Wednesday, March 19, 2014

iXplain helps you explain, recording your voice, screen and pen (think "Killer Surface Pro app for anyone teaching or explaining about anything")

Australian Teachers Blog - Creating Tutorials using the Record Voice and Pen App

This post follows on with our focus on sharing tools which can help you make engaging tutorials for your classroom.

If you’re currently using a Windows 8 device and need to create a tutorial that records your voice, writing or annotations, it’s time to master the Record Voice and Pen App.

Since first exploring Record Voice and Pen, I have put it in my must-have apps for Windows 8 in Education. It is such a simple and effective app that suits a variety of skill levels. I also like that you are given the ability to save your video onto your device, then share it through whichever platform you currently use in your classroom. It is a great tool for the Flipped Classroom.

Some handy uses for tutorials made with this app include:

  • Flipped Classroom style tutorials
  • Mathematic tutorials showing working out
  • Explanations of diagrams in Science or Geography
  • Discussions of Sport positions and movement
  • Script writing for Foreign Languages studies
  • Students creating their own tutorials for each other
  • Students creating presentations which describe images, diagrams or concepts

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Step 1

Install the Record Voice and Pen app onto your Windows 8 device. You can access Record Voice and Pen via the Windows Store.

Step 2

Watch video...

Step 3

Plan the tutorial that you would like to create. Here are some questions to help you plan your tutorial

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Step 4

Use record Voice and Pen to create your tutorial. Save and upload to your video to YouTube, Vimeo, or your own online space for students to access it.

Optional Activity

Share with your peers for feedback to help you improve your tutorial style.

Record Voice and Pen is a great way to make classroom tutorials more engaging and memorable whilst also having a resource for future use. So why not have a go and share your experiences in the comments section below.

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iXplain

Description

Explaining something in a presentation or a classroom is easy when you can use your voice, use images, and can annotate on them, all at one go. In iXplain you can record all this at once. It creates a video file which can be shared through email, Facebook or YouTube, or used in a presentation or a classroom.

Features

  • Recording of your voice and pen drawings at the same time

  • Import images

  • Export recordings to video files (mp4)

Supported processors

x86, x64, ARM

image

This and the Surface Pro and you've got a cool, fairly inexpensive, teaching tool... (and the app's price of Free doesn't hurt).

1 comment:

Unknown said...

When I attempt to export, it tells me I need to buy a product called "images" for $3.49, and if I dont want a logo to appear in my video it will cost $2.49 for "custom logo". I can't tell if those costs is for EACH video I want to export or not. Any advice on this? Did you experience this? I thought this was was entirely free until I try to export.