We are completely excited to roll out version 3.0 of the Write About This app! Several of the changes and new features will enable teachers and students to have more customization. The most drastic change to version 3.0 is the ability for users to create their own profiles. This means that individual student work can now be organized by student name and profile image to allow for easier access to writing pieces and a more polished finished draft!
Unlimited Profiles
The Write About This app can store an unlimited amount of profiles. This means that all of the students you teach and all of the students who use each iPad can house their work on the iPad under their author name. This allows students to have ownership of their work through a writing portfolio within the app.
Custom Default Email
Sharing student work with the adults in their lives just got even easier! Connect an Author Profile to a specific email address to allow for kid-friendly sending. As always, sharing by email can be enabled in the Setting and an overall default email for the class is still available and will apply to every profile.
New ‘Edit’ Button
Students or teachers can quickly view/play back an author’s completed Write Abouts or enter back into the editing screen for a work in progress. Taking ownership is one of the key transformative elements of students becoming creative writers.
Easy Viewing with the Option to Filter by Author Profile
You can view all student work comprehensively or filter by a specific student author. This helps students and teachers see collaborative and shared writing pieces as part of the learning community as well as provides the ability for teachers to see specific author writing portfolios. Teachers and students can easily toggle between viewing a specific author profile or all users on the iPad by using the filtering button in the bottom right hand corner of the app!
Tips for Utilizing the Author Profile Feature
Here are some suggestions for using the new author profile feature to support your classroom management and instruction:
- Set clear expectations for students and their author profiles. Profile names should be appropriate and utilized every time they create a new writing piece.
- Instruct students to maintain the same profile name for all of his/her work
- Set rules for students on restricted editing of work of other authors
- Establish sharing by email guidelines…how often do you want students to send their work to you? To parents?
- Remind students to use the same iPad every time they use the Write About This app
- Emphasize to students that their author profile is a developing writing portfolio for them.
With individualized ownership of a collection of work housed on the iPad, students will feel a greater sense of accountability and responsibility for the work they produce for their author profile. We hope this new feature will not only provide support for your instruction, but also facilitate an improved writing experience for student learning.
Check out this 60 second overview of the updated app in action!
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Lani deGuia is a teacher, instructional technologist, and social media manager. She has over 13 years of educational experience in traditional and online classroom settings for both K-12 and adult learners. She currently works in digital content and strategy for businesses and personally blogs at Rose Tinted Traveler.