Snapguide: Visually Express Your How-To Content
Here’s a tool for you to express your how-to content. Snapguide is an iOS app that lets you jot down instructions in a simple, already formatted spread–you just add your text, images, and videos. And much like Twitter and Pinterest, you can follow other users and mark favorites guides to revisit later. Myriad how-to’s are posted in a swipeable step-by-step format, complete with author’s name and picture, plus the social media buttons to like, comment, share, and even embed the guide.
Screenshot from iPad.
Screenshot of Snapguide on the web.
Snapguide aims to be a place for users to develop how-to content, inspire others to learn new things, and share what they’re passionate about (gathered from this AdWeek article). Because this app matches some basic needs of instructors around the globe, Snapguide is popping up in educators’ blogs and other social media outlets. Also, make sure to follow this pinner’s page dedicated to Snapguides 4 the Classroom.
Use Snapguide in Your Course
Snapguide was built to be super simple to use and to create guides. Guides are divided into 17 categories like Arts & Crafts, Games & Tricks, Music, Outdoors, and Technology.
Create a guide when you have a process to share with students. The app walks you through documenting a process in real time, so students benefit from seeing your ideal example with real possibilities and implications. Or assign your students to document an experiment or learning activity with Snapguide. And this tool includes the ability for students and instructors to comment on an entire guide, or even the specific steps of a guide.
Viewers can comment on entire Snapguides and individual steps.
Direct students to your Guides page that holds various guides about your expectations or instructions. These instructors and professionals have created pages to contain their guides:
- Candace Townsley–Technology Curriculum Integrationist
- Lisa Johnson–CEO & Founder of TechChef4u LLC, + many tech ventures
- Shelly Mowinkel–Business and Technology Instructor
- Ron Jaxon–Semi-professional magician, graphic designer
You’ll find helpful guides on any topic, including guides worthy of sharing with other instructors on how to integrate activities into the classroom. For example, this instructor uses images + video to explain How to Teach Newton’s Playground: (Click View the Guide to see it in action.)
Start Your Snapguide
These guides will help get you started in Snapguide: How to use Snapguide and How to Create a Guide on iPad. To create a guide, go to the App Store and install Snapguide (iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch). The quickest options are to connect an existing Facebook or Twitter account, but you can also create a Snapguide account using your email address. Shoot photos or videos (up to 60 seconds per video) in the steps of your process, add text instructions, then publish your guide. That’s it. You’re only limited to an iOS device if you’re creating guides. The Snapguide team is currently perfecting its iOS platform, so use this tool to create guides using your iDevices. Anyone can view guides–Snapguide is formatted to work beautifully on a tablet, mobile phone, or desktop browser. Hint: Helpful guides include a typed-out objective at the beginning. Other guides even include an FAQ slide. Read all the helpful details on Snapguide’s FAQ page.
Check Out More of Our Favorites
- Former advertising director wrote this fabulous guide with great graphics How to Have Creative Ideas.
- How to Play Piano- Scales & Chords–good example of how a conversational tone functions well with an instructional layout.
- How to Use Strong Verbs–simple guidance for students.
- Show students how to complete a task that’ll assist their project–How to Use QuickTime to Capture Video.
- Guide for following a political process–How to Lobby an MP in the UK
- Students can present their steps and work in completing a long-haul project, like in How to Build a Bridge
- How to Prepare for a Roadtrip (Ultimate Car Checklist) shows the benefit of typing out objectives to use as instructional headers before images and video.
- How to Tear an Apple in Half! uses simple text and short video–you’ll want to master this trick.
Share Your Experiences
How have you used Snapguide in your course? What instructions or assignments would most benefit from the visual format Snapguide provides? If you’ve started your Snapguide guides page, please share a link with us!
This is especially useful for online courses since you don’t have the face-to-face time and have to be much more clear when giving instructions or explaining how to perform a certain task. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Melanie. Snapguide is such a simple and visual way to make and view step-by-step guides. You can also share them easily through Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and more. I also like how you can use Snapguide to make how to’s for other tools, like this Snapguide that teaches how to use Quizlet, yet another useful tool. http://snapguide.com/guides/study-your-word-family-words-using-quizlet/