30 Hands

iTunes rating:  ****1/2
My rating:       ****

I spent the morning finding out more about 30 Hands.  It is a collaboration tool that can be used a variety of ways.  Some of the features are (1) the easy to use interface that allows teachers to quickly create course outlines then drag and drop multimedia content into the course and organize it by topic.  (2) Ability to add outside resources to enhance student engagement (think Khan Academy, Sophia.org) (3)Capture lectures on video (4) Interactive discussions around course videos and presentations (5)School portfolios of blogs and wikis (6) can be used on any device (laptop, iPad, iPhone.)

The biggest educational application that I can see for use in my classroom is my flipped lessons.  North started flipping lessons last year and 7th grade is expected to be flipping most instruction this year.  Instead of students watching a PowerPoint, which has it's merits don't get me wrong, I can quickly--key point--create a presentation using slides of my own, slides from existing resources, or pictures from the web while recording audio.  It does not have a video draw feature like explain everything but it is so easy to record and upload I really didn't see it as an issue.  I also like that the videos can be downloaded to my camera roll, uploaded to the 30hands web cloud, or embedded onto a website like Edmodo.  Downloading it onto my camera roll isn't great since I don't seem to have a lot of memory on my iPad so I really like that feature.

Another great feature is how easy it is for students to create and upload projects using 30hands.  We use way too much paper is science and this application, given it can be used on all devices, is a perfect way for students complete projects and also show learning through quick formative assessments.  I was thinking students could map body systems so easily using 30hands.  They can download pictures from the web, or one that I provide, and talk/diagram the system we are working on.  Then they just upload their assessment to 30hands and provide the URL to me by email (a prompt the student will get after clicking export.)

Another really cool suggestion for use with 30hands is spoken flashcards!  How great would this be for our ELL or sped kids who struggle with vocabulary/pronunciation...I love this!

30 hands looks a lot like Edmodo in that you can list your classes and import student names.  There is a grade book, and students can submit their work online.  Classes can also be broken into modules so, for example, when we start body systems I can break down my class into circulatory system, digestive system, and so on.

I plan to use this a lot this year.  It is user friendly, the product is easy to create and assess, and it can be easily differentiated.  I only wish students could type onto slides instead of just writing as many of my kids have very messy handwriting.  They will be able to use the audio feature so maybe it won't be as much of an issue.