My quest this week to find more apps for my iPad led me to a webpage titled The 25 best free apps for iPads (http://www.stuff.tv/apple/icheapskate-25-best-free-apps-iphone-and-ipad/feature ). Browsing through the list, several looked promising but I finally decided on downloading two: Paper 53 and Fotopedia. Paper 53 is a drawing application that allows users to create, store, and share sketches they have made. It would strongly appeal to kinesthetic and artsy learners who have a knack for drawing. To gather more ideas on just how this app could be used in a classroom, I found another blogger who had already tried it out: http://mrmendo.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/drawing-app-paper-by-fiftythree/
While experimenting with it this morning, I found that a stylus is a huge help. My fingers tend to produce muddy drawings with extra drips and dots covering the page. The stylus allows for a much cleaner end product. One source of frustration was trying to figure out the ‘rewind’ feature. At least in the tutorial, mistakes can be easily erased by pressing the screen and moving two fingers in a circular motion. I tend to end up with a mess of circles drawn on my page before the ‘rewind’ finally appears and then everything is fine again. The space on my iPad mini screen is slightly limited. This may actually be a good thing since it forces me to keep the drawings simple- a key principle in creating line drawings. Once finished, the drawings can be easily shared via email, Facebook, and tumblr.
My second catch, Fotopedia promises to be much more complicated. As stated in its description, it’s a blend of magazine, travel guide, and world map. Upon selecting a theme, the viewer is given a tour of that country or subject. In an intermediate to advanced class, students could be given the assignment of picking a topic, viewing several photos with their accompanying descriptions and then writing summary. I liked the tips and ideas presented in this program: http://highschoolhistoryteacher.wordpress.com/category/resource-review/
While experimenting with it this morning, I found that a stylus is a huge help. My fingers tend to produce muddy drawings with extra drips and dots covering the page. The stylus allows for a much cleaner end product. One source of frustration was trying to figure out the ‘rewind’ feature. At least in the tutorial, mistakes can be easily erased by pressing the screen and moving two fingers in a circular motion. I tend to end up with a mess of circles drawn on my page before the ‘rewind’ finally appears and then everything is fine again. The space on my iPad mini screen is slightly limited. This may actually be a good thing since it forces me to keep the drawings simple- a key principle in creating line drawings. Once finished, the drawings can be easily shared via email, Facebook, and tumblr.
My second catch, Fotopedia promises to be much more complicated. As stated in its description, it’s a blend of magazine, travel guide, and world map. Upon selecting a theme, the viewer is given a tour of that country or subject. In an intermediate to advanced class, students could be given the assignment of picking a topic, viewing several photos with their accompanying descriptions and then writing summary. I liked the tips and ideas presented in this program: http://highschoolhistoryteacher.wordpress.com/category/resource-review/