12 Days of App-mas: Explain Everything

In the spirit of the holidays we will bring you 12 Days of App-mas. Each day we will offer an app for education. We will  offer suggestions for how the app can be used in a class. Comment with ways you have used these apps.

App: Explain Everything Download from the App Store
Cost: $2.99 *50% discount for educational institutions *
Description: Explain Everything is an easy-to-use design, screencasting, and interactive whiteboard tool that lets you annotate, animate, narrate, import, and export almost anything to and from almost anywhere.

Create slides, draw in any color, add shapes, add text, and use a laser pointer. Rotate, move, scale, copy, paste, clone, and lock any object added to the stage.

Add new or existing photos and videos. Import PDF, PPT, DOC, XLS, Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and RTF files from Evernote, Dropbox, Box, GDrive, WebDAV, Email, iTunes, and any app that allows you to open these files types using “Open In…”. Export MP4 movies, PDF documents, PNG images, or XPL project files directly from your iPad.

No account is necessary to use Explain Everything and share creations.

Download our free Explain Everything iBook manual from the Apple iBooks bookstore: https://itunes.apple.com/book/explain-everything/id591601596?mt=11

I have seen this app used effectively with students in kindergarten and middle school. In Kindergarten we had students re-write a story using their own illustrations and used the recording feature so students could read their books.

Explain Everything  overview video

How to Embed a Keynote or PowerPoint into a WordPress.com blog

I have been searching the web for the answer to this question, “How can I embed my Keynote in a format that is clickable into my WordPress.com blog?” I want viewers to see and click through my presentation and I don’t want to create a Slideshare account. I finally found a WordPress support document that describes how to embed a Google Presentation into a WordPress.com blog, but there was no video. So, I decided to create a video tutorial that describes how to take a Keynote (Apple’s PowerPoint equivalent) or a PowerPoint, convert it to a Google Presentation and put in a WordPress.com blog.

Let mew know what you think.

 

App Recommendation – Explain Everything

This school year, at Allendale Columbia School, we embarked on a 1:1 iPad initiative with our Middle School Students. One of the Apps I have consistently recommended to classroom teachers for curricular projects is called Explain Everything. Here’s why:

• It is a very versatile presentation app.
  • Record the screen while viewing, add your voice and manipulate just about everything inside the app, even live websites.
  • Export out to just about everything
    • Dropbox, Box.net, YouTube, Evernote, internal memory, or email
  • Export the project file so you can share and collaborate with a partner
  • Excellent video help from the Explain Everything YouTube Channel

I was also fortunate enough to bump into the primary designer of the app, Reshan Richards, at a conference and got first hand information about the app. He is the Director of Educational Technology at Montclair Kimberley Academy in Montclair, NJ and founder of Constructivist Toolkit, LLC. He understands what it’s like to be a classroom teacher and the importance of having dependable technology that kids can use.

As our students began using the app, some issues arose. I was able to communicate directly with Reshan to resolve the problems we were having. Reshan suggested we set up a Skype call so he could chat directly with our 7th graders. Our students really enjoyed the call because they were part of the app development process. It was a win for all involved!

The intro video from their website gives a great summary of the many features.