Imagineering iPad Educational Apps
The folks at Penguin books have been doing some imagineering, inspired by the soon-to-be released iPad:
The imminent launch of the iPad has galvanized our children's publishing teams to think about how the work they publish can be reinvented for devices where touch and sound and movement can enhance stories and provide a rich engaging experience for children raised as digital natives. The video below doesn't show real working applications, or even prototypes - more they are imaginings of the things we think we might be able to do and perhaps will be doing. Look out for them in an app store near you soon...
If you can't view this YouTube version in your current location, try the mirrored version on Vimeo.
I can't wait to see what my kids are going to be able to draw on the iPad with Brushes! (I'll just have to figure out how to get a F2F or virtual teacher for them, since I'm a poor artist and don't know how to use Brushes well.... yet!)
Hat tip to Fastcompany via Google Fast Flip.
Technorati Tags:
edtech, technology, video, ipad, children, penguin, imagine
Putting Learning In Student Pockets: Mobile Learning at Oklahoma Christian University #heartlandconf10
These are my notes from Berlin Fang and Luke Hartman's presentation "Putting Learning In Student Pockets: Mobile Learning at Oklahoma Christian University" at the 2010 Heartland eLearning Conference hosted by the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. MY THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS ARE IN ALL CAPS. The Heartland eLearning conference is on Twitter, has a conference blog, and a Facebook fan page.
I GOT TO THIS SESSION ABOUT 10 MIN AFTER IT STARTED.... I AM SO THRILLED TO BE ALBE TO HEAR FROM BERLIN, BECAUSE I REALLY HAVEN'T HAD MUCH OF AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN DIRECTLY ABOUT OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN'S LAPTOP INITIATIVE. ALL STUDENTS THERE HAVE MACBOOK LAPTOPS AND IPHONES / IPOD TOUCHES.
Website where session resources are: ni.oc.edu (blog)
EduCause Quarterly article: From Distraction to Engagement: Wireless Devices in the Classroom By Berlin Fang
very difficult to make the case for using mobile technologies with faculty
- search for YouTube: professors vs gadgets
Big ban theory
- Univ of Memphis Law School cut off Internet access in the dorms
- I don't think this is the answer
- I'm from China, we're familiar with banning technologies
- when you are banning something in the classroom, you are sending very negative messages to students
Messages we hear when restrictive approaches to technology are used:
- Innovator, early adopter, early majory, late majority, my professor"
- I don't rust you can put learning in your own hands"
Contain or channel?
- story: in ancient China there were 2 kings facing flooding problems
- 1 king built a dam, but that never worked
- the 2nd king learned a lesson: he built channels and canals to take the water to where it was needed, and to the sea
- I think this is a very wise strategy
- instead of banning the laptop and technology, we should channel this
Great wall of China:
- didn't start as a tourist attraction
- one of our earliest dynasties built this
- this was one of the shortest lived dynasties in Chinese history
- hopefully we can learn something from this history
lots of faculty members are going to this mobile technology learning concept with lots of screaming and hair pulling
- we've beeen thinking about this and experimenting with it a lot
faculty complain students are distracted, students are not listening to my lectures any more, their device is a wall between them
Jyri Engestrom: Univ of Helsinki: "Historically accumulating ......
standing in front of the blackboard
- movie "Serious Man" screensnap
triangle: message, medium, and method
- most people focus on the medium (laptop, online course)
- actually your teaching METHOD and MESSAGE has to change as well
students should be required to reassemble your content and message in some way
another triangle: subject, object, and community
We encourage faculty to tell students guidelines and rules at the start of class
traditional teaching: teacher is control of EVERYTHING
How NOT to integrate mobile technology
- failing to motivate ("cool" does not motivate faculty)
- creating fear of job security
- having a bad introduction
- taking vendor promises too literally
- leaving tech to take charge
- failing to adapt to change
- having tech dominate teaching
Showing Tom and Jerry cartoon (maid, "sorry to disturb you Master Thomas")
- See WikiPedia article for "Push-Button Kitty"
HQ Tom & Jerry 070 Push Button Kitty
- "that cat must be tenured"
- change comes anyway
- Mechano: The cat of tomorrow
- "progress / the machine age"
- students adapt to the changes
Integration into the classroom:
- motivate learners
- organize content
- be the model
- institute rules
- leverage tools
- evaluate results
Cane's conditions of learning
- 9 instructional events
Iowa State contract with students:
"If your cellular phone is heard by the class, you ar responsible for completing one of two options" (singing a song, etc..)
Enriching the class
- attendance app
Creating opportunities for collaboration
- 3 Amigos analogy
We use wikis for collaboration
Our "InTouch" application on iTunes can be used for students to find each other
Oklahoma Christian instructor who used podcast capture to share his lecture during the blizzard
another example: Extending the classroom, "Food for Thought"
- instructional tech support followed him to the grocery store, to his kitchen
- he has many short videos like this
- I never get paid for extra work like this, but I get good BBQ to eat!
