Today, a new education app launched in the iTunes App Store and as you can tell from the title of this post, I have really great hopes for it.
The idea behind it is pretty simple as ShowMe turns your iPad into an interactive whiteboard with recording functions. Recorded lessons can then easily be uploaded to the ShowMe portal. On the portal students can search for ShowMes in lots of different topics, vote on them, comment and share them with their social network or even embed them like the one below.
[iframe src="http://showmerecorder.easellearning.com/sma/embed/?s=475" width="580" height="500"]
The process of creating a ShowMe is very easy. You start by creating an account on the ShowMe portal, download the app, log in to your account via the app and start a new ShowMe. A fresh whiteboard will open with a tool bar on the left where you can pick a drawing tool, an eraser, different colors, insert a photo and of course record the ShowMe. When you are done, you give the ShowMe a title, a description and some tags, just like you would do with a YouTube video. I suggest to invest in a stylus that is compatible with iPads, costs about $15 on Amazon.
I am playing around with ShowMe for about two weeks now and I believe it really has big potential. It’s fairly easy and intuitive to use, no bells and whistles. As it runs on the iPad, I create a quick lesson basically anywhere I am which is a huge progress for my Deutsch Happen project.
What I also like is the calling on the ShowMe portal below the featured lessons: “Think you can do it better?”. It resonates pretty well with Salman Khan’s answer on the criticism he is receiving lately for not being accurate enough etc.
I am excited to have San Kim, the founder and CEO of Easel, the startup behind the app, for an EDUKWEST interview tomorrow where we are going to talk talk in detail about his personal background, the other apps Easel builds, the partnership with Princeton Review and the future of ShowMe.
