journey00 Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 I have been reading, with great interest, the thread about using the iPad with homeschooling. I have the Notability app and a couple of iPads. Can someone share exactly how to use them together for homeschooling? Thank you! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mysticmomma Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Also curious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Get Dropbox app Install on your computer and on your iPad Put pdf files from your computer into Notability on your ipad via Dropbox You can keep pdfs pfd of worksheet, schedules, etc in Notability It's easy to highlight, annotate, fill in worksheets using Notability Get a stylus for writing on the iPad -- the Targus brand is popular. You can move completed files back to your computer if you wish A lot of curricula that are available in pdf format work wonderfully on the iPad. I especially like it for maps that need to be labelled and colored -- If you run out of space, you can resize and/or move your labels -- no more crowded, illegible maps. The highlight option of Notability lets you a professional looking coloring job. Notability also lets you categorize your pdfs HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 What Alessandra said. I haven't tried the Targus stylus; I have the super cheap ones from amazon that are 10 for $3.00 or so, and they work fine. Occasionally, I'll get a dud one, but for the price, I have no complaints. (My toddler has also destroyed a couple of them, so that's another reason I went with cheap and plentiful.) Dropbox IS really nice for getting files to your desktop for printing, but when my printer dies, I am going to get one of the ones that lets me print directly from the iPad, because Dropbox is limited space (or costs money). Examples of how I have been using Notability for schooling: -PDF of Treasure Island unit study -- Notability lets me write directly on it so I know what we're doing. -Use as paper/white board -- DD sets up a file and does her math practice problems right on it. She likes picking pretty backgrounds and colors -- whatever makes math more fun for her. Very easy to make corrections, including moving things around if we need more room. I just print a few samples for the portfolio, and when the school district sends me the letter approving the portfolio, I'll delete all but the few samples. -I scanned DD's math tests into the computer and turned them into PDFs on the iPad; she just does it right on there and makes it larger if needed. Nice and tidy, easy to correct, nothing to get lost. -I loaded a calendar in PDF form onto the iPad and used Notability to mark weekends and holidays -- easy to plan my year that way. (I also have used Notability as a word processor for making notes about lesson plans.) -DD's worked through a logic book this year, and it's in PDF form on Notability -- super easy with the stylus. -I loaded our science program onto the iPad for next year. I loaded two copies of the student book onto it as well, one for each big kid; they'll do the follow-up sheets right on Notability, and I'll print a few samples for the portfolio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 DD11 has a folder in Notability for science. In it, she keeps her notes, vocab words and test answers (I scan in the tests to a PDF file). She also does math worksheets and writing assignments on the iPad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 We use it too... If you don't want to use Dropbox or just have a few files, you can email them to yourself, click them, and choose "Open in..." and select Notability. I find Dropbox to be a chore, honestly. I use Google Drive when I have a lot of stuff I want to transfer to the iPad. Also, if there's a pdf online, you can download it from there. If you use any worksheet making sites like Worksheetworks then you can save documents right from Safari. And once you get to be a Notability whiz, you can manipulate the pdf - so you could actually shuffle the pages of different things around to make a customized workbook for your child - you could load all the pdf pages for the week into a single file like a worksheet packet or you could splice together a bunch of different things to make a custom language arts book or a custom all the pages of math drills and math about long division or whatever book. It takes some getting used to. There's a zoom in box and you have to get used to writing in that. But it really only takes a few weeks of use. I also use Notability to just take notes and have them organized and available (instead of scattered across a bunch of physical notebooks). I also use it as an idea board - I'll cut and paste photos from the web onto a file and write on top of them like a messy bulletin board. I've made worksheets on there - draw it out, print it as a pdf for as many kids as you want and incorporate your drawing and typing and images - way easier than on the computer or the old-fashioned literal cutting and pasting and photocopying method. And we also use it like a sort of smart board - writing down, erasing, adding, working math problems, taking notes, etc. It's such a versatile program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarynB Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 If you don't want to use Dropbox or just have a few files, you can email them to yourself, click them, and choose "Open in..." and select Notability. I find Dropbox to be a