Updated ‘Paper’ iOS App Makes Storyboarding on the iPad Even Easier An Apple Design Award winning iPad app that I reviewed back in March, Paper, has received a major update that makes the drawing program even easier to use. The latest update has put the emphasis on organization, and it’s clear that the team at FiftyThree are dedicated to making the app as simple, functional, and powerful as possible. There aren’t any major overhauls in this release, but for an app that already did a lot of things right, I don’t think it really needed any. Check out the video below for more info on the release. These are the new features for Paper: Move. While it is not a storyboarding app per se, it definitely makes it possible to create very professional looking results — even for those of us who aren’t gifted when it comes to drawing. At some point in the future I could definitely see myself using this app for storyboarding purposes. What do you guys think of Paper? Link: Paper by FiftyThree – iTunes Related Posts
Making Student Videos on the iPad Most people who are Mac users would probably be familiar with iMovie. It's an easy to use app for making professional looking movies to share with others or for students to show their understanding of a concept or issue. iMovie is great, however, it is not the only app for making and editing movies on the iPad. There are numerous apps that do this job admirably - why don't you find one that matches your workflow or the learning styles of your students. Here is a small selection; iMovie: $5.49 AU Designed for the Multi-Touch screen, iMovie puts everything you need to tell your story at your fingertips. ReelDirector: $1.99 AU ReelDirector is a powerful, easy-to-use, and fun app for creating videos with titles and effects. Splice: 2 versions - FREE and $4.49 AU Splice allows you to create and edit videos from start to finish via your iDevice. Videolicious: FREE Video Editor for Free: FREE
Paper by FiftyThree is a Simple, Elegant, and Powerful Sketch App for the iPad I’m a sucker for great design, so when I got a chance to test out the Paper app for the iPad, I was immediately struck with how well-designed and beautiful it was. It’s not often that you can open up a piece of software, not read any of the directions, and immediately start creating lush sketches, drawings, and paintings. Not paintings in the normal sense of the word, but this app does watercolors in such a realistic and intuitive way that it almost fools me into thinking I’m a real painter. One of the creators, Andrew S Allen, has had his work featured here before. He runs Short of the Week, and I got a chance to talk to him a little bit about the app and what might be in store for the future. First, here’s the introduction video from FiftyThree (directed by Andrew S Allen): A description of the app in their own words: Mobile creation done right. I have to say, I am not an artist, but it’s amazingly easy and intuitive to use. Here’s my Q&A with Andrew: Paper is about capturing ideas.
Video in the Classroom In addition to being fun and motivating, video projects teach students to plan, organize, write, communicate, collaborate, and analyze. A successful video project has undergone a process of researching, scripting, organizing, filming, editing, and publishing. Students also have the opportunity to apply artistic and dramatic skills to their academic work. With the proliferation of webcams, phone cameras, flip cams, digital recorders, and editing tools, video has exploded in the media lives of students. Video Curriculum Using video could be as simple as recording a student oral presentation for future review, or as elaborate as producing an original short film. Outline: As with any written piece, students should start by outlining what they have to say, what they intend to show, and their main points. The steps defined above provide a suggested approach for a robust video project that includes the creation of an original script, filming, editing, and publishing. Video File Formats
Virtual Tours and Fieldtrips from The Teacher's Guide Virtual Fieldtrips, Virtual Tours Virtual Tours of Museums and Exhibits Tour The American Museum of Natural History You can find 360 degree tours of dioramas, pictures, and video. Tour an Ancient Roman Villa In this virtual tour, you can see the villa from all sides and enter the inside rooms. Tour The Collection at The National Gallery of Art You can perform a search by artist, title, or subject. Museo Galileo Institute and Museum of the History of Science The Online Catalogue of the museum presents the more than 1,200 objects on permanent exhibition through color images and detailed descriptions. Holocaust Museum Tour Find pictures, video, and art from the Holcaust Museum. Tour The Museum of Unnatural Mystery Tour the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, learn about geology, and some strange things. Online Exhibitions from the Natural History Museum in London Explore art themes, botanical illustrations, and save images of your favorite exhibits. Virtual Gettysburg
Khan Academy iTunes U Building Career Skills in Video Production Class (Tech2Learn Series) Jim: The look on a kid's face to realize that three or four weeks ago, they had nothing but an idea, and now they've impacted kids emotionally. They've literally had an emotional experience watching their film. I love that kids have the opportunity to get that from a classroom like this. Jim: And then you guys don't go on until Friday, right? Student: Nope. Jim: I teach three different classes. Jim: Here we go in, three, two. Student: Better get biking. Student: For sure. Jim: I also teach an advanced media broadcast class. Student: What's up, Miners? Student: Hey, guys, hope everyone's having a great week. Student: It went well! Jim: And then I teach an Advanced Video Production class, and that class is where kids really get into video production. Student: What if we interview some seniors that do have a job? Student: Yeah, yeah, yes. Student: Ask them like... Jim: Every kid in the class has a job, and we rotate those jobs out. Student: Okay, so where am I starting from? Student: Yeah.
