10 Apps for Documenting Learning

One of the things that really excites me about the iPad is the ability of the students to show their learning. I am not talking about the end product here, I am talking about the act of learning that can be shown by students recording their processes. It is often about the student putting the information they have learnt into a context. It is this contextualisation that helps the students create meaning. Here is a perfect example from a young 1st grade student who talks us through his investigation into transport. This example was shown on a recent school visit as one way a student could document their own learning. Our Lady of the Angels, Rouse Hill is an exemplar school combining principles of contemporary pedagogy with contemporary learning spaces.



This is where we really see the mechanics of a student's learning and how this can be individual for each student and in the case of a tool like the iPad, individualised for each student.

Here are a couple of apps that give students the opportunity to showcase, share and then reflect on their learning. Enjoy, some of these double up as my favourite apps too.



ShowMe: FREE
Turn your iPad into your personal interactive whiteboard! ShowMe allows you to record voice-over whiteboard tutorials and share them online. It’s an intuitive app that anyone will find extremely easy to use, regardless of age or background. Record and share what you know about any subject.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/showme/id445066279?mt=8

ExplainEverythng: $2.99 AU
Explain Everything is an easy-to-use tool that lets you annotate, animate, and narrate explanations and presentations. You can create dynamic interactive lessons, activities, assessments, and tutorials using Explain Everything's flexible and integrated design. Use Explain Everything as an interactive whiteboard using the iPad 2

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/explain-everything/id431493086?mt=8

Educreations: FREE
Educreations turns your iPad into a recordable whiteboard. Creating a great video tutorial is as simple as touching, tapping and talking. Explain a math formula or create an animated lesson. With voice recording, realistic digital ink, photos and text, and simple sharing through email, Facebook or Twitter, now you can broadcast your ideas from anywhere.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/educreations/id478617061?mt=8

ScreenChomp: FREE
A simple doodling board, markers, and one-click sharing tools make spreading your ideas and know-how easy and fun! Just - Record It. Sketch It. Share It. - to create a sharable, replay-able video that tells your story clearly. Touch record to capture your touch interactions and audio instructions on a plain background, or an image from your iPad camera roll.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/screenchomp/id442415881?mt=8

DoodleCast Pro: $1.99
Doodlecast Pro is the easiest way to create presentations on your iPad. The app records your voice as you draw to create quick presentations. Doodlecast Pro saves videos to the camera roll making it easy to import them into popular video editors or presentation tools such as iMovie, Keynote, or iBooks Author. Perfect for teachers or students.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/doodlecast-pro/id469486202?mt=8

Replay Notes: $5.49
ReplayNote is an app that records your writing and voice, then converts it to YouTube video. (screencast) You can create a video and share it just by clicking a few buttons. It is quite easy to create educational videos using ReplayNote. Or you can record meetings, or you can ask questions or explain something which cannot be easily expressed with text.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/replaynote/id419786855?mt=8

Board Cam: $5.49 AU
Board Cam transforms your iPad in an enhanced document camera or a whiteboard. Perform live dynamic presentations of objects, interact with images stored in your device, draw on a whiteboard or over video streaming without changing of application...while you record videos!

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/board-cam/id434217477?mt=8

Voicethread: FREE
Create and share dynamic conversations around documents, snapshots, diagrams and videos -- basically anything there is to talk about. You can talk, type, and draw right on the screen. VoiceThread takes your conversations to the next level, capturing your presence, not just your comments.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/voicethread/id465159110?mt=8

Skitch: FREE
Skitch is a image annotation tool.Use shapes, arrows, sketches and text annotation to get your point across fast. Point out objects and locations in a photo, brainstorm design ideas with your team, identify a point of interest on a map, annotate a screenshot or webpages, then share them with anyone you like.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/skitch/id490505997?mt=8

Draw on Slides: $0.99 AU
Draw on Slides lets you show your iPad photos to family, friends, and business associates and draw attention to specific details about each one. Make your point and keep their attention at the same time. Select the album with your photos, pick the first photo to show, and draw on any photo as you navigate from slide to slide.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/draw-on-slides/id500007683?mt=8

Can we use iPads Apps to Research Projects?

Can we really research topics, ideas and issues on the iPad. Do we have apps that will allow us to do that properly. More and more companies have made education a priority in their development programs and therefore more quality apps have evolved around the idea of creative ways to collect, gather and research information quickly and efficiently. This is ideal for our students.

Here are a number of apps that allow students to complete research creatively and therefore create meaningful research papers using their iPads.

