How Is Apple’s Keynote Stacking Up in the Age of Online Learning?

In the age of online learning, the teaching world is embracing Google Docs even more than ever. Google Slides are all the rage, especially in combination with the great ecosystem of Chrome Extensions like Flat for Docs and Peardeck.

I love the extensibility of web-based software, but I feel more at home using native apps like Microsoft Office and Apple's iWork. These apps feel like they belong on the operating system, they function reliably offline, have great keyboard shortcuts, more professional features, and great designs. 

I am spending less time creating documents for my classes this year as things have moved to online Canvas content, Noteflight scores, and Soundtrap templates. There is a lesser need for my usual rosters, seating charts, posters, and other data that I create in native software. Presenting information online is still as relevant as ever though, and for that, I am finding that Apple's Keynote is still the tool for the job. 

No, I can't add a Peardeck to my Keynote presentations, but I can access them from a web browser and share them with my colleagues, where we can both be editing the same presentation at the same time, just like a Google Slides presentation.

I am using Google Slides for some things (notably, the extensions above), but Keynote is still my go-to app. It gives me more speed, more control, better templates, and fine integration across Apple’s ecosystem. If I edit a slide on my Mac, for example, that presentation even becomes quickly launchable from the Files widget on my iPadOS home screen for further editing.

Widgets on the left side of my iPad homescreen allow me to see recent data across all my apps including timers, calendars, tasks, recent notes, and recently opened documents across all my devices! It’s fair for me to mention that while this works more reliably with documents stored in iCloud, I have been noticing my Google Docs starting to show up in this Files widget. Horray!

Keynote recently received two updates that make it even better for teaching online. 

Running a Presentation in a Two Monitor Setup Without Overtaking Both Screens

I run two monitors for my online classes. The one on the left is used in combination with Open Broadcasting Software to quickly share my screen without fiddling with options inside of Google Meet or Zoom. Until recently, running a Keynote presentation would overtake both monitors, rendering it useless for my secondary screen, where I watch over the Google Meet, and interact with other software. 

Now through using an option in the Menubar called Play Slideshow in Window, Keynote can run in a standalone window, which can be put into full-screen mode and only take up one monitor. You can also right-click the Toolbar and permanently add an option to present this way. See these options in the gifs below.

Now, I can run this on the monitor I share with students and have them enter my class to a rotation of slides, while I do unrelated tasks on my other display.

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

Embed YouTube Videos Into Slides

One of the last standing reasons I loved using Google Slides was because you could embed videos from websites like YouTube and Vimeo right into the slides and have them play with an internet connection. If you show a lot of YouTube to your class, this is way faster than downloading YouTube videos to your hard drive and then embedding those into Keynote or Powerpoint (although, the Downie app makes this process very easy).

via GIPHY

Now that Keynote can embed YouTube videos right into a slide, I can save a lot of time, and space! I have the entire Breathing Gym video series in one of my slide shows, and the storage really adds up!

I play a “Friday Video Feature” for my students every Friday, usually pertaining to some kind of educational goal, but sometimes just a short, fun, video. I used to save these on my hard drive, and at one point, I archived them in Evernote, but now I think I am just going to leave a year’s worth of my favorites embedded YouTube videos right into the same presentation I run for the class each day so that I can pull them up on command.

Overall I am pleased with the results I get in Keynote, particularly how good the final presentations look. Some of these recent updates, particularly the YouTube support, seem related to Apple’s understanding that their education users are probably depending on the web more. If that’s the case, I am curious to see what else they have in the pipeline for iWork.

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🔗 New Features Coming to Noteflight Learn's SoundCheck Integration

My school district purchased us some music tech services for use in our online classes this fall. I have been meaning to write at more length about Noteflight Learn and Soundtrap, but I am still getting my heels into the ground with them. Both services take time to learn how they are effective in practice, not to mention there are a lot of quirks with how they integrate with our learning management software, Canvas.