New Presentation Tool Lets You Easily Keep Students Engaged From Prezi to Google Docs to PowerPoint , there’s no shortage of ways for teachers to put together a dynamic presentation. But Klowd wanted to take a different approach to help improve the presentation experience for both the person at the front of the classroom and in the back row. SlideKlowd is now available for your classroom and it could be the much-needed tool you’ve been looking for. It’ll wake up your students and get them engaged and interacting with the lesson. Personally, I think this is the type of stuff we’ll be seeing in TED talks in the very near future. At least, we should see it there. So what are the features of SlideKlowd aside from the misspelled name? “There are some fantastic tools out there to help create great presentations, but they don’t address the core of the presentation issue, the skills and engagement capabilities of the presenter or teacher. ” says Ken Holsinger, Klowd.com’s Founder and CEO. Will it work?
5 Interesting Virtual Museums and Activities for Students As field trip budgets are increasingly trimmed at schools everywhere, teachers will need to find some alternative virtual activities for students. Here are five museums that offer excellent virtual tours and activities for students. The Vatican Museums website hosts a fairly detailed virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel. In addition to the tour of the Sistine Chapel the Vatican Museums host virtual tours of five other places and exhibits. The European Virtual Museum is the product of collaboration between twenty-seven European museums. Tenement Museum is a resource for US History teachers that can best be described as an interactive virtual museum. The JFK Presidential Library and Museum website has four interactive exhibits for learning about John F. The White House Diary is an interactive flipbook of Kennedy's schedule while in office. The JFK Timeline is an interactive timeline Kennedy's presidency.
7 Useful YouTube Channels for Science Students and Teachers Last month I posted a list of useful YouTube channels for history teachers and students. That list proved to be popular so I thought I'd follow-up with a list of useful YouTube channels, not named Khan Academy, for science teachers and students. The Periodic Table of Videos is a YouTube channel produced by The University of Nottingham. I covered this a couple of weeks ago, but it's worth mentioning again. Science/Math Concepts with Mr. Bright Storm is a company that I've covered before when writing about online mathematics help. NASA has a few different YouTube channels, but the one that has the most universal utility for teachers and students is NASA eClips. The Open University another resource that I've previously written about in other contexts. Do you have a favorite YouTube channel that should be added to this list?
The New Boston - Great Videos for Learning Computer Science and More The New Boston is an educational website and YouTube channel that I recently discovered while reviewing the EduPort Android app. The purpose of The New Boston is to share instructional videos and tutorials in the areas of computer science, computer programming, mathematics, science, robotics, and much more. Think of The New Boston as Khan Academy for computer science. For students who are interested in programming, The New Boston offers an active discussion forum in which they can ask questions. One of the channels within The New Boston that jumped out at me is the Android app development series which contains 200 instructional videos. Here's a sample from The New Boston. Applications for EducationThe New Boston could be a great resource for students who want to learn programming on their own.