Creative Book Builder App for iPad

I have been taking a lot of time looking at different iPad apps that would be useful for students and teachers.  I just love iPads and the potential they hold for teaching, learning, differentiation, creativity and project based learning opportunities.  One of the biggest pluses to iPads is that they work almost instantaneously while computers take a while to even turn on and because of this class time is not wasted.

The apps that are available for the iPad are also truly amazing and abundant.  Strangely enough, these days a challenge for teachers is finding the right app because there are so many to choose from.  One terrific app is Creative Book Builder. I recently went to a VITA Learn workshop where I learned about this app.  I have been playing around with it and find it has a ton of potential.  What it does is very easily allow the user to build an eBook using text, links, images, video, and audio that can be sent right to iBooks to be viewed.  Since it functions on the iPad, the app is completely integrated so that student created videos and images can be quickly  imported into their book as well as student created music from Garage Band.  This eliminates any issues of copyright!

Teachers can create eBooks for their students complete with all the multimedia information that their students need to be successful.  Students can use the app to create innovative multimedia products demonstrating their learning which can be used as their assessments.  I highly encourage you to check out this amazing app.  It is worth every penny and more at $3.99.

See it in action in this YouTube video.  It isn't in English, but you can clearly see what he is doing and he does a great job demonstrating how the app works. No translations needed.

Finding Your Voice With VoiceThread

I have been using VoiceThread for a long time now and frankly can't believe that I haven't blogged about it before.  If you don't know what a VoiceThread is, then you are in for a pleasant surprise.  A VoiceThread is kind of like a collaborative audio blog type presentation tool that allows you to use pictures, videos, and documents to make your story known.  You can also draw in color on a picture to make your point as your audio plays.

Here is an example of how you could use it in the classroom as an assessment/culminating activity.

You assign your students to groups and allow them to pick a topic to research.  The group researches their topic and begins to shape the material into a presentation.  They use VoiceThread by uploading their pictures and video that they have taken/gathered to accompany scripts that they have written to teach others what they have learned.  They create their VoiceThread and then ask their peers to view and make audio comments/ask questions on the material.  The original student group then addresses the questions by adding more audio to the VoiceThread.  They then make it public to share their learning with the world.  Teachers can also browse content to find information that they may wish to use to illustrate concepts that they are presenting to their class.

This is a wonderful tool that you just have to check out.  There is a free version and a paid version.  Schools can purchase site licenses as well.  However, older students can create their own free account which will work just fine for projects.  Classroom teachers can have a class account to use with their younger students.  Check out this highly collaborative and unique tool by watching the VoiceThread below and by going to the link!

Here is an example of a VoiceThread made by 7th graders on creating safe passwords and you can browse at VoiceThread to find many more examples of student work.

























www.voicethread.com 

Tutorials

Gapminder World - Minding the Gap

The web 2.0 tool, Gapminder World, was the brainchild of Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund and Hans Rosling.  Their mission was to create a more interesting way to view fact based statistical information about the world in which we live and view it over time using software they called Trendalyzer.  Google has now acquired the software and the developers who worked on the software initially are still hard at work creating new videos, pdf documents and flash animations to produce fascinating information on how the world has changed over time.  For example, you can look at how age expectancy and income level are related while viewing the changes over a hundred years.  There are plenty of tutorial videos and PDF files to show you how to do this on the teacher section of the site:  Gapminder for Teachers.  There is even a desktop version so that you do not have to be online to use Gapminder.  Gapminder has also included some teaching guides such as the one called 200 Years that Changed the World. 

This site is simply filled with factual information for use with your classes.  This site is not just just for math and geography teachers!  All students can benefit from learning to use this site to access statistics on all kinds of information on health, wealth, HIV, human development, money, reducing childhood mortality, income distributions, marriage, employment rates and the list goes on and on.  Teachers, check it out and Mind the Gap at www.gapminder.org today!

Tutorial Video

Popplet - Simple, Versatile Way to Present Information

Yesterday a colleague, Dave Herren, told me about Popplet.  I explored the web 2.0 tool and was very impressed by its' simplicity and versatility.  It can be used as a mind mapping tool, poster board, and presentation medium.  It allows users to share their creations and is therefore also collaborative. You can make your popplets public or just choose who you wish to have access.  You can change the colors of the bubbles and text, add Flickr pictures, YouTube videos, pictures from your computer or Facebook page, Google Maps with a specific address, and pictures of products from Amazon. 

You can add your own comments to each Popple too.  Looking over the features, I also saw where you can export your Popplets to PDF or Image formats in order to print it out and even link different Popplets together.

Teachers we have another amazingly simple, versatile,  efficient and colorful way for our students (or for ourselves) to present information.  Below is a link of an example of a Popplet definitely worth looking at and getting some ideas for the classroom. Napoleon:  History  http://popplet.com/app/#/489.

