Mobile App Reviews for Educators

Each month we'll review a highlighted app for iPad/iPod/iPhone or Android devices. We also invite you to add your comments and share with other educators how you used the highlighted app in your school.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Tips and Tricks To Get More From Your iPad

I have been delivering a lot of training sessions lately related to the iPad and many of my participants seemed to really like having access to my Google Doc that I use in my sessions as a resource. Here is the first part of my Google Spreadsheet that I have been sharing out to workshop participants in my sessions on tips and tricks in using the iPads iOS 4.3.3 or higher. There are also sheets on iPad Resources, Digital Storytelling Resources and Apps, Apps for any Subject, Apps by Subject Area. If you want to access the actual Google Doc Workbook with each of these different sheets, you can find it here http://tinyurl.com/4ymkv5g.




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Lowton's List of Tips and Tricks for the iPad
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tip or trickDirectionsLvltopic
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taking screenshots on the iPad (click both power and home buttons)L IItool
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grab quotes without switching keyboard screenshold the question mark for 2 seconds and the quotations appearkeyboard
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grab apostrophe without switching keyboard screenshold the exclamation mark for 2 seconds and the quotations appearkeyboard
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extra charactersfor some keys on the keyboard, you can hold down and more options will appear such as letters with accent markskeyboard
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Quickly Insert a perioddouble tap space bar or tap the space bar with two fingerskeyboard
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Fast Way to Top of pagetap the status bar where the clock or current time is and it will auto scroll to the topweb browsing
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multi-taskto switch between programs you're working in, double tap home button to choose a different running programL IItool
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iPod controls when you need themwhen playing a song, you can double tap the Home button and swipe right to get the iPod controlstool
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Each folder can hold up to 20 appsHold down any app icon on any screen until they quiver and shake. Slide one app onto another and they end up in a folder that you are instantly asked to name.L ITool
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You can lock the rotation at any time Double tap the Home button and sweep right to iPod controls and click the rotation buttontool
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Force badly behaving apps to closepress and hold the SLEEP/AWAKE button until the "slide to power off" appears. Then hold down the HOME button for six seconds. This will close the open app and return you to the home screentool
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More than just .comhold down the .com button and the keyboard brings up other options such as .org, .net or .eduL IIkeyboard
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save an image in SafariTap an hold an image on a site and a menu appears with the option to "save image"L Iweb browsing
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Create an App icon for a favorite sitewhile on the website, click and hold the + button and choose "add to home screen"L Iweb browsing
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2-fingered scrollto scroll within a box on a site, use two fingers to move up and down within the box without sliding the entire websiteL Iweb browsing
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bookmarks barif you like to have quick access to your favorite websites, go to settings and Safari and turn on"always show bookmarks bar". Now each site is a quick click at the top of the browserweb browsing
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punctuate quicklytap and hold the button and then drag a finger to the number or punctuation mark desired and when you let go, the keyboard returns to the letters again.keyboard
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choosing a send from in the unified boxIn the unified mailbox, if you want to choose which account to send from, click the "Mailboxes" button and choose the account you wish to reply fromemail
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options beyond the dotif typing in email in the Mail app, hold down the period and additional options appearL IIemail
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highlight what you want to forward or reply toIf you want to reply to or forward a long email that has more in it than you wish to send, highlight the part that you want and when you hit reply/forward ipad pulls out just that selectionemail
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mobileMe and find your ipadIf you create a MobileMe account, you can enable a feature to "Find My Ipad" which will not only locate it on a map but also allows you to lock it, wipe all data or send it a message and make it play a persistent sound for up to two minutes to help you locate it.L Isecurity
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drop a pinwhen viewing maps, you can drop a pin to save a location by tapping the page curl at the bottom right and choosing "drop pin" this will save to the iPad's memory in case you lose your internet connection and want to remember an unfamiliar place or where you parked your carmaps
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clear cookiesIn Safari, data is stored as you surf called cookies, this can be handy to remember you next time you come to a website but you can clear this as well. Go to settings and Safari and choose "clear cookies". You can also clear history here if you want Safari to forget websites you have visited
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Customize Home buttonSettings-general-HomeShortcuts
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Street view in mapsDrop a red pin then click red and white icon
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Hexadecimal longer passwordsSettings-passcode turn off simple password and also choose amount of time before it locks
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Bluetooth keyboard more keyboard commandsYou can pair the regular Apple Bluetooth keyboard and most others which also allows for more keyboard shortcuts and commands most computer users are accustomed to.LIKeyboard
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Change number of preview lines in email and add CC BC address linesSettings-email, contactsLIEmail
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Turn of badgesSettings-notifications-choose each app and decide what types of notifications if any you would like to receive for eachLISettings
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More on the dockWith the newest iOS for iPads, you are not limited to the regular four icons on the dock, you can add2 moreLITool
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More screens and appsIn the new iOS you can now have 11 home screens and a total of 4460 appsLITip
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Zoom anywhere any screenSettings-general-accessibility-zoom. You tap with three fingers then slide up or down to zoom in or outSettings
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Make a custom web clip for your site or blogChoose a jpeg that's 72x72pixels and then put the following code into your site's HTML header. <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="http://www.example.com/apple-touch-icon.png" /> Change the value of the href attribute to reflect the URL to your site‘s icon. Be sure to change
example.com to your own domain name.
L IIWeb
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UndoIf editing, in some programs giving the iPad a quick shake will either bring up an undo option or automatically delete/undo what you just typed Tip
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Scrolling in a frame on a websiteTo scroll within a frame instead of the entire page, use a two finger dragTip
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turn off email (without deleting your account or settings!)Go to Settings app and Mail, click on the mail account that you wish to turn off when someone else is using your iPad/iPod (ex director@gmpdc.org GMAIL) and choose "Mail" and slide to offLIEmail
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Voice over "on-demand"go to settings app and choose "Accessibility" and then choose "Triple Click Home" button. Set the action to Voice Over and now if there is a book or other reading selection a student or user would like read to them they can just triple-click the Home button and then click the item they want read. To turn off, triple-click the button againLIItool
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projector stops projecting the iPadunplug the SVGA cord (dongle) from the projector cord and iPad and then plug back in. Sometimes you also have to hit "source" or computer on the projector or its remote as well but that usually does it.



