DEN Webinar: Discovery Gone Mobil
12:21 PM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 1 comments


First you must put the DE site on your home page on the iPad. Open Safari and go to the DE website. Click on the "send to" arrow right next to the URL and a new window will open. Choose ADD TO HOME SCREEN and a nice DE icon will be placed on your ipad screen. It appears like an app, but is not. This is a direct link to your DE log in page and it is a nice shortcut.

Where to you find good apps?

I read blogs and professional journals, follow teachers on Twitter, and ask everyone at workshops and seminars where they find apps. This really saves time because these are already vetted by someone else. Knowing which apps are not good is useful as well. So start asking people for their favorite app and you will get a list very quickly.
Here are some sites I consider to be some of the top critics of apps. So if you do not have a starting point yet, try these sites.

How do you integrate apps with DE Resources?

Don't overlook the photos, images, songs and sounds in the DE library. Most people do not even search these assets but there is gold in there, but you need to mine it! There are over 7400 audio files, songs and sound effects from rainforest sounds to a snare drum. You can use these in presentations, projects and more.
Organize your classroom iPads by using some of the fantastic DE photos as the background screen. There are penguins, insects, plans, animals, or famous people you can "Save Picture (Photo Album)". Then go to the background setting and choose from camera roll for the photo you saved. All of the backgrounds below are found in the DE images.
      


To download a DE video to play on the iPad, you should use an app called iCab(free). Your selection will download to your Camera roll. Once in there, when you play the clip, notice at the top of the screen there is a place you can "trim" the video if you need to make it shorter. Here are two places to visit to read more about iCab from some STAR DE educators;
  1. Carolyn Stanley's blog post - http://bit.ly/ZgMi7X
  2. Mark Hammon's YouTube video tutorial - http://bit.ly/ZgMmor
Once you use iCab, be sure to connect it to Dropbox for storage of your projects so they do not take any of the precious iPad memory.


Turn that lesson into engaging and meaningful activities.

  1. Give students the assignment to find photos in the Discovery library, import them into Educreations. Students can narrate the slide show.
  2. Students create a conversation between the four gentlemen in the painting with Blabberize.com or Bubblesnaps.com
  3. Use photos from DiscoveryEducation image library to create a poster of the water cycle using Popplet Lite mind mapping app.
  4. Try Pic Collage to create a poster of information about China. Finding photos and information in DE photos.
  5. Download images from DE to create a digital, but not multimedia poster using Text on Foto. Use this app to label a photo before using it in a slideshow.
  6. For a different style of writing, have students find images in the DE library and create a postcard using PhotoCard app.There is an option to actually mail it for$1.99 or send to photo library so you can print and post around your room.
  7. Create a slideshow with Lodge McCammon music - first download his songs on a computer then put on iPad -  (as ipad is connected to computer, don’t sync, just select View->Show Sidebar and drag Lodge songs to the iPad device). It will put Lodge in iTunes and make it available to other apps on your iPad that use music. But first use Text on Foto to label the photos before importing to ProShow to make a musical slideshow.
  8. Tech Smith has come out with a new app called Ask3. The concept "Ask 3 before me". So when a student has questions in class they should ask 3 others first. This app allows teachers to create an assignment by video/audio from within the app and describe what students will complete. This gets posted to a "bulletin boaard". Students do their assignment an then come back to Ask3 to record their images and message for the assignment which also gets posted to the bulletin board. The collaboration begins when others in the class make comments to their peer about the work submitted. The product is in beta, so your comments to TechSmith are appreciated. You can have an influence on how an app develops.

The sample projects are contained within the presentation attached below.


Here are the resources mentioned in my DEN GURU Webinar.

AppsGoneFree - Free - sends notification about paid apps that become free.
AppShopper - Free - Enter all of your apps into this web data collection. Also enter any apps you have on your "Wish List" and   AppShopper will notify you of any updates or drop in price.
Dropbox - Free - to move files from your computer to iPad easily
Educreations - Free - Make tutorials, slide shows and narrate them.
iCab Mobile - $1.99 - Download DE videos on the iPad.
Keynote - $9.99 - Create presentations on the iPad.
PhotoCard - Free - Make a postcard that you can print or mail using any photos or DE photos
Pic Collage - Free - Digital poster with photo, text and sticker support. No multimedia.
Popplet Lite - Free - Mindmapping app in which you can insert DE images or photos in the Popplets.
ProShow - Free - Create slideshow with music like Lodge McCammon's songs.
Text on Foto - Free -Enter text with over 50 font styles on DE photos or images.
All in all you could spend so much time evaluating apps and creating lessons to use them in your classroom. But by visiting the sites suggested you can find some excellent resources to make going mobile more fun.