Wolfram Alpha: $1.99

Wolfram|Alpha - Get answers. Access expert knowledge. Wherever you are. Whenever you need it. Find out how much vitamin C is in a bowl of ice cream. Learn what European country has the fourth largest population of children. Compute solutions to difficult trig and calculus problems. Balance complex chemical equations. Discover what is overhead as you gaze up at the stars. Finally crack that crossword puzzle.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wolframalpha/id334989259?mt=8#

Articles: $2.99
This app presents Wikipedia articles perfectly optimized for reading on your iPhone or iPod touch. A single tap in the search bar lets you find the article you need and start reading. Too many articles to read right now? Just tap and hold on an article link and select “Read Later” to save it to your queue. Each article saved to your Read Later queue includes a short descriptive blurb to help you remember why you wanted to read it.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/articles/id317065689?mt=8

WikiNodes: $0.99

Wikipedia at your fingertips. Articles displayed as nodes that you can touch, drag, and spin around. Tap any node, and it expands to give you more information. Switch to a full-page view to display articles as pages, then scroll up and down. Nodes link together sections of Wikipedia articles and related topics, making Wikipedia come to life. Browse in a way that mimics how you look for things in the real world. Keep track with bookmarks and history. 

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wikinodes/id433834594?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4#

Paper Helper - Easiest Essay: $1.19
PaperHelper uniquely splits your iPad screen in half providing you with a Internet Browser and a Document writer. Seamlessly surf the web for information and transfer it to your document while you keep track of all your sources. This app lets you have the research and the paper open at the same time. For many students this is extremely important. Paper Helper also provides print facilities as well.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/paperhelpereasiestessay/id417344306?mt=8

Wordbook XL: $2.99

WordBook is a comprehensive, quick and intuitive dictionary and thesaurus of the English language. It's a great combination of comprehensive contents and fast intuitive interface. Features include 150,000 entries with more than 220,000 definitions, 70,000 usage samples. The app has 23,000 root word origins (etymologies) as well as 120,000 pronunciation guides in International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and other notations and spoken pronunciations

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/wordbook-xl-english-dictionary/id364030280?mt=8#

Dictionary.com: FREE

The free Dictionary.com app for iPad delivers trusted reference content from Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com. No internet connection needs to search words. The app includes nearly 2 million words, definitions, synonyms and antonyms. It also features audio pronunciation, voice-to-text search and Dictionary.com’s popular Word of the Day and Hot Word blog.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dictionary-com-dictionary/id364740856?mt=8

Things: $19.99

Things is a beautifully focused and amazingly intuitive task manager. Other todo applications either oversimplify or are too difficult to use. Things instead offers the perfect balance between ease of use and powerful features.Effortlessly manage to-dos, notes, due dates, and projects. A smart today list and the scheduling feature allow you to work as effectively as possible - every day. You can even sync wirelessly with the desktop version of Things (sold separately) using Wi-Fi.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/things/id284971781?mt=8#

DualBrowser: $1.99

You will be able to browse the web in two different windows at the same time, with the advantage of opening the links from one in the other. Option to make full screen each window and hide the navigation bar. Can save all the cookies, bookmarks and can store session cookies permanently. Full or selective options clear. Perfect for those times when you need more then one source open at a time.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dual-browser/id380640600?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4#

iSource APA or iPsource MLA: both $1.99

Have to write a Bibliography? Let iSource do the work, you take the credit. Following the APA format, iSource takes care of everything you need to create, save, and share bibliography entries. Just enter the resource information iSource asks you for, the app does the rest. iSource uses a powerful and efficient Core Data database, easily remembering all of your bibliography entry data, including resource type and creation date.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/isource-apa/id349729106?mt=8#

iBooks: FREE

iBooks is an amazing way to download and read books. iBooks includes the iBookstore, where you can download the latest best-selling books or your favorite classics – day or night. Browse your library on a beautiful bookshelf, tap a book to open it, flip through pages with a swipe or a tap, and bookmark or add notes to your favorite.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/ibooks/id364709193?mt=8

iAnnotate: $9.99

Designed to suit your individual workflow. Customizable tools and toolbars allow you to pick and choose only the tools that you need, and display them where you want on screen. Whether you're taking notes on lecture slides in class or marking up an important business document, iAnnotate's customization options allow you to streamline your workflow

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/iannotate-pdf/id363998953?mt=8

Synotes Slate: $2.99

Synotes Slate (iPad version) is the note taking and management application for the iPad that syncs with the iPhone, iPod touch and web. It effortlessly syncs your information across devices and into the cloud. Synotes comes with both a stylish web interface and user friendly iPad, iPhone & iPod touch application

