Educreations: Making your whiteboard interactive!

Educreations: Making your whiteboard interactive! Jeremy Anderson ITEC 7445 Dr. Sherry Grove April 1, 2015 Emerging Technology

Educreations is an unique interactive whiteboard and screencasting tool that allows you to annotate, animate, and narrate lessons as you teach your class. These lessons can be viewed by anyone at anytime. Educreations

Write text, draw pictures, stand in front of it and point. • It is time consuming • Forces the teacher in the front of the room • Pictures and text are static, they can’t move unless you erase them or use arrows to imply motion. • Run out of room and start erasing What can you do with a whiteboard?

Import pictures you take with a camera or find online. • Save your whiteboard as a file to be viewed later • Move text in real time • Move and manipulate your drawing without erasing or rewriting • Recover erased items or go back to erased items without recreating them What can’t you do with a whiteboard?

Everything you can do with a whiteboard plus all the things you couldn’t do. • Import PDF’s, pictures, documents, and screen shots from the internet. • Annotate over those documents in real time. • Save slides to be viewed at anytime. • Record your voice so students can listen at anytime. • Spend more time teaching and less time writing. What can you do with Educreations?

This technology supports the school’s vision of incorporating technology in the classroom • Using Educreations in the classrooms let’s our parents and students know that we want them to have access to the standards at all time. • Field trips, absences, homebound students, and any other absences are no longer excuses for not having access to the prepared lesson of the teacher. • Teachers can save and post anything they would write or say during the lesson with minimal effort or equipment School Vision (PSC 1.1)

The application requires an iPad for each teacher • A stylus for each teacher as it is the most effective way to write on the screen. • A professional development meeting to train teachers on how to use the app or online tutorials. • Set up an Educreations account and go. It is a very simple and intuitive application. So how can we start?(PSC 1.2, 1.4)

Approximately 20% of teachers already have a school issued iPad • Grant proposals to fund the purchase of school iPad’s should be considered • iPad’s have multiple benefits to the school outside of just this application • Research shows that iPad presentation application have been known to increase student engagement. (Audi, 54) Funding (PSC 1.3)

The interactive nature makes the standards become more accessible • You can pause, zoom in, highlight, and save to review later everything you teach in your lesson. Does it help students meet the standards?(PSC 2.1)

Students can go home and review parts of the class that they didn’t quite understand • Could be used in a flipped class environment • Focus becomes on the content which frees up the teacher to circulate more with the students rather than be stuck by the whiteboard. Research Based (PSC 2.2)

Below is a screenshot of the application. These images were found online. They provide the student with real life phenomenon that can’t be recreated with a whiteboard. The instructor can annotate and use these graphics to teach the standards in an authentic learning environment. Authentic Learning PSC(2.3)

Apps in class, a leader in emerging technology recommends Educreations for using every level of Bloom’s taxonomy. • Their website gives teachers a number of ideas to promote higher level thinking. • Works for all content areas for any age level. Higher order thinking skills (PSC 2.4)

The speed and ease of adding documents and images makes Educreations easier to differentiate • Images of different levels of understanding can be shown. • The ability to save and review will benefit those who need it most. Differentiation (PSC 2.5)

Choose the color you want to write in Add pictures, use the laser pointer feature, and insert documents You control the content making it accessible to all grades and ages Instructional Design (PSC 2.6)

Educreations can be used to enhance PLC’s and Professional Development • Videos can be shared with others when they can’t attend the initial presentation • Optimize meeting time by viewing the content before meetings and spend the meeting time with action items Collaborative Learning(PSC 3.1)

iPad • Adapter for Promethean Board • Minimal equipment to implement and begin usage Supplies Needed Equipment (PSC 3.6)

This company is focused on education. They provide quick support for any concerns or questions you may have. They update their product based on feedback from teachers. Technical Support (PSC 3.6)

Screen size may be small for some teachers • Learning curve for teachers not used to technology • App can crash when changing pages to quickly • May not have all the features of some other white board applications. Limitations (PSC 3.6)

Research shows that today’s student is more engaged when using technology to present information. (Audi, 54) Videos can be emailed, embedded in blogs, or viewed online by parents and students Free option for teachers in training and can easily upgrade to get the advanced features. Cost, Research, & Communication(PSC 3.6)

Educreations is a safe, healthy, & legal emerging technology. • Educreations can help visual and auditory learners see the lessons come to life. Kinesthetic learners can manipulate the screen to help them understand the material Digital Citizenship: Safety & Diversity (PSC 4.2, 4.3)

Once the application is installed on the iPad there is a minimal amount of training needed. This could be taught in a training session or the teachers can view the tutorial. The application is intuitive and becomes easier to use and understand the more it is used. Educreations provides support for any questions that may arise. Professional Learning(PSC 5.2)

I have been using Educreations this year in class. Most of the features that are currently available have just been made based on feedback that I and others have sent. One new feature allows the teacher to save drafts of lessons that has opened up possibilities that are not possible with a white board. The speed of using the app combined with the quality of the app makes this a better choice than using a smart board. This app has helped make me a better teacher and I think all students would benefit from its use. Continuous Learning & Reflection(PSC 6.1 & 6.2)

http://www.appsinclass.com/educreations.html • http://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/1157-learn-everything-about-educreations • Audi, D., & Gouia-Zarrad, R. (2013). A New Dimension to Teaching Mathematics Using iPads. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences,103, 51-54. References

Educreations: Making your whiteboard interactive!