Tuesday's iPad Tips VI

Remind101"Remind101 provides a safe way for teachers to text message students and stay in touch with parents. It is 100% free and is used by over 200,000 teachers, students and parents to send millions of messages every month."

Explain Everything ($2.99)

can be used as an interactive whiteboard. "... let's you annotate, animate and narrate explanations and presentations." Check out this example on Youtube.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4JOsrEsyo0

 Noteshelf ($5.99)

like Paper 53, but not so artsy and way more productivity-able (what's the word I want here :). I was told by an English teacher from Peel that with this app, you can create a notebook per student. You can put a custom cover on each notebook and access each from a virtual shelf. She uses the notebooks to collect assessment evidence (conversations, observations, anecdotes, photos of work, etc.) for each student. Unlike Paper 53, you can type, record audio and bring in photos.

Tuesday's iPad Tips V

iMovie

- For iPad 2 or later users, iMovie is a movie making program.  If you're familiar with the Mac version, it's the same idea but way easier to use.  Of course, when things are "way easier" the flip side is that they're not as versatile/powerful.  The movie trailer is kind of cool -- drop in your photos or movies, click "done" and it spits out a trailer.

I think it's $9.99

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ_5FY1j4m0

NFB Pixstop 

- a stop motion animation film making program.  The National Film Board was offering it for free when it first came out.  Not sure if it's still free.

Halftone 

find or take a photo, choose a paper style, pick a layout, add a stamp, select a font

(above are direct quotes from page 1 of the app)

Sktich

- as above, take or use a photo and doctor it or mark it up.

- i used this app to send a photo -- with damaged parts circled in red -- to the Roots Co. of a faulty back-pack 

Animoto 

- Creates pretty impressive videos using your photos and/or pictures and Animoto's templates and stock music

- they offer super short videos for free then require a monthly fee for more time.  However, I believe educators can get a free account here: http://animoto.com/account/education/apply
(I've been told it takes a while)

TIP

- almost every app has a "SHARE" option with which you can send documents, pictures, etc. to email or other apps

- for example from NOTES, I can send a document to Mail, Message or Print

Literacy and Numeracy Changes Everything

Watch this video from the Ontario Ministry of Education School Effectiveness Framework, 2010.  It'll be worth your while.

Synopsis: Sir Michael Barber talks about the importance of literacy and numeracy for our planet's future.

Click on the  3rd video on the page.
http://resources.curriculum.org/secretariat/framework/curriculum2.shtml

Tuesday's iPad Tips IV

- TED:

if you haven't discovered TED videos, well, you should :) Technology, Entertainment, Design. Basically, they're videos of experts from various fields, however, they're so much more than that: "TED has broken the mould of what one expects from a speech. Speakers do not explain how to configure a bit of kit nor why one product is superior or inferior to another. Rather, they try to reconfigure listeners' minds."

The Economist November 17, 2012

- anyhow, you can watch TED videos anywhere but there is an app for it.

SOCK PUPPETS:
Like the title says, it's an app that allows sock puppets to talk to each other using your voices on helium :) Here's an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TZFWuffY6E

Okay, it's kind of elementary school-ish, but I've gotta say, I think high school kids would get a kick out of this. And it certainly connects with literacy and drama. It'd also work in your ENGLISH media strand. My wife teaches primary. It's changed her life :)

SCRABBLE:

there is a scrabble app. There are several options -- you can play with real live people or you can play with random people or friends online. Perfect for those 2 or 3 kids who are done their work early.

PAGES: there are many word processing apps on the market -- which I'll tell you about another time -- but when it's all said and done, for sheer word processing (no toys,bells and whistles) I think the best one out there for sharing, formatting, opening and exporting as Word is PAGES and if you have a Mac, there's a great version for Mac as well. I think it costs $9.99, but you know what they say: you get what you pay for...