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Tips 2012 iPad App Guide #47: Drawing Pad

The highly-awarded Drawing Pad app is a fun early-childhood art app for the iPad, where you can create drawings using realistic crayons, paint brushes, pencils, pens, and more. You can purchase colouring-in books via in-app purchase, and save drawings to the Photo Roll, or send via email, etc.

For more information, please visit the official site: http://drawingpadapp.com/

For: Early Childhood to Middle Primary Students

Cost: $1.99 AUD (Download Link)

Requires Wifi?: No.

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Tips2012 iPad App Guide #46: TeacherKit

TeacherKit, formerly known as TeacherPal is a simple, free iPhone/iPad app for recording student attendance, behaviour, and grades across multiple grades.

Teachers can simply set up student profiles, including photos and relevant personal information (e.g. allergies, parent contact details), and import/export student assessment data (in Excel .csv format) via Dropbox.

With over 500 000+ downloads, and ranked in Apple’s Top 10 Educational Apps, TeacherPal is well worth experimenting with before purchasing paid alternatives.

For more information, we recommend the official website: http://teacherkit.net

For: Teachers (K-12)

Cost: Free (Download Link)

Requires WiFi?: Not for everyday use, but required to sync to DropBox.

 

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Tips 2012 iPad App Guide #45: Shakespeare in Bits

Shakespeare in Bits brings Shakespeare to life on your iPhone, iTouch, and iPad through animated, narrated re-enactments of The Bard’s most popular plays.

Highly recommended by secondary English teachers, the app includes full study notes, plot summaries, character notes, and language explanations, helping students better understand and appreciate the plays.

The app itself is free; however, teachers will need to download the plays via in-app purchase at a cost of $15.99 AUD each. (There is a volume licensing option for the USA)

For: Secondary English teachers and students.

Cost: Plays available via in-app purchase (see above). Download Link

Requires WiFi?: Yes, but only for initial download of the plays

Further Reading

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Tips2012 iPad App Guide #44: SOSH

Sōsh is an iPhone app (works on iTouch & iPad) designed to help teenagers and young adults with special needs, particularly Asperger’s Syndrome, develop their social skills.

It focuses on five essential abilities for social skills development: Relate, Relax, Reason, Regulate, and Recognize. These “5R’s” serve as a road map for individuals who want to be social, but may have faced obstacles in the past; and also serve as a guide for parents, teachers, and therapists hoping to encourage and assist individuals with their social goals.

You start by answering a questionnaire to determine which tools within the app are going to be most useful. You can download the free Lite Version to explore the app with a free 7 day trial, and the full version costs around $40.

For more information, please visit http://mysosh.com

For: Students with Special Needs

Requires WiFi?: No

Cost: Free 7 Day Trial (Download)version, Full Version: $41.99 AUD (Download)

Tips2012: i-Kids make a difference:#1:Jude`s i-Story

 

Jude the “Living Statue”:  A boy who makes a difference…. 

      

This inspiring i-Story started with some emails in response to the TIPS2012 blog. Jude and his mum Tania asked questions about using iPads in schools in India and how to cope in settings with no WiFi network.

I directed them to the resources on the blog, and a while later received this email…

Dear Jenny, …

Thank you all so much for supporting Jude “The Living Statue” in raising money for an iPad for an Indian school. He raised a total £220 – which is quite amazing and inspiring, especially as it was all his own idea to do this.

The iPad caused huge amount of excitement and the children kept looking at their fingers  when they were drawing/writing on the iPad, as they couldn’t understand why there wasn’t ink on them!  

Here are some photos of Jude showing the kids at the school how an iPad works.

Jude showing the children in India how to use the iPad

We spent hours at a rather nice hotel in the local town, using their free wifi to download some educational apps.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, and Australian Dr Jenny Lane of iPad project in schools, we found some fantastic apps that can be used without wifi.  Especially good were the animations and puppet shows with self recorded narration, which are great for story telling, imagination and those not confident in speaking English – plus they are lots of fun.

