Creating Narrated Slideshows with an #iPad #ecisd

Note the annotation tools down the left-side, as well as the record buttons across the bottom.
Tool: Explain Everything ($2.99)

Since several schools are participating in the EC3 iPad Initiative, I've been exploring how to best accomplish tasks that  I would usually use a laptop or desktop computer with an iPad. One of those tasks includes creating narrated slideshows that can be used to illustrate a concept and/or share information.

Classroom teachers might find the creation of narrated slideshows--whether those are created with Powerpoint or a series of images arranged to effect--useful as a result of the recent reflection about the Flipped Classroom:

The flipped classroom model encompasses any use of using Internet technology to leverage the learning in your classroom, so you can spend more time interacting with students instead of lecturing. This is most commonly being done using teacher created videos (aka vodcasting) that students view outside of class time.

It is called the flipped class because the whole classroom/homework paradigm is "flipped". What used to be classwork (the "lecture") is done at home via teacher-created videos and what used to be homework (assigned problems) is now done in class.
Read more

Teacher-created videos could easily be the creation of content done with an iPad with Internet access.

HOW TO GET STARTED
In developing a narrated slideshow--imagine a Powerpoint slideshow with audio narration--I asked friend and education colleague, Wes Fryer (SpeedofCreativity.org) to share what HIS favorite slideshow narration tool is.

His response included an iPad app called Explain Everything ($2.99)--note the screenshot at the top of the screen--which enables you to import your slideshow--that you create in Powerpoint, Keynote, or a series of images and then place in some kind of cloud storage (e.g. Dropbox)--then take several actions with it, such as the following:

1. Annotate - allows you to draw arrows, squares, circle content as you are recording.
2. Record audio - This allows you to add audio narration per slide in the slideshow, treating each slide as different.
3. Export the MOV movie that is created from your slideshow, audio, and annotations to various places, including the iPad itself (which is neat because then you can import that video into the Keynote ($9.99) iPad app).

As you can see, with Explain Everything you can re-order slides, which can be handy on the fly!

You can also insert images from various locations, which is invaluable given that the iPad often makes it difficult to share data from one app to another (it's called sandboxing).

You can export individual slides as images--especially useful after you've "written" or annotated them--out to various locations.

And, of course, you can export the entire narrated slideshow to various places, including your own PhotoRoll on the iPad which means you can insert it into Keynote iPad app! What would make this export feature a real winner is export to WebDav, a feature that EC3 teachers and students will have access to!

 The instructional applications of a tool like Explain Everything are many. In the classroom, each student could create an image or representation of a concept, process, and then explain what's happening. Each slide could represent a particular perspective or step in the process.

Two other iPad apps that are available at no-cost and could be used in lieu of Explain Everything include 1) Educreations Interactive Whiteboard and 2) ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard.

Although I didn't spend much time with ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard since I found out about it last (and, of course, it's the no-cost option), I did create a product with Educreations Interactive Whiteboard.


You can see the result below provided you have an up to date Adobe Flash Player:


Although one of the co-founders (Wade) said EduCreations can't yet export your narrated slideshow as a video you can save on your iPad, it will allow you to upload it to their web site. Be sure to check out their showcase of lessons!

As to video export, Wade shares the following, "We don’t yet offer video file downloads of your lessons, but this is something we plan to offer in a future release."

By the way, if you're interested in The Flipped Classroom, you'll want to read my previous post on how to Flip Your Classroom with iPads!