If you have more great tips or ideas that I should add and share out, please comment below. I love finding new resources and ideas to share!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Scoop.it: Be a Curator of Your Favorite Topic


I recently started using Scoop.it and I have to say that I'm becoming very impressed with it. Scoop.it is a web tool that allows you to literally "scoop up" any website that relates to a topic someone is interested in. I started with one called "Digital Tools for Educators" to begin with. I liked the options of adding bookmarklets or extensions for browsers like Google Chrome similar to that of Evernote or Diigo where I can come to a site and just hit the bookmarklet to "scoop up" the site and paste it to my topic page. They have an introductory video on Youtube that is fairly slick but only shows some of the features. They advertise it to be a "virtual magazine" of sorts. The layout is visually appealing compared to a regular website with just the list of links to click on. Links are good but sometimes they don't provide enough quick visual information to let the viewer know instantly if that site may be of interest and it is passed on by. Scoop.it changes this way of listing great sites by adding a visual image from the site, a quick blurb relating to the content and ways to instantly share out a site via social media such as Twitter, Facebook or link sharing.

The aspect of community is very strong in Scoop.it. I already mentioned that you can share out a site from a scoop.it page to either Twitter or Facebook. They also provide the link in case you want to share it on Google+ or on a blog. From there you can also integrate your Twitter and/or Facebook community into your Scoop.it account to receive notifications on what others are creating topics on. It will alert you if anyone from your community has created one and the topic. If you have a Scoop.it page and go to someone else's page, there is an option to "re-scoop" a site and add it back to your own page. A new feature has been a community search tool where you can type in a topic or keywords and see other Scoop.it pages that have similar content and even follow their Scoop.it topics to receive notifications on new sites added that may be of interest to you.

The latest feature,that I'm playing with is the option to add Scoop.it widgets to your blog. Here is one for my Scoop.it "Lowton's Scoop on Digital Tools for Educators"




Here is the one I started later, "Lowton's Scoop on Digital Storytelling"



I love the interface and the widgets are quite appealing. I struggled with having the widgets work on Wordpress so if you view this on my Wordpress blog, it won't look the same. (Any help fellow Wordpressers?)I can see lots of uses for this great digital tool and the features that they are adding make it very user friendly and share-friendly. Currently, it says Scoop.it pages can be made by invitation only but you simply sign up and they will send a confirmation email to grant access. The next topic I'm working on is "Lowton's Scoop on Social Media in Education" and I'm looking forward to scooping up great resources for it already.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Taking Notes and iJournaling on the IPad and Android Tablets

Through my workshops and own classroom experience using tablets in the school setting, I've seen a lot of need for finding effective ways to take notes, write and journal on these devices. I instantly ran into some obstacles in trying to do this on my iPad or other Devices and soon found my peers running into the same issues. Taking notes using the on-screen keyboard on the iPad or Android Tablet can be loud (tippity-tippity-tap of fingers and fingernails on the glass), cumbersome and distracting compared to the traditional methods of pencil-writing or external keyboard typing. In an administrator's meeting where I was the only one to even bring technology at all nevermind a touch tablet to take notes on, I quickly realized that it could be distracting to my peers not accustomed to this new trend to hear the constant finger tapping on the screen as I tried to quickly take and type notes using the on-screen keyboard. Instantly, I switched to a lower tech and less attention-getting paper pencil option and then (to save face in the edtech world) I took a photo of them and uploaded them to my Evernote account. I was determined though to find a way to effectively take notes or write in general in any setting so they could easily be stored, shared or transferred to other documents or projects. Realizing how this would benefit my students as well, I began researching best ways of accomplishing this as a student, teacher and administrator in the different settings we all find ourselves in.