I did want to highlight some upcoming features to Noteflight Learn, specifically regarding their new SoundCheck integration which launched this past summer. My district purchased the SoundCheck integration which means that I can give Noteflight scores as assessments where my band students play the notes into the computer and get a score. Some of these forthcoming features are going to save me a lot of headaches and I am glad to see them coming.

Check out the full list in the blog post below from John Mlynczak. I have quoted some of my favorites.

SoundCheck Check One Two:

New Features Coming Soon

We are working on several new features to be made available ASAP. In the coming weeks, here is what you will see:

- The SoundCheck assessment rating will be automatically added to grade book of your own LMS, including Google Classroom, Canvas, Schoology, Powerschool, Brightspace, Blackboard, Moodle, and more.

- Students just need to complete their assignment and use the same “Turn In” button already available in Noteflight Learn.

- All Content Library scores will include a SoundCheck version that can be used right away. You can always edit a Content Library score and create your own SoundCheck version as well.

And the cherry on top for this iPad-loving, late-night, couch worker:

- iOS functionality. SoundCheck currently does not work in the browser on iOS.

Eliminating Canvas Stress by Writing Content in Markdown

Left: A draft of a Canvas page, written in a text file on my computer. I used the Markdown syntax for headings, lists, and links. Right: What the Canvas page looks like once the text on the left is imported into the course page as HTML.

My district’s LMS of choice is Canvas, which is pretty stressful to work with. From most accounts I hear about other LMS software, Canvas is far from the worst. “You go to war with the LMS you have” I once heard.

Lately, I am writing my Canvas content in Markdown and storing it as text files on my computer.

Why?

Canvas is littered with user-hostile behaviors. Each class is a separate container. All files, pages, and assignments are quarantined, requiring multi-step procedures for sharing between courses. On top of this, the organizing tools are a mess. I am never 100 percent sure where to go. Even when I do, I have to wait for the internet to load each new thing I click on.

Instead of one file repository that all courses pull from, each class has its own separate Files area.

Canvas is equally difficult for students. All of the course pages and content are just sort of floating in space. It’s up to the teacher to link the material together meaningful, but the tools to do so are inelegant and unintuitive. My music program has resorted to a website for communicating most general information since it exposes the hierarchy of its structure to our viewers. In other words, we control where every page lives, and our students can get to any part of our site from the navigation bar at the top of the page.

The WYSIWYG web editors you see within most Canvas pages, assignments, and announcements are equally frustrating. They are clunky, the text field is tiny, the buttons for all the tools are ambiguous, and I lose my data if the page refreshes itself or I lose connection. Additionally, it’s hard to anticipate what my formatting will look like before actually clicking the save button.

Lately, I am writing my Canvas content in Markdown and storing it as text files on my computer. By editing in Markdown, I can create content in third-party apps, work with data offline, control where files are organized, search them from the Spotlight, and quickly export as HTML for input into the Canvas HTML editor when I am ready to publish.

Using Mac and iOS Native Apps

I like native applications because the good ones feel designed to look like the computing platform. For example, the forScore app on iOS uses similar navigation buttons and fonts to Apple’s own Mail, Keynote, Pages, and Notes. This way, I don’t feel like I am learning new software.

Native apps that deal with documents store files on my hard drive. I can easily organize them into my own folder system, work on them without an internet connection, open the same file in different applications, and search them from the Spotlight. Document-based apps update your file as you edit your data. Websites often lose your data when they run into issues.

I don’t write anything longer than a sentence or two into the text field of a website. Instead, I draft them inDrafts and move my work to iAWriter for longer projects. Both of these apps can preview Markdown.

What is Markdown?

Markdown is a shorthand syntax for HTML. It empowers me to draft web content without actually writing code. Skim this Markdown syntax guide to see what I mean. You can learn the basics in five minutes.

Drafts and iA Writer have one-button shortcuts to convert Markdown to formatted text or HTML. Here is an example of Markdown, and what it would look like once converted to rich text or HTML.

# Blog Post Title
Here are *three things* I want to do today.
1. Work out
2. Sit in the hot tub
3. Grill some chicken

Let me tell you more about them.