Teach - Listen - Produce --> submit
Mobile rehearsal
- extracts music for different parts, stores it in iTunesU
- students download them, and can listen to them as many times as they want
- students can record their performance using iMovie, and submit it via BlackBoard
- students say they love it, because they are learning at different speeds
- computer tech never tires of playing a song over and over
- mp3 formats: students can also use their mobile devices
I asked Dr Adams why he asked them to record a video instead of
Last example: James Dvorak teaching Elementary Greek
OC iTunesU - 10210SP-REK-5113-01 - Course Video
Now hearing from Luke Hartman
inTouch Native App
- mobile version of MYOC (campus portal)
- converge campus information
Pulls class info from Blackboard
- pulls media, course specific files where instructors can put media files specific to their course
Have LIVE updates from laundry room of available washers and dryers
- menu on demand
- gives access to any type of media
- showing videos plaing within
Used the iPhone simulator to create the video deoms he's using
Feedback app allows for polling
- realtime feedback
- similar to clicker devices
Here app: is attendance taking app
- lets students enter a password that the faculty member gives them
- or faculty members can click on a student's face to take attendance
- easy way to take attendance
WOW: I WANT THIS!
We have 3x5 application: a flashcard app, can create your own flashcards
- can create decks online
- cycles through them
See intouch.oc.edu for iPhone app info
Technorati Tags:
app, apple, edtech, heartlandconf10, iphone, ipod, #heartlandconf10, oc, touch, integration, tech
Don’t just blame the kids: Adults face social media challenges too
When the topics of cell phones, social media websites, and digital technologies come up in conversation, I frequently hear adults bemoan teens and and their inability to exert proper digital discipline with these interactive tools. Today's Associated Press article, "Courts Cracking Down on Texting Jurors," highlights the fact that plenty of adults face social media challenges too.
Last year a San Francisco Superior Court judge dismissed 600 potential jurors after several acknowledged going online to research the criminal case before them.
Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon challenged her misdemeanor embezzlement conviction after discovering five jurors "friended" one another on Facebook during the trial.
And a federal judge in Florida declared a mistrial after eight jurors admitted Web surfing about a drug case.
Twitter and social media use guidelines have been adopted by some federal courts to address these issues:
"You may not use any electronic device or media" in connection with the case, the recommended federal instructions admonish. They also bar visits to "any Internet chat room, blog, or website such as Facebook, My Space, LinkedIn, YouTube or Twitter."
The guidelines were developed "to address the increasing incidence of juror use of such devices as cellular telephones or computers to conduct research on the Internet or communicate with others about cases," according to a memo to federal judges from the committee's chief, U.S. District Court Judge Julie Robinson of Topeka, Kan.
"Such use," the judge noted, "has resulted in mistrials, exclusion of jurors, and imposition of fines."
Just as judges in our courts are recognizing the need for "social media guidelines," some educational leaders are recognizing the need for these guidelines in our schools as well. Social media guidelines go beyond acceptable use policies (AUPs) and rules. They are guidelines designed to catalyze CONVERSATIONS about appropriate and inappropriate uses of digital technologies in various contexts, and to GUIDE individuals as they make decisions about when to use or not use available technology tools.
While it may be appropriate for courts to ban mobile technologies, this is NOT the correct choice for our schools and centers of learning. If educators as well as parents continue to abdicate the responsibility to help students learn "digital discipline," who is going to meet this dire societal need? We each need to step up to the plate.
Karen Montgomery and I presented a session at the 2009 National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) on social media guidelines for schools, and created a Facebook group with the same focus / theme. In our Powerful Ingredients 4 Blended Learning (PI4BL) workshops, we encourage schools to adopt social media guidelines as part of ongoing efforts to proactively leverage the constructive power of social media and other digital technologies.
The Social Media Guidelines wiki project is a great place to start to find examples of social media guidelines adopted by different schools. Cell phones, text messaging, and the issues which arise when learners of ANY age choose to use (or mis-use) these tools are NOT going away. We all need to discuss and practice digital discipline. Next time you have jury duty, remember to leave your smartphone behind and take a printed book to read while you wait!
photo credit: Cayusa
For an excellent window into current trends with social media and digital technologies, see the PBS Frontline special and website, "Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier." This documentary aired in February 2010, and is available in its entirety online.
Technorati Tags:
education, facebook, school, twitter, myspace, court, juror, jury, ban, socialmedia, media, policy, guideline
Cell Phones R 4 More Than Texting: Let’s plan for them, not ban them!
These are my notes from Kay Tibb's presentation "Cell Phones R 4 More Than Texting: Let's plan for them, not ban them!" at the 2010 MACE (Mid-America Association for Computers in Education) Conference in Manhattan, Kansas. MY THOUGHTS AND FEEDBACK ARE IN ALL CAPS. Kay is the Technology Director for USD 353 in Wellington, Kansas.
I worked at the Challenger Learning Center before it closed because of lack of funding
years ago all 40 of my students had Palm Tungsten handhelds
- we discussed what learning with a Palm looks like...
- I let students sync their Palms to their home computers at home
- I was so amazed by what my students did with their Palms
- they loved working with their Palms
- I had a student who had MAJOR behavior disorder issues: when he had that Palm in his hand and was doing his science lesson, spelling, etc he was a whole different person
Favorite story: that student was doing a game instead of his spelling
- I said, "you know the rules, you all made them, I didn't..." and that was all it took
cell phones are so much like that now...
