DoInk

13 03.14

Why IT (Instructional Technology) Curriculum Should include Animation: It teaches Design, Creativity and Timing

Nick Jackson http://largerama.creativeblogs.net/ an Educational Designer for the University of South Australia and a former educator at a secondary school in Yorkshire, England made a presentation on the significance of animation in an IT (instructional Technology) curriculum. He posted this animation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLYX6iM-5hU&list=UUruPX1AqTFgvuQEECkihOqw&index=5 as a part of his presentation to YouTube. Nick believes animation teaches “design, creativity, timing.” We agree, and love that he used animation to talk about animation. Thanks, Nick, “for walking the talk” and using DoInk.

13 03.07

Is the DoInk iPad App the “Missing Piece” to those Challenged to Create Art?

Carol Broos, a music teacher got us thinking. She tweeted that the DoInk Animation and Drawing app https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doink-animation-drawing/id364762290?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 for the ipad was “the missing piece for many of us who feel challenged to create art work. It got me to draw!” In fact, she created this very cool video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Wsy-pqzSFe0
We’re betting that Carol is not the only one who at some point in time felt art challenged. When young, we draw with reckless abandonment, but as we get older, we become critical of our work. If it is not perfect, we don’t continue. We forget to enjoy the creative process and focus just on the outcome. So to help users get started and be inspired, the Doink apps provide thousands of art props that can be remixed. Think of these props as “muses.” For example, the fish in the columns above are some “props” that can be found in DoInk by searching on the word “fish.” Use them as inspiration to create your own fish or tap on the props you want to use and they are instantly placed on your DoInk canvas for animating. Mix and match props or add your own custom art. Just have fun creating. We know your students will. With DoInk, no one has to be a great artist to make something great!

13 03.04

Version 3.0 of the DoInk Animation and Drawing App for the iPad features Photo Import and Text Tool

Version 3.0 of the DoInk Animation and Drawing app https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doink-animation-drawing/id364762290?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 for the iPad is now available in iTunes for download. Its new features include photo import, a text tool, and a new user interface designed to maximize workspace. We’ve also added “Help” bubbles to aid new users. The 90 second video above shows some of the features of this new release. Be assured all of the DoInk creation tools (drawing and animation) you have worked with in the past are still there. They’ve just been moved to the bottom of the screen. The home icon is now where the drawing tools and composition editor reside.

We hope you like the changes and as always, welcome your feedback. Please contact support@doink.com if you have any questions. We would appreciate your writing a positive review in iTunes for this release. 5 star reviews are critical to an app’s success and encourage us to continue developing our product. Thank you for your support!

13 02.28

Can The Best Apps In Education Fit On One Screen?

A recent Edweek article
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/edtechresearcher/2013/02/all_the_good_apps_fit_on_one_screen.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-FB suggests educators focus on “creation” apps, not “content” apps in the classroom. Its writer Justin Reich believes “educators shouldn’t think of iPads as repositories of apps, but rather as portable media creation devices.” As a result, he believes “all the apps a student or teacher really needs should be able to fit on one screen of your iPad.” He suggests educators share their favorite apps on Twitter under the hashtag #onescreen so that “we can all see what each other see as the most important tools for making the best possible use of iPads”. Above is an example of a #onescreen shot shared by educator Steve Clark https://twitter.com/stevewclark/status/302987615232221185/photo/1 We encourage everyone to follow the Twitter conversation as it is a great resource for app discovery. Mr. Lang, an educator in the DoInk Edmodo community http://www.edmodo.com/publisher?uid=5406085 wrote that he stocks his “iPad full of “active” apps, including Doink!” We thought the term “active” excellent for describing apps that encourage students “to show what they know” and appreciate that the DoInk Animation and Drawing app https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doink-animation-drawing/id364762290?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 for the iPad is included in this category.

