Despite mobile apps and tablet computing being identified as one of the technologies expected to enter mainstream education in the next twelve months (NMC, 2012), I have to admit, I’m very much an iPad novice. However, I work in a school that has committed to a 1:1 program for all Year 6 – 8 students for 2013. With only 15 weeks until the program begins, I trialled a number of educational apps designed to not only make my life easier, but better engage and meet the needs of the 21st century learners in my classroom.
Hanson (2011, p. 15) states that the software applications, or apps, of a mobile device are what has “taken these devices into completely new realms of functionality.” As a secondary teacher, functionality, as well as ease of use and the ability to engage and educate, formed the success criteria for the investigation of the following apps:
Explain Everything $2.99
Explain Everything is an annotation and tutorial style app, where users can upload a document or image (or create a presentation using the blank screen) and add annotations and audio. Presentations can be exported as mp4 files via email, Photo Roll, YouTube, Dropbox, Evernote, Box or WebDAV.
Functionality, use of ease, and student engagement
Explain Everything is easy to use. Users can upload images and documents from a range of sources and the annotation tools are simple and responsive. Tools provided include a marker pen, laser pointer, shape tool, and text box function.
Explain Everything can improve outcomes for both teachers and students. One of the easiest ways to use this app is to provide students with feedback on their work. Student work can be uploaded and the teacher can annotate it, record their comments, and then return the mp4 file to the student via email or Dropbox. The advantage of providing students with feedback in this manner is that the student can replay feedback as many times as they need without having to decipher handwritten notes on the draft. Students can also use this app to annotate and/or explain their understanding of key concepts or, alternatively, they could use it to provide feedback and evaluation of their peers’ work.
Explain Everything also becomes an easy tool to use for those who teach using the Flipped Classroom model. Teachers can record videos of key concepts and ideas and upload them to their class blogs, wikis or websites. Students are then provided with video tutorials whenever and wherever they need them.
Limitations
In using this tool, some limitations or difficulties need to be noted. Firstly, to export the file, it must be compressed. In some instances, this can take as long as the actual length of the video. If a teacher was using this app to provide feedback on a whole class worth of drafts, the time required to compress the files could outweigh the time saved in recording audio feedback rather than written. In addition to this, although the file is compressed, the file size is significant (39.9MB for a 2:39 minute video), which makes it difficult to email. I also had trouble exporting my file to Dropbox, which meant that I had to save the file to the Photo Roll and then download the file.
Diigo Free
Diigo is a web highlighting, sticky note and online bookmarking tool. Users can create shared bookmarks and connect with other users to build their personal learning network. The Diigo for iPad app gives users the opportunity to access their bookmarked sites and to annotate and highlight webpages from the Safari browser.
Functionality, use of ease, and student engagement
Diigo for iPad is reasonably simple to use, however, users need to have an account with Diigo before they can use the app. When researching, students can use this app to collate and manage useful web resources. When students use the annotation and highlighting tool in safari, their annotations are automatically collated in the app, ready for review. Students in my Modern History and Year 8 SOSE class regularly complain about having to record notes – with the Diigo for iPad app, my students can now create a set of notes straight from webpages and then comment on them through the app.
Limitations
When downloading this app, you must also bookmark the Safari annotation tool. The instructions on how to do this are not as clear as they could be. Novice iPad users may find it difficult to follow these instructions.
Schoology Free
Schoology is a social networking tool designed for educational settings. It allows teachers to upload course content, set up assessment, manage classes, create discussions and provide classes with ‘status updates’. The Schoology iPad app (also available on iPhone) creates a mobile classroom, where students can access class materials and discuss class content.
Functionality, use of ease, and student engagement
With an interface and user functions similar to Facebook, Schoology is one of the most engaging educational tools I have used this year. Firstly, the discussion forum allows students to engage with each other, and with their teacher. Secondly, students who are absent can access class materials whenever they need them. Due to the familiarity of the layout and format, the Schoology app is one of the easiest educational apps to use.
Limitations
To use this app, teachers will need to have a Schoology account and have set up a course. To join the class, students require the unique course code (supplied by the teacher). Only once they have joined the course online will they be able to use the app. At my school, accessing Schoology via Explorer has presented problems; it is much easier to use with Firefox, however, this browser is not installed on our school computers. In this case, students have had to first join the course at home before they can start using the app in class. Another issue with the Schoology app is that, on iPhone, users are only able to access the discussion forums and not the course materials folder.
References
Hanson, C. (2011). Chapter 2: Mobile Devices in 2011. Library Technology Reports, 47(2), 11-23
New Media Consortium (2012, June 12). NMC Horizon Report 2012 K – 12 Edition [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A_xMSCZ8SQ