Lessons and Solutions Learned When Creating Presentations With an iPad in Class

Last week, I worked with a wonderful teacher at my campus to help her teachers create a video project using a classroom set of iPads.  We learned some great lessons and found solutions that would be valuable for anyone completing a similar project and I'll share those here!  Hopefully, this will save another class time and frustration and ensure a seamless technology integration experience.

Background Information

• The iPad would be used to record and create the multimedia production.


• Students were allowed to choose which app(s) they used for the project from among the following:
  
  
  
  • iMovie
  
  
  • PuppetPals
  
  
  • Puppet Pals Director's Pass
  
  
  
  


• Students used the following app to combine movie clips, if needed:
  
  
  
  • iPhoto
  
  
  
  


• The following app was loaded on the iPads to be used for storage of the final projects:
  
  
  
  • DropBox
  
  
  
  

Lessons and Solutions

• Dropbox
  
  
  
  • Problem:  How can teachers gather and grade completed projects?
    
    
    
    • Solution:
      
      
      
      • Create an account in Dropbox.
      
      
      • Enable saving of the camera roll automatically to Dropbox.
      
      
      • The username and password should be shared out to the teacher so they can collect the completed assignments.
      
      
      • When completed or a periodic points in the lesson, have the teachers save copies from Dropbox to another device such as the teacher's computer.
      
      
      
      
    
    
    • Recommendation:
      
      
      
      • After teachers finish a project, clean out each iPad's photos so that the next group to use them does not get student work mixed up.
      
      
      • Have teachers download each day's work from Dropbox to keep an in-progress record
      
      
      • Clean out the Dropbox after each project is completed and teachers have downloaded the completed projects so it is ready to be used for the next project.
      
      
      
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• File Names
  
  
  
  • Problem:  Students were unable to give their projects names for the purpose of saving
    
    
    
    • Solution: At the end of each period, the teacher asked which students were finished with their project.  She then went into Dropbox, found the project, and renamed it to an identifying name.  She then made a backup to her own computer.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• Combining Clips
  
  
  
  • Problem:  Students wanted to use Puppet Pals which has a 5 scene minimum.  They wanted to include more scenes.
    
    
    
    • Solution:  Use iPhoto or iMovie to create a project with as many video clips as necessary.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• iMovie
  
  
  
  • Problem:  Upon opening a new project, the videos and/or photos were not visible to use to create the project.
    
    
    
    • Solution:  This occurs when the ability the ability to see Photos or Videos is not enabled.  To fix this:
      
      
      
      • Go to Settings>General>Privacy>Photos
      
      
      • Enable iMovie and Puppet Pals (or whatever they are using) by switching the slide to "On"
      
      
      • When you go back to iMovie, the videos and pictures will show and can then be used in the project
      
      
      
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• PuppetPals
  
  
  
  • Hints:
    
    
    
    • Puppet Pals Director's Pass is well worth the cost ($2.99).  It allows the students to create their own characters and backgrounds!  (I am not affiliated with Puppet Pals.)
    
    
    • Students, by far, chose PuppetPals (and we are high school grades 10-12)!  The outcome was awesome!
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• Copyright
  
  
  
  • Problem:  Students wanted to use their own music but copyright was a concern.
    
    
    
    • Solution:  Copyright is very important.  To ensure that copyright was considered, students used Freeplay Music or Soundzabound.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  

And, finally, be prepared with small, short video clips that teach the process so students can review.  I'm including the ones I created and you are more than welcome to share those with your students if you wish!



The results were amazing and we learned a lot!  The students loved the process and the ability to choose between the two apps!  There are, of course, a ton more apps available but for this project, these were the ones we used.

Do you have any tips and tricks to share?  If so, please add your comment below and accept our thanks in advance!