EduCreations - You + your whiteboard...in a video!

In one of my earlier blogs I mentioned that I was featured in my technology coach's blog, Little Bytes, about how I've used EduCreations with my students. In case you didn't get a chance to look through my colleague's blog, I'll do a little write-up about it here as well.

EduCreations is a free app for the iPad. It has some capabilities as a web tool without needing an iPad, but because it involves "drawing" on the screen as if it were a whiteboard, it works best with a touchscreen device rather than a mouse. When you open the app it looks like this:

EduCreations turns your screen into a whiteboard as you can see above, and records your voice as you interact with it (notice the "record" button in the upper right-hand corner). In this way, you can explain a concept or lesson by drawing on the board and explaining it while EduCreations records it. It then turns your lesson into a hyperlink, which you can post on your website for students to access or send it to them directly in an e-mail. It allows you switch ink colors, type, and import photos which is helpful for any visuals you plan to use besides what you "write" on the board. There is also a rectangle button in the lower left-hand corner which allows you to switch the background to graph paper, lined paper, or a coordinate grid.

Here is an example in which I actually explain how to use EduCreations using the EduCreations app :) My colleagues asked me to make one for them!

I've embedded an example below so you can see how I've used it for my own students:

Here is a link to my school website, where I have several other lessons posted for my students to use. I have gotten a lot of positive feedback from students and parents talking about how helpful they have been! I've had students use them to review a concept one more time before a quiz, and I've also told students who missed an important lesson due to an absence that they could catch up on notes from the lesson explanation. Now if only I could take an entire Professional Development Day to create one for every single lesson....

I have experienced a few drawbacks so far, but I still find it to be a very useful tool. You cannot edit the audio in your explanation, since it's supposed to be your "real" explanation as if you're actually in class. If you mess up while speaking, you have to start over, including whatever you drew on the board. I try not to let this tempt me into starting over and over each time I stumble on my words or say the wrong thing, since I mess up speaking in class all the time - think of it that way :) I also seem to have trouble with the app itself saving my lessons. Sometimes I'll have to log in on the website itself to find them and get the link. Has anyone else tried this?