Awesome iPad App: Explain Everything

In a previous post I mentioned an easy to use screen casting app called Educreations. Explain Everything takes that concept and adds some powerful tools and features. Explain Everything is powerful yet easy-to-use design, screencasting, and interactive whiteboard tool that lets you annotate, animate, narrate, import, and export almost anything to and from almost anywhere. Create slides, draw in any color, add shapes, add text, and use a laser pointer.


Explain Everything is available from the iTunes app store for $2.99. Discounts are available from Apple’s VPP. No accounts are needed to use the app or share projects.

Explain Everything is a very powerful interactive and screen casting app. It has a lot of features that can make it appear daunting. It has the flexibility to import almost any file type and export in a variety of ways. As such, it’s difficult to provide all of the steps in one short tutorial such as this one. The best way to learn how to use this app is to play with it. The steps presented here are simple steps to give you an overview of what can be done with it.

1. The tools are down the left side. Tools include pen, shapes, text box, inserting an object (such as a photo/video, browser or sound), laser pointer, object manipulation, zoom, and undo. Long hold on any tool to access settings for that tool
2. Add and navigate through additional slides.
3. Audio controls for narrating your project.
4. Tap the timeline tool to scrub through and edit your timeline.
5. Export options for saving drafts and exporting pictures and/or video.

Integration Ideas

• In primary grades have students take a picture of a drawing and explain their work.
• Record steps in a procedural essay.
• Have students explain how they grouped or sorted objects.
• Create a book trailer.
• Present any information such as a biography on an explorer or report on a planet.
• Describe the way a bill becomes a law.
• Students record themselves working through a math problem.
• Teachers can record any type of lesson for students to view as a blended classroom.
• Create a digital story.

Download the Tech Integration Challenge for Explain Everything and see if you are up to the challenge!