App Review: Outliner for iPad
Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 9:50AM App Title: Outliner for iPad
Developer Website: CarbonFin
iTunes Link: Click Here
Grade Level: MS, HS, College
Purpose: A+
Program Functionality: A+
Overall Educational Value: A+
Cost: $4.99
Description / Recommendation:
Have you ever needed to make a shopping list, to-do list, check list, organize your thoughts, etc.? If you have ever needed to do any of these things (and what person hasn't needed to do at least one of these things on more than one occasion), then you need to check out "Outliner for iPad".
Outliner allows the user to quickly make any kind of list (shopping, to-do, etc.). What I thought was really great about it is checklists can be checked off in the program, without needing the list to be printed off, though that is an option, if sent to your email account.
Once you get used to typing on the iPad, making notes in Outliner becomes a breeze. Be warned though, several users have complained about Outliners limited compatibility with external keyboards for quick formatting of outlines with indentions. Using the onscreen keyboard poses no problems though. I do not have an external keyboard and never plan to purchase one, so this is not an issue for me. So if you are like me, you should find the $4.99 price tag very reasonable for this product.
Outliner works perfectly well in landscape or portrait mode. In landscape mode you have the list of all created lists on the left side of the screen. In portrait mode, this is available through a drop down menu at the top of the screen.
Click the plus sign (+) in this menu to create a new outline or list. Then click the arrow/+ sign button at the top to add your first item. By default the item is an empty checkbox, but this can be turned off by accessing the info button right next to the add new item button. You can type a brief title for the description and then add more detailed information using the paper icon on the right side of the screen.
If you want to nest your next point in your list/outline, use the new item icon with the diagonal arrow. Otherwise you can create a new item by using the regular new item button or by hitting return In the edit mode.
At any point you can change a bullet point into a checkbox or vice versa. You can also change an unnested bullet point into a nested one by selecting the point and using the arrow buttons at the top right of the screen. You can also reorder the points by clicking the crossed arrows and then selecting the post by touching and dragging the item by using the three bars image on the right side of the screen.
Outliner automatically saves the lists/outlines for you, but you must manually change the title for each one. To do this, you must click the info button on the top right. You should see the default title "Untitled" at the top. By touching the title, the keyboard pops up to allow you to change the name to anything you want.
You can also email your list either as text or OPML format (standard outline format, but requires outline software to read it properly). I discovered that a text email is just fine. To email the list, you can touch the menu button at the top middle of the screen and selecting to send an email. You can also copy the entire outline/list or part of it using the menu button as well. This allows you to make duplicates very quickly.
As I said earlier, this is a terrific outline/list creating app. It is very easy to use and has all of the features you would want in such a program. I highly recommend using Outliner for iPad.
Classroom Use Examples / Ideas:
This app could be used by students for creating outlines for book reports or other types of writing assignments. They could also use it for creating checklists to help them monitor if they have completed ever part of an assignment or project.
Teachers could use this as a grading sheet for presentations or other projects. They could quickly fill in notes about each category, checkoff completion of various components of the project, or for creating rubrics. These rubrics could be mailed to students, or printed as needed by sending them to an email address to be printed later.
Other:
If you are an iPhone or an iPod touch user, there is an Outliner app available for $4.99 for you as well. Outlines can be shared between both versions of Outliner.
Images:
Click images to see full-size screenshots of Outliner for iPad in action.
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App Review Made in Outliner for iPad (#1)
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App Review Made in Outliner for iPad (#2);)
Outliner for iPad in Landscape Mode
*This app review was created by Trevor McGarrah and cross-posted on his blog at Edutechnophobia with permission.
Productivity, iPad, list, outline, outliner | in College University, High School, Middle School, Teacher Tool ;)
