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Derek A Barr
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Chemistry Professor Jayashree Ranga is using an “interactive whiteboard” app called Explain Everything to offer additional assistance outside the classroom to about 60 General Chemistry students with proven success. Highly technical subjects such as mathematics and science can be imposing subjects for students who must study them as general education requirements, and extra help is often needed to perform well. However, asking for help can be difficult. Feelings of fear, embarrassment or simple time constraints can prevent students from scheduling that crucial meeting with their professor that could save their grade. How can one professor tasked with teaching dozens of students offer closely guided extra help? Professor Ranga has discovered an effective and efficient answer in using the Explain Everything app in tandem with YouTube and Canvas.
Explain Everything refers to itself as an “interactive whiteboard.” Just like a physical whiteboard it allows professors (or anyone) to add visual clarity to a complex lecture. The app’s advantage is that its product is entirely digital and can therefore be shared, replayed, and analyzed. Not to mention it’s very affordable at only $3.99 USD. Explain Everything is a simple tool to use. First, the user uploads any file with a mainstream format such as image files, Powerpoints and PDFs to the app. The user can then record their voice and add helpful animations like a laser pointer, text boxes, and other visual aids over the uploaded file. The design is reminiscent of projecting a worksheet or diagram onto a whiteboard and writing over the image. The app then saves the voice recording and effects as a video file. Integration with Google Drive, Dropbox and other cloud-based file sharing tools allows the user to quickly and easily upload files to and from the app. For the student, the end result is a video with engaging visual helpers that augment explanation from the professor. Professor Ranga uploads the videos she creates to a course YouTube channel and shares links to the videos on Canvas where students can easily find them.
Hosting the videos on YouTube is free and provides helpful learning analytics. Professor Ranga knows exactly how many views each video has, when they’re viewed and which videos are the most viewed by her students (see figure 1). Professor Ranga says that this information helps her tailor in-class lectures by focusing on the topics most viewed on YouTube. The videos are available indefinitely, allowing students to come back for a refresher while they do homework or before an exam.
According to Pew Research and the National Science Foundation, American students lag far behind their international counterparts in math and sciences, including chemistry. The president of The University of Maryland Baltimore County, Freeman Hrabowski, said in an interview with CNN that many students feel they aren't cut out for the material when in fact instruction “wasn't innovative enough." Apps and web tools like Explain Everything are an affordable and powerful resource for educators searching for ways to help students succeed.