chore, honestly. I use Google Drive when I have a lot of stuff I want to transfer to the iPad. Also, if there's a pdf online, you can download it from there. If you use any worksheet making sites like Worksheetworks then you can save documents right from Safari. We use Google Drive instead of Dropbox as well, for transfer and storage/backup. Love the autobackup feature. For non-PDF things that I used to print in hardcopy and now want to convert to PDF instead, I use a free tool called PrimoPDF (creates a PDF file out of the document for you), then use Google Drive to transfer the PDF to the iPad. It might sound complicated, but if I can do it anyone can. I learned about both here on the boards. :coolgleamA: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 One thought - if you email things to your iPad, and your kids use the same iPad. you might want to set up a dedicated account, so that dc don't look at/deleter/whatever your regular email. Well, maybe your dc would not do this, but I know it could happen with mine. :banghead: Oh, and some people find it hard to use the magnifying feature and to write with a stylus. Some younger kids might prefer pencil and paper -- YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 One thought - if you email things to your iPad, and your kids use the same iPad. you might want to set up a dedicated account, so that dc don't look at/deleter/whatever your regular email. Well, maybe your dc would not do this, but I know it could happen with mine. :banghead: Oh, and some people find it hard to use the magnifying feature and to write with a stylus. Some younger kids might prefer pencil and paper -- YMMV. Oh my. My kids have their own email set up on "their" iPad and mine is one mine. I think they wouldn't do that... The magnifying thing does take getting used to. At first, I thought we weren't going to like it. I tell people to give it a few weeks of good use if you can stand it. But yeah, some kids will prefer paper. Ds prefers paper and makes me print out his MM or MEP sheets. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Oh my. My kids have their own email set up on "their" iPad and mine is one mine. I think they wouldn't do that... The magnifying thing does take getting used to. At first, I thought we weren't going to like it. I tell people to give it a few weeks of good use if you can stand it. But yeah, some kids will prefer paper. Ds prefers paper and makes me print out his MM or MEP sheets. Oh well. We have one family iPad. It's all we need really, but I am a bit envious when I receive an email that ends, 'Sent from my iPad.' I believe one could adjust the setting to enable/disable email, but I know I would forget. I had high hopes that dd would do MM and logic workbooks on the iPad. She did a few workbooks, but prefers pencil & paper. I don't want to put barriers in the way of learning. So I just bought a cheap per page laser. I am not looking forward to keeping track of all the new paper! But ds's school handouts are on Notability. I realize they are identical to his pdfs on a computer, but they seem easier to read on the iPad. No logical reason -- iPad is simply more appealing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
journey00 Posted April 23, 2013 Author Share Posted April 23, 2013 Thank you very much for taking the time to post be steps. I love it!!! I uploaded school stuff! This is really neat, I've been playing around with it for a couple of days now. I just added an iPad scanner app that will send PDFs to my drop box. Thanks again! Get Dropbox app Install on your computer and on your iPad Put pdf files from your computer into Notability on your ipad via Dropbox You can keep pdfs pfd of worksheet, schedules, etc in Notability It's easy to highlight, annotate, fill in worksheets using Notability Get a stylus for writing on the iPad -- the Targus brand is popular. You can move completed files back to your computer if you wish A lot of curricula that are available in pdf format work wonderfully on the iPad. I especially like it for maps that need to be labelled and colored -- If you run out of space, you can resize and/or move your labels -- no more crowded, illegible maps. The highlight option of Notability lets you a professional looking coloring job. Notability also lets you categorize your pdfs HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 Thank you very much for taking the time to post be steps. I love it!!! I uploaded school stuff! This is really neat, I've been playing around with it for a couple of days now. I just added an iPad scanner app that will send PDFs to my drop box. Thanks again! Oh, tell me about the iPad scanner app! Sounds like something I could use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
journey00 Posted April 24, 2013 Author Share Posted April 24, 2013 It is called Tiny Scan and the basic version is free. You take a pic of a document then e-mail, or open in: Notability, Adobe Reader, Kindle, Dropbox. It is neat because don't have to scan into computer then put into Drop Box & Notability. You can scan & turn into pdf doc on the fly. That's the theory, anyway. If you upgrade to the "pro version there's dedicated buttons to print, Dropbox, Evernote, Goggle Drive, and Box. In the free version, the "Open in" will give you Dropbox option so I'm not sure what the benefit is to upgrade to pro for the Dropbox. I just thought it was kind of neat. lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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