Excellent Starting points for finding apps for education

  2. Interesting Ways(to use ipad in classroom) by Tom Barrett - http://edte.ch/blog/interesting-ways/
  3. Review of apps by Apple Distinguished Educators - http://www.appitic.com/
  4. Robin Martin’s iPad links - https://www.diigo.com/user/rmom352/iPad
  5. Tony Vincent’s iPad links - http://bit.ly/YNHQBt
  6. Robert Byrne’s - http://ipadapps4school.com/
  7. ADE reviewed apps - http://appitic.com/
  8. Teachers with apps - http://bit.ly/12SwX5A
  9. TCEA matrix of apps - http://www.tcea.org/ipad
  10. Real Teachers recommend apps - http://bit.ly/12SyQzd
    AppoLearning - https://www.appolearning.com/
  1. Educational Technology and Mobile Learning - http://bit.ly/11UCZOO
  4. 15 iPad skills every teacher and student should have - http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/01/15-ipad-skills-students-must-have.html
  5. 20 Random iPad Math Apps - http://bit.ly/YApXl7
  7. 26 categories for teachers using iPads in class, from math to notetaking apps - http://www.educatorstechnology.com/p/blog-page_9.html
  10. 50 of the Best Resources for iPads - http://bit.ly/12SwX5A
  12. 100+ Tips on how to integrate iPad into your classroom - http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/09/tips-on-ipad-use-in-education.html
  13. 1000 apps organized by subject and price by Texas Computer Education Assoc.- http://edudemic.com/2012/02/1000-apps/


iPad blogs:

  3. Edudemic.com - http://edudemic.com/
  5. iPad AppStorm: http://ipad.appstorm.net/
  6. Kathy Schrock’s - Bloomin’ Apps - http://bit.ly/1447Kpz
  7. Linda Nitche’s Scoop.it - http://www.scoop.it/t/ipad-resources


Sites that review apps

  1. iEar.org - http://www.iear.org/ Consume the information here or help to create a library of reviews
  3. Kathy Schrock’s - iPads in the Classroom - http://bit.ly/1447PJU
Kathy Schrock’s - Kathy’s Katch - post on iPads and Assessment - http://bit.ly/10wvGNv

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eBooks by Robin Martin available on iTunes bookstore.


 



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image: http://coplancreativeconsulting.com/business-website-design/6-great-ipad-apps-for-business/


Made with Popcorn
9:36 AM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 1 comments
I am having trouble embedding the video here. Sorry for the extra click, but here is the link to my digital story for #etmooc. The Popcorn Maker style was really fun and easy to create. The way you showed us in the introduction video was quite appealing. This is something our teachers could use right away!


Make one of your own at Popcorn Maker by Mozilla.


#etmooc - The beginning
1:46 PM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 0 comments
I have read about moocs before, but have not had a chance to experience the group learning process until last night as Alex Couros kicked off the session. There were over 190 people in the session I was viewing and the chat was fast and furious, I couldn't keep up with listening and reading all of it! There was good discussion from the followers and I surmised that the skill level of the group was so varied. This is so great and I look forward to being a learner as well as a helper along the way.

In the past, I have been a part of online instruction and this feels very similar. The fact that the sessions will be archived is helpful for those unable to attend at the set time. In fact, I will be pointing some of my colleagues to the page to watch some of the archived sessions. Giving them bits at a time often works better. Some people new to web tools are often overwhelmed and then back off.

Thanks for organizing this learning experience for all of us!

Join the #etmooc HERE

Follow on Twitter by typing in #etmooc in the twitter search box.

INTRODUCTION

About me

I am a middle school computer specialist. Along with teaching seventh graders iMovie, GarageBand for  podcasting and Keynote. The rest of the day I am involved with helping teachers to integrate web2.0 tools and iPads into their curriculum. My support can be in the form of lesson planning or tech support.

Over the years I have become involved with DiscoveryEducation Network (DEN as a STAR), presenting at NMSA, ISTE, PETE&C and PA Middle School conferences. Recently I was inspired to create some tutorials for our students using the iPad. My two tutorials are published in the iTunes Bookstore, GarageBand Podcasting and iMovie Basics on the iPad and working with some colleagues to produce an iTunesU course for our iPad program (still in progress).




Using iBooks Author
2:04 PM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 1 comments

Last year at PETE&C I saw a presentation by Chris Penny, Christine DiPaulo, and Steve Zalot about using iBooks Author to create content. It looked pretty intuitive and as long as you had content ready. So I started exploring the possibility of creating something. But I needed  a purpose.

Fast forward to this fall and the talk of a 1:1 project is more serious, so I had a brainstorm. The following week I saw a post about the ADE program and thought I would combine the two ideas into one project.

After I started working with iBooks Author, I found it to be very smooth. Choosing the template took me some time, as I wanted it to be just right. I wanted a good clean cover where some school cover art would stand out. The page templates were already connected so the text wrap from page to page was great. There were several books from our library and eBooks that I consulted for technical support. They included:

iBooks Author for Dummies - by Galen Gruman
Lecturing with an iPad by Perry Samson
iBooks Author: Publishing Your First Ebook by Maria Langer
Create your First Interactive Book - by Ted Bendixson & Niels Van Spauwen

Begin by looking over the template to see what you would like to include such as Copyright, Preface, Dedication, Foreword, and Chapter Headers. I found that using sticky notes to create a basic format for the book really helped me make some decisions about the structure and organization of the material.

Once I completed writing the supplementary pages like previously mentioned, I was ready to tackle the content. Once the content was written, I found some student projects that would serve as examples. During the process of creating a podcast for this book, I took screen shots of GarageBand, so I could use them as well.

Citing work used is a very important part of the process. I feel very strongly about including a bibliography, just as we require students to do so for their work. This was completed through a web service that we pay for called NoodleTools.

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