This blog is working double-duty. I thought about actually posting it twice, just with different titles, because you’re getting 2 tech tools for the price of 1 in this post! You see, I know about Snotes and have used them often, so I just wanted to write a post in which I share this cool, fun, secret message maker with you. That was the easy part. Here’s what a Snote looks like, by the way:
Have you seen them? If you tilt your screen (phone, tablet…whatever you’re reading this on) so that it’s eye-level and parallel to the floor, you’ll be able to see words take shape. Those words actually go in 4 directions, so if you continue to rotate that circle, a secret message will appear. Snotes are just fun! I’ve made these for everything from BreakoutEDU clues to sappy little love notes for my husband (yes, really!) Oh, you don’t actually have to pick up and rotate your whole computer screen – the site lets you view them interactively. As a matter-of-fact, that Snote above does some cool animation stuff, so click HERE to see that particular one in action – it’s pretty awesome!
Normally, I’d use the rest of my blog to show how to use Snotes – y’know, walk you through the steps.
That’s where iorad comes in. That one is fairly new, and it’s been on my “to learn” list for about two months. This seemed like a pretty great time to try it out. Iorad is an EXTREMELY cool step-by-step automatic tutorial maker, and it’s free! I installed the Chrome extension, and now whenever I want to demo a website, I can click on the icon and it starts recording my every click, scroll, and keystroke.
It then creates a set of GPS-like directions for every single thing that I do. Iorad doesn’t record my voice or anything like video, it just tracks my inputs. When I’m done, I just click that extension icon again to stop the “recording” and it gives me a fully editable set of directions!
I do take advantage of that ability to edit. I find that iorad is very diligent in its tracking, and I don’t need every single scroll or input to actually be relevant to the directions I want to give. I can type in my own words and customize the specifics. When I’m done, I am provided with a link that I can send directly to my friends, staff, or blog readers!
Check out this view that the end user sees when they open my link:
I love that the end user can choose the “Try” version on the left, which is a more supported tutorial that has the user actually perform all of the steps by entering words, clicking where I clicked, and scrolling or hitting commands EXACTLY as I did when I made the tutorial. The option on the right is more like the “driving directions” we all used to print out when we used MapQuest – it’s a list-type overview.
If you look really closely in the gray bar at the lower left of that image, you’ll see that it says “Kerszi made this in less than 8 minutes” – and that was with the command editing!
I’d really love it if you try the iorad tutorial I made for Snotes, so you can see exactly how it works on the user end, so here’s the link: How To Create A Snote
I’m a Technology Integration Specialist. My entire job involves teaching others to use educational technology tools, so iorad has just become another best friend! I’m still going to use my good old screencasting tools, of course, but just as we try to differentiate our instructional strategies to reach all student learners, I’m thinking that iorad may be a preferred learning modality for many of the adults and teachers I teach, as well! Good stuff!
I always LOVE to hear what you think of the tips, tools, & tidbits that I share here, and I also really love when you share ideas for how you would USE the tools. Please share if you get a chance. You can reach me on Twitter @kerszi, here at my WordPress blog , or I have a Facebook page called Integration Innovation.
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