Palms had old technology called a "tri-beam"
- let the Palm go out to the internet, that was 7 years ago, there were VERY few sites that were mobile compatible
Today there are a pletheora of mobile sites
- are even some sites that let you change YOUR site to be mobile-compatible
My district does not YET let our students use cell phones during the day, but I am working on that with our administration
- I have some supportive teachers, and some teachers who are absolutely, positively against it
- I want to open it up so those teachers who WANT to allow the use of cell phones for learning
Cell phone as an organizing tool
- calendar: assignments are due
- appointments with counselor
- calendars can take the place of the agendas
The other day I asked someone in our 1600 student district how much we spend on agendas: almost $7000 per year now
- that is a LOT of money, that is just for the middle and high school (that $7K is for just those 900 students)
98% of our kids, even in 5th grade, have a cell phone now
no one is modeling the use of this cell phone / mobile technology for students
- you don't have to add anything to your curriculum
- just start using them in respectful ways, and ask the students to use them in respectful ways
I can guarantee you high school students don't lose their cell phone
- make sure kids pay for the insurance for their cell phone, so they can get a new one if it goes swimming
taking notes
- even the cheapest cell phones have a notes section
- notes are time stamped: so you can use them as a hall pass time/date stamped
Also task lists
- what is due and coming up
store passwords
my cell phone has a password keeper
Voice notes: record homework instructions, parent questions and quick reminders
most phones have a voice notes feature, I don't know of a phone (even the cheapest ones like Jitterbug) have a voice note feature
calculator
- basic calculator comes on most cell phones
Erate helps pay for telecommunication devices, including CELL PHONES
THAT IS A GREAT POINT. INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW: WHAT SCHOOLS ARE USING ERATE NOW TO PAY FOR STUDENT CELL PHONE USE PLANS
Website access
I AM WONDERING ABOUT CIPA COMPLIANCE FOR STUDENT-BROUGHT CELL PHONES?
Digital Disconnect
- studies show economic status does not seem to be a factor in ownership of cell phones among students
- the digital divide is no longer between economically advantaged and disadvantaged, it's between digital natives (students) and digital immigrants (teachers)
- cell phones are essential tools students use to communicate with the world around them, inside of school learning is isolated from students' everyday technology culture
- cell phones are not going away! Let's plan for their use as a learning tool
- we need to demonstrate good digital citizenship
If you would take my cell phone away, that would be like taking me off of life support
Countering what we heard in Janet's preso this morning, studies show students do NOT know how to use technologies responsibly and how to learn with
- we need to embrace these technologies, like laptops these devices are NOT going away
now some cell phone companies are MAKING consumers buy data service
- our kids are bringing these devices with unfiltered access now
FCC is not about to block cell phones in schools: they do not block them in movie theaters
Polleverywhere.com is one of my favorite websites
- lets you create instant polls for cell phones and allows up to 100 votes for free
[I THINK THAT IS NOW LIMITED TO 30 FREE VOTES PER POLL]
You can see the results of polls immediately, use this as a student response system
Drop.io
- free, you don't have to give your students YOUR cell phone number to have students send you voice messages, pictures, and text messages
- audio can be downloaded as a mp3
Google Voice
- I love this! It transcribes my phone messages to text
- does a pretty good job of transcribing
We will use Google Voice for today's scavenger hunt
- you will text me first so I'll have your cell number (students don't have to have a GV number, just the teacher does)
Liz Kolb's book "Toys to Tools" has a great example letter that you can use to send home to parents
Cell phone Scavenger Hunt
1- Text your name to my Google Voice number
2- Answer the question on the screen (with PollEverywhere)
3- With your table/group make a list of ways you could use drop.io (or any digtial dropbox) with your students
4- Text or call my drop.io # with your group's ideas
I JUST REALIZED SOMETHING THAT MAY BE OBVIOUS TO EVERYONE ELSE, BUT NOT ME..... WHEN PEOPLE SEND A TEXT MESSAGE TO YOUR GOOGLE VOICE ACCOUNT, IT'S FREE... THERE IS NO CHARGE/FEE FOR THOSE TEXT MESSAGES! (FOR THE RECIPIENT) WOW!!!
One of the most important things I learned when using Palms with students was that I didn't have to know everything!
- this can be very empowering for your students
Technorati Tags:
#mace2010, mace, mace2010, cell, phone, mobile
Top 10 Education Apps for iPod Touch and iPhone
Following the lead of Lucy Gray, I've created and shared a "Favorite Education Apps" curated list on Appolicious. These are my "top 10 education applications" for the iPod Touch and iPhone, for students in intermediate / secondary grades.
All of the above apps DO work with the iPod Touch, with the exception of Pano which is iPhone-only (at this point) since it requires a camera. AudioBoo does require a microphone, so if your older iPod Touch doesn't have one consider getting a ThumbTack mic. All of these listed apps are free except Pano, it costs $3.
In case you are accessing this page in a location where Flickr is blocked, here's my list in text form!
AudioBoo: This is a great application for quickly posting geo-tagged images with audio. Ideal for field trips!
WordPress: People learn to write better when they write more frequently, and often when the write for an interested audience! This Wordpress app can be used on classroom team blogs by students as well as teachers, who have different access/publishing rights.
Evernote: When you are learning it's important to take notes. Evernote lets your notes "live" in the cloud, so you can access them on multiple platforms.
Pano: Learning can and should be documented with lots of images. Pano lets you create "stitched" panoramic photos using multiple shots.
