Educreations
Price: Free
How I used it: I wanted a tool that was very simple for my first graders. I wanted a tool that allowed them to manipulate content in class and create artifacts to showcase their learning. I had 5 iPads in my class which were shared among 20 students. I downloaded the app to each iPad. I created one generic Educreation account that would be logged in on each iPad. Since you had to have an email, I used my Gmail address that I created for my class. This app was then used across subject areas. Students would add pictures, annotate and record their thinking, understanding, etc. Once a student was done with their "lesson," he/she would save it with initials and the date. Next, the privacy settings would set to public. Then, the student would open up the newly created lesson on the iPad and click the chain link icon in the top right to get the embed code. Students would then exit the app and open up the Kidblog app. Once the student was signed into his/her Kidblog, the student would create a new post. In the text body, the student would click one time to make the "paste" icon appear. After pasting the code into the text body, the student would title the post and publish it.
This was a simple app that allowed my students to showcase their learning. In addition, it instantly provided the link and/or embed code to share on blogs/websites.
How I used it: I wanted a tool that was very simple for my first graders. I wanted a tool that allowed them to manipulate content in class and create artifacts to showcase their learning. I had 5 iPads in my class which were shared among 20 students. I downloaded the app to each iPad. I created one generic Educreation account that would be logged in on each iPad. Since you had to have an email, I used my Gmail address that I created for my class. This app was then used across subject areas. Students would add pictures, annotate and record their thinking, understanding, etc. Once a student was done with their "lesson," he/she would save it with initials and the date. Next, the privacy settings would set to public. Then, the student would open up the newly created lesson on the iPad and click the chain link icon in the top right to get the embed code. Students would then exit the app and open up the Kidblog app. Once the student was signed into his/her Kidblog, the student would create a new post. In the text body, the student would click one time to make the "paste" icon appear. After pasting the code into the text body, the student would title the post and publish it.
This was a simple app that allowed my students to showcase their learning. In addition, it instantly provided the link and/or embed code to share on blogs/websites.
Notability
Price: $1.99
How I used it: I was looking for an app that would allow my students to annotate over PDF files. I wanted to work towards the possibility of going paperless in my classroom. I installed Notability on each iPad. After it was installed, I signed into the class Google Drive account. In addition, I set up a sync folder so that all PDF files that got annotated could be synced to the same folder.
After I had set up the folder for syncing, I also allowed access to the class Dropbox account. This would allow students to easily get a PDF file that I had shared with them. The reason I did this with Dropbox is that we had been using Dropbox with Educreations. My students already knew exactly how to insert a picture into Educreations via Dropbox. Rather than teaching a whole new process for using Google Drive to insert the PDF, we used Dropbox.
Students were able to open up a PDF file from Dropbox. Once opened, they titled it with their initials and the date. This allowed for easy identification of files in the Google Drive account. Once titled, students could annotate over the PDF. Upon completion, students could then export the annotated PDF to the Google Drive account.
Problems: This would be more ideal if each kid had his/her own iPad. With sharing iPads, annotated PDF files are specific to each iPad. For example, if I annotated my PDF on iPad # 1, it does not automatically sync to all the other iPads. It is tied to that specific iPad # 1.
Another issue with my first graders was learning how to zoom in/out as well as panning around with two fingers instead of one finger. It was a little tricky to learn but they caught on.
How I used it: I was looking for an app that would allow my students to annotate over PDF files. I wanted to work towards the possibility of going paperless in my classroom. I installed Notability on each iPad. After it was installed, I signed into the class Google Drive account. In addition, I set up a sync folder so that all PDF files that got annotated could be synced to the same folder.
After I had set up the folder for syncing, I also allowed access to the class Dropbox account. This would allow students to easily get a PDF file that I had shared with them. The reason I did this with Dropbox is that we had been using Dropbox with Educreations. My students already knew exactly how to insert a picture into Educreations via Dropbox. Rather than teaching a whole new process for using Google Drive to insert the PDF, we used Dropbox.
Students were able to open up a PDF file from Dropbox. Once opened, they titled it with their initials and the date. This allowed for easy identification of files in the Google Drive account. Once titled, students could annotate over the PDF. Upon completion, students could then export the annotated PDF to the Google Drive account.
Problems: This would be more ideal if each kid had his/her own iPad. With sharing iPads, annotated PDF files are specific to each iPad. For example, if I annotated my PDF on iPad # 1, it does not automatically sync to all the other iPads. It is tied to that specific iPad # 1.
Another issue with my first graders was learning how to zoom in/out as well as panning around with two fingers instead of one finger. It was a little tricky to learn but they caught on.