This is the third and final part of our blog post series that looks at innovative ways to use Google's iPad apps in the classroom with students. If you haven't read Part 1 or Part 2, you should check those out. Otherwise, here are five more tips and tricks for making the most of Google on your iPad. If you have great tips of your own, feel free to add those to the comments below.
1. Drag and Drop (Revisited)
I wrote a bit about this in part one of this series, but in the last few days, Google has updated several of their iPad apps so that they now support drag and drop. You need to have a device that is capable of running iOS 11, but once you have that taken care of, you are ready for some multitasking goodness. With drag and drop you can research content from Safari on one side of your screen and drag that into a Google Doc, Slide or Sheet on the other side of your screen. You can drag images, URLs, and text simply by pressing and holding, then dragging them over. (just be sure to cite your sources!) Right now, it only works to drag things into Google apps, (as opposed to out of them), but it's a great option to have and will hopefully be expanded to other apps like Keep, (see below), in the near future.
2. Record a Slides Presentation
Also new in iOS 11 is the ability to record your iPad screen without using any additional software or devices. You simply turn it on in your Control Center settings, and start recording. Here's how to do it. This new functionality is great for teachers who may want to flip their classroom or create instructional videos for students to use as part of blended learning rotations. Students can also use the screen recording function to present their slideshow and turn it in as a live video. All screencasts are saved to your device and can be uploaded to Drive or submitted as assignments in Google Classroom. Best of all, it's quick and easy to do. If you need some iPad screen recording tips, read this.
3. Use Apple Classroom
Some people have ignored Apple Classroom because they think it's just Apple's version of Google Classroom. It's not. Instead, it's a free suite of classroom management tools that you can use to monitor and control your classroom iPads. Do you want to open Google Docs on all your student iPads and lock them in that app so that they don't get distracted? Use Apple Classroom. Do you want to see what's on the screen of all your student iPads? Use Apple Classroom. Would you like to lock all the screens on your iPads so that students pay attention to you? Use Apple Classroom. Looking for a quick way to share the URL for a website to every iPad in the room? Use Apple Classroom. It's not for assignments, discussions or quizzes. For that, you absolutely should use Google Classroom, but for more control and easy sharing, you can use Apple Classroom alongside Google Classroom and the rest of your Google apps.
4. Toontastic 3D
As we learned in Part 2 of this series, not all Google apps have Google in the title. Another great example of this is Toontastic 3D, a fun digital storytelling app that is completely free for teachers and students to use in the classroom. With Toontastic 3D, you can create animated cartoons that include a recording of the student's voice. There are multiple themes, scenes and characters to choose from, and if you can't find what you need, you can always create your own using the built-in 3D drawing tools! Completed projects are saved as videos to your Camera Roll so that you can upload them to Google Drive or YouTube for sharing with others. Download the app here.
5. Use Google Keep!
Google Keep is quickly becoming a real favorite in the tech savvy teacher's toolbox. It's a versatile note taking app that syncs across all your devices. You can use it for quick notes, checklists, to-do lists, and more. On the iPad you can create drawings, take or add photos, and record voice notes. You can even create location based reminders! This collection of multimedia tools makes it a compelling addition for any classroom, so if you are looking for awesome ways to use Google Keep in your life, be sure to check out episode 32 of our podcast where Stacy Behmer talks about all the great ways that teachers AND students can use Google to help make them more productive at school.
So, there you have it. 5 more ways to use Google's suite of apps on your iPad. Do you have innovative or unusual ways to use Google's iPad apps in your classroom? If so, please share so that others can learn some new ways to enhance teaching and learning with the iPad.
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