Thank you all again for your support…

Tania & Jude

Tania, Jude`s mother comments “I am amazed he had so much courage to stand on Ledbury Road, which is quite a busy street in Notting Hill.  I am very proud of him and very happy for you to include on your blog – which was so helpful for us.”

Living Statutes

“Living Statues” are people who dress up like a statue and stand motionless on the street, usually on a pedestal.  They are usually painted from head to toe – white, bronze or gold, etc. and will only move, or shake your hand etc when you give them some money.
Jude (Millais) is the great-great-great grandson of the painter John Everett Millais (http://www2.tate.org.uk/ophelia/)

 

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Tips2012 Professional Learning #6: Catholic Education

Sharing the learning from TIPS Research Project

I am looking forward to sharing the progress of the Tpack iPad Project in Schools with the management team at Catholic Education in Perth tomorrow.  I will be sharing some of the research findings regarding the needs of teachers for professional learning.

  • The role of ICT in the National Curriculum
  • The importance of the development of Professional Learning Networks.
  • The use of Social Networks as a professional learning tool.
  • The theoretical background framing the TIPS  research project
  • TPACK and the SAMR Model
  • How to plan using the Integrated Challenge Framework.
  • How to support teachers as they introduce iPad technologies in their classrooms.


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Tips2012: Teachers’ Voices #2: Doug’s i-Story

A frequently asked question is “How do I transfer items created on my iPad to other devices?” This leads to the issue of workflows and document management on an iPad.

In this i-Story, Doug Lauder shares his thoughts on how to share content created on iPads. Doug works in education supporting teachers as they use technology.

He will be presenting on document sharing and workflows on iPads at the M-Learning in Education@ECU Twilight events on the 5th & 6th June at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia. These events are free for teachers and pre-service teachers. If you would like to join us use the booking link below:

Booking Form for the M-Learning in Education@ECU Twilight Events

 

iPad and sharing content in the classroom.

The most noteworthy aspect of the iPad is its’ simplicity. When providing Professional Development to teaching staff I normally ask that they forget everything they have learnt before about operating computers. I also ask that they leave behind any preconceptions of how the device works at the door. Don’t over complicate, just tap to get going.

But this is not easy, especially after many years of learning why file structure is important, how a “Home” folder works, and why “housekeeping” is not confined to just your house.

It is this file handling that is missing from the iPad, and it seems that it is Apple who are standing firm here, and for good reason. After all why do you need a music folder when you have iTunes? Pictures and video can be organised very well in the Camera Roll. Word processing now starts and finishes with Pages. But of course, there are times when we need to leave the Apple walled garden, for example; to collect, mark and return two dozen essays, animations or videos.

Email in the classroom
There are many apps which allow for content creation, notably iMovie and Garageband but also Sonic Pics, Comic Life and Photoshop Touch. How can I gather all of this media for assessment? Email is the quick solution, but this method is of no use if the iPad is a shared iPad with no email account assigned to the Mail app. As the recipient of 15-25 emails with attachments, the process is not practical either. Below I will illustrate a workflow which will work for a class set of iPads or a student personal iPad:

1. The Share Icon – to Camera Roll
This little icon is the key and there is one share destination which appears more than most and that is the Camera Roll. If we can export media to the local Camera Roll it is easy to get that to a conventional folder.

2. Dropbox
Dropbox currently have more than 50 million users, they are the cloud storage experts. App developers acknowledge this, and many are happy to allow direct export to the Dropbox app (if installed) from within their app (eg, Explain Everything). If the export to Dropbox isn’t an option from the Share icon simply choose Camera Roll (sometimes called Photo Roll).

3. Upload from Camera Roll to Dropbox
Dropbox allows you to upload content from your Camera Roll to a Dropbox folder of your choice. A good place for students to upload their work may be to a folder which is shared with the teachers personal account. That way the teacher can asses the work from iPhone, PC or Mac at his/her own leisure.

