Explain Everything + Google Drive = Awesome

I saw today via the Twitterverse that the whiteboard app Explain Everything  (iOS|Android) connects with Google Drive. I have primarily been a user of ShowMe when it comes to whiteboard apps but this might be the tipping point for me to move over to the EE side of the fence. Add in the fact that Explain Everything is also the only whiteboard app currently available on Android and it becomes even more attractive since I use devices on that platform as well.

When starting a new project, Explain Everything allows users to access photos from the device's internal media storage but also makes materials and docs in iTunes, Dropbox, Box.com, Evernote, and OneDrive available in addition to what you have in your connected Google Drive account. With some of the other whiteboard apps, I would get frustrated because something I wanted to annotate in a video wasn't in the camera roll on that one particular device.

Those multiple cloud-based options are also available when it comes to saving your project video with the additional benefit of exporting to Vimeo. On the iPad, there is even the option to open the project in other apps like iBooks as a .pdf or iMovie as a .mp4.

Here is a video I created from family pictures housed in Drive and then saved back to Drive. 

Here is a scenario where Explain Everything connected to Google Drive could be very handy for a teacher. A fourth grade teacher is trying to figure out why many of her students are struggling with long division so she has them each complete one long division problem on the tablet in the hallway while narrating their problem solving with Explain Everything. By having students save their videos to her Google Drive or a classroom Drive account, she can later watch those videos on her computer. She can analyze exactly where hangups are happening for each student and organize all of those pieces of formative assessment into one folder. She could conference the next day with each student as they watch the video together and address the specifics of the problem. She can also share that video with a child's family very easily to help explain where the student needs work.

One drawback of Explain Everything is that the app does not provide users an online space to post their videos like ShowMe does. With all of these other options, that is quickly becoming a moot point.

The app costs $2.99 but is easily worth every cent.

 

Google for Education: Announcing Drive for Education: The 21st century backpack for students

Check out the recent announcement from Google.  As a teacher, I hate paper and ask students to work exclusively with Google Drive. I see Drive for Education to have incredible possibilities.

Here are the selling points root explorer apk Google is promoting and I see life for educators and students getting easier from each one.

Drive for Education will be available to all Google Apps for Education customers at no charge and will include:

• Unlimited storage: No more worrying about how much space you have left or about which user needs more gigabytes. Drive for Education supports individual files up to 5TB in size and will be available in coming weeks.


• Vault: Google Apps Vault, our solution for search and discovery for compliance needs, will be coming free to all Apps for Education users by the end of the year.


• Enhanced Auditing: Reporting and auditing tools and an Audit API easily let you see the activity of a file, are also on the way.

Check out all of the details at Google's Education Blog.

Google for Education: Announcing Drive for Education: The 21st century backpack for students.

Sub plans from the snowbank, thanks to Google Drive

I have been a Google Docs guys since before there were Google Docs. We used "Writely" in my online graduate classes back in 2005. On Friday, Google Docs got me out of a real pickle...well partially.

When I left my house for the typical 30 minute commute to Bentheim Elementary School there were strong winds and a little light snow was falling.  All area schools were open because when officials had made their early morning checks conditions were good with what forecasters called "light snow" slowly making its way to the Eastern shore of Lake Michigan. As I got closer to the open farmland to the east, those winds had kicked up the worst white-out conditions I have experienced during my thirty-plus years of living in Michigan. When I got to M-40 I witnessed a jack-knifed semi and cars plowing into each other. After some of the chaos cleared I continued my journey and made harrowing crossing after crossing through intersections with no visibility and no stop signs for cross-traffic. Two miles later I would find myself smacked up against a snowbank, having been clipped by a Ford F-150 that was completely invisible in the storm until I was in the middle of the intersection and it was approaching from 10 yards to my right.

First thought: I am okay.

Second thought: What about the other driver? As I got out to check on him, he and his wife were headed my way to see how I was. Luckily we had all come through the collision physically unscathed.

Third thought: Uh...those emergency sub plans I have been meaning to get to since September sure would be nice to have sitting on my desk right about now.

After calling police, my wife, and school to inform them of the incident and that we were all unharmed I went into McGyver-mode and started digging into the Google Drive app on my iPhone. Within just a few minutes, I was able to cobble together enough activities to keep 5 grade levels of kids engaged for the rest of the day. I emailed them to our fabulous librarian who helped set up the substitute they were able to secure for me.

Google Drive does so much for me as a teacher. I know some people can't get beyond how sterile the documents are (Foof them up with fonts and borders in Word later.) but  I never worry about work not being saved. Students share with me to turn in documents. We have classes collaborating on presentations and the list goes on and on. On Friday, Google Docs kept the learning going even when my Ford Escape and I weren't able to go anywhere.

Now if Google could somehow figure out how to do extensive body work with just a few keystrokes....