Create an Interactive Board on Your IPad

I am super excited to have access to an IPad in my classroom this year.  There are so many aps that can be used as instructional tools and I want to explore them all.  So, each week, I will be spotlighting one ap that can be used in the classroom to enhance your learning.  Here is this week’s Learning Ap of the Week:

One Ap that I intend to use in my classroom is called Educreations.  It is very simple and easy to use, and it basically turns your IPad into an Interactive White Board.  You can insert pictures, write on the pictures, move pictures around, just like you would on your white board.  In addition, you can record your lessons.  When you press record, it records everything you say and do on your screen, building a video of your lesson.  These videos can be saved to show students later, or they can be embedded into your blog or website to show parents or absent students.  Here are some ways that I want to use this ap this year:

1.)  Work on the process of writing – I plan to insert a picture or a variety of pictures ahead of time, and then write a story about the picture(s) with my students.  We will record our brainstorming, drafting, editing, and revising together, saving each one separate.  Then, I will post those videos onto our class blog, so that students can go back and re-visit these concepts later.

2.)  Model homework and project expectations – Before assigning homework or projects, I plan to create a short video explaining the expectations (using screen shots of the pages needed).  I will then post these videos on our class blog so when students are at home, they will still have access to an explanation of the directions.

3.)  Give students a chance to explain their thinking – My class consists of mainly English Language Learners, who may have difficulty explaining their thinking.  I hope to use this program to let students walk through a math problem, recording their thinking out loud and writing on the problem at the same time.  Then, I plan to re-visit the recordings with the students, going over their thinking and filling in any needed vocabulary.

4.)  Build an interactive notebook – Rather than hanging anchor charts around my room, I plan to help my students build interactive notebooks with the information we build together as a class.  I plan to draw out anchor charts and graphic organizers on the IPad, using this ap and fill in the pieces with my class.  Then, we will print out the image we have created and glue them into the students’ notebooks for future reference.

I hope some of these ideas will help you use this Ap in your classroom.  Please stop by next week for more Learning Aps to use in your classroom.