Drawbacks
Unfortunately all students who drop final projects into a shared folder can view the contents of that folder too. (and as yet it is not possible to create write only permissions to Dropbox folders). This isn’t a problem if you are using a shared class set of iPads in any case. But if each student has their own iPad, I would recommend that they open their own Dropbox account. That way you will be able to keep private folders with each student, if privacy is a must.

Conclusion
It may sound like I am on commission from Dropbox! But at this intermediate stage (between Lion – Mountain Lion and the expansion of iCloud) I don’t see a plausible workflow which replaces the file structure Dropbox allows us. Looking closely at iPhoto (for iPad) reveals a sharing option called Beam. Could this become standard for iPad communication in the future?

The workflow diagram above illustrates my favourite apps and how I transfer files around. I’m sure that I may have overlooked some “share paths” but I hope that it helps.
http://isupport.com.au
Doug Loader

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Tips2012 iPad App Guide #43: DocumentsToGo

DocumentsToGo is one of several file management apps which enable users to view, edit, and create Microsoft Office 2007-2010 documents, (PDFs, and iWork files) on their iPad.

DocumentsToGo comes in two formats – DocumentsToGo and DocumentsToGo Premium, with the Premium version enabling users to edit PowerPoint files, and work with online files stored in Google Docs, Dropbox, Box.net, iDisk, etc. Both versions work with iTunes and the new DocumentsToGo desktop application to keep your files in sync with your home / work computer.

This app works as advertised, but is really only useful for teachers and students who need to edit Microsoft Office documents on their iPads. Everyday users will be better off using the Apple iWork Pages and Keynote apps.

For: Teachers, Administrators, Students (Upper Primary to Secondary)

Cost: Documents To Go ($10.45AUD)    Docs To Go Premium ($17.99AUD)

Requires Wifi?: Yes, to sync files with your home computer / cloud services

Notes

  • When searching for this app in iTunes, take care to choose the app for your iOS device. It is easy to confuse the separate versions for iPhone and iPad.
  • iPad users considering purchasing the Premium version may prefer Office2 HD fo iPad, which offers almost identical features for the cheaper price of $8.49AUD.
  • While the company claims that this app will preserve the original document formatting, user reviews indicate that this is still a work in progress!

Further Reading

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Tips 2012 iPad App Guide #42: QuickGraph

QuickGraph is simply the best graphing calculator app for the iPhone and iPad. Using a simple visual & touch interface, this app makes it easy to enter, edit, and visualise 2D and 3D algebraic equations and inequalities (optional) in all standard coordinate systems. Graphs can be copied, emailed, and saved to the iPad photo library.

Please click here for a complete technical description of QuickGraph’s capabilities. Some optional features, including the ability to project visualisations on your interactive whiteboard, are available via a $1.99 in-app purchase.

For: Secondary Teachers and Students

Cost: Free (Download Link), some advanced features available via in-app purchase

Requires WiFi?: No 

Educational Applications

  • Secondary mathematics – algebra, graphing, calculus

Further Reading

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Tips2012 iPad App Guide #41: LiveBinders

Livebinders is a web application which makes it easy for teachers to curate and organise their favourite online education resources (and uploaded PDF / Word documents) in virtual 3 ringed binders, which can then be shared on virtual ‘shelves’ – accessible for free – anywhere, anytime.

The Livebinders iPad app enables users to view and edit their livebinders on their iPads using their Safari web browser. And as an added benefit, the Livebinders website hosts a public library of shared binders covering a wide range of learning areas and topics. These collections are an ideal resource for busy teachers.

For: Teachers, Administrators

Cost: Free (Download Link). Requires iOS 5.0.1 or later.

Requires WiFi?: Yes

Educational Applications

Collate professional learning and educational resources by topics of interest, eg.:

Create convenient places for students to find important information during & outside of school (eg. homework assignments, helpful research resources, etc.