13 02.20

Building App Awareness in Schools One Teacher At A Tme

App companies build awareness in schools one teacher at a time. At DoInk, we have seen that there is no set pattern for who our school evangelists are. In one case, it is a Science teacher who discovers DoInk and then introduces it as a school wide creation app to other subject areas or it is an English, Math or ICT person. In this case, it was an art teacher @emeshelle who introduced the DoInk Animation and Drawing app https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doink-animati… to Denise Shekleton DShekleton a Science teacher in Iowa. We love this picture of 4th and 5th grade students using DoInk on the iPad for Science inquiry projects. Thanks Denise for tweeting this picture and for all the DoInk evangelists who have helped to spread the word about the DoInk creative learning apps.

13 02.15

Creative Ways to Teach English to Deliver Outstanding Results

Anna Warren, an English Teacher in the UK wrote an article for the Guardian on “10 Creative Ways to Teach English That Deliver Outstanding Results.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/feb/14/teaching-english-creatively-outstanding-results?CMP=twt_gu We love that her school teaches English using the arts. “Through painting, music composition, a film project, in role drama or sculpture, the kids have had a chance to share vocabulary, ideas and concepts which gives their reading fresh meaning and purpose.” They have “found that immersing children in a range of creative activities before reading the text means that they are fully prepared, and excited, about the reading journey ahead of them.” An interesting project we have seen using the DoInk Animation and Drawing app https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doink-animation-drawing/id364762290?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 for the iPad is having students illustrate a quote or scene from a book chosen by their teacher prior to reading it. For example, this quote and scene from “Charlotte’s Web.” It’s a great way to get students excited about what they are about to read.

13 02.13

Valentine’s Day Activities using Doink to Encourage Creativity in the Classroom

Shelly Terrell recently posted ideas for Valentine’s Day that encourage creativity in the classroom
http://shellyterrell.com/2013/02/06/15-apps-activities-for-valentines-day/ Her ideas included creating short poems and reciting favorite quotes or poems and then illustrating them with pictures (and drawings). The Doink Express App https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doink-express/id414067189?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 works great for both projects. Another idea popular with students is to create funny videos of pets. Who doesn’t love showing off their one true love on Valentine’s Day? Students can take pictures of their pets or use a photo from their camera roll and then draw or animate over them using Doink Express. They can then share their animations and drawings with classmates, send them as e-cards to friends or combine all the clips to create an amusing class video. Happy Valentine’s Day!

13 02.07

Students Create Animated Food Chains using Doink Express App to “Show What They Know.”

Studying food chains help students understand how all kinds of animals’ food can be traced back to plants and that the sun is the ultimate source of energy for organisms to stay alive and grow. There are a number of ways to study food chains. A teacher can draw one with arrows showing who’s eating whom on a smartboard or blackboard or have students watch food chain videos. Then students can write about what they have learned. Or they can “show what they know” by creating their own food chains using a creative learning app like Doink Express https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doink-express/id414067189?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4. The students can combine photos of examples around them with text and art props to create their own food chains. They can then share them for everyone in the class to see and discuss the similarities and differences. Great for students to understand how living things in nature are connected and how our actions can affect our environment.

13 02.05

Great List of Tools for Students to Create Book Trailers, including Doink Apps

Mrs. Holzweiss, a member of our Doink/Edmodo community http://www.edmodo.com/publisher?uid=5406085 has created an “excellent guide to learning about and sharing book trailers and book talks” called “Jumping off the Page.” This link http://jumpingoffthepage.weebly.com/technolog… is especially helpful, as it lists technology tools which can be used to create book trailers and includes Doink. We love seeing students communicate their excitement of reading while promoting their favorite book. For example, this book trailer for Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Fun use of photos, sound, text and animated props using Doink Express https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doink-express… to set the book’s mood. Thanks Mrs. Holzweiss for sharing!

13 01.29

DoInk to be at the “Across Boundaries: Innovaton and the Future of Education” Conference at MIT in Boston

DoInk http://www.doink.com is one of ten companies highlighted at this Friday and Saturday’s education conference, “Across Boundaries: Innovation and the Future of Education” at the MIT Tang Center in Boston. The conference organizers asked us to create a one minute video showing how Doink is used in education which is below. We hope you will join us at MIT for this exciting education event this weekend. For more information http://learnlaunch.org/2013-conference/agenda/