My 6 year old granddaughter recently created a multimedia presentation on an iPad with Pictello. The grade 1 school project was a delightful story written, illustrated, and read aloud by Annika. I know that Annika finds my iPad engaging on many levels, so I was pleased that she’d had a chance to use an iPad at school.

It was wonderful that her teacher informed Annika’s parents that they could view Annika’s work online. On the other hand, it was extremely frustrating that Annika’s parents were unable to access it–because they do not have an iPad. I think it’s unacceptable that Pictello, an app that costs almost $20, does not offer export options for convenient universal online access. (Pictello productions can be exported as PDF files, but all audio is lost.) It is also wrong for schools to assume that all parents have easy access to iPads!

So, I was pleased by the recent release of a free app that facilitates the creation of multimedia projects that can be exported as videos, and easily shared with anyone online.

Picle is a free app for iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch that works well for putting images and audio together to create digital stories or multimedia projects. It’s hard to imagine an app that’s easier to use.

Images can be imported from the camera roll. Or, pictures can be taken directly by the app with the iDevice’s built-in camera. Then it’s just a matter of clicking a record-button to attach audio narration or other desired sounds to the image. Alternatively, you can record while taking a picture to capture whatever sound is present when the picture is taken.

Each image, with attached audio, is known as a ‘picle’. Individual picles can be woven together into movies that tell a story. These movies can be uploaded and shared on Picle’s site. Or, movies can be saved to the camera roll and sent from there directly to Youtube. Of course, individual picles can also be shared.

This video was created from 7 picles that I made with images to which I had added text, so it combines visual information with both spoken and written text. For teachers, it is important to present information to learners in multiple ways.  Likewise, it is essential to give learners alternative options for sharing what they know and as for creative expression.

Note: For adding text to images, an a free (ad-supported) app that I have found to work well is Fotolr Photo Studio.