Notability

Notability

By Ginger Labs

£1.49

Available for iPad

App enables you to digitalise signing and filling in forms quickly and efficiently.   Whether copyright form, to reference request, to banking documents.  Typically or not these documents are sent as hard copies or PDFs therefore require to be printed completed and sent back via the post.   Notability enables you to process the forms quickly and efficiently and email back the forms to the recipients.   However, also provides the user with the functionality to add photos from camera or photos, figures, web screen dump, “post-it-note” and audio recording to a document.

In terms for education Notability can really come into its own, educational work sheets can be filled in electronically by students.  The app supports variety of languages, answers can be typed or hand written onto the sheets, can make entries very neat with the zoom feature including you handwriting.   The sheets can be submitted back to the tutor via email or viewed in class, just as handwritten complete tutorial sheets assessed in class.  

However as an academic I find Notability a great assessment feedback tool.   I use Notability when I am feeding back using an assessment rubric.  I use the handwriting tool to ring the assessment criteria and grading, type feedback text in the text boxes, and I can even sign and date the feedback sheet.   However, the piece de resistance is the fact that Notability has audio recording functionality enabling me to audio record, rich and detailed feedback, to provide greater feedback clarity.   The resultant document and audio file are emailed direct to the student(s), with clear instructions in the email as to what they are receiving that is attachments of feedback assessment rubric as PDF file and audio wav feedback file.   Students are positive about this feedback approach, as shown by the following student’s reflections;

“The audio feedback was very helpful it allowed me to amend my work accordingly and go through it as if my tutor was walking me through it.   The grid provided me with very precise description of what I had achieved and what I had not. Overall I think the most helpful element was the audio format which provided very useful in modifying my work accordingly.”

The only niggle with this app is that you cannot pause the audio recording, if you press stop and start again a new audio file is created.  Personally I would prefer a pause, as when I am audio recording feedback I like to start, stop, collect my thoughts and then begin audio recording again.