In a post last month we looked at Promethean’s Cloud Based Lesson Creation and Presentation tools – ClassFlow. In many classes at primary and post-primary level, pupils are using tablet devices to enhance learning and classroom engagement. To facilitate two way communication between teachers and pupils, Promethean have developed a number of Smartphone and tablet apps that allows the teacher to engage pupils by connecting to and activating pupil devices.
ClassFlow Teacher Remote app
To free up teachers from conducting lessons at the front of the class at the board, Promethean have developed a ClassFow Teacher Remote app. This free app is available for Apple IOS and Google Android smartphones in the respective app stores. Using the ClassFlow Teacher Remote app, a teacher has flexibility and can conduct his/her lesson while supporting an individual pupil or small group from anywhere in the classroom.
The teacher can:
- Move forward and backward in lessons using the relevant button.
- Send lesson cards from the digital projector and teaching computer/interactive whiteboard to connected tablets and computers used by pupils simply by clicking on the send button.
- Control access to a lesson session using the pause/play button.
- Use the smartphone camera to take a photo that can be projected onto the teaching computer/interactive whiteboard.
To get started using the Teacher Remote app, a teacher must have first logged into http://www.classflow.com and launched a lesson. Next the teacher must sign in on the app and connect to a lesson that is already running.
Versions of this Classflow Teacher Remote app are available for Apple IOS and Google Android Smartphones and Tablet devices
ClassFlow Student app
Promethean have also developed a ClassFlow Student app. This is a free app and is available for Apple IOS, Google Android and Microsoft Windows based tablet devices (including Windows RT ) in the respective stores. Before using the app, the teacher should set up his/her class(es ) on the ClassFlow 
website. Once this has been done, the teacher chooses a lesson to deliver to his/her class. Once the lesson is being presented at the front of the class, the teacher clicks on the Connect Classes icon and an unique class connect code is displayed. The design of the ClassFlow student app has been quite clever in that pupils are asked if the tablet device is their own or shared with other pupils when the app is launched and they go to connect with their teacher’s lesson. They are also prompted as to whether they have the same teacher or different teachers whenever they use their tablet. Pupil’s answers to the questions are remembered in the app settings, though these details can very easily be reset if required by clicking on the gear icon in the top left hand corner. To sign in, a pupil must enter his/her name and the class connect code. On the next screen, a pupil should see his/her name on the class roster, click on it and click on the join button.
The main features built into the ClassFlow app for teacher/pupil interactions during a lesson include:
- A pupil can connect with his/her tablet to a class lesson on display on the digital projector and teaching computer/interactive whiteboard.
- Pupils can receive any lesson content shared and sent to their device by the teacher.
- Pupils can answer any poll questions (Text, Number, True/False, Yes/No/Don’t Know, Multiple Choice, Word Seed etc.).
- If the teacher sends a Creative Poll question, pupils can answer by annotating and/or manipulating lesson content, create their own drawings, notes, etc. to send back to the teacher at the click of a button (see screenshot)
- The teacher can display pupil work sent back from a pupil’s device to the teacher which can subsequently be used for class comments, peer review, brainstorming, discussions etc. on the teaching computer/interactive whiteboard.
ClassFlow Teacher app
The ClassFlow teacher app is an app that a teacher can purchase from the Apple iTunes or Google Play stores. It costs €6.99 and will provide the teacher with a suite of tools to deliver his/her lesson using an IOS or Android based tablet computer from anywhere in the classroom. As with the free ClassFlow Teacher Remote app, the teacher must first have launched the lesson using a browser on the desktop or laptop computer in the classroom. Once the lesson is up and running using the ClassFlow Teacher app a teacher can connect to the lesson that is running by signing in with his/her username and password on the app running on the tablet device. Once the app has launched the teacher will be offered to connect to the lesson As Full Presenter or Connect As Remote. If a teacher decides to Connect as Remote, the features offered will be similar to the features listed above for the Teacher Remote app. The As Full Presenter option, gives a teacher the full range of tools similar to those available to a teacher presenting a lesson at front of the classroom at the board. These include:
- Select and manipulate items on your lesson card using the Select tool
- Take a photo using the camera tool and your tablet’s camera
- Annotate any cards using the Pen tool
- Add text to a card using the Text tool
- Draw shapes using the Shape tool
- Insert New cards and sync cards
- Run a poll and view the results privately on your tablet
As Promethean are continually developing the ClassFlow platform if you find one of your apps isn’t working, your first troubleshooting step is to check that you have the latest version of your app installed on your phone or tablet device.