## Work out
Today I will work out on my bike. My wife once said, and I quote:
> The earlier in the day you aim to do it, the more likely it is to happen.

## Sit in the hot tub
This will be relaxing. Maybe I will listen to a podcast there. Here are some recent favorites...
- Sound Expertise
- Sticky Notes
- Upgrade

My favorite podcast player is [Overcast](https://overcast.fm).

Once an app like Drafts or iA Writer converts the Markdown to rich text, it would look like this:

A good Markdown app like iA Writer will convert the syntax to rich text for you and copy it so that you can paste it into an application like Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or your website.

I could have just as easily exported the resulting rich text to a Word document or Google Doc and all of the formatting would have been properly executed.

iAWriter can also export my Markdown as HTML like this:

<h1>Blog Post Title</h1>

<p>Here are <em>three things</em> I want to do today.</p>

<ol>
<li>Work out</li>
<li>Sit in the hot tub</li>
<li>Grill some chicken</li>
</ol>

<p>Let me tell you more about them.</p>

<h2>Work out</h2>

<p>Today I will workout on my bike. My wife once said, and I quote:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>The earlier in the day you aim to do it, the more likely it is to happen.</p>
</blockquote>

<h2>Sit in the hot tub</h2>

<p>This will be relaxing. Maybe I will listen to a podcast there. Here are some recent favorites...</p>

<ul>
<li>Sound Expertise</li>
<li>Sticky Notes</li>
<li>Upgrade</li>
</ul>

<p>My favorite podcast player is <a href="https://overcast.fm">Overcast</a>.</p>

Because Markdown can be converted to HTML automatically, I have found it less stressful to actually write my Canvas pages, announcements, and messages to parents in Markdown and then pasting the resulting HTML into the HTML editor of Canvas. I store my Markdown files in a folder of text files, with subfolders for each course. I have favorited these folders so that they are always accessible in the iA Writer sidebar. These folders are easily accessible. Because I am writing in plaintext, the result feels much more like writing in a simple note app than it does a word processor.

iA Writer links to folders of text files on your hard drive. But it looks like a simple note app.

Here is an example of a Canvas announcement intended to be shared with one of my band classes early this fall. It contains an embedded Google Form families sign as an agreement to our policies. Markdown and HTML can be written in the same document and iA Writer treats it all as HTML when you export it.

I got the HTML embed straight from the Share menu of the Google Form setup. I didn't need to know any code to make this message!

On the left: a Markdown document that contains HTML code for a Google Form embed. On the right: pasting that as HTML into the HTML editor in Canvas.

How the resulting announcement appears to students.

EDIT: When I wrote this post, I fogtot to add one benefit to having all of these files on your computer… even though Canvas messages don’t support formatting like headings and bold, I draft those in iAWriter too. It is SO much easier to find and re-use old emails I have sent to parents when they are searchable from my computer. Have you ever tried to search your Canvas ‘Sent’ folder? It’s terrible! Local computer copies for the win!

🎙 #12 - Making Music and Podcasts Using Soundtrap, with Meredith Allen

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Meredith Allen, Sales Enablement Manager at Soundtrap, joins the show to talk about using Soundtrap in the music classroom to create music and podcasts, getting acquired by Spotify, and wearing hard pants.

Show Notes:

• Soundtrap

• MusicFirst

• Prompts for Making Beats (Link to the Soundtrap Packet I mention in the episode)

• Soundtrap Lesson Plans to Inspire Your Classroom Activities

• Me in a Minute Podcasting Lesson Plan

• Spotify

• Anchor

• Gimlet Media

• Joe Rogen acquisition

• VLC Media Player (and file converter)

• Reddit | Animal Crossing Turnip Exchange

App of the Week: Robby - Permute Meredith - Innovators Compass

Album of the Week: Robby - Dreams Come True | Love Goes On Meredith - Rocketman Soundtrack

Where to Find Us: Robby - Twitter | Blog | Book Meredith - Twitter | Website