matt Gomez, you can follow what they post and apply it to your K-12 classroom. You can even find me on Pinterest!

Live Binders is another great way to share web resources with other K-12 teachers. Live Binders provides you with a virtual three ring binder that you can organize and fill with web sites, images, documents, etc. Like Pinterest, Live Binders can be shared with others.  When you check out Live Binders, be sure to spend some time with KB Konnected.

Compile a Digital E-Portfolio for Their Own Development
~ Evernote

Evernote is a great resource for teachers and students. Within Evernote, users create notebooks and then add whatever notes they need to within those notebooks.  Evernote has a free and subscription edition, so features like sharing notebooks will be part of the subscription. As a student, I can create an Evernote account and keep up with work samples and projects I have completed during a course. As a teacher, I can keep up with lesson plans and articles for future activities.

If you want to learn more about Evernote, you will want to check out Richard Bryne's website.

Create Screen Capture Videos and Tutorials
~ Jing

I am a big fan of Jing. Jing is the free video capture tool from TechSmith. Jing can be downloaded onto a Mac or PC. Students and Teachers can take a five minute screencast and save it to their computer or share it via screencast.com. I personally use Jing to create short how-to videos for teachers. If you need more than five minutes, TechSmith does offer other products that do cost money.

Create Engaging Mind Maps
~ Popplet
~ Bubbl.us

Thinking Map, graphic organizer, mind map - No matter what you call it, they all do essentially the same thing. Popplet and Bubbl.us are two resources students can use to organize their ideas and thoughts online.

Popplet has become a favorite site for teachers within my district. Popplet does require an account, however several teachers create a generic classroom account all students use. Students can create their own mind map using Popples (or bubbles). These Popples can contain text, images, and videos. Popplets can also be collaborative. You can share your Popplet with another user an work on it together.

Bubbl.us is another mind mapping tool online. Students can create their original mind map using the online tools. You don't need account if you plan to create your mind map and print it in one sitting.  You can, however, create one if you plan to work on a mind over multiple sessions. Bubbl.us can also be printed and exported as an image for integration into a presentation.

Do your students know how to use these sites?  Better yet, do YOU know how to use these sites? Do you know when using these sites are most appropriate? Be sure to check out the article above and the resources suggested.

happy holidays

I hope everyone has an enjoyable and rest-filled holiday season!  Thank you so much to those who read my blog. I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store!

Student Presentations with ScreenChomp

Within the Common Core State Standards, students in grades K-4 are asked to create visual displays and audio recordings for presentations.

Speaking and Listening Standard #5:

K - Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.
1st Grade - Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
2nd Grade - Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
3rd Grade - Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details.
4th Grade - Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

One tool students can use to help bring their presentation to life is with the iPad app ScreenChomp.  ScreenChomp is a free app created by TechSmith that allows students to create digital presentations with their own voice and student created drawings.

As you can see, ScreenChomp contains just what the students will need to create a digital presentation, including a cute green monster!

Students can select from three different pen widths and 12 different colors. Pictures from within the Camera Roll can also be selected for the background, if the students choose. The item between the background and pens will erase the entire screen and the eraser will let you select what to remove. Once the students are ready, they hit the red "rec" button to begin recording.

Students can pause and stop the recording. Keep in mind, clicking stop will end the recording while pausing will let you go back if needed.  You can also watch your time with the timer on the upper right corner.

Once stop is selected, students will get to preview their presentation and either trash it or share it.  If you decide to do neither, you want to at least rename the file so you can find it later on ScreenChomp.  When you click "Share" you are provided with a web address for sharing and future use. Who doesn't want to share student created movies with parents and school stakeholders?!

The Common Core State Standards are not the only standards ScreenChomp can help you meet.  Multiple NETS*S can also be included in the list above.

1b - Create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
2b - Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.
5b - Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity.
6b - Select and use applications effectively and productively.

ScreenChomp doesn't have to be used be one student either. Because you have the ability to pause, a small group of students can create a presentation using the same iPad. You can also find ScreenChomp being used in all subject areas, since this app is not geared toward a specific subject area. This means ScreenChomp can be used to present how to solve and multiple step problem and explain the life cycle of a frog.

So how do you use ScreenChomp?

presentation creation and the iPad

There are so many great apps out there students and teachers can use to create presentations.  One of those apps is free (yes.. free) for a limited time - Doodlecast Pro

Doodlecast Pro has a clean design with easy to understand icons for students and teachers. The presentation can be paused, continued, and saved through out the process.  Students can also open already saved presentations.

Being able to select from multiple background images has great potential. Students can select from multiple math and language arts backgrounds, like graphing paper, a comic strip, grid, and notebook paper. There are also backgrounds for music and sports. Images from the iPad's Camera Roll can also be added to the presentation. One other feature I like about Doodlcast Pro is the ability to add multiple pages to a presentation.

The drawing tools available on Doodlecast Pro include the pen, fill, pointer, and eraser. The pointer (shown above) allows you to change the color and shape of the pointer. The pen and fill allow you to change color and pen size.

Once a presentation is created, you can share through your Camera Roll on the iPad, email, YouTube, or Dropbox.  I like having share options. Student use iPads may not have a "working" email address but may have a classwide Dropbox account.

Doodlecast Pro can be used through out the school day.

~ create an example video on parts of speech to show understanding

~ create a video introducing weekly vocabulary words to post on a class website

~ create a step-by-step video showing how to solve a math problem

~ retell a story 

~ retell a particular topic from science or history

~ create a learning video for a younger class

~ create an explanation video to help reteach of topic or concept

How could you use Doodlecast Pro in your classroom?