Presentation Tools

I was asked recently what presentation tools can I recommend. We have moved away for felt tip pens posters thank goodness. Children would spend a lifetime colouring in borders and copying writing fonts from books.

I wanted tools that are easy to put on line in one step- that is apps or sites that give you an easy embed code without having to upload it to a third party site.

My first thought was of using Google Slides. Kathy Baker from Chisnallwood Intermediate used Google Slides with her students to make these static images and poems.

Screen Shot 2015-10-25 at 2.41.50 pm

 

You could also use Google Drawings in a similar way.

Screen Shot 2015-10-25 at 2.48.30 pm

I thought also of Haiku Deck, Canva on an iPad and Prezi on my laptop.

Canva and Haiku Deck are nice and simple but you only get an image or a PDF to download then you have to do something else with it to out it on line. I have never been a fan of Prezi because it took me a long time to work it out. It does however give you an easy to embed embed code like with this Prezi on using Twitter by Ray Burkhill.

 

But over the week I was looking at a rather slick resource which was Adobe Slate made on an iPad. I used my Adobe account to sign up and very easily put this together on the iPad as an example. Once put together you can easily share it via a link in an email or via the embed code.

Click on the image below or this link to see the cool presentation on all its glory!

The things that I do

And now you can make Adobe Slate designs on line as well. https://slate.adobe.com/

What other presentation tools would you recommend?

Book Creator Ambassador

Book Creator is my most highly recommended iPad app for all kinds of reasons.

Firstly is its flexibility. I find it being used with pre-schoolers right through to senior students.

  • I see grandparents making social stories for their grandchildren and recording their own and the children’s voices.
  • I see junior school students using Book Creator to record and explain their thinking around all kinds of curriculum thinking areas.
  • I see more senior students planning, writing, illustrating and hyperlinking  their learning using the app.
  • I love the way that users can collaboratively author their books using the app and books started on different iPads can be easily brought together into one combined book for publication. We use Flick or Google Drive to bring the larger projects together in this way.

I see Book Creator being used across the curriculum in all sorts of ways.

  • Using the free hand drawing feature to explain maths strategies.
  • Using the camera tool to add illustrations from children’s own art work.
  • Using the add photos tool to add pre-recorded video self reflections on work or progress.
  • Using the add text feature for written language and hyperlinking to web resources.
  • To pull together an ePortfolio of learning throughout the term.

I really enjoy the intuitive ease of use of Book Creator. I love apps that don’t really need to be ‘taught’. If you want to add a new element you tap the + button. If you want to personalise an element select it and tap the i to get more info about what you might do with it. Easy as.

Book Creator is available across platforms as well so it works equally as well on an Android device.

When completing the books I also appreciate the myriad of ways they can be exported from the iPad as finished pieces.

Simplest would be to export to iBooks. This is a great option for those who want to read and re-read their books.

You can export the book as a video. This is a lovely way to bring the book alive. All of the audio and recorded video will play inside the exported video.iBook

You can export the book as an ePub. This way your book will be able to be read on any laptop with ePub reader app like Readium Chrome Web App, Mac iBooks or Calibre on a Windows Device.

You can also export your book as an ordinary PDF for printing for classroom wall display or to send via snail mail to our non digital whānau.

Book Creator has recently introduced their Book Creator Ambassador Programme to recognise and champion the uses of Book Creator in classrooms.

Book Creator Ambassador badge

I am proud to say that they asked me to join the programme. I can now add Book Creator to my Digital Badging Portfolio.

And now with the update you can excite and engage your learners with comic like books.

Book Creator Rarotonga

How do you use Book Creator with your learners?