Google Mobile App: Google's tools for writing and collaboration, like Google Docs, are ideal for students and teachers. This app provides mobile access to your Google-verse.
NASA App: NASA has a lot of rocket scientists working for them. Generally we don't get to hang out enough with these folks. This app can help.
Read It Later Free: Sometimes Internet access is not available, but you still want to read/access web content. Read It Later can help.
Stanza: Stanza not only lets you read eBooks, it also has a desktop app you can use to create and sync your own.
StoryKit: Create and share an electronic storybook. Helping learners become authors is a BIG deal. This app helps.
Google Earth: GE can be great to help students make geographic connections to different topics and concepts in the curriculum.
[end of list]
Other apps I ALMOST included in this list but didn't are:
- Brushes ($5)
- Dropbox (free)
- MobileRSS (free)
- Epicentral (free)
- Touch Physics Lite (free)
What's on YOUR list of top education apps for the iPod Touch or iPhone?
Remember there can be no CREATIVITY without CREATION. I love apps which empower learners MAKE / CREATE stuff!
My complete library of iPhone / iPod Touch apps is available on Appolicious. If you are surprised by some of the titles, remember this is a comprehensive list of ALL the apps our family has and uses, including my 3 pre-teen kids!
Technorati Tags:
edtech, iphone, app, application, ipod, ipodtouch, fav, favorite
Posting iPhone Photos from Email to Facebook
This afternoon my wife received the following photo in her iPhone email, of our daughter last week acting as "The Wicked Witch of the West" in her school's shortened rendition of "The Wizard of Oz."
This was a great photo, and I wanted to share it with others via Facebook. I'm not sure if these steps are obvious to everyone, so I thought I'd share the procedures we followed to get this photo from my wife's iPhone email onto my Facebook page. (If my wife used Facebook she could have done this directly, but up to this point she's been largely a social media Luddite.)
Step 1 was to have my wife email me the photo. Once it was in my iPhone's email, I clicked on the image and chose SAVE IMAGE. This was Step 2: It put a copy of the photo in MY iPhone's photo library.
Step 3 was posting the photo to Facebook. Using the iPhone's Facebook application, I clicked on the NEWS FEED option and then the PHOTO button beside the "What's On Your Mind?" / update field. This brought up the CHOOSE FROM LIBRARY option for photos and videos.
I selected the photo from my iPhone photo library, added a caption, and clicked POST.
Done!
While I maintain offline backups of all my digital photos, in addition to the web-posted versions on Flickr, my wife does not. I spoke with the husband of one of her friends who does the same thing today (rarely EVER syncs her iPhone to a laptop or desktop computer) but had an iPhone crash this weekend which MAY result in her losing ALL her saved iPhone photos. Do you know of an iPhone application which lets you copy / backup your photos directly from your iPhone to a server-based backup service? I use PixelPipe to upload photos and video to both Flickr and Facebook on the go, but this isn't really an "archival" backup application / service. If you know of an application that does this and can recommend it, I'd love to learn what it is and share it.
Technorati Tags:
iphone, facebook, photo, share, sharing, post, copy, email, apple
Can you imagine this much global sharing?
Jesse Thomas designed and animated the 4 minute video "The State of The Internet" for his presentation at AIGA Baltimore in February 2010. The style is very similar to the "Did You Know" video series. The statistics which blew me away are the numbers for Facebook sharing, as well as botnet / zombie computer growth. Yikes. There's never been a better time to run a Mac or Ubuntu!
JESS3 / The State of The Internet from Jesse Thomas on Vimeo.
The "Did You Know" video series was updated to version 4.0 in September 2009. Many of the statistics in Jesse's "The State of The Internet" video are (coincidentally) also from September 2009.
H/T to Tony Vincent via his delicious links for sharing "The State of The Internet." I was delighted to learn Vimeo auto-detects the iPhone's Safari web browser and provides an iPhone-compatible version of videos for mobile viewing, as YouTube does for many videos. I subscribe to updates from my own delicous network (of which Tony is a member!) and originally saw the video on my iPhone, after seeing the link in my Google Reader education feeds.
It's hard to believe the pace of technologically driven change appears to be "only" just heating up.
Technorati Tags:
internet, growth, stats, statistics, did, you, know, video, visual, visualization
Panoramic Fieldhouse Photos in Manhattan, Kansas and Norman, Oklahoma
Thanks to the generosity of family and friends, my daughter and I attended the Kansas State versus Colorado men's basketball game last weekend in Manhattan, Kansas, and the Kansas State versus Oklahoma men's basketball game in Norman, Oklahoma, today. I used the $3 iPhone application Pano to capture a panorama inside each fieldhouse. Each of these photos is 7-8 separate, portrait images stitched together on-the-fly, via Pano.
Pano rocks! Thanks to Marco Torres for telling me about it when we were in Maine for ACTEM09.
Since then, I've taken a BUNCH of panoramas! It's definitely one of my favorite apps in my iPhone app library.
Technorati Tags:
manhattan, norman, pano, panoramic, photo, ksu, kstate, basketball, fieldhouse, ou
Poll Results: How much would you / your school pay for PollEverywhere?
Here are the results of the two polls I included in this weekend's post, "PollEverywhere grappling with Monetization and Free Educator Plans." There were 24 respondents to the first poll, and 20 respondents to the second. Those participation totals are not sufficient to give these informal polls much statistical power, but they do highlight the amounts some educators think they and their school would be willing to pay for the web service functionality of PollEveryWhere. Mouse over / click each graph and choose FULL SCREEN to view them at a higher resolution.
