Technology @ Hebron

iMovie on the iPad lets you quickly combine clips and edit, produce and export movies directly on the iPad. Just like the full version of iMovie on your MacBook you can add titles, transitions, effects and voice over to create a fully featured film. It’s also great for student projects and can create some really professional looking films, such as these opening day iMovie trailers.

When you first load iMovie, tap the Projects tab and then the + icon to create a new project:

Then select Movie from the next screen (the Trailer option lets you build a movie-style trailer from a text-based template):

Next you need to select a template (different templates have different transition and title effects – you can click the play button to sample each). One you have chosen one, tap Create:

(Note that newer versions of iMovie will not have this template screen. It lets you select all the content you want in the movie and then tap the blue Create Movie in the bottom right.)

You can now start to create your timeline (the timeline is where you build up the finished project by putting videos and images in the order you want them to play) by adding movies and images from your camera roll.

One thing to note is that iMovie will look different depending on what orientation you hold your iPad. In portrait this movie and picture browser will be hidden – we recommend you hold the iPad in landscape when using iMovie so everything is visible all the time.

You can browse your existing videos and pictures in the top right hand corner:

Once you have selected a video or picture to add to your timeline, tap to select it and then tap the down arrow icon (or plus icon in newer versions) to drop it into your timeline:

Once you have added more than one item to your timeline you can then tap, hold and drag to rearrange the clips. Or to trim a single clip tap just once to select a clip in the timeline – you can use the yellow sliders to trim the clip and additional clip options will show up in the bottom left hand corner of the screen:

These different options let you split (this is useful if you want to trim something from the middle of a clip) or duplicate the clip, change the speed of the clip, adjust the audio volume, add text titles or add a filter effect (such as make the clip black and white).

Here is what the add title option looks like (you select a title style, choose the position of the text in the clip and then double tap in the view window to enter the actual text):

Notice that when you have added more than one clip to your timeline iMovie automatically enters a transition effect between the clips. To change the transition effect you just need to tap on the transition icon and the options will appear at the bottom of the window:

To add voice over to your clip using the in-built microphone, first make sure no clip is selected in the timeline and then tap the microphone icon in the bottom right hand corner. Simply tap Record to start recording:

The audio will be inserted wherever the playhead (the white line) in currently positioned. Once you have finished recording you can tap and hold to move the audio around. There is also the audio section in the browser where you will find some music tracks and sound effects to add to your movie:

When you have finished editing your movie you can then export and share the finished project. Tap on the arrow in the top left hand corner to go back to the project screen:

Tap on the name of the project to change it:

Then tap on the share icon to export your movie. There are a number of sharing options but the one we recommend is Google Drive (you could also upload it directly to YouTube or send it through email). After tapping the share icon you just need to tap Open in App and then select Google Drive:

Your movie will then be processed and uploaded to your Google Drive ready for sharing like any other Google Drive file.

To make it so that when you click on an email link a new compose message window opens up in Gmail, you need to complete a couple of steps, depending on the browser you are using.

1. Chrome

If you use Chrome as your default browser all you need to do it log in to Gmail and look in the top right of the address bar for a double diamond symbol. Click that, select Allow and then click Done:

2. Safari

If you use Safari you will need to install this browser extension. Once downloaded, double-click on the file in your Downloads folder, click Install and then select Gmail from the options:

You then just need to quit Safari completely and reload it to get the extension to work.

3. Firefox

Click on the “hamburger” button in the top right and then click Preferences:

Next, go to the Applications tab, search for mailto and then change the dropdown action to Use Gmail:

Then just close the Preferences window.

The iWork suite is Apple’s version of MS Office, allowing you to create documents with advanced layouts in Pages, professional presentations in Keynote and spreadsheets with calculations and charts in Numbers, right on the iPad.

