Combine the creative potential of the iPad with the collaborative capacity of Google Drive and students have access to countless options for engaging in creating meaningful, creative work. Whether students are using the Google Drive app as the central workflow hub to facilitate collaboration, or the core Google tools such as Docs and Slides to manage collaborative work and planning prior to creating multimedia content, Google Drive can play a central role in expanding the creative potential of the iPad. Consider the two scenarios below, all in which Google Drive plays in integral role in either collaboration, planning or creation.

Collaborative Video Creation with TouchCast, Google Drive, & Google Docs

TouchCast is a powerful video creation app that is a hybrid of screencasting and traditional video capture and editing. Further, with the ability to export video content from TouchCast to the camera roll, students can own and export their content to the camera roll of the iPad for use in any other application. Any teacher that has integrated video creation in their classroom knows that the planning, storyboarding and writing process is a critical first step to effective use of the iPad in this fashion. One exceptionally helpful feature included in TouchCast that can aid in this process is the internal teleprompter feature. The teleprompter can be turned on when students are recording live within TouchCast and when the final video is exported, the teleprompter overlay is not visible to the viewer. While TouchCast is typically viewed as a video creation or screencasting tool for a single user, students can work collaboratively through Google Docs to plan and write the script that will be used with the TouchCast teleprompter tool. While every student may not be exceptionally comfortable appearing on camera, by leveraging Google Docs as the collaborative writing workspace, multiple students can play a role in the researching, planning and writing of the content that will be used in the video creation process in TouchCast.

Collaborative Book Creation with Google Slides

In this second approach using Google with iPads, Google Slides acts as a collaborative platform to create a published book. While there are eBook creation apps that work effectively on the iPad, Google Slides is a viable and powerful alternative to eBook creation specific apps because of the built in collaboration between users. Instead of envisioning Google Slides as a presentation and slide creation platform, consider it a collaborative book creation platform whereas each slide represents a page in the book. When combined with the iPad, students can insert web-based content, images, screenshots or photographs of their work. Begin the process by created a Google Slide presentation and invite desired collaborators.

• Each slide acts as a page in the book
• Students with mobile devices can snap photos of offline work (drawings, paintings, sketches, etc…) that can be added directly to the book through the Google Slides iPad app.
• From the iPad, Save a Copy the finished set of slides as a PDF and resave the PDF to Google Drive
• Upload the PDF document to Issuu from a Safari on the iPad to publish online

Get Innovative with iPads & Google!

Come join Greg Kulowiec and other educators from across the country in Boston and San Diego this coming year. The EdTechTeacher Innovation Summits will bring together educators from across the country to discuss the best ways to innovate student learning with Chromebooks, Google Apps for Education, and more.