by Devin Flynn (writing & research)
Explain Everything is an interactive whiteboard platform where students and teachers are able to collaborate, share, and learn without boundaries. The canvas can take several forms, such as one of the pre-formed templates, blackboards, or the original whiteboard. In these canvases you have an infinite amount of space where you can add in new or existing media including video, PDFs, images, web pages, and text, creating a truly multi-modal form of learning.
A key feature of Explain Everything is the ability to record motion, audio, and visuals on screen which can be very impactful to learning and understanding. By giving students the opportunity to capture their learning in a manner that best suits their specific learning needs. This tool allows for both students and teachers to reflect on the learning and address gaps in understanding as they emerge, while also highlighting student strengths. Using Explain Everything, you are also able to create templates which help to speed up the teaching portion of your lesson and move into the collaborative learning portion.
When it comes to using this tool, whether it is through a smartphone, tablet, or computer, the opportunities that Explain Everything provides is limitless. It truly is a blank canvas with which you can use your own imagination to create the perfect collaborative space for learning.
As a part of distance learning education, teachers can design or upload templates for student to work on synchronously or asynchronously. When using a tablet and computer, you can share screens with the class when done synchronously. This allows you to use Explain Everything as a true virtual whiteboard, mimicking the physical classroom.
There are two main versions that can be used with Explain Everything. The free version lets you create up to 3 projects (i.e. whiteboard), you are limited to 1 slide per project, and record up to 1 minute of video. The paid subscription version you have access to unlimited projects, slides, and recording, along with online storage of these projects. These can be purchased and downloaded through either the website or iOS/Android App services.
Video Resources:
- The Tour of Explain Everything Interactive Whiteboard
- Explain Everything Essentials Tutorial – Introduction and App Overview
- Explain Everything Tutorial – An in Depth look at Features