Here is the link to the main Popplet information page where you can sign up, watch a video on how it works and get other information such as how you can get the iPad App too!  This web 2.0 tool is in Beta now and I definitely recommend checking it out and introducing it to your students. 

I'm Flipping for Flipboard!!

Flipboard is a free app for the iPad and it is my favorite app of late!  Flipboard allows you to take all kinds of online information from Twitter, Facebook, News, RSS feeds, Flickr, and various other sources of information and lets you read it in a magazine like format.  All the pictures and links are spread before you like an informational smorgasbord!  You can check your news-feed on Facebook, or search Twitter for real-time information.   

Teachers and students can use Flipboard as a way of creating their own personal learning networks by subscribing to the sources of information that fire their imagination.  In the classroom, it can be used as a research tool for news, and articles as well as real-time information.  Just imagine searching for information about a current event using Facebook and Twitter to find posts from the people who are living through the event!  Students doing any kind of research can use the search feature to find topical information.  The information and pictures can be emailed, or printed out.  This app is really amazing!  I highly recommend it for personal and school use.  Here are some links to get more information!

A YouTube demonstration of the app:  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2vpvEDS00ohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2vpvEDS00o


How one teacher uses it:  http://appsineducation.blogspot.com/2011/02/flipboard.html

More information:  http://flipboard.com/ 

iHomework Gets Students Organized

While I was searching around for cool "apps" the other day (this has become a hobby of mine),  I came across iHomework for iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch.  After downloading and playing with it a bit, it made me want to go back to school just so I could use it for my classes!  This app has it all.  No need to carry around paper and pencil to keep track of your assignments, homework, readings, and tasks.  It also allows you to enter your course schedules and teacher information for easy reference.  The app also lets you put in your assignment grades so that you can track your overall course progress.  Then it can sync all information to your computer whether it be a Mac or PC.  Students, Teachers, Parents and guardians will love this app!  Of course, not every student has an "i" device though many students do.  For the ones that do, this is an exceptional app and is rated overall as 4 out of 5 stars in the App Store. 

When students are organized with assignments, due dates and other resources, they are more likely to do well in school.  This app will keep all the those little pieces of paper where they have written their assignments off of the floor of their locker and into a device where they can easily find the information that they need. 

Here is an instructional video on how to use the iHomework app and you can follow them on Facebook as well.  They have a website where you can get more information.

If you currently use this app or are trying it now, please leave a comment and let everyone know how it has worked for you.

Dabbling with Dabbleboard!

Dabbleboard is a web 2.0 collaborative tool that allows you to draw, create mind maps, brainstorm, demonstrate concepts and so much more.  This is a fantastic tool to use with your interactive whiteboard!  It is so incredibly fun and easy to use that anyone can do it!  This is a wonderful teaching and learning tool.  I can envision teachers using it to illustrate concepts they are teaching and students using it to create mind maps, concept maps, organizational charts, mock ups, flow charts, diagrams, building plans, illustrations, and do demonstrations.  This tool is different because it allows you to work collaboratively, and draw both naturally and spontaneously as well as open a back channel on the site at the same time for even better collaboration!

According to the Dabbleboard site, here are the top ten reasons to use Dabbleboard.

Here are the Top 10 Reasons you should use Dabbleboard:

1. Dabbleboard is easy and fun to use. Unlike other whiteboard applications, Dabbleboard feels as natural to use as a marker on a whiteboard, or a pencil on a sheet of paper.
2. Dabbleboard is fast. Since you don't need to spend time constantly changing tools in the toolbar, you can draw much faster.
3. Dabbleboard is flexible. Everything you draw can be moved, resized, deleted, and replicated.
4. Dabbleboard produces pretty drawings. Okay, we admit you don't need your whiteboard drawings to look like works of art.
5. Dabbleboard lets you easily reuse previously-made drawings. With drag-and-drop simplicity, you can add drawings to your personal library, and copy something from the library to your current drawing.
6. Dabbleboard allows sharing and real-time collaboration with anyone anywhere in the world.
7. Dabbleboard works with hardware you already have, including your favorite computer.
8. Dabbleboard works with other software you already use.
9. Dabbleboard is secure. Unless you make your drawing public, each drawing can only be viewed by those you've shared it with, and by no one else.
10. Dabbleboard is free! We want to help the world think and communicate visually, and we won't let a little money get in our way. We also offer Pro accounts at reasonable prices.

Take a look at this video that demonstrates how easy Dabbleboard is to use.  http://dabbleboard.com/tour

Then, check out this link to learn more about Dabbleboard and sign-up if you would like to start using this cool tool:  http://dabbleboard.com