PollEverywhere co-founder Jeff's post, "Should we even offer a free product for educators?" has received sixteen comments to date. One of them is from Brad, the other co-founder of PollEverywhere, who wrote:
What if we offered some sort of community support for educators? What would this look like amongst you folks? What tools/websites would you prefer to use to support other teachers who want to use Poll Everywhere in the classroom? This idea is particularly intriguing to me because all of you will run circles around us in understanding the pedagogical applications of Poll Everywhere, and probably come up with some videos of our product being used in the classroom that we'd love to blog about.
One of the best things which could come out of a learning community, or simply a collaborative project like VoiceThread4Education, is a list of examples for how a particular tool or website is being used by students and teachers in classrooms. Particularly when tools are used in engaging, complex lessons, I think a great deal can be learned not only about HOW (from a technical standpoint) a particular tool can be used, but also WHY it is used to achieve specific objectives.
It is a very small example, but last semester my 4th grade daughter was asked to conduct a survey for her math class. Students came up with the question they wanted to ask, and then tracked results as they asked people their question. Sarah asked, "What is your favorite Girl Scout Cookie?" and built the survey with PollEverywhere. She then posted it to our family learning blog, and received over 150 responses. Of course, the fact that I tweeted out a request for others to respond undoubtedly boosted the response rate for this survey. It was fun to both watch these responses "come in" live, and also discuss the results.
One of the best assignments my seventh grade math teacher (Mrs. Allen at Manhattan Middle School, in Manhattan, Kansas) gave us as a class was to create our own "word problems" for extra credit. She used these (often creative) word problems at the start of class as a warm-up activity. Gathering and analyzing live data with survey tools like PollEverywhere can have multiple classroom applications, extending far beyond math classes. I think a learning community where educators share these types of classroom uses / applications is a great idea.
Technorati Tags:
cellphone, mobile, monetization, monetize, poll, polleverywhere, polling, survey
Wordpress for iPhone 2.2 Even Better
The ability to mobile-blog with a smartphone is a powerful capability for Storychasers. (Including Geo-Storychasers!) I have been using the free Wordpress for iPhone app for several months now, and am pleased to learn the latest 2.2 version not only supports comment moderation but also comment editing AND replies. Mobile blogging tools keep getting better!
The iPhone and iPod Touch Application by Leslie Fisher
These are my notes from Leslie Fisher's METC 2010 presentation, "The iPhone and iPod Touch Application." MY THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS ARE IN ALL CAPS. Follow Leslie on Twitter: twitter.com/lesliefisher
Welcome to the iPhone class.
I am a 10 year Apple veteran. I didn't buy the iPhone because I was on Verizon and I was bitter.
There are now over 200,000 apps on the iTunes store
- over 200 apps are released daily
today we will talk about favorite apps, some tips, more
This phone loves to eat battery
- this is a baby personal computing device
I ask people, "how often do you use your iPhone as a phone?"
- you need to have a gameplan: battery recharger
3G is the biggest battery sucker
- if you know you are not going to be near a charger, turn off 3G
Bluetooth also drains your battery
WiFi is always looking for a network, it always drains your battery
Location services: find the nearest .... drains the battery
dimming the screen really helps
turn the phone off, the battery is going to be safe
I started to carry around some accessories for charging
Kensington: $40 and $70, recharges your device fully in 45 minutes
- works like a charm, great to include in emergency kit
Solio: a solar powered battery charger
- Brad Pitt got in touch with them as part of his "Make It Right" project and got these to Katrina folks
- holds a 10 hour charge
If you are part of a natural disaster, turn your phone OFF
- you will drain batteries so fast looking for a network
- hang out with other people
Mophie Juice Pack
- case has a battery charge in it
- adds 2x to 3x to battery life
- $100
SHE DIDN'T MENTION THE ENERGIZER IPHONE BATTERY PACK, AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON
- MILI is also available
Some cool cases
- Slider by InCase, $35
Company Speck, has Quickdraw case
Things you can do, tips
- make a screenshot by pressing home and power button at the same time
hold down the .com" button to get more choices like .org, .net, etc.
- can also hold down other keys like "n" to get other character choices
the "jeweler's loop" is the magnifier you can use to select specific text
Handout: How to use the top 40 iPhone 3.0 features
I use AppShopper.com - lists all iPhone apps as they are released
Notepad by Polar Bear Software
- a lot cleaner
Now sharing EverNote, note synching server, FREE
Favorite Twitter App: Echofon
RTM = Remember The Milk
- app is free, but to use the sync feature you have to pay $25 per year
- this is a great to-do list
I WOULD LOVE TO SEE A TO-DO LIST APP THAT IS COLLABORATIVE
File syncing: now showing Dropbox
- creates shared folder on your computer
- move files to that shared folder, it syncs with your folder on the web
- your shared folder automatically has an images folder
- you can share those directly
- you get 2 GB free
I am a .Mac user but I still use Dropbox because of the image option
Anyone else have problems with spelling on your device?
- Duck You Undo
iVideo Camera for 2G and 3G Phone
Why does iPod Touch not have a camera? People buy the iPhone because it DOES have a camera. It's all about the price point for Apple.
