iPad Power
 
 

Padlet is a free website for collecting and sharing text, images, videos, and files. The teacher must sign into Padlet to create a wall. You can set the wall so that students do not have to log in (posts are anonymous) or require students to log in. Here are the settings I recommend when creating a new padlet wall:

  1. Input a title.
  2. Input a description.
  3. Choose a grid layout.
  4. School down to Address and change the end of the Padlet's URL if you plan to have students type in the address.
  5. Click Save and Close.
  6. Click Share.
  7. Turn off Remake.
  8. Turn on Moderation so that you can approve posts before they are visible to everyone.
  9. .Click Save and Close
  10. Your new wall is ready to go! Send students to its web address. Click ... and choose Share or Embed to get a QR code.
 
 

AGENDA

  • 9:00-10:30 Presenting Information
  • 10:30-10:40 Break
  • 10:40-12:00 Explaining Everything
  • 12:00-12:35 Lunch
  • 12:35-1:50 Gathering Information
  • 1:50-3:00 Making Study Aids

 

We're using Splashtop Classroom for iPad to stream Tony Vincent's computer's screen. There's also a Chrome app for laptops where you can receive the stream. The Session Code is 790322512.

 
 

QR CODES 

USING IMAGES

Teachers and students can make their projects shine and amplify learning by illustrating ideas with photographs, drawings, and symbols.

The Pictorial Superiority Effect (PSE) is described in Brain Rules by John Medina. Humans remember pictures a whole lot better than they remember words. Tested 72 hours after exposure to information, people remember about 10 percent of what was presented orally. If you add a photo, that figure jumps of to 65 percent. 

To save an image you are viewing in Safari, press and hold the image until the Save button appears. Clicking Save will place a copy of the image in your Camera Roll for use in other apps.

When saving images, it’s best to save the largest version of the image available. You can shrink an image and it will still look great. However, enlarging a small image will look blurry.

Saving a graphic or clipart? Choose PNG (Portable Network Graphic). This file type allow for transparent backgrounds. That means you probably won’t have a white box around your image. That's nice, huh?

I think the best images are ones you photograph or create yourself. Then you know your work is original and that you have permission to use them. But there are times when you don’t have the time, talent, or resources to photograph or make your own. That’s when you’ll turn to the internet to use images photographed or taken by someone else.

A Public Domain license means that the copyright holder has chosen to gift the work to the world. No credit or attribution is required, and you can use the image for any purpose.

Images that have a Creative Commons license don’t require you to get permission before using them. However, Creative Commons licenses usually require you to give credit to the owner of the work.

Openclipart and Pixabay have libraries full of public domain images. Remember to download the PNG version of the image from Openclipart.

Photos For Class and The Noun Project have Creative Commons images. Both sites include the attribution right on the image so that you don’t have to keep track of this separately. The Noun Project does require a free account in order to download images.

While you can only download black icons from The Noun Project, there is a way to recolor them. Read how.

You can also find Creative Commons images by searching Google Images and selecting Search Tools and then Usage Rights. Choose Labeled for Reuse. You will most likely be asked to give credit to the image's owner.

Give Bing a try! Bing's image search has an option to search for public domain images. On a search results page, click License and choose Public Domain. (Come on, Google, why don't you have this option?)

Finding the right image can be a challenge. You may need to refine your search by enter synonyms. Also:

  • Search for actions that demonstrate what you want to illustrate.
  • Search for objects, people, or animals that are associated with what you want to illustrate.
  • Search for locations where what you want to illustrate occurs.

Autodesk Pixlr is a free photo editing app that can crop, recolor, blur, enhance, and add text to your images. Pixlr can save your editing image back to the Camera Roll. Here's our Padlet wall with the selfies we have enhanced.

Below are 5 great choices for presenting information. Each requires students to create an account to use the app.

  • Haiku Deck - Create simple slideshows and share online.
  • Google Slides - Google's version of PowerPoint with collaboration features.
  • Adobe Voice - Narrate a series of slides to make a video.
  • Adobe Slate - Create elegant webpages.
  • Office Sway - Combine media into fancy webpages. Read this to get started using Office Sway.

MIRRORING

You can mirror what's on an iPad's screen in a variety of ways. Here's a chart comparing 10 of them. 

