iOS 13 in the Classroom
My Favorite Features of Apple’s Newest Release
If you haven’t yet realized, Apple released the newest version of its operating system, iOS 13 or “iPad OS 13” as they are rebranding it, to all users in late September. This newest overhaul brings with it many long-sought-after features, several of which I find to be quite valuable in the classroom. Here are a few of the most exciting iOS13 updates applicable to the classroom.
Get More Googley
The iPad app versions of the Google Suite have always been just (barely) ok. They’re fine if you’re looking for a bare-bones word processing or slide creation tool that has a shallow learning curve. Sure, they allow for easy and seamless real-time collaboration, but they’ve long-since been alone in that capacity, and just don’t measure up when you’re looking for a fully-functioning, nimble creation tool that lends itself to a host of add-ons, which make it even more powerful and user-friendly than it is on its own. (You know, like the real web-based Google suite?)
Well, at long last, gone are the days when you see or learn something awesome to do with GAFE or a google add-on, only to be crushed by the realization that it won’t function on the iPad. While the frustratingly limited Google iPad apps still exist in iOS 13 (Why? Just delete them!) users can now choose to create and edit in the much more powerful, just all-around better web-browser version in Safari. Just go directly to drive.google.com, docs.google.com or whatever tool you want to use and start using GAFE the way it was intended! (Fyi, navigating in from a search will still auto-force you into the app if it’s installed.)
Oh, the Beauty!
Oh, the Power!
**Weird Quirk Alert: If it seems like you can’t edit a document in the web-browser (like the keyboard won’t appear no matter how many times you angrily drum the screen with your finger) just tap once on any option in the menu bar, then tap in the document and the keyboard will pop right up. Don’t know why, don’t really care, it’s still awesome.
Split Screen One App
It used to be that split screen could only be used for more than one app, but now users can open up two windows from the same app. Couple that with the fact that Safari now opens the desktop version of the overwhelming majority of websites as opposed to a mobile version (which is really what the “Get More Googley” bit is all about), and you can see the classroom potential. Pop up two Safari windows, look at some research in one and type away in the other. Watch a video lecture in one, take notes in the other. It makes for an even more seamless workflow than using split screen for the same purposes with two separate apps.
Edit in the Photos App
There are a slew of updates to the photos app in iOS 13, but by far my favorites in terms of classroom application are the new video editing features. Users can now, amongst other things, apply filters, crop, rotate, and increase exposure on video clips directly in the photos app. The ability to polish up video clips like this has long been lacking on the iPad (even within the iMovie app) which meant that to get any of these edits accomplished well would require clips to be dropped onto a computer for editing. With these additions to the photos app (plus the relatively new ability to do green-screening overlays in the iMovie app), students can produce some pretty darn polished videos without having to rely on anything other than their iPads.
For example, here’s a horrendously shot green screen movie clip. As recently as a couple months ago, this clip would’ve been virtually unsalvageable without using a computer and some expensive software like Final Cut:
Here’s that same clip adjusted for level and cropped in the photos app:
And finally, here’s the clip placed in iMovie with the green screen overlay:
**Weird Quirk Alert: For this to work, users should save their cropped clips out of their photos app (like to the files app) so that the cropping and leveling edits hold when imported into iMovie. If not, iMovie does not seem to respect the edits made in photos and will just import the original, unedited clip. This quirk is likely an unintended consequence of another iOS 13 photos update, “nondestructive video edits,” which allows users to undo any edits they’ve made to video clips, even after saving.
Voice Control Everything
Apple’s accessibility features have always been pretty powerful for those with vision, hearing, speech, or motor impairments, and the addition of Voice Control is in keeping with that tradition. This tool has powerful potential for students with IEPS, regular education students and staff alike, as learning to harness its capabilities can help us all do a myriad of tasks in and out of the classroom. Since this feature is all about what is being said and “heard,” this short video is worth a watch.
The video makes it clear how this feature can support students with significant motor impairments, but the applicability for those with other challenges, or just as an optional productivity aid, is boundless. Minor vision challenges? Say, show grid and instantly improve your ability to precisely navigate the screen. Need something read aloud, just ask! How about using this tool with a reluctant student writer? How many times have we seen students be able to articulate so much more to us verbally than in written form? Sure, voice-to-text dictation of this sort is not new, but the power and agility of the new voice control feature allows it to be so much more reliably useful than ever before. By the way, I just added, wrote and formatted this whole section with voice control and probably had less errors to correct than if I had typed it out. This. tool. is. powerful.
The Files App Grew Up
The original release of the files app was all sizzle and no steak for me. It promised to deliver a completely new way of saving and organizing files on the iPad, and I had hoped it would help alleviate some of the issues students have with losing work or not knowing “where things went.” Instead, it delivered a lackluster hodgepodge of a space that never seemed to be what I wanted it to be and confused more students than it helped. I mean, it shouldn’t be at all difficult to organize files in an app called files, right? Well, it seems I wasn’t alone in my displeasure, as iOS13 has some much needed upgrades here as well.
Scan Files
I’m not terribly big on having students scan hardcopy files into their devices, but many teachers are. Doing it directly within the files app allows for quick and easy organization and access. Just click your desired location, tap the three dots, select scan documents, point and shoot! The blue scan field jumps around a bit, but you can always clean up the edges afterward.
Organize Using Folders
First of all, there’s a new downloads folder to store all the stuff you or your students download from Safari (FYI, there’s also a download manager in Safari now where you can access past downloads, much like on a computer). Now not everything has to go to either the camera roll, a cloud storage location or third-party app just to get it saved. Also, you can now add custom folders to your local “On My iPad” storage, which is everything I ever wanted here, to be honest. Save your kids from their dreadful disorganization. Show them these things!
Access External Storage Devices
If you have a file saved on a USB drive, SD card, or external hard drive, (and you’ve got a USB -> lightning adapter) you can now access those from the files app as well. It’s another nice upgrade for getting files from one device to another without always having to rely on Airdrop or uploading to the cloud.
I could go on, and I just might in a future post, but for now those are my absolute favorite parts of iOS13 for use in the classroom. Take the time to explore some of them or task your students with exploring for you and reporting back. It’d be a great way for you all to learn together about how to best make use of all the iPads can now offer. As always, if you’ve got any questions or feedback, you know where to find me!
