Real-time Collaborative Whiteboards for Distance Education

I was discussing a situation with a school the other day where they want to implement a virtual class in order to offer courses across a number of campuses. They will use Video Conferencing in order to do this but also want the ability for the teacher and students to be working on a real-time collaborative whiteboard canvas where problems can be worked out and documented. I decided to go away and investigate what some of the options might be. Here is a quick overview of possibilities. I am happy for others to add to this list in the comments. I found plenty that worked within the same wifi setup but we were really looking for ones that work over the internet so distance was not an issue.

SyncSpace: $8.49 AU

SyncSpace lets people express and explore visual ideas together, wherever you are. It is a zoomable space that can be shared in real time over the net. SyncSpace drawings can be updated by anyone who also has SyncSpace, anywhere on the Internet. You can invite others to collaborate on sketches. Sketches can be displayed on a nearby AppleTV or any HDMI or VGA-connected display.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/syncspace-infinite-shared/id408672838?mt=8

Whiteboard HD: $5.49 AU

Whiteboard provides an environment for writing, sketching and recording brainstorming sessions. You can make freeform drawings, add pre-made shapes and lines with familiar tap, pinch, and drag gestures. You can import any image  from the iPad photo library and share ideas with the iPad VGA adapter. At the end of class or a meeting, it’s easy to save and bookmark notes.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/whiteboard-hd/id383779666?mt=8

Jot: $5.49 AU

Jot is a simple whiteboard that lets you sketch out your ideas and share them in real time. Draw, take notes, or wireframe on your iPad quickly and easily as soon as ideas come to you. Share your ideas via email or save them as photos. The Live Sharing feature that allows you to collaborate with other Jot users in real time over the internet. Start up a Jot session and get on the same page in a snap.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/jot!-whiteboard/id376133340?mt=8

SyncPad: FREE app + $5 month subscription

SyncPad enables users to collaborate in real-time with other people independently from where they are. With SyncPad, you can share your ideas with tens of people. It works whether you are presenting to someone sitting a few feet away or across the globe. Share drawings like a real whiteboard or annotate existing images or documents. Support for images and multi-page PDF files.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/syncpad/id544015104?mt=8

Groupboard: FREE app + $9 month subscription
Groupboard turns your iPad into a collaborative whiteboard, allowing you to draw and chat in real time with anyone on the internet, even with users using a web browser. Use it for online tutoring or collaboration! Simple to use - simply start the app and then draw on the screen by dragging your finger. Use two fingers to scroll and zoom. Click Connect tab to connect with other people.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/groupboard-whiteboard/id364049817?mt=8

BaiBoard: FREE
BaiBoard is a collaboration canvas with a drawing interface. You can import or share documents from Dropbox, GDocs, Email, iTunes and Evernote. It has a variety of drawing tools and built-in stencils and you can publish and share your ongoing BaiBoard sessions via social media. View Canvas and PDF from any computer or device on same network using web browser.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/baiboard-whiteboard/id490534358?mt=8

Music Apps for the High School Classroom

I was lucky enough the other day to sit in on a local network meeting of Creative and Performing Arts teachers in one of our regions. As always I was impressed by the way they freely shared the lessons they had learnt in their classrooms using iPads. There were some great music teachers discussing apps that I wanted to share. A big thank you to Matthew Smith and John Alvear who contributed to the list.



MSOLearn - FREE

MSO Learn is the first App of its kind to offer the user interactive audio-visual exploration of an orchestra, featuring the different instrumental families, individual instruments and the musicians who play them. The App brings together stunning graphics and uncompressed audio to produce an experience that will delight users of all ages and enhance their appreciation of the workings of an orchestra.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/mso-learn/id441422027?mt=8

Sightreading+ - FREE
The only sight reading app that can train all 88 keys with sharp, natural, flat in the context of all key signatures. Whether you are new and slow on piano sight reading or just someone who wants to improve on your overall piano sight reading abilities and ear training skills, this is the right app for you. Students learn and practice both treble clef and bass clef notes on 88 keys

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/sight-reading-hd-free/id495281740?mt=8

Classical 1 - FREE
Enjoy 120 of the World’s greatest classical masterpieces performed by the best orchestras and ensembles around the world!
Familiarize you with Classical Standards constantly heard in life events, movies, TV shows... Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Chopin, Tchaikovsky. Discover and learn more with YouTube live performances and Wikipedia composer info for each masterpiece.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/classical-music-i-masters/id388835399?mt=8

SyncScore - FREE
SyncScore provides wide variety of classical music with its synchronized scores. Browse a library of hand-picked tracks, composed by composers like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and more. SyncScore is the ultimate hub for various SyncScore apps that contain full tracks of the album.   Scroll automatically as the music proceeds.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/syncscore-classical-music/id561892747?mt=8

Jam - FREE
Jam can turn anyone into a rock star with their own virtual band. Sing anything into your device and Jam will turn it into an original musical Masterpiece, regardless of your musical ability. Simply select a musical style and tempo then hit record. Jam detects the incoming vocal pitch, musical key and song structure, then it auto-tunes the vocal and produces original backing music to suit.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/jam-for-iphone/id580366563?mt=8

Beethoven 9 - FREE
Beethoven’s 9th Symphony for iPad presents four of Deutsche Grammophon’s legendary recordings of this iconic work, with the amazing ability to switch instantly between each performance at any point in the piece. As you listen, you can watch the synchronized musical score, be guided by expert commentary or follow Beethoven’s 1825 manuscript.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/beethovens-9th-symphony/id601942399?mt=8