 
 
 

 

Visual Notes with Notability

Don't limit note taking to just typing! Notability includes great drawing tools! Read up on Sketchnoting and consider introducing this note taking technique to your students. The best introduction to Sketchnoting can be found at Langwitches.com.

Explain Everything

Explain Everything is a paid iPad app where you draw on a whiteboard. You can have multiple slides and record audio on each slide. The end product can be exported as a video and posted online (or in Google Drive, see below).

Need help getting started? From Explain Everything's main screen (the one listing your projects), click the i button at the top right corner. There you can go through the Welcome Guide, Help, and Video Tutorials.

Download the free Explain Everything User Manual as an iBook. 

GOOGLE DRIVE SHARING

  • Use the Google Drive app to upload videos, photos, and files to your account.
  • After they are uploaded, you can share your videos, photos, and files. Google Drive gives you a URL to copy.

Steps for Making Any Photo of Video in Your Photo Library into a QR Code:

  1. Open the Google Drive app and sign in.
  2. Click the + button at the top right corner of the screen.
  3. Click Upload Photos or Videos
  4. Click to select your video.
  5. Click the blue check button.
  6. Wait for the upload to complete.
  7. Go to drive.google.com on your laptop.
  8. Find your uploaded video in the list and click to select it.
  9. Click the Get Link icon in the toolbar near the top left of the page.
  10. Click Sharing Settings.
  11. Click Advanced.
  12. Click Change next to "Anyone at CGHS who has the link can view."
  13. Change to "Anyone with the link."
  14. Click Save.
  15. Copy the link that is displayed in the Sharing settings.
  16. Open your web browser and go to goqr.me.
  17. Click the URL tab and paste into the box.
  18. Now you have a QR code you can display or download and save!

It's probably better to do this on your desktop or laptop computer so that you can print the QR code. Go to drive.google.com and click the check box next to your video. Click the More button and choose Share and Share again. Change the visibility options so that anyone with the link can view the video without logging in. Copy the link and paste into goqr.me.

 
 

PADLET

Padlet is a free website where you can create a wall. You can open the wall up for others to post. Posts can have text and allow for uploads and links. On an iPad you can only upload photos and videos.

Suggested Padlet Wall Settings:

  • Log into Padlet.com.
  • Click the Modify Wall button.
  • Under profile, give your wall a title and description.
  • Under Layout, change from Freeform to Stream or Grid.
  • Under Privacy, checkmark Moderate posts.
  • Under Address, give your wall an easy to type web address.
  • See the QR code under the Share menu.

Google Forms

Collect information from parents and students using Google Forms. Here's Tony's page all about creating your own (plus lots of tips). It's called Google Forms and Sheets: Teaching Just Got Easier. While you can certainly take a Google Form on an iPad, it's really best to create them on a desktop or laptop.

The Flubaroo add-on allows you to grade submissions through a Google Form.

 

 
 

Study Aids

  • Crossword Labs - Create online crossword puzzles from a list of words and hints
  • Quizlet - Create sets of flashcards and study them in a variety of ways
  • GoConqr - Create flashcard sets online and use the app to study them

Lock Screen

You can make any image saved in your Photo Library your lock screen. So put a photo there of something you want to remember, like reminders, vocabulary, and schedules.

COLLAGES

  • Use Pic Collage to combine images and text.
  • Use the Share button to save to iPod's Camera Roll/Photo Library.
  • If an image is in the Photo Library, it can be synced, opened in other apps, emails, or copied to Google Drive. 

Purpose Games

PurposeGames.com is a website works on an iPad and allows you to upload an image and indicate clickable hotspots. Great for learning maps and labeling diagrams.

Brain Rush

BrainRush is also a website and similar to PurposeGames. Brainrush has more activities you can create. It also repeats questions again and again until everything is mastered.

The Fun Theory

Make something that might be boring exciting! Visit The Fun Theory online for videos and inspiration

Quizizz

Quizizz is similar to Kahoot, where students compete to answer a series of multiple choice questions correctly. You can create your own questions. When ready to play, you display the web link and game code for students to enter.

REVIEW WITH SKETCHPARTY TV

SketchParty TV requires one iPad to be connected to a projector or TV. It's a fun Pictionary-style drawing and guessing game. The best part if that you can make your own word lists. SketchParty TV is $3.99.

KEEP IN TOUCH WITH TONY