Unleash Your Creativity!

In This Edition:

How can we hone our creativity? How can we encourage our students to think creatively? Sketchnoting can help! —
Learn more about apps for creativity —
Shortcut: iPad Gestures.

Your Weekly Digital Learning Compendium

OUR FOCUS THIS WEEK

Happy Wednesday, Vampires! 🦇

This week we refocus on the AISB Vision: We aspire to be a creative, courageous, and compassionate learning community. How can we hone our creativity? How can we encourage our students to think creatively? One of the many ways that can help learners to do this is by sketchnoting.
We take a look at:
  • WHY sketchnoting is a powerful learning tool for any learner.
  • HOW to sketchnote – the basics.
  • WHAT iPad apps you can use to sketchnote (if you’d like an alternative to paper and pens).
Example of a sketchnote. Created by Sarah H while listening to a webinar in 2020.

WHY SKETCHNOTE?

Sketchnoting is NOT about drawing. It’s not about being an artist. It’s all about ideas.

Sketchnoting is a visual note-taking method that combines words and images to help people retain and understand information more effectively. The power of sketchnoting lies in its ability to tap into different learning modalities and engage both the right and left sides of the brain.

Studies have shown that people remember information better when it is presented in a visual format, rather than just text. Sketchnoting takes advantage of this by combining words and images to create a more memorable representation of the information. The act of drawing also helps to engage the right side of the brain, which is responsible for creativity, spatial awareness, and pattern recognition.

Furthermore, research has also shown that people who take visual notes are better able to recall information and understand complex concepts compared to those who only take traditional text notes. Sketchnoting can also improve problem-solving skills and critical thinking, as the act of summarizing information and creating visual representations helps to clarify and simplify complex ideas.

In this 15-minute video, art educator Sherrill Knezel explores the power of listening, and argues that incorporating sketchnoting in professional, academic, and everyday life can create opportunities for learning, growth, and widespread change.

SKETCHNOTING 101

If you would like to give sketchnoting a try, take a look at this 37-minute video, called ‘How To Do Sketchnoting (Even If You “Can’t Draw”!)’. The video is clearly marked with chapters, so you can skip the parts you are not interested in.

UPCOMING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

Sketchnoting in Freeform for Beginners with Sarah H
Thursday, Feb 16
3:15 – 4:00pm
ES Makerspace
Add to your Calendar

APPS FOR CREATIVITY


 
Freeform is a relatively new Apple system app, available on iPad and iPhone. Apple describes it as “a powerful new app designed for creative brainstorming and collaboration“. As with many of the Apple apps, it is versatile and can be used in many different ways. If you don’t see it appearing on your AISB iPad, it will be added automatically once you update your iPad to iOS 16.3.

HERE is a 3-minute on-the-fly quick intro to Freeform!
 
Sketches School is another app that we use at AISB on the iPad. Easy to use, with a variety of pens, brushes, and colours, it can be used as a simple digital whiteboard.
Apple staples, Pages and Keynote, are also good choices for digital brainstorming, sketchnoting, and more. You could even collate your brainstorms/sketchnotes as digital books here! The possibilities are endless…

SHORTCUTS – iPAD GESTURES

There are many different ways to get to where you want to go. Knowing a few iPad gestures can help you navigate between apps quickly and efficiently. This week – two different gestures that activate the app switcher!