App Review: Haiku Deck

Now here's an app you're going to want. Haiku Deck is an awesome, free tool for creating slideshows on your iPad. It's not as powerful as Keynote, but the price is better and it's easier to export. The piece I like the most is how easy it is to embed pictures on your slides. If you are working with visual literacy, this is a great app to use. 

Themes and title slides

When it comes to creating presentations with students, it's all about efficiency. Haiku Deck offers just that. There are a lot of great features mixed into an easy-to-use interface.  To start, you can choose between five different free themes. Slides can formatted as a title screen with 14 different layouts. Slides can also have lists with bullets or numbers. 

Adding backgrounds is where this app gets really simple to use. For each slide, you can add your own images as backgrounds or use the embedded browser. What's really cool is that the browser automatically searches the text on your slides. Or if you want something different, you can create a custom search. backgrounds can also be a solid color. You can also add charts and graphs.

Searching for an image with the embedded browser

When you're finished, there are a ton of exporting options. You can play your slideshow from the app. Or you can share it through Facebook, Twitter, Email, Post to blog, export as PowerPoint or Keynote, or get the URL to send to viewers. There are three privacy options: public, restricted to viewers with a link, or private just to you. Finished slideshows are saved in the app for you to access later. 

Easy enough. Haiku Deck offers everything you could want in a creation app: easy to use, easy on the eyes, easy to share. And free, of course. 

Two similar apps, two distinct differences

I got the pleasure of hanging out in Donny Silver's Spanish 2 class yesterday at Rock Bridge High School. Donny has been using an iPad this year to support his teaching. From early on this summer, he's been researching new applications and sharing them with his school and us. He's a great resource.

When I set up the visit, Donny told me that I'd be able to see how he uses remote desktop apps to deliver content. He uses two apps. Here's a snapshot of how it worked. 


Splashtop2
Donny used this app extensively to multitask throughout the period. Splashtop2 is a remote desktop app and as of now, it's still free. He circulated the room to check on homework and take attendance. He also ran his SMART Notebook files from the iPad. That gives him the freedom to teach anywhere from the room. Donny said the drawback for Splashtop2 is that it's difficult to write neatly and select small icons on your screen. 

That takes us to...

Doceri
This piece was pretty cool and unexpected. I've heard of teachers using Doceri as a remote desktop. I was curious about why he would use two different apps that I thought were the same. But here is the draw for Doceri: it lets you zoom in to a spot on the iPad screen without changing the size of the display that students are viewing through your projector. For this activity, Donny had a table with verbs that the students were conjugating. He could zoom in on an individual table, write the word neatly because there is plenty of space, and it appears on the screen for students to see. Really cool.

However, Doceri is an app that I haven't recommended because of the price. The app is free, but the software you need to run on the computer is $30 for a license. When I asked him about it, Donny said he didn't pay anything for it. Not sure why. So try it out and maybe you'll have the same success. 

So, there's a couple of options for you. If you are just starting out, then definitely start with the free Splashtop2. But you might find value in the ability to zoom in to access small icons on your screen or easily write in small places. 

Airserver Part III - Mirroring Problems

If you are user of Airserver, and there are a lot of you, then you might notice that sometimes things don't work the way they are supposed to. For instance, you spend time putting together your activity, have all the sites and multimedia ready to go, and when you try to display your video, there isn't any sound. 

Here's a tip I received that might help alleviate some of those issues. 

One teacher found that if he mirrored the iPad from the home screen, then moved into the app, sometimes there were issues like the "where's my sound?" dilemma. But some apps offer mirroring inside the app. When he mirrored multimedia from inside those apps, it worked perfectly.

YouTube is a great example. Next time you are showing a YouTube video, open the app first. You'll notice a mirroring icon underneath the video. Press that icon and set up the mirroring from here. Works great. 

Now, I'm not sure how many apps have that option embedded. But if something isn't working correctly, check and see if there is an option to mirror from within the app. 

A Powerful Combo: Notability and Google Drive

It had been over 15 years since I'd been in an Algebra 2 classroom. Until yesterday. 

I've wanted to see how Ryan Pingrey conducts his math class for most of the year. Last summer, Ryan attended several of our Google sessions to see how to utilize Google docs in his math classes. You could tell the wheels were spinning when he saw the great collaborative features that Google offers as well as the convenience of online access. He also saw great potential in his new iPad. Yesterday, I was able to see how it all came together. 