Here is the Pages interface once you have created a new document, with a few of the more common tools labelled:

You simply double-tap on an object, such as the text in the above example, to edit it. To change the options of an object, such as the font size, once the object is selected just tap the paint brush icon (different options will appear depending on the type of object selected):

Tap on the plus icon (+) to insert tables, charts, text boxes, shapes and images onto your document:

Here is the Keynote interface, again with a few key options highlights:

The interface is very similar to Pages, except that your slides can be seen in the left hand column. To add a new slide tap the plus icon (+) in the bottom left hand corner and the play button in the upper right puts the document in present mode.

And finally, here is the Numbers interface:

Again, there are similar options to Keynote and Pages. To enter data into a cell you need to double tap, and this pop-up keyboard will appear:

Use 42 to enter text, the clock symbol to enter a date, the T to enter text and the equals (=) to create a formula or function.

To share a finished document in any of the apps just tap on the share icon ():

Use the Send a copy option if you want to email it directly or Open in Another App to save it to something like Google Drive. Either selection lets you choose a file type first, from Pages to PDF, Word or ePub:

Google has a range of different apps available for the iPad. During this week’s tech training session we took a look at the following apps (all are available in the Self Service on your iPad and it is recommended that you install all five):

• Gmail
• Google Drive
• Google Docs
• Google Slides
• Google Sheets

1. Gmail

This is a native app for viewing, replying, organizing your Hebron Academy email. It offers a lot more functionality than the built-in iPad email app including better support for Gmail-style labels and threaded conversations. The interface is pretty self-explanatory with layouts and graphics similar to the desktop version:

2. Google Drive

Google Drive at its most basic is an excellent viewer for all the files stored already in your account. Again, the interface looks very familiar to the desktop version with a few subtle differences:

Click on the i button next to a file to get access to the rest of these different options you might need:

But Google Drive is also important for saving and sharing files from other apps. As you can see in this post you can quickly upload photos and videos to Google Drive but a lot of apps that have the share icon  let you save and upload their files directly to Google Drive (or like Notability connect directly to your existing Google Drive files and folders).

3. Google Docs, Slides, Sheets

These are slightly cut-down versions of the full desktop browser apps. The initial interface when you open the app looks very similar to Google Drive, but you can only see the files that correspond to the app (i.e. you can’t see Sheets files in the Docs app):

This can be confusing so we recommend you always start in the Google Drive app to organize and create documents.

When you create or open a document in any of the apps you will see a set of cut-down viewing and editing options. Here is the Google Docs app with a subset of the different tools when you are viewing:

And when you tap inside the document to edit it these options will then appear:

You can also view and edit files (depending on what permission you have been given) that have been shared with you. This works exactly as with your own files that you have created.

Another great use of the iPad is as a camera, whether it’s as a mobile document camera (just open the Camera app when the iPad is connected to your MacBook via AirSever), or to take, export, store and share photographs and videos of student performances, presentations or class work. You could also use it to record your own teaching for your portfolio.

There are two main apps that you will be using to take photo and video, as well as look through and edit photos and video you have already taken. These are Camera and Photos:

Once loaded the Camera app looks like this and has the following options:

The Photos app let’s you browse all the photos and videos you have already take with your iPad. Tap on a thumbnail to view a file fullscreen. For photos you will have the following options in the top right hand corner (you can also swipe left and right to scroll through your images one by one):

If you tap on the edit button these are the in-built image editing options available, including auto-enhance, crop and filters:

For further photo editing options, including more filter options and options such as adding pictures frames, check out the Snapseed app from Google.

If you have a video open you will not get the same editing options – all you will see is a film-strip at the top which shows an overview of the video:

Tapping and holding in the film-strip at the start or end of the video and then dragging to the left and right lets you use the trim tool. The part of the video surrounded by the yellow box is the section that will be kept when you tap Trim. This lets you quickly delete any unwanted sections from the start or end of your video (for example when you approach the iPad to stop the filming). If you need more advanced video editing options the iMovie app can be used.

Once you have taken pictures or videos you would like to save or share with your students or colleagues, there are a couple of options to choose from. If you only have photographs or a small video the easiest app to use is Google Drive. From the app you just need to tap the red + button and chose Upload, and then tap Photos or Videos. Any files you upload will then be stored in your Google Drive and you can download or share them directly from the app or from the browser on your MacBook.