Mapping Apps
- Loopt: online location services meets social networking
Around Me: 99¢ to get rid of the ads
- I love this for finding close restaurants,
Geocaching: Now official app for $10 (remember that is 2 kids' happy meals)
i-Finder (I can't find this online)
Navigation
- CoPilot Live, $35 for regional map, does great with points of interest
- TomTom: $100 per area, expensive and not very good
- Navigon: $100 per area, is default GPS in Toyota, Audis, etc (does pretty good with points of interest, tells you lane to switch to)
Navigon is my favorite GPS unit on the market now, but price is pretty steep
If you're on a budget, get Motionx GPS Drive, just $3 and provides turn by turn directions
- voice-based directions cost $20 per year
- can cache maps in advance
- does points of interest files
- not as assistive as Navigon, but for $3 how can you go wrong
LOOKS LIKE NAVIGON IS NOW MOBILENAVIGATOR, COSTS $70
Now some "not-so-productive" apps
Skip It lets you shake your phone to skip songs
Beejive: works on all IM clients
- will capture text messages you weren't online for to email, SMS, and re-populates your app when you connect
I LOVE TripIt
I AGREE, TRIPIT ROCKS!!!
Sports App: Check out Sportacular Pro
USA Today news app lets you push them out to Twitter
CNN app has ads, but their real agenda is getting you to submit an article as an iReporter
- if you want to have money, call CNN first to sell a report rather than just giving it away as an iReporter
UStream: watch live events as they happen, or broadcast them
- 3 apps now: Viewer, Recorder, and Broadcaster
Yelp is great because of the user-generated reviews
- recommendations for things to order
- can turn on the camera, and it will show you what restaurants are in a particular direction
KAREN LIKES OPEN TABLE FOR MAKING RESERVATIONS
Fast Food Premium
Wacky Stuff
- Viper SmartStart
- USAA check deposit app
- Red Laser
Favorite games:
airport mania
jet set
Sudoko Grab: lets you take a picture of real Sodoko board and it makes an iPhone version
very addictive: Words with Friends
- Scrabble with Facebook
Now for education: Web 2.0 apps
- AudioBoo.fm $5 for the app
- great way to share with parents
Ocarina: turns you iPhone or iPod Touch into a pan flute
- also are virtual kazoo, trumpet, etc
Star Walk: Uses GPS coordinates for stargazing map
Iridium Flares: shows you where satellites that are reflecting sunlight are and when
Official NASA app: Mission tracker, mroe
Assistive Applications
- we are NOT using this device NOW for assistive needs, people with disabilities
www.proloquo2go.com
- replaces a device that costs thousands of dollars, costs $180
- kids can tap out things they could use with AAC system
- imagine this when iPad comes out
Dragon dictation: speak into your device, get a text file
iMagnify: turn your device into an 8x magnifying glass
Roller Coaster Physics
MotionX GPS: personal waypoints, trackers, stopwatch
Crazy Machines: use a variety of items to build your own machine
- remember the game "mousetrap?"
Quickpedia
iTranslate Plus
Google Earth
Favorite resources for iPhone apps, have about 70 pages of favorite apps
Technorati Tags:
iphone, ipodtouch, apple, app, applications, metc_csd, metc, metc2010
iPad, OER, and Custom Course Web Applications / iApps
I shared the following as a comment today on Kevin Gaugler's post, "In which the second edition of the textbook might be an app." Kevin wrote:
Before Apple’s big announcement today, I made a prediction that Apple’s device would disrupt the textbook industry and consequently education, particularly language education, as we know it. Apple has built its iPad on the same popular platform that runs both the iPod Touch and the iPhone and has added a bookstore to its iTunes application called iBooks. Perhaps the next edition of our textbooks, however, won’t necessarily be found in the iBooks section , but rather in the Apps section. The advent of the iPad could quite possibly cause us to re-envision our educational materials as ecosystems that seamlessly direct text, audio, video, social networking and gaming toward a singular set of learning outcomes rather than just an e-book. Remember that when the iPhone was first launched, it did not include an Apps store, so the amazing functionality of the device was not entirely realized until developers rethought previous assumptions about the phone. So, too, I predict, will we see new kinds of learning affordances over time via the iPad.
I responded by writing:
I hope you're right about the iPad and Apple's emerging role as disruptors of the textbook industry, and I've shared similar hopes/predictions on my blog too. I think Apple's view of DRM is key to this question, however. Timothy Lee's post yesterday, "The case against the iPad," is a good read on this topic since he takes issue with Apple's vision of sharing in our web 2.0 world. At this point, I don't think we see Apple truly embracing the disruptive power of Open Educational Resources. I do acknowledge that Apple is a corporation naturally focused on quarterly profits, just like every other corporation, but as a company it has historically stood for values far bigger than "just" profits. I'd love to see Apple officially embrace technologies which support OER. I'm concerned that most the Apple advocacy I've seen in the past year for iTunesU is done because as a company Apple wants everyone to get an iTunes account with a credit card. That was something Steve Jobs mentioned in his presentation this week. That comment was significant, as well as the opening comments about how many billions a year Apple makes. I think Apple stands at an important crossroads when the textbook industry COULD be constructively disrupted, and OER could play a HUGE role in that process. Hopefully this will happen, but I think Apple will need to place emphasis on OER formally and not just promote the iBooks store.
