Exploring the use of iPads and mobile devices in education.

Using Replay Note for Screencasts

I've used the SMART Recorder and my SMART Board to create screencasts for my math classes and then posted them on YouTube. It is sometimes hard to do so because of the time it takes to set up and my board is not always available.

Recently I found the app Replay Note and used that as an alternative to using my SMART Board. Replay Note (a good deal at $4.99) is a fairly simple app to use. It allows the user to choose between four different background and color combinations. While in preparation mode, you can upload photos and pdfs to the screen, add text and create drawings. In recording mode, your penstrokes and voice are recorded and you have the ability to pause the recording at any time. One of the best features is how easy it is to upload to YouTube. Once you set up your account, you can post your video in a couple taps on the screen.

There are a few shortcomings with this app. The editing features in preparation mode are pretty basic. I'd like more options in regards to changing the background, font and font size. You also need to import PDFs you want to use through itunes which is a little time consuming.

That being said, I find this to be an app that is well worth the money. A student emailed me a question while preparing for final exams. Rather than write out an explanation in words, I was able to quickly create a video (http://youtu.be/qWz1rp5OYH8) and upload it to our YouTube channel for him (and his classmates) to see. With Replay Note I feel like I will be able to easily add more videos to our class library. It is a great app for any teacher who likes to post instructional videos on YouTube.

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Comment by Thomas Evers on June 2, 2011 at 3:28pm: You can also find (free) math videos/tutorials from Salman Khan, khanacademy. He is a graduate from MIT who has created over 2,300 seperate math tutorials. The videos have a simple production value, and are in plain english, which have been viewed more than 50 million times by more than 1 million people. The videos range from simple addition to vector calculus, and are in use by more than a thousand classrooms across the country. They are free. He also gave a TED talk.