If you have recorded a very large video file you may need to plug your iPad into your MacBook with the USB cable and use an app on the MacBook called Image Capture to import your video. This app will detect the iPad and show you all the images and video you have taken. Select the video file you want to import, choose the location to save it to and then click Import:

The video will now be saved as file on your MacBook and you can view it, edit it or share it as you would any other file.

For audio only recordings we recommend the AudioCopy app, which is a fast and efficient way to record and edit student audio work (such as interviews, role-plays or even just language practice). Once you open the app tap on Make New Recording and then tap the record button to start recording. And tap it again to stop.

All your recordings will be saved under the My Recordings tab, and there are a number of things you can do with each track:

Use Open With to upload directly to Google Drive, or the GarageBand option copies the track which you can then paste into GarageBand. If you have a SoundCloud account you can also upload directly to their audio hosting service.

You can also edit your track directly in AudioCopy. Tap on the green Edit button and you can then move the sliders around to trim the audio. Once the sliders are in place just tap on the blue pencil to get these editing options also:

Jot! and Notability are two great apps available to all faculty that can turn your iPad, when used with Air Server, into a mobile interactive white board for your classroom. Hand draw sketches, words, diagrams and graphs, import pictures or take a photograph of a page in a textbook or novel and hand the iPad to a student to solve, annotate or add to – with everything being projected on the board.

Of the two apps, Jot! is the most basic providing a simple scratch-pad with a few different pen, colour, background and import options. In the screenshot below you can see the different gestures and tools available and the cut-down interface on the right hand side, including simple pen colour and sizing options:

Use pinch to zoom in and out, and two figures to scroll. Tap the camera icon to change the background, import an image or take a picture (which can then be annotated over):

Notability offers similar options to these but is based more around creating and organizing notes. When you first open the app you will see the following screen, with your notes on the right hand side and any subject folders you make on the left hand side:

Tap the + icon in the top left to create new subjects to organize and store your notes in:

Any notes you have already created can be dragged and dropped between subjects.

To create a new note tap the pen and paper icon in the top right hand corner. As with Jot! use two fingers to scroll and pinch to zoom in and out when you are viewing a note. The different tools can be seen across the top with text box, pen, highlight, erase and cut options:

Tap on a tool twice to see any additional options. You can also tap on the + icon to insert other objects like photos, web clips (screenshots of a webpage) and sticky notes:

Once these have been added you can annotate over the top of them, you just need to tap somewhere else on the screen to deselect them.

In addition to building up notes with these tools, Notability also offers powerful importing tools and can link to a number of cloud storage services. On the opening screen tap the import button and then tap Google Drive to link your school Google Drive account:

You just need to login and tap Accept. You can now import all kinds of documents including PDFs, images and Microsoft Office files from Google Drive. Notability will turn them into notes which you can then view and annotate over the top of.

Once you have finished annotating you can also export the file back to Google Drive, just tap the export button and tap Google Drive again:

One thing to note with exporting is that if you export the same file back to the same location in Google Drive it will overwrite the original. So if you want to save the originals and your students’ annotations you will need to create some kind of folder structure to save the separate files.

Following on from our Math Department pilot, December 1st was technology professional development for all faculty, with the aim to get teachers thinking about how they could start using their iPad in the classroom.

We started off with a keynote speaker from the MLTI project, who talked us through the SAMR model, gave examples of progression up the model’s ladders and demoed some of the new features in iOS 8.

We then split into groups, with an iOS Jumpstart session for those not so familiar with the iPad, and these two breakout sessions for everyone else:

1. iPad nuts and bolts, including setting up your email, setting up your iPad to backup, downloading apps and using Air Server
2. An app showcase, including quick looks at Notability, the new edit features in the Camera app, Snapseed, iMovie, Explain Everything, Google’s various apps, MindNode, Coach’s Eye, Book Creator, Comic Life, Word Lens and PhotoMath

This will now lead into further app-specific training sessions after the winter break: