Key to a Paperless Classroom, the Skitch APP

Skitch is a remarkable app that allows students to annotate over images.  I am currently working daily with Bree Campbell , @breeanneshay, at Bellevue East to implement iPads in her English classroom.  We used Skitch in the classroom to it’s fullest potential in our effort to create a paperless classroom and a learning environment that is ubiquitous, not device dependent.

One of the challenges we faced this week was taking a character analysis chart and and transforming it into the digital, cloud-based world so students can interact with the content anywhere. Since the chart contained a table, Google Docs mobile was out, because the table feature is not available yet on the iPad.  We brainstormed several alternatives including Pages, Notability, and Doceri, but settled on Skitch since it allowed students to type on the image, size it easily, save to a camera roll, and can be uploaded to Google Drive.

Step 1:  Getting the image to Skitch

First we tried to take a picture of the paper and import it into Skitch. The quality was of the image ok, but we weren’t quite satisfied.  There had to be an even better solution.  And we found it!

On the computer, I copied the chart from Word (edità Select All-> Copy)  to a PowerPoint slide (New Slide à Paste) and saved the slide as an image, a JPEG. 

To Save a PowerPoint Slide as an image do the following:

      1.     File -->  Save As

       2.    Click the Arrow and select   JPEG from the choices listed.

3.  Voila! A crystal clear chart and NO PAPER!

Note: Remember where you save the image. I like to save to my desktop. 

Then, we e-mailed the image to all the students to save in their camera roll.

Photo taken of the chart.

Chart saved as a JPEG from PPT

Step 2: Editing and Saving the Image

The kids saved the image into their camera roll on the iPad, then opened Skitch, and imported the image.  Each student added information to the chart daily and saved the image to the camera roll at the end of the class period. 

The classroom workflow for the week was, students open Skitch, import their edited image from the previous day, and keep adding content.  On Friday, students saved it to the camera roll and e-mailed the completed chart to us for grading.  

Camera Roll = Save; E-mail = Hand In

Here is a sample of the completed chart:

 Now on to paperless grading!

Written by Ann Feldmann
@techiefeldie