Further Reading

 

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Tips2012 iPad App Guide: SMART Board App

A new iPad app has been announced by SMART Technologies. Due to be released in coming months, the SMART Notebook app will enable users to access and control their SMARTBoard from their iPad, as well as create and share IWB resources.

We will post a full review once the app has been launched – we are eagerly awaiting its release!

To find out more, please read the official press release!

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Preservice Teachers using the TIPS blog

I would like to welcome the ECU Pre-Service teachers and students from other institutions who are using this blog as their online resource in their challenge based learning task.

It is good to see future teachers using online sources and social networking to increase their professional learning networks.

Enjoy your module “Teaching and Learning with Touch Technologies.”

On this blog we have a vast professional learning network of teachers from all over the world. We welcome you to our community, and look forward to seeing your voices on the blog as you leave your comments.

Jenny

Dr. Jenny Lane
Twitter @EduJen

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Join us in Perth for ACEC 2012

Join us on 2-5 October 2012, when the national Australian Computing in Education Conference comes to our home city – Perth, Western Australia.

Over the course of 3 days, ACEC 2012 will feature an exciting range of Australian and international speakers, presentations, and workshop, exploring the conference theme of “IT’s Time” …. It’s Time to integrate, connect, collaborate, lead, enable, using ICT.

I will be convening the “It’s time to get mobile” strand, and am looking forward to seeing your papers on how you use mobile devices in teaching and learning. I will also be running a pre-conference workshop on mobile-learning with iPads.

To find out more about ACEC 2012, you can visit the website – http://acec2012.acce.edu.au/, follow @acec2012 on Twitter, and follow the #acec2012 hashtag.

We hope you can join us.

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Tips2012 iPad App Guide #40: Book Creator

iPads open up exciting opportunities for teachers and students to self-publish and share their own books with authentic audiences. While iBooks Author (Mac) & Creative Book Builder (iPad) are good options, the most intuitive and professional app we’ve found to date remains Book Creator for iPad.

This app makes it easy for teachers, and students (Grade 1 and older) to create and publish their own storybooks, projects, textbooks, cookbooks, etc using their own photos, text, audio (included recorded speech), and video. The recent update to V 2.4 allows users to include hyperlinks, and combine books / chapters to create collaborative texts. (Requires iOS6).

Finished books can be saved to Dropbox, iBooks, and Evernote, or sent to your computer as an ePub or high quality PDF file. They can be imported back into the app for further collaborative editing, or submitted to the Apple iBooks Store, where they can be shared with the world.

For: Students (Primary to Secondary), Teachers

Cost:  $5.49 AU (Download Link)

Requires WiFi?: No

Educational Applications

  • Student content creation – storybooks, cookbooks, instruction manuals, etc
  • Literacy – Writing
  • Cross-curricular projects / presentations

Further Reading

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Tips2012: iPad App Guide #39: iTunes U

The iTunes U app gives teachers and students access to 500 000+ educational resources, including videos, course materials, and podcasts. Originally created to share content from top universities and colleges, such as Harvard, Cambridge, and Stanford, iTunes U was recently opened up to K-12 schools and educators.

This app allows teachers to integrate iTunes U learning materials into their subject areas, and even create their own learning area courses – including podcasts, quizzes, lessons, etc, and share them with the world.

We highly recommend teachers explore the possibilities of this free app, and discover what teaching materials are available for their learning areas, and year levels. There is currently a great deal of material suitable for secondary classes, and a growing body of materials for primary year levels.

For: Teachers, Students (K-12)

Cost: Free (Download Link)

Requires WiFi?: Yes.

Educational Applications

  • Find video tutorials, podcasts, and learning materials for all learning areas, particularly in secondary subjects (maths, science, foreign languages)
  • Access professional development resources for teachers

Please share your ideas for integrating  iTunes U content into your classroom in the comments below!

Further Reading