I love your concept of instructional materials not "just" as an eBook but as an interactive app. I've been utilizing different tools this semester in my own course to create "learning portals," and I would love it if every one of my students had a mobile device which could access our "course app." It's safe to say many of my students are overwhelmed with all the new tools and "places" to find content that we're using this semester. I think an app could really focus and simplify this for them. This fall I learned about mobilAP, and would be intrigued to use it or something else like it to build an interactive mobile web app I could use with my classes. I particularly would like/need functionality where RSS feeds could be added to the app. Are you aware of other free tools/platforms like mobilAP, or other reasonably priced software tools which would support his kind of "classroom app building?"
Technorati Tags:
apple, itunes, textbook, oer, disrupt, disruption, industry
Predictions for the iSlate on Wednesday: Apple Gambling Big to Redefine Digital Literacy
Before sharing more of my own speculations about Apple's highly anticipated product announcement coming this Wednesday, I'll echo those of John Siracusa in his New Year's post, "Antacid tablet:"
I have no inside information. All of the predictions below are purely speculative. If you don't want to read yet another blog post about what someone thinks the Apple tablet will be like based on nothing more than intuition and guesswork, click away now. No purchase required. Void where prohibited.
That post by John as well as Philip Elmer-DeWitt's New Year's post, "Tablet: Big iPhone or thin MacBook?" are two of the best I've read to date attempting to stare into the crystal ball of Apple's computing future. I shared some of my ideas last fall in my Oct 1 post, "Apple iPad rumors, Netbooks, and Commodifcation," my Christmas day post, "Get ready for an exciting year to read (and share) media," and my Jan 5th post, "Access your notes even after your textbook subscription expires." To those ideas, I'll add the following conjectures.
1. iSlate Videoconferencing
Ever since I saw Steve Jobs demo the iPhone at MacWorld in January 2007, I've been dreaming of ubiquitous videoconferencing with a portable device MUCH smaller and lighter than a laptop. The iPhone has the camera on the wrong side for videoconferencing. I don't think that will be the case with the iSlate. I predict we'll see a built-in webcam, just like we do on Mac portables today, and it will have full support for videoconferencing with both iChat and Skype. I think the device will be sold with optional cellular service, but it won't be a lock-in for AT&T only. More providers will be able to sell service on the device. Either way, with 3G or 4G cellular data connectivity or with Wifi, I predict the iSlate will revolutionize how we think about videoconferencing. This is a BIG deal, and I think it will be a revolution.
2. Redefining Textbooks with Interactive Multimedia
As I guessed in my Christmas day post, "Get ready for an exciting year to read (and share) media," I think iTunes U is going to play a pivotal role in the new iSlate's success. The tea leaves are pretty clear to see, if you have watched the rise of iTunes U functionality in the latest versions of iTunes. Every Apple rep I've heard at conferences has been touting iTunes U. This isn't an accident, in my view, it's part of Apple's strategy to focus market attention on what WILL hopefully be a revolution in the textbook industry. I hopefully predict Apple will succeed in disintermediating the textbook publishing industry the way it has opened the door to digital music publishing and purchasing. I predict we'll see multiple textbook publishers share the stage with Steve on Wednesday, announcing not JUST the availability of digitized eBooks on the iSlate (like the Kindle and Sony eReader offer, essentially) but truly MULTIMEDIA eTexts and INTERACTIVE books. I'm betting the iSlate will be an ideal publishing platform for the Technology 4 Teachers curriculum I'm continuing to write/develop this semester, based on the Powerful Ingredients for Blended Learning framework I'm co-developing with Karen Montgomery. Lecturecasting portals like the one I've created this term for T4T are going to be ideal for the iTablet.
3. No iTunes Sync Required
Philip Elmer-DeWitt asked on New Year's day, "Tablet: Big iPhone or thin MacBook?" My prediction is: Definitely a thin MacBook. One of the biggest limitations of the iPhone and iPod Touch currently is they have to be tethered to a desktop or laptop computer at some point. Although Apple has made great strides to permit media to be downloaded on mobile devices, and MANY more functionalities of both the iPhone and iPod Touch no longer require a desktop sync, that is still required for those devices. They are designed as additions-to an existing computer, not replacements for it. I predict the forthcoming iSlate will be a computer replacement. You won't need to sync it. Of course it will be beautiful and fast. Sadly, it will also be pretty expensive. No commoditized netbook here. But it will be fundamentally differentiated from the iPod Touch and the iPhone in that it won't require a sync. I predict it will backup to a desktop or laptop computer, but it will alternatively backup to an online service like Mozy or a Time Capsule WiFi base station.
So those are my predictions. Why have I titled this post, "Apple Gambling Big to Redefine Digital Literacy?" Because with the iSlate, Apple is poised to redefine how we think about computers. The iPhone IS a computer, but it is fundamentally still a tethered device. Computers are untethered. They don't require docking or syncing. They are autonomous. After Wednesday's presentation, I think we're going to be looking at tablet devices in new ways, not as "mere" eBook readers, but rather as fully-functional computers. Why are you and I going to want an iTablet, even if we already have one or more laptop computers and portable devices? Because the iSlate will be a device with which we'll interact in fundamentally different ways that we do now with either a smartphone or a laptop. We'll pull it out to read the news, communicate with the world, and watch video, but we'll also CREATE video and edit it just like we would on a desktop computer. The iSlate will replace our current computers, and that is why it will help redefine digital literacy.
