Apps in Focus is a series of blog posts that will focus on iPad applications I'm using right now in the classroom.
First up is Educreations, an app that turns your iPad into a whiteboard. I decided to try this one because it is FREE and had good reviews.
What it Does
Turns your iPad into a whiteboard. You can draw on it in different colors just like you can on a classroom whiteboard. However, you can also import pictures from just about anywhere. Tired of drawing staff lines? Just import one and then draw whatever you need to on top!
The app also allows you to record while you teach. I tried it out, and it is very user friendly. You can record review material and post it online for students. You could also record while you are teaching a class so you could reflect later on how the lesson went. Videos can be saved privately or publicly.
Using this app with the AppleTV in my classroom allows me to teach the whole class while walking around the room. I can check student work while teaching! It also makes whatever is on my iPad screen enormous. Very helpful for teaching bow hold!
If you don't have an AppleTV you could use this app using a document projector. This would have been wonderful in my previous classroom where I had a document projector but no white board!
What It Doesn't
Allow you to edit a lesson after you have saved it. You also can't edit the timeline of a recording. If you mess up while recording, you have to start over. This app is not for recording long lectures that need to be edited.
The Lowdown
Free user-friendly application that turns your iPad into recordable whiteboard that can upload pictures from just about anywhere. Try it!
