Fun Way to Explain Everything

Mobile App Monday

The Explain Everything app is a must have for all classrooms. This app is a collaborative interactive whiteboard that can be used to literally explain any and everything. 

Explain Everything is an easy-to-use collaborative tool that gives students the opportunity to share their knowledge and understanding of curriculum concepts. Students can annotate, animate, narrate, record and then share.

Here are just a few of the features in the app - 

- Writing tools - draw, shapes and text

- Laser pointer

- Insert images, videos or audio files

- Create math equations

- Edit (rotate, move, scale, flip, copy, paste, clone) any object

- Record everything you do within the app

- Record yourself with the front facing camera

- Export projects in numerous formats

- Post projects to Evernote, OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, YouTube and more.

It's well worth it for the low price of $5.99 in the app store or google play store. 

Explain Everything is also available for Chromebooks for $2.99 per user. 

Click HERE to view ipad tutorials from Explain Everything on YouTube. 

Channel Your Inner Picasso with Drawing Box

Drawing Box is a free drawing app with several tools and a million colors to choose from - maybe not a million colors, but close. There is also a paid version of this app for $2.99. I think it might be worth the investment. We'll talk about the paid tools momentarily.

In the free version you have access to various paper types and backgrounds as well as pencils, brushes, rollers, stamps, a symmetry tool and paint colors. You can create up to 6 drawings but each drawing can be saved the camera roll so once you've made your masterpiece you can save it and then delete it to make room for more.

The paid version provides more features such as color mixing, tool pressure sensitivity, importing pictures and the ability to export your drawing as a movie. This last feature looks really cool - it shows from start to finish how a drawing was developed. 

Overall, I give this app to thumbs up - even the free version is great. There are also Drawing Box videos available on YouTube you might want to check out. They show an older version of the app, but it will give you the general idea.

Venn Diagram from Read, Write, Think

I love everything Read, Write, Think produces, so it was no surprise that I also loved the app Venn Diagram. It has a very user friendly interface for students so it doesn't take them long to be up and running. Students can create a 2 or 3 circle venn diagram and add items to each circle. Each item can also have a description so if students want to print out their creations, they will have two pages - one page with the diagram and items and another page with the items and descriptions.

Students can save their work if they don't finish in the allotted time because they have to create an account to get started. Don't worry, their account consists of their name only so you don't have to be concerned about complicated account creation. Students will have to go back to the same iPad to find their account because it is tied to the iPad. When students complete their work, they can save it to the camera roll or email it to the teacher.

Read, Write, Think also has a web version of the Venn Diagram program so if you don't have enough iPads for all of your kiddos, don't worry. They can grab a computer or Chromebook and get started.

BOOM @#! POW !&@ - Strip Designer - The Perfect Comic Creator

Strip Designer is the perfect Comic Strip app. It isn't free, but the price tag is small in comparison to what you can do with the app - only $2.99.

Strip Designer starts by letting you select a category template and then choose how many windows you want to include on the comic strip page. You aren't limited to one page either - you can create an entire comic book if you wish. 

Just tap in a window to add a photo. Once the photo is on the page, you can make edits to it. You can also add speech balloons, stickers, effect text and even additional windows.

Once the comic is complete, you can export it to Google Drive, OneDrive or Drop Box. This is a great tool to let student creativity shine! I would love to see Romeo and Juliet retold by students using a comic book.

Sketch, Draw and Take Notes with Paper by Fifty Three

Paper by Fifty Three is a free app that allows you to sketch, draw on images, take notes, make to do lists and more. Just create a space and start adding pages to it.

This is a great tool for students to draw out a process, show their work on math problems, draw pictures to illustrate a book or just take notes. 

Another great feature - you and your students can use your school google account to sign in so you don't have to remember ANOTHER account name and password.

Finally, once you have a completed space, you can share it as a presentation and save it to your Google Drive or OneDrive.

Using Google Keep to Keep Up

Google Keep, although a lesser known Google product, is a great tool to keep you organized from both your computer and your mobile device.

To access Google Keep from your computer, just go to keep.google.com. If you want it on your mobile device, just install it from your app store - it works on both iOS and Android devices. You'll need to log in using your GAFE account to sync all of your notes to your devices.

Once you're logged in, simply click in the area that says Take a Note and get started.

Here's a good resource that will let you know what can be done on the web version versus the mobile versions - https://support.google.com/keep/answer/2888246?

Two more things about Google Keep that make it a great resource - 

1. Any note that I create can be imported directly into Google Docs. I think this is a great tool for students. If they are jotting down ideas and information about a project, they can pull all of it right into their Google Doc. Just click the More button (three dots) and click Copy to Google Docs.
2. Any note can be shared with others so if you are collaborating on a project, you can share notes with each other.

Enjoy!

iOS 9 for iPhones & iPads

A new iOS update came out recently for iPhones and iPads. There are some great new features in this upate. Here are three links that tell you all about the changes.

20 Best iOS9 Features - http://goo.gl/OCbIqV

20 New iOS 9 Settings You Should Know - http://goo.gl/2UsPfb

25 iOS 9 Tips & Tricks - http://goo.gl/YsKALh