ShowMe

Format: iPad
Price: Free
Vendor: iTunes

We have reviewed this app in a previous post but there is new activity on the app as we featured it on Thinking Thursdays September 20. James Howard was our featured presenter and many staff members took advantage of the session. This free app is a tremendous tool for screencasts of any flavor. It may be used if you are anticipating an absence, make a screencast if you don't wish to repeat a skill lesson five times in a row, or make a screencast for absent students and post it on your blog or web page. Maybe you have this knockout lesson that you wish to revisit so you pull it up and bam! You have it.

RH: I put together a short follow up ShowMe video clip further explaining how to make backgrounds, import images, and add pages (so to speak) to your presentation. A good rule of thumb is to never exceed the 10 minute point in a clip. Actually, if you stay around 4 or 5 minutes, you will get better focus and attention from your students. If you have longer lessons, or presentations, feel free to do them in installments. In other words, make them in part one, part two, etc.

Pleas click on this link: ShowMe tutorial

Air Sketch

Format: iPad
Price: Free Version
Vendor: iTunes

Turn your iPad into a wireless whiteboard! Project live sketches to a local computer that is linked to your LCD projector and you can walk around the room and broadcast your sketches. You can also link to any computer (BYOD) that is logged onto the same URL broadcast from your iPad.

RH: I tested this app using my laptop and iPhone. It worked flawlessly on both. This means that a student with Internet connection may log into "your" broadcast that you are making from your iPad as you walk around the room. Great for math teachers. All you have to do is place the URL address, that your iPad shows you, into the browser of any device that is on the same network. I have not tested this at school yet. The device or your desktop computer will show the blank screen and any drawings you produce. The drawback is that the drawing that you produce is not real smooth but rather crude in the free version. The free version boasts 3/5 stars. The Pro version runs a salty $9.99 but allows you to put documents, pictures, and more on your iPad for you to mark up. If you would use this app daily, it would be worth it and has collected 4.5/5 stars in reviews. If you want to research more uses for this app check out this link: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/02/use-air-sketch-with-dropbox-for.html#.UFbkYKOuWAq