I knew that Ryan had a lot of his math content on Google Drive. And I also knew that he liked the Notability app for its Google integration as well the ability to annotate documents. But it was so impressive to see it in action. Here's a snapshot of how he puts it all together:

1. The math curriculum is available as a PDF. Ryan starts out by accessing the PDFs and pulling the content he wants to use. He then moves it into his Google account. This piece is important because it enables him to pick and choose what content he wants for each lesson.
2. Next comes Notability ($1.99 in the App Store). This versatile app lets you access your Google content from inside the app. Ryan pulls up that lesson on his iPad through Notability.
3. Ryan uses Airserver to mirror his iPad through his data projector. It's a great little program and pretty inexpensive. Read this post if you want more info on Airserver. Basically, he can now teach from anywhere in the room. Great for classroom management. 
4. Now the students can see the lesson materials on the SMARTboard. The second feature of Notability that Ryan loves is the ability to annotate. He can quickly write equations, draw graphs, or anything else directly on the document. Notability allows you to pinch and zoom (which was great because I was sitting in the back of the room; my eyes aren't what they used to be).
5. At this point, Ryan has a documented record of what he's taught on the file. But that's not it. When he's done, Ryan can send that document right back into his Google account as a PDF. Because he has multiple sections of the same class, Ryan can open the same lesson from his Google account for the next class and save a copy from that class as well. A great way to keep record of what you've done with each group of students. 
6. Of course, because all of this process is on the iPad, Ryan can quickly move from Notability to any other app or web browser in order to access other information on the fly.

Seems like a lot, right? But think of the possibilities. Ryan told me that he prepares a few lessons at a time. Like anything, it's important not to try to rework an entire year's worth of material at a time. By the end of this year, he has next year canned and ready to go. And making chances is easy. Just open up that lesson and modify it to meet the needs of that particular class. 

As you can see, powerful teaching can take place with the combination of a few free and inexpensive apps. I'm always impressed with the methods that teachers come up with to deliver instruction. Ryan is an awesome example of that process. Thank you, Ryan, for sharing your knowledge with us!

App Review: Penultimate

Another great release from Evernote, although it's not a new release. There are lots of folks out there who really, really want to write notes by hand on their iPad. I am not one of those people, so it's not something that I've been stressing about. There are a lot of good apps that let you write on the screen. Skitch (by Evernote) would be a good example. But Penultimate is a good option, and a free one, I might add. 

First off, it's a good looking app. Which definitely counts. You'll want to create an Evernote account if you haven't already done so. Once you have Penultimate downloaded to your iPad, you'll be able to sign in to your Evernote account to link the apps. First, you have the ability to create multiple notebooks. When you open a notebook, the app automatically orients to portrait mode. Now you are ready to create.


Let's look at the features. There is the ability to change the background paper. You can choose from graph paper, lined, plain, or shop for other options. From there, you'll see a lot of the same functionality as you get with Skitch. You can insert an image from your camera roll or take one with the embedded camera feature. Easily resize the image by dragging the corners and move it anywhere on the page with a swipe of your finger. You can also rotate it with a twist. However, it only sticks in 90 degree increments - kind of a pain. And here's the funkier part (is funkier a word?). Once you drop the image, it's stuck there. You can't easily pick it up and move it to another location. Go figure.


The writing function is straightforward. You can choose from ten different colors and vary the thickness of the line. Then write. The eraser erases. The scissors needs work. As I'm playing around here, sometimes it cuts and sometimes it crashes. When I was on it earlier this week, I was able to cut out parts of the page and move it around. Not so much right now. I should put in a work order to Evernote to check that out.


When you have your notes completed, there are many options to choose from. Because it's an Evernote product, it syncs and sends your notebooks to your Evernote app. Then you can manage the Penultimate notebooks just like you would an Evernote notebook. You can also save pages to the camera roll, email, or open in another app.

That's about it. If you are a heavy writer, then this might not be the app for you. I hear from my handwriting-crazy colleagues that there are better ones like GoodNotes. But if you want something simple that you can use to take simple notes or annotate images, then give Penultimate a try. At the very least, it won't cost you much. 

Airserver Part II

Airserver is a great way to display your iPad through your projector. If you missed my earlier post about this software, visit the post here. Because we've had some time with it now, we are learning some valuable lessons about how to deploy it more efficiently. Maybe you can learn from what we've seen. 