SPCO - FREE
Explore the incredible variety of classical chamber orchestra music, with a growing library of more than 250 free and complete works performed by The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, one of the world’s leading professional chamber orchestras. You can also learn more about the orchestra’s virtuoso musicians and find upcoming concerts.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/spco-classical-listening-library/id541145825?mt=8

iReal b - $8.49 AU
It's a Book: Create, edit, print, share and collect chord charts of your favorite songs for reference while practicing or performing. It's a Band: Practice with a realistic sounding piano (or guitar), bass and drum accompaniments for any downloaded or user-created chord chart. The basic play-along feature includes Jazz Medium Swing, Bossa Nova and Rock. Transpose any chart to any key.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/ireal-b-music-book-play-along/id298206806?mt=8

SSO - FREE
The Sydney Symphony is the easiest way to follow Sydney Symphony. Now you have access to Sydney Symphony's music at anytime, anywhere. Listen to selected Sydney Symphony live recordings on your mobile device. All repertoire information including composers, works, soloists, conductors and ensembles is included. View artwork and program notes with high quality audio.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/sydney-symphony/id419954219

iPad Apps Art eBook - Van Gogh

An Art eBook on Van Gogh was one of the first ebooks I did with a group of students. I wanted to give them the opportunity to contribute to their own learning so we threw out the old unit of work and sat down together to write a new one. We had been doing a lot of our work on Web 2 tools and so the book was based on browser based tools. I have posted about our collaborative textbooks on one of my other blogs Edtechtoolbox. People have commented on the design aspects of these books but all were made in Pages and then uploaded as a pdf. The students were very proud of their publication.

A couple of months ago I thought it would be an interesting exercise to see if I could replicate the eBook with iPad Apps as opposed to Web 2.0 tools. This is the result. I know already that there would be a few apps that I would update or change but this will always happen.

If it doesn't open on your iPad follow this link Van Gogh Apps Textbook

ArtSet - Great for building confidence in young artists

ArtSet was an impressive app that I was introduced to last week. I was presenting at a conference and one of the organisers asked if a number of the presenters could go through a workflow to illustrate how a series of apps might be able to be used to deepen student learning. The idea was the the product of one app would become the input for the next. The story of The Lion and the Mouse was suggested as an idea. Each presenter was given three minutes only. There was a cross section of both primary and secondary teachers in the group.

 I was lucky to be the first person and simply did a demonstration of drawing a lion using Artset. The next person then took the image and put it into WordFoto using words students might use to describe a lion. This could be easily developed further into a language lesson. Then they used Comic Touch to illustrate the Lion's thoughts and feelings.

The third presenter used VoiceThread to collect images and then re-order them to tell the story of the Lion and the Mouse. He even recorded a voiceover for his version of the story. This was great for students to illustrate their understanding of the concepts of the story.

The next presenter used Doodle Buddy and the My Story to have the students tell the story with their own images and then insert them into a digital book and add the text to the story. The second last presenter used Popplet to brainstorm all the areas they would need to research if they were going to investigate lions. This included habitat, environment, what they ate, how they lived and what their social structure was.  Finally, we had Puppet Pals with the presenter's image and one of the student's drawings as puppets re enacting the story of his encounter with a lion. 

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/art-set/id469918702?mt=8

IWB, Mirroring Apps or Apple TV? Big iPad Decisions

There has been a great discussion forum within our school system about iPads, Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) and sharing student's work. It started with a question from a teacher just wanting to connect their iPad to the IWB. What followed has been a great discussion about classroom practice and workflows.

We have all spent time and energy creating resources for our IWB but is it time we move to new technology. We can in fact connect our iPads to an IWB via the VGA Adaptor but would you choose to if you had other options.

What we need to do is have a wider conversation around the way we want to interact with our students and how we have them share with others what they are doing on their devices.

There are many tools out there that give us this functionality. Tools like AirServer and Reflector are good for this because they create a link to a laptop that you have connected to your projector and therefore the iPad is shared with a group of people. For many people this is a great solution. For appropriately $15.00 you have a good way to share your iPad and maintain all its interactivity.

I originally preferred AirServer. It was difficult to get it working within our closed network but once it was, it was a great way to present, giving you the option to walk around the room just as you would normally in a class. I have had a few connectivity problems with AirServer lately and so have switched over to Reflector.

I have been using Reflector almost exclusively this year and it has been very stable. I am still not convinced by the skin in which it presents but it is definitely a reliable and robust app. As long as both your iPad and your Laptop are on the same wifi, then whenever you wish to present you lift up your screen with four fingers, swipe all the way to the left and a fourth bottom appears. This is the AirPlay button. Slect this then select the device your wish to mirror to and away you go. Every time I present with it I have people come up afterwards to talk to me about it.

BUT....

Is Apple TV the better way to go. As IWBs are getting to the end of their lifecycle and school executives are starting to look at replacement costs the IWB struggles to compete with a 55 inch HD TV and Apple TV. Schools can buy a 55 inch TV for under a $1000  and Apple TV for $99. If you were buying 8 or 10 I guarantee you would get the Televisions even cheaper. Compare this to a IWB and a new data projector and you are looking at closer to $3000. Three for the price of one is hard to ignore in this current economic climate.

The IWB can not compete with the performance, the ease of use or the ability for one students to pop their work up on the TV before another one does and another, all without getting out of their seats. So how do the options for Projecting on a TV compare?  Tony Vincent developed a great poster and published it on his blog Learning in Hand. It was reimxed by Seth Hansen last month and republished at Edudemic. It is well worth a look. The link is here

I know people have limited resources and are often looking for immediate and simple workaround but we do need to start the conversation with our school community about how we see the proliferation of iPads being taken to the next level. The ease by which people can mirror their iPads is one of those seamless examples of best practice and invisible technology - getting out of the way of good educational outcomes and student centred workflows.