Friday, November 22, 2013

Book Creator - iPad App

Book Creator

I've been looking for a fun and engaging app for students to create projects that don't involve PowerPoint or writing a paper.  Book Creator allows students to create their projects in a book form.  The user is able to upload photos from their camera roll, take photos, hand write text, add text and even add sound.  After the user is finished with their book, he/she can Open it in iBooks and share with the class.  My daughter's class just created a hard cover book.  It would be fun to let the students create a digital book as well (plus it's free for parents then :)
As a technology integration specialist, I think this app is very engaging.  The app is also able to be turned in to Schoology, if you are using that as your LMS.  The teacher is able to look through the book and grade it, then have the students upload their book for their peers to download and enjoy.
The program creates an .ePub file that can be shared.  Students can send the file home, keep in their iBooks, etc.

Ways to integrate Book Creator:

  • About Me iBook
  • Biography iBook
  • Book Reviews
  • Life Cycle
  • Water Cycle
  • History Timeline but in a book format
  • Math problems
  • History lessons
  • Art Portfolio
  • Student Portfolio
  • Books for your students created by teacher
  • Anything you can think of!
I'd love to hear if your teachers are using Book Creator in their classes.  Comment below!





Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Grading "Papers" on the iPad

I work in several schools that are 1:1 with iPads.  One of the biggest complaints from teachers is how cumbersome it is to grade on an iPad.  Yesterday I was researching for an easier way and ran across a great app, MarkUp by Learnbat, Inc.

What MarkUp does is pure genius.  When you purchase the app and create an account, the app assigns you an email address.  Students then submit their assignments to the MarkUp email address.  (Don't worry, it's not another email address you have to check!)  The app automatically strips the attachment from the email and posts the assignment (attachment) in the MarkUp app.  The teacher opens the MarkUp app and corrects the assignment.  Return it to the student via email -- the other best part is coming up!  The app recalls the email address that is associated with the assignment.  So teachers do not need to keep track of student emails either!

I encourage you to try this app out.  I showed it to 3 teachers this morning and they were pretty excited for it.  They will be testing it for a week and I'll let you know more about what they think of it!

MarkUp by Learnbat, Inc. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/markup-annotate-grade-sign/id628143995?mt=8

In Education,
Kara:)

Friday, November 1, 2013

1:1 - What to do when the Internet Goes Down

You are a 1:1 school and the Internet/Network just went down.  No need to panic! Take a couple of deep breaths and know you can continue on with class.  Most of our teaching material is housed in an LMS (such as Schoology) or on a website. So you panic and think that students are not going to be able to work or do their homework.

Wrong!  I suggest keeping 1 paper copy of your worksheets on hand for a "just in case" moment.  In this situation, you are able to have students pull up an app like "CamScanner HD" and scan the worksheet.  The app takes a picture of the worksheet and turns it into a PDF.  After the worksheet has been made into a PDF, student can open in Notability (or whatever program you use for annotation) and complete their work.

There are plenty of apps students can use that do not require the Internet.  I am assuming you still have textbooks in your class (at least most of the schools I work with do).  Quizlet is an app that students can use to create flashcards.  Have students go through the chapter and create vocab flashcards or flashcards about things they think may be important. Take notes the "old fashioned" way -- remember, on the whiteboard?  Students can still use Notability to take their notes.

How about you?  What have you done in an emergency situation when the network/Internet goes out?  Please leave a comment below!