Interactive tool for students to present without standing up in the room

Tellagami is a very solid app. It is well used in our elementary schools and loved by our students. I would like to see an app update. The most recent update is over 18 months ago, and while the app is solid, new features and an interface update would be nice since it does feel clunky at times. Our kids love using Tellagami as an option for culminating projects. Since the end result saves as a video in iPad Photos, we can put it and share it anywhere we'd like. It is versatile and unique - there's nothing else like it!

I think this is a great way to engage students in learning, to get students collaborating and to share what is happening in the classroom to a wider community. I also like that the app allows you to upload any picture for the video. This capability allows students to explore and describe almost any concept in fuller detail. I have students that love Vines- This software taps into that interest, therefore inspiring new more vivid learning in the classroom. Students complete these assignments on their own phones. They are able to take them home, edit them and send me the final copy. So glad students are ignited to share their learning with a wider community.

Overall, this app does cool things. However, it would be hard to use this app as a tool for thinking. Instead, it's really just another fancy way for students to present something that they already know (i.e. cooler than powerpoint, but still a presentation). One major downside to this app is that the free version can only be up to 30 seconds recordings. Unless students are very succinct, it could be challenging to finish their message in that timeframe. Additionally, the gami could either motivate or distract. If you have students that obsess over playing with the details, they might spend more time dressing their gami than focusing on learning. I think this app might work well as an assignment extension if students finish their work early. For example, students might choose to extend their thinking by recording a Tellagami presentation if they finish editing their writing/report with extra time to spare. I really don't think that this would be a good use of instructional time--just for the sake of using technology--to make all students use this app as some type of assigned project. I think it could take away learning time to create the gamis and deal with multiple retakes to get the message recorded accurately within the short, 30-second window.