Our middle school language arts teacher uses this app and loves it! It was his first time last year teaching Shakespeare to students and it was a huge success, in large part due to this app. Our 8th graders our one to one with iPads.

Shakespeare in Bits is one of the best uses of media I've seen to create a fully annotated book. Each of five of Shakespeare's most famous plays are recreated in light animation with voice actors who bring the text to life. As each scene is performed in the animation, the text to the right of the video window changes color as it is spoken. Archaic and difficult words are highlighted in yellow, and the student can tap those words to find their meaning. Symbols along the left hand side of the text can be touched to reveal information about the language, history, or themes in the play. A "Notes" button replaces the play's text with ideas and themes the reader might not have picked up on while a "Synopsis" button gives an extensive explanation of the scene in modern language. A "My Notes" button allows students to write their own notes about the text. One of the best things about the Shakespeare in Bits app is it's multi-modal approach to the play-- using animation, voice acting, and interactive text. The extensive notes can be accessed within the text without having to look at footnotes or an appendix, and as a result, students are more likely to explore them. Students can watch the animated story continuously and simply immerse themselves in the language or go phrase by phrase through the text and explore it deeply. This is an excellent resource for teaching with Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, or A Midsummer's Night Dream.

Shakespeare's plays enhanced through the iPad, web, and desktop apps MindConnex is a Dublin (Ireland) based company that has released five of William Shakespeare's plays Shakespeare in Bits rubric, including A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, and the subject of this review: Macbeth. All of the plays are unabridged. I initially thought that the "bits" aspect of their title was a play on words suggesting computer bits, but the company's web site claims that it refers how the plays are presented "in a way that enables them [students] to read, digest, understand and appreciate the text in bite-sized chunks or 'bits' – either at home or as part of an organized class tutorial." Each "bit" is no longer than about a 1.5 minutes, with many shorter than that, and presented in a very simple style of animation. The application is used on portrait orientation on an iPad, with animation occupying the left side of the screen and text of the play (with current dialog highlighted in red), or note about the play, a synopsis of the scene, or a place for students to enter their notes on the right. The animation can expanded to occupy the entire screen but in doing so you lost the option for displaying sub-titles, a very useful feature for anyone who may struggle with comprehending accents or the unfamiliar vocabulary and syntax of Elizabethan English. An unobtrusive soundtrack plays in the background, helping to set the mood. Headsets are recommended to be able to hear whispered dialog. Among the most useful features of the products are the annotations which provide additional information to students about historical context, language, theme, questions for students to consider, and miscellaneous facts. Readers should be encourages to use these guides as they are presented to acquire a more complete understanding of the play. At $14.99 per title, how does Shakespeare in Bits stand-up against other options in the iTunes store? One can find plenty of free versions of the text of all of Shakespeare's plays. If you're looking for supporting commentary about the plays, iBook versions of Cliff notes (the bane of teachers and savior of many a student) can be had for $1.99. There are also several versions of the film that may be purchased for about the same price as the application, iTunes U has free audio versions of the play as well as relevant lectures from university scholars, and of course there are a multitude of note taking applications for the iPad. Fortunately, site licenses are available and schools may be able to acquire the software at a steep discount, starting at $5.00 per student per year. There are also desktop versions for Mac and PC (www.mindconnex.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=21), as well as a browser-based option (siblive.shakespeareinbits.com/siblive/). Note that the browser version requires Adobe Flash, with rules out the option for Safari on iOS devices. The significant advantage afforded by Shakespeare in Bits is that everything the teacher needs for teaching the play are available in one simple application. But as with most all-in-one solutions, there are compromises. The animation and acting lack the power of film versions of the play. The note taking is for individual students, lacking a social component of blogs and wikis for class discussion. The plays are in English only, which may limit their usefulness in some classrooms. Nevertheless, I find that overall I like the product quite a bit and would give it serious consideration if I was teaching Shakespeare in grades 7-12.