Airserver has been spreading like wildfire through Columbia Public Schools over the last month. Teachers have seen just what a valuable tool it is. However, that has caused a few growing pains. So here are a few tips to make your Airserver experience less stressful.

• Purchase the commercial license - It's a bit more expensive, $3.99 per computer. But in a school setting, it's much easier to manage. Here's the problem we've seen. Teachers have jumped on the opportunity to buy the software. They purchase a personal license and then install it on multiple computers. But like all districts, computers get swapped out, moved, reimaged. So the teacher doesn't retract that license before the computer gets removed and the license goes with it. And it's hard to know where each of those licenses are unless you keep a detailed spreadsheet. If you go commercial, Airserver gives you one unique activation code that you can use multiple times. That makes it much easier to manage. 
• Keep a detailed spreadsheet - If you went commercial, it's simple. Keep a record of which computers have the software. If you went personal, you need to record which license went on which computer. You might also want to mark the computers with a sticker so you can remember to pull the license when it's time for that computer or teacher to move on. 
• Retract your activation code to reuse it - We've been successful through two ways. First, you can uninstall Airserver, making the activation code ready to use on your next computer. Or you can run this script:  "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\AirServer\AirServer\AirServerConsole" to keep the software on the computer, but use the activation code elsewhere. If you are running a 32 bit computer, then remove the (x86).
• Use a passcode - There are great activities for mirroring more than one iPad on your screen. Students can show their responses all at the same time. But unless you are using it specifically for that type of activity, then you should probably put a password on so others can't "accidentally" hijack your computer.
• Shutdown Airserver when you aren't using it - This issue has popped up because of the heavier usage. Some teachers have said that other iPads have appeared on their screen. Because it uses Bonjour, it's a good idea to shut it down when you aren't using it to eliminate unnecessary chatter on your wireless network. 

Hopefully those tips can help you out in your deployment. It's a wonderful tool which I would argue is essential to teaching effectively with the iPad. Let me know if you have any questions or tips on how you are using it. 

App Review: Class Dojo

Class Dojo has been around for awhile. Many teachers I've worked with over the last year have used it for various purposes. If you are new to Class Dojo, it's essentially a program that allows you to track progress, behavior, participation, etc, through a points system. Class Dojo is web-based, so you can access your account from anywhere. Here's how to get started.

Visit Class Dojo's website or app. You'll need to create your account first. Remember to write down your password. Once you have your account created, you can go in and add classes and assign students to each class. Unique avatars can be added to the students to add a bit of flavor. Finally, you need to customize the behaviors you would like to monitor. You can add positives (hard work, on-task, participation) and negatives (talking, off-task, unprepared). I'll have more thoughts about this piece later.

Time to start class. Open up your class on your iPad and you'll see all your students and their avatars. All you have to do is choose a student and select the behavior. If it's a positive, a green number will appear. If it's a negative, then it's red. Simple as that.

Now some thoughts on how to use it. Teachers will find different uses based on grade level and content area. On a surface level, you could use it for monitoring behavior. However, there is no need to include negatives if you don't want them. Focus on the positives. Or you can use it to identify great questions, clarifying responses, connections, or predictions. And the age of the students doesn't matter. I've heard from high school teachers who use Class Dojo for their socrative seminars and kindergarten teachers who use it to monitor center time.

Display is another thing to consider. I've heard from teachers who have their Class Dojo displayed on the SmartBoard for students to view. You can be logged in to the iPad app and have the web version displayed through the projector. When you add/subtract points on the iPad, it changes on the computer as well. But displaying the Dojo is another personal decision that would depend on the purpose. Personally, I wouldn't display it if I was monitoring behavior. I don't see the need for that. But if we were focusing on discussion skills, then I think it would make sense. 

Finally, there are some great options for sharing the class data. From the web version, you can enter parent email addresses alongside the students. Class Dojo sends the parent a request to join the class. A login is created by the parent so he or she can view the child's report at any time. It also shows a breakdown, not just a number total. So you can see that Billy had 5 points for questions, 2 for hard work, but lost 1 for being unprepared. Great job, Billy. We all have ups and downs.  

Overall, the app is easy to use and has some great potential when matched to your teaching goals. Try it out for awhile and then determine if you want to open it up to parents. It's always easy to add access instead of taking it away.