Explain Everything

by MorrisCooke

Explain Everything is the digital equivalent of scrap paper that you use to quickly sketch a diagram when you're trying to explain an abstract concept.  What your scrap paper can't do, however, is what makes Explain Everything such a powerful tool.  As one reviewer on the AppStore explains, it's like having a mini interactive whiteboard with you during lessons.

This app lets you create or import digital content that can be manipulated, annotated, and explained through a voice recorder.  Explain Everything provides repeated engagement and exposure to any subject or activity.  A variety of tools let the user draw lines, highlight important areas, or type in text. 

 

Here are just a few uses for Explain Everything in the classroom:

• annotate a map, such as the school floorplan, a bus route, or the setting of a story
• use it as a slate to practice handwriting while recording the cues for the letter sounds. For example c, cake, /k/
• self-monitor articulation or reading fluency
• import a document created elsewhere and verbally summarize it using the annotation tools for emphasis

Explain Everything is a definite must-have for all classrooms, from the youngest learners to the most experienced teachers.  $2.99.

 

2/27/13 

Here's a great comparison between this app and a similar one, Educreations: http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/ipad-screencasting-educreations-and-explain-everything/38662