App Smashing

Image source: http://zigzaggingedtech.blogspot.com/p/app-smashing.html

During the last couple of weeks students have been App Smashing which is "using multiple apps in conjunction with one another to complete a final task or project."  The final project in this case is a News Report!



Students were first introduced to this concept by watching a News Report Video I created "smashing a few apps" myself.  I demonstrated to students how I created my Tellagami and Explain Everything videos.  Then I brought them into Green Screen to make one video and then imported this video into iMovie to add other elements.  With the first two classes I did a demo for the entire class and students watched (no hands on). By the time I got to the third class I decided to do demos in small groups of 4 to 5 students and have the students follow along with their iPads.  This worked better and allowed me to observe each student to go through all steps of the App Smashing process.


The students then completed an App Smashing Practice assignment (on their own) before they set out to do their news report project.  While they were working on their own they were also helping each other with the process.

After the practice I think most students felt more comfortable creating their News Reports.  A few things learned along the way:

1. Keep recording for several seconds after speaking or recording video - this allows for cleaner trimming of videos.
2. When using Text to Speech in Tellagami, press the enter key several times after typing in all text to allow for extra space before trimming.
3. It is better to record video with iPad camera and the iPad should be in the landscape position.  If not, when video is imported into Green Screen - it will cut head off.
4. If you record video in Green Screen App (in landscape position) the video will actually be flipped on its side in Green Screen - that's why it's better to record video using iPad camera.