First, let's tackle taking notes whether its for research, meetings or task lists. I've already mentioned Evernote and posted a detailed description about it in a prior blog post. Evernote has expanded quite a bit even since my post about it. It works on any platform or device; iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry RIM making it very user-friendly to those of us who work on different devices and platforms between work, travel and home. It also works and integrates directly with many apps/programs for use on these different device platforms as well. The list is constantly being added to. Although you can read a lot more about it in my prior post, I will quickly summarize what it can do. You can take notes online using a web browser or app, you can take pictures of pencil-paper notes and upload them to the same account. You can save files or "clip" entire websites when doing research on a project and organize content into notebooks and not matter what device you log into, it's all there waiting for you. Imagine the implications for student group projects.

OK, that's a good resource for storing the notes but what about the actual taking of notes? I looked into different apps for both the iOS devices and Android Tablets. First, I tested out the following Phatpad, Writepad and Penultimate for apps that provided either handwriting recognition or just sketch handwriting capabilities so that notes could be taken either with a stylus or just drawing with my fingers which is much quieter than constant screen finger tapping with the keyboard. Also, faster for those who do not have strong traditional keyboarding skills to start with. Phatpad and Writepad are both from Phatware and work on almost any device. Phatpad I found at $4.99 to be a little more student-friendly especially with the lower grade students. It wasn't a super sophisticated or robust handwriting recognition program but for younger students and the price, I found a lot of use for it. Older students and fellow educators would something a little more robust. Writepad has a lot of great features not found in the latter such as a spell checker with its own custom dictionary, a context analyzer, auto-corrector, and a Shorthand feature that is able to fill-in words and phrases used frequently. Begin to sketch out your notes and either wait 2 seconds or use an Enter command and your sketches turn to text. You can also continue writing across multiple pages and over current recognized text where Phatpad only allows for 1-2 lines of sketching notes at a time. There is an option to type with an on-screen keyboard if desired, use hand gestures for commands, select, cut, copy, and paste text between different files as well as integration with Dropbox for file sharing. The iPad version is a little pricier at $9.99 but there is an iPhone version at $3.99 that I installed so I could also use on my iPods and it works just as well after expanding the screen. It even works well with a stylus. A sidenote on styluses would be to pay a decent amount if you truly want to effectively take notes or draw with one. I bought a $5 one and it wasn't super. I found a couple of better options for a little more and found a great difference (Nataal Premium is one) but still use my hand for the fastest solution. Perhaps, I just need practice. The third option does not have handwriting recognition but is excellent at recording handwritten notes and multi-color sketches. Penultimate is a great note taking program that allows for sketches with multiple colors, different papers such as graphing and music notesheets and has great sharing options. Good app for drawing out graphic organizers and mind-mapping charts. Each of these has different pros and cons depending on what feature you are looking for the most. If making sketches of concept maps, music sheets, math or scientific formulas and diagrams are more important than handwriting-text recognition, then I would use Penultimate.  For the most robust note taking tool that you can quickly translate to typed text for sharing in other text files, Writepad is my preference.

The second writing objective I had was to find effective way for students to work on daily or weekly journals and writing projects. Again, I use Evernote for collaborative projects but for journals I tried to find other options.Online there are two good collaborative writing resources of Type With Me and QuietWrite.  Type With Me is an online space that any web browsing device can access to write together as a group whether creating a writing piece or just jotting down notes on a shared project by sharing out a link or emailing invitations. Files can be imported or exported. In QuietWrite, you will find many of the same features of the latter but you can also create an account for extra features such as: export to a WordPress blog or post for public viewing with a QuietWrite link.  For iOS apps, I found iDiary for the Elementary students and PaperDesk Lite and iJournal for upper level students. iDiary is great for all types of digital projects including ijournaling. The app stores up to 6 password protected personalized journals per device. Each personalized journal has a child-friendly interface that is intuitive for younger students to operate with little instruction. They can customize the color, name and avatar for their journals. There are options for sketching, typing, importing photos, pre-defined stickers and exporting as a photo or email. I've used this and then exported a page as a photo to place into an eScrapbooking or Travelogue project. PaperDesk Lite and iJournal are better for older students and adults. PaperDesk Lite allows you to save a few journals (paid version offers more) but you can add as many pages as needed within the journals. This option also allows sketching, typing and importing of photos but also allows the user to record audio notes, change out paper type, import PDFs to annotate and export to options like Google Docs. I couldn't find a password protection option but have to look into the paid version to see if its an option. If you want a password protected option for your older students because devices are shared in most schools, then iJournal is a good option. At $2.99, it's missing some of the features such as recording notes and adding photos (except one as an avatar can be added) but it does offer some  features to create a personalized and protected journal your older students will want to write in.

With all of that said, more apps and online tools are coming out even as I write this. Writing notes and iJournaling is quickly improving on the iPad and other touch devices. I'm hoping with a little more time, practice and patience, I'll find a way that works just write for me.

What are you using for taking notes or iJournaling?