iPad Apps for School

The Best iOS Apps for Students and Teachers

video production

Sharalike – Quickly Create Audio Slideshows on Your iPad

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sharalike Sharalike is a free iPad app that makes it easy to create audio slideshow videos. To create an audio slideshow video with Sharalike simply open the app, select pictures from your camera roll, drag and drop them into any sequence you like, then choose some music to accompany your images. Sharalike handles all of the work of adding transitions, pan and zoom effects, and lighting. You can choose from seven slideshow themes each uses slightly different transitions and frames around your images. Sharalike offers a small selection of free instrumental music that you can use in your slideshow or you can upload your own music.

To publish your Sharalike production you do need to register for a free account. You can register by using your email address or your Facebook credentials.

I like to use audio slideshow tools like Sharalike to have students create short videos that they use to introduce themselves to their classmates at the beginning of the school year. An audio slideshow allows students to share pictures about things that are important to them while at the same time not putting too much pressure on the to stand up and talk to the whole class in the first week of school.

Sharalike is also available as a web app. You can learn more about the web version here.

Create Full Feature Stop-Motion Videos On Your iPad

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Screen Shot 2014-03-20 at 10.27.12 PM The National Film Board of Canada recently released a fantastic new iPad app for creating stop-motion videos. NFB StopMo Studio allows you to take a series of pictures and stitch them together to create a stop-motion video. Like similar apps you can adjust the number of images that are displayed per second.

Where the app really shines is in the post-image editing options. NFB StopMo Studio allows you to use multiple soundtracks in your video. You can also draw or type on top of each image in your video.

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NFB StopMo Studio could be a great app for students to use to create short claymation-style videos to animate a story that they have written in your classroom.

ChatterPix – Create Talking Pictures on Your iPad

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Screen Shot 2014-01-06 at 11.46.36 AM ChatterPix Kids is a free iPad app that you and your students can use to turn pictures into talking pictures. To create a talking picture just snap a picture with your iPad or import a picture from your iPad’s camera roll. After taking the picture just draw in a face and tap the record button to make your picture talk. Your recording can be up to thirty seconds in length. Before publishing your talking picture you can add fun stickers, text, and frames to your picture. Finished Chatter Pix projects are saved to your camera roll and from there you can export it to a number of services including YouTube.

ChatterPix Kids doesn’t require students to create an account in order to use the service. Using the app could be a great way to get students to bring simple stories to life.

Easy Studio – Grab This App Gone Free and Make Great Animations

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Update: The app was free for the day on 12/13/2013. It is back to full price today. That said, it is one of the few apps that I think is worth $3.99.

Easy Studio is a great app that students can use to create animated videos on their iPads. The app normally costs $3.99, but it is free to download today. If you download it today you will also get new holiday templates to use in your video productions.

The process of creating a video on Easy Studio is a drag and drop process. To create a video a child drags shapes and characters into place on a scene. The process is repeated to create each new scene in the video. After all of the scenes have been created the child taps the play button to see how the video looks. A child using Easy Studio for the first time can follow one of the six story templates to get a feel for how the creation process works.

I discovered that Easy Studio is free today through Apps Gone Free.

SonicPics – Turn Photographs Into Narrated Movies

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Screen Shot 2013-06-04 at 9.13.22 AM SonicPics is an iPad app that I learned about just after writing yesterday’s post about the digital storytelling tool 30hands. SonicPics, like 30hands, is an iPad app that allows you to take your pictures and arrange them into narrated slideshows. You do not need to create a SonicPic account in order to use the service.

To create your narrated slideshow just open the SonicPics app and tap the “+” icon or the “new project” label. Title your project then give SonicPics access to your iPad’s camera roll. Select the picture that you want to include in your presentation. After adding your pictures you can record narration for each one of them individually or as a collective set. You can record for up to 60 minutes. Finished projects are available as .m4v files that can be sent your computer, posted on YouTube, or emailed to your friends.

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SonicPics costs $2.99 USD. It’s easy to use, provides a lot of recording space, and provides useful output formats. If you’ve felt constrained by similar free apps then SonicPics might be for you.