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/synotes-slate/id363977021?mt=8

Flipboard: FREE

Flipboard is a fast way to flip through the news, photos, videos, and updates. Locate the latest info from popular or academic publications. The app works by setting up feeds from websites or twitter # hashtags. These are feed back to the app and it presents this vast amount of information as a magazine. Easy for students to browse through and find relevant items. Customize with sections created for each of your different research topics.

http://ax.itunes.apple.com/us/app/flipboard/id358801284?mt=8#

11 Apps to Get Students Really Writing:

How do you go beyond the superficial response and get your students to embrace writing that actually deals with the underlying issues of a concept or question. 

I would suggest that mind maps are one way of getting a student to explore the many and often complex issues that one concept can encompass. 

Once you have them understanding the concept how do you get them to embrace the constructive process that is writing. How do you get them to see the task as an activity in making sequential arguments and then providing concrete evidence (from the poem, novel, artwork or event) that support their statements. It is their chance to present an idea and then build a case to sway another person of their beliefs and ideas. 

So are there any apps that help students do this? Here is a list of apps that might. They are not going to write the papers for the students but some of them provide scaffolds, ideas or processes that make them think more clearly about the writing process.

iA Writer:

“A Beautiful and simple design lets you concentrate on writing”. Every elements of the interface has been designed and polished to be easy and clear - no settings, no complicated interactions, no long explanation necessary - you’ll be writing your articles, poems and novels in no time.

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/ia-writer/id392502056?mt=8

Pages:

Exclusively designed for the iPad it lets you create, edit and view documents wherever you are. Pages Templates are available to instantly create beautiful letters, reports, flyers, cards or posters. Wide range of files types accessible as well as file sharing. Most popular writing app for the iPad.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pages/id361309726?mt=8

Plain Text:

A simple text editor with an uncomplicated, paper-like user interface. Biggest feature is the ability to create and organise documents in folders and then sync everything with Dropbox from within the app. A great example of how an iPad app should be written.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/plaintext-dropbox-text-editing/id3912?mt=8

Articles for iPad:

This is really an app that helps you to do some of the research involved in writing papers. It is a one-of-a-kind presentation of Wikipedia articles with chapter control for skimming, table of contents, integrated maps and email article facilities as well as bookmark folders and all fully optimized for iPad.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/articles-for-ipad/id364881979?mt=8

Notebooks:

The one and only notebook necessary - allows you to write, capture and organise your notes. Divide your projects into sub project for better handling, and cross reference to your filing system. Can also view PDF Pages, numbers, Word, Powerpoint and Excel documents. A very handy app.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/notebooks-for-ipad/id372370048?mt=8

Papers:

Another research app that allows you to browse hundreds of articles in your library, find article by author or journal and even rate articles. Re-built for the iPad it also has a PDF viewer and the ability to annotate article on the spot. 8 built-in search engines for locating millions of articles at any time.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/papers/id304655618?mt=8

Clean Writer:

A clean and clutter free interface carefully designed for minimal impact on the writing process. Dropox integration, email sending and automatic saving. Only drawback is it is a plain text file(.txt) so conversion is required to open existing documents from other file types. 

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/clean-writer/id383001862?mt=8

Heart Writer:

A simple yet powerful text editor that supports 40 desktop-level keyboard shortcuts. Not designed for beautiful documents but rather for users to write and edit simple documents very quickly. Send via email, Dropbox or Google Docs. Concentrate on just the writing.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/heart-writer/id432871473?mt=8

My Writing Spot:

Simply the best app for working on your writing project on the iPad. Provides a distraction free environment to create a manuscript that also includes word and character count, an extra row of keys, dictionary and thesaurus, password protection and support for printing and syncing to web service.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-writing-nook-for-ipad/id363412884?mt=8

Chapters:

Lets you create and manage multiple notebooks, each one fully searchable and with its own settings. Ability to enable fast search, word count and extra keyboard features as well extensive formatting, photo importing, PDF version of documents, timestamps and export via email.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/chapters-notebooks-for-writing/id3843?mt=8


Found another one I had to add

Paper Helper - Easiest Essay: $1.19

PaperHelper uniquely splits your iPad screen in half providing you with a Internet Browser and a Document writer. Seamlessly surf the web for information and transfer it to your document while you keep track of all your sources while providing print facilities as well.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/paperhelpereasiestessay/id417344306?mt=8