Bottom line, of course: Everyone who sees us use an iSlate will think we are REALLY cool. Apple makes being a geek amazingly chic.
Time will tell, we just have 2 days to wait!
One more note. I love Apple, and I love the core values it has stood for historically. Want to know what those are in sixty seconds? This ten year old video of Steve Jobs talking about core values gives you the answer. Passionate, dedicated people CAN and DO change the world. That's me, and that's you. It's us. Viva la revolucion!
P.S. By Chris Foresman agrees with my prediction on the multiple cellular players prediction, in his post yesterday for Ars Technica, "Days before iTablet-palooza, the rumor hits keep comin'." I actually read it after penning this post. 
Technorati Tags:
apple, itunes, itunesu, prediction, tablet, values, video, videoconference, videoconferencing, islate, ipad, textbooks
How to send broadcast SMS messages to students with Textmarks
Almost all of the fifty undergraduate college students this semester enrolled in my Techology 4 Teachers class have cell phones with text messaging plans. Given this available technology, it makes sense to use SMS messaging as one of several communication tools to keep students updated about changes as well as reminders related to our class. This evening I created a five minute screencast to demonstrate how Textmarks can be used to send broadcast messages to students. (Note the flash version of this screencast embedded below is not currently viewable on an iPhone or iPod Touch, but the version on Screenr is.)
As I mentioned in the screencast, PLEASE NOTE some of the advertisements Textmarks sends for free accounts are NOT appropriate for K-12 students. If you consider ads to "Chat w hot singles HERE" not appropriate for your K-12 students (which I'd argue they are NOT,) university students or other adult Textmark subscribers, I HIGHLY encourage you to pay for a commercial account with Textmarks so you can send ad-free messages. (Note: I am not affiliated in any way with Textmarks. More details about my affiliations are available on my blog disclosure policy.) The lowest priced plan ($10 a month) lets you send up to 100 ad-free Textmark messages to your subscribers with two different "keywords," which function as "channels" to which people can subscribe.
I used a short Google Presentation on my iPhone to introduce this screencast.
I learned about Textmarks in 2007 from Liz Kolb's outstanding K-12 Online Conference presentation, "Cell Phones as Classroom Learning Tools."
Have you had experiences, good or bad, using Textmarks or another broadcast SMS solution with students? (If you are a vendor representative of a SMS messaging product, please do NOT leave a comment here. I won't approve it.) I wish there was a way to setup a keyword/channel which would not include dating related ads.
Technorati Tags:
class, mobile, phone, sms, student, textmarks, messaging, cell, cellphone, alert, alerts, t4t
Offline, mobile-friendly webpages on an iPhone or iPod Touch
I am impressed with the ability of the iPhone / iPod Touch application Instapaper Free to create offline, mobile-friendly versions of any webpage. The following five minute screencast demonstrates how you can do this on an iPhone or iPod Touch. You'll want to download the Instapaper Free application first and create a free Instapaper account.
I love how Instapaper formats webpages which are NOT "mobile-friendly" into very usable / readable versions, which are available offline (when you do not have connectivity to WiFi or cellular network data service) after you "refresh" your Instapaper application to sync up online. Instapaper also works with Google Documents, although they are in a "read-only" format when you make a copy of them with Instapaper. This is a GREAT, free application which certainly has MANY potential applications for 1:1 learning settings when all students have access to an iPod Touch, or when students are using iPod Touches on a mobile cart at school.
For more great suggestions for iPhone and iPod Touch applications, see Kern Kelley's 2009 K-12 Online Conference Presentation, "The iPod Touch in the Classroom."
I also have shared my iPhone application list via Appolicious.
Technorati Tags:
app, application, convert, iphone, ipodtouch, mobile, offline, friendly, copy, instapaper
Free Online PD
Recent Comments
- Navigating the Waters of Web 2.0 | twentyfourseven on It takes leadership to get creative in schools and support the use of Skype
- magnethart on A professor who takes laptop banning too far
- James Robson on The Race to Nowhere – A New Educational Documentary
- Shelly Blake-Plock on A professor who takes laptop banning too far
- Ross Fischer on A professor who takes laptop banning too far
- Joshua Williams on A professor who takes laptop banning too far
- Hollis on A professor who takes laptop banning too far
- Berlin on A professor who takes laptop banning too far
- Andi Stanfield on The Race to Nowhere – A New Educational Documentary
- Beyond Distraction « North Institute on Putting Learning In Student Pockets: Mobile Learning at Oklahoma Christian University #heartlandconf10
- Danika Barker on PSAs to stop texting and driving
- Wesley Fryer on PSAs to stop texting and driving
- Dean Shareski on PSAs to stop texting and driving
- Catherine Wolfe on Blended Learning Jazz: Spontaneous, Improvisational, and Smooth by Curtis Bonk #heartlandconf10
- Wesley Fryer on “Nothing “Flat” World about this Jazz: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education by Curt Bonk #heartlandconf10
Google Reader Shares
Subscription Options
About
Categories
Archives
Calendar
Links
- bio
- digital footprint
- google profile
- homepage
- learning signs
- my web host is Siteground
- subscribe to comments
- testimony
