Home

Technology is redefining traditional educational paradigms, and many schools are interested in integrating the latest technological advancements into the school curriculum. While increased incorporation of technology seems to be inevitable, most schools are ill-prepared to enter the 21st century owing to a lack of resources, a dearth of appropriate personnel, and some unrealistic expectations. These limitations may provide enough friction to stymie ambitious and well intentioned efforts to improve student learning and prepare students for the future. Overcoming these limitations may seem daunting; however, there are lessons to be learned from schools that have already begun to venture into the world of 1-to-1 initiatives.

Apple Teacher Institute April 2-5 2012

2011-12-13T19:48:48Z

This annual conference offers teachers a totally immersive hands on experience with Apple solutions for the classroom.

This PDF contains details for registration and further information - four days focused on the iPad in education.

Outline Programme (subject to change) Day 1

Arrive at midday
Registration
Keynote
Tutorials in the use of iPad/iPod touch
Group activities differentiated for experience
Showcase

Day 2

Keynote
Three sessions of tutorials, differentiated into beginner and intermediate:

Apps for education
iPad and video
Creating content for iPad and iPod touch
iPad in the classroom
iPod touch in the classroom
Managing and deploying mobile devices
Planning for change with iPad and iPod touch

Day 3

• Group project • Showcase

Day 4

• Keynote • Reflection

IDEA FLIGHT

2011-12-13T19:30:38Z

I was introduced to this app by ADE Andy Rhodes (Stavanger, Norway) and have used this in a number of workshops recently to great response. In short, Idea Flight allows you to hold a meeting on iPad(s) without a projector or screen. The person leading the meeting signs in as the 'pilot' with those attending signing in as 'passengers'. The attendees iPad screens are taken over showing the presentation from the 'pilot' screen - I used a PDF file . Advancing through the presentation is wholly in the control of the Pilot, however you can switch off the seatbelts sign and allow the passengers to wander freely through the presentation - taking back control whenever you want. In a recent update you can take notes within the app while viewing the presentation.

The app is great for keeping people to the same page / point - going through ideas, chairing meetings - very simple to set up and use.

60 Seconds - Things That Happen On Internet Every Sixty Seconds [Infographic]

2011-12-12T22:26:00Z

Did You Know That - In 60 SECONDS

Search engine Google serves more that 694,445 queries

6,600+ pictures are uploaded on Flickr

600 videos are uploaded on YouTube videos, amounting to 25+ hours of content

695,000 status updates, 79,364 wall posts and 510,040 comments are published on Social Networking site Facebook

70 New domains are registered

168,000,000+ emails are sent

320 new accounts and 98,000 tweets are generated on Social Networking site Twitter

iPhone applications are downloaded more than13,000 times

20,000 new posts are published on Micro-blogging platform tumbler

Popular web browser FireFox is downloaded more than 1700 times

Popular blogging platform Wordpress is downloaded more than 50 times

WordPress Plugins aredownloaded more than 125 times

100 accounts are created on professional networking site LinkedIn

40 new Questions are asked on YahooAnswers.com

100+ questions are asked on Answers.com

1 new article is published on Associated Content, the world’s largest source of community-created content

1 new definition is added on UrbanDictionary.com

1,200+ new ads are created on Craigslist

370,000+ minutes of voice calls done by Skype users

13,000+ hours of music streaming is done by personalized Internet radio provider Pandora

1,600+ reads are made on Scribd, the largest social reading publishing compan

Grip Case for iPad

2011-11-28T20:09:46Z

Ciaran McCormack has posted this on his website - the question of using an iPad where it may get damaged, either by location or student! is often asked - check out his cool demo, well worth taking the time to look this over.

http://www.tme.ie/tablet-apps-in-education/2011/11/21/grip-case-ipad-case.html

Raul Santiago Spanish ADE extraordinaire

2011-11-28T20:06:20Z

Raul is an Apple Distinguished Educator based in Spain - he tweets daily on

@santiagoraul

on apps that are excellent for education - primarily in Spanish, so MFL teachers take note!

Also, he has two websites that you should check out,

www.eduapps.es

www.adespain.es

TiltShift Generator for iPad - Fake DSLR

2011-11-23T09:24:45Z

This is an interesting app that I first saw on a website. Now available on iPad and iPhone - essentially this release from the ToyCamera series and this software will allow you to create retro miniature pictures. By adjusting various parameters, it allows you to apply many ToyCamera effects on your pictures: from miniature pictures to vintage styles images. Its an expensive effect that many pros are using, I've posted a few examples here.

Its the simplicity and the great effects its produces that make this a joy to play with....

Some great examples here

Puppet Pals

2011-11-16T10:10:29Z

I have to say this app is not only great fun but it has so many potential uses : storyboarding, drama, role play ... if you want to see it in use Ciaran McCormack has a video demoing this on his website , here http://www.tme.ie/tablet-apps-in-education

The app is available for iPhone / Touch and iPad , its free, which is extremely cool and essentially it allows you to use either the supplied characters and backdrops to create simple animations and at the same time record audio via the inbuilt microphone, or use your own. You can then output the results as a movie.

Check the apps out here - iPhone and here iPad

Just to emphasise a couple of points again:

1. Its really easy to use and suits ALL ages and produces great results

2. You can use your own images for characters and backdrops

3. You can purchase more characters within the app (do you really need to?).

Once you've got the hang of things ( which takes a couple of minutes!), designing your own characters and scenarios is one of the really attractive points about this app. The ease of use combined with the fun element had me sold in minutes , the curriculum potential is huge.

Book Creator for iPad

2011-11-16T10:09:50Z

This app is really something else - everyone is raving about it - if you are going to check out one app - it has to be this one, for creating ePubs directly in the classroom - simple to use, literally a primary classroom delight, and absolutly no reason it couldn't be used to great effect at secondary level.

It takes only a few minutes to go through the simple in built tutorial on adding a cover image, images and text - and how to customise these, then export options to your iBooks library or - and this is the really cool idea - straight to dropbox - meaning simple distribution. For anyone with a good internet connection in their classroom using the free account on dropbox is a must.

Here is the link to the app on the iTunes store Book Creator for iPad

and a link to some more information

and finally the creator is on Twitter.

Enjoy!