Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Getting to know the ipad

Wow! You really need a lot of time to look at all this thing can do. So far I've looked at the keynote program. I liked how easy it was to take pictures which were stored for later use.
I began to look at the world language apps thinking that as the subject in the elementary schools is now being covered by the class teachers, many of whom do not feel confident in this area, it would be helpful to have something for pronunciation and vocabulary at an introductory level. So far I've found Learn French and Play (also 2), and MyWorld Spanish for iPAD. I can see these apps being very user friendly with a class group.
So far, so good. Back to playing!

Monday, December 27, 2010

What a wonderful app! I have been learning how to use it; this video is helpful. If the students had IPads, this app would be a winner in the classrooms. Gives notetaking a whole new meaning. I like how interactive it is for students.
PS--download it free, to your IPad!

North Point's iBand

Check out the musical potential of the iPad.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Observations...

As I begin to scratch the surface on Ipad possibilities in my classroom, I am intrigued by first reactions. No instruction needed! resonated. As I circulated my Ipad, the engagement was instant, and the students knew how to use it. Call it intuition. Several were quick to share how they could use it in class to enhance their work. Hmmm... students eager to share ways to make their work better, and more productive. I like it! Somehow, I know they will teach me, and lead the way for its optimum classroom use in ways I do not yet know.

Something I've been considering, and will employ early 2011. Reading assessments on the IPad! I will hand a student the IPad, with the TC Reading Assessment text ready to go. (Way to save paper!) More importantly, I am predicting higher engagement about taking a reading assessment in this structure. Will keep you posted on results.

Generally, I find the IPad more personal than the Mac laptop; very portable, looong battery life, and well, just so very cool. Can I see the IPad replacing textbooks? You bet! The exciting thing is that we while we can't imagine all the IPad will do for education, we can begin to reimagine our teaching practices with it in mind.
Best,
Grace

Possibilities...

These might be worth exploring...

Math

The Ruler – measure things in inches or centimeters
Math Quizzer – Math Quizzer is an interactive and fun way to, not only learn, but also to boost your skills in; Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division. It offers an easy to understand chalkboard visual, which keeps track of your “score” as you progress.
Bloomberg – Bring the power of the most trusted source for financial information to your iPad, along with tools to help you analyze the world’s markets.
Fractals – Move and pinch fractals in real time
MASTERING MATHEMATICS GRADE 6 – A mathematics practice book for 6th grade students.
MASTERING MATHEMATICS GRADE 7 -A mathematics practice book for 7th grade students.
Geometry Stash – Access the most commonly used theorems, postulates, and corollaries.
Calculators

SpaceTime – Powerful graphing calculator. 2D and 3D graphing
PocketCAS pro – Advanced Graphic and Symbolic Scientific Calculator. Handles every mathematical problem you might encounter in school or university.
PocketCAS lite – Free Graphic calculator. Not as many features as the pro version above.
Quick Graph – 2D and 3D graphing calculator.

Social Studies

U.S. Geography by Discovery Education – Become an expert in U.S. Geography with this app. Dozens of videos and interactive gameplay.
Civil War America’s Epic Struggle-Civil War: America’s Epic Struggle Features over 1,000 high-res photos, more than an hour of multimedia presentations, in excess of 100 authentic maps, dozens of first hand accounts, and numerous text articles and biographies, it provides instantaneous access to information on every aspect of the war.
Beautiful Planet HD – Beautiful Planet is a groundbreaking app that captures the breathtaking beauty of our world and its cultures. Featuring a collection of galleries three decades in the making by travel photographer, author and explorer, Peter Guttman, Beautiful Planet spans seven continents and 160 countries.
World Atlas HD – The best maps available from National Geographic
History:Maps of World – Collection of High-Resolution historical Maps.
The History Clock – An app that converts the current time to a year and gives a fast fact about that year.
USA Thematic Atlas & Facts – High quality maps filled with facts and information.
USA Puzzle – A USA puzzle that needs to be put together. Double tap on the state for information about that state.
Motionx GPS HD – Maps and navigation instruments. Maps from all over the world. Can include waypoints. Can be good for Geocaching.
The World Factbook for iPad – Extensive information of over 250 countries around the world.
WORLD BOOK – This Day in History – Interactive multimedia calendar that features historical events for the day.
The Presidency – Historical information on every President of the United States.
Presidents HD- Historical information on every President of the United States.
Declaration for iPad – A copy of the Declaration of Independence.
Constitution for iPad – A copy of the Constitution of the United States.
MyCongress – A portal to detailed information about elected congress officials. Please note: This is not an official government resource
GeogXPert – A reference app – containing maps which allow you to look up countries and find country information – as well as a quiz app.

Science

3D Cell Simulation and Stain Tool – Learn about the cell and its structures in a 3D tool.
EMD PTE – A highly interactive periodic table of elements.
VideoScience – Science experiments with video.
The Elements: A Visual Exploration – If you think you’ve seen the periodic table, think again. The Elements: A Visual Exploration lets you experience the beauty and fascination of the building blocks of our universe in a way you’ve never seen before. And as the first really new ebook developed from the ground up for iPad, The Elements beautifully shows off the capabilities of this lovely device.
A Life Among Whales – Video documentary featuring the exploration into the life and work of whale biologist Roger Payne
Newtons Laws – Explains Newton’s first two laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation.
Periodic Table of the Elements – Standard periodic table of elements. Free as of May 16, 2010
Molecules – View and manipulate 3D renderings of molecules.
3D Brain – Rotate and zoom around 29 interactive structures in the brain.
Science Glossary – an extensive glossary of scientific terms and biographies.
myArm Muscles – Visually rich and stimulating way to learn about our complex arm muscles.
HD Birds Encyclopedia – Highly graphic encyclopedia that has detailed and comprehensive information about a variety of birds.
HD Marine Life – An encyclopedia of marine life.
Frog Dissection – A virtual frog dissection app.

Astronomy

HD Solar System – Highly graphic encyclopedia that has detailed and comprehensive information about the solar system.
GoSkyWatch Planetarium – Easily and quickly identify and locate stars, planets, constellations and more with a touch or by simply pointing to the sky. Have fun with family and friends discovering the images in the night sky. Go outside and explore the night sky.
Star Walk – An interactive astronomy guide.
Solar Walk – A 3D Solar System Model.
Distant Suns – A database of over 130,000 stars, nebula, and galaxies.
DrakeEQ HD – 3D simulation of the Milky Way Galaxy
GoSkyWatch Planetarium – Locate stars, planets, and constellations.
Electives/Other

Magic Piano – Play timeless pieces on spiral and circular keyboards, or follow beams of light – mastery requires only imagination. Play alone, or travel through a warp hole and play Piano Roulette with other performers across the world.
Fashion Sketchbook: The Stylish Dress Up Game – A fashion design application that allows the users to design outfits.
Electives/Other

Magic Piano – Play timeless pieces on spiral and circular keyboards, or follow beams of light – mastery requires only imagination. Play alone, or travel through a warp hole and play Piano Roulette with other performers across the world.
Fashion Sketchbook: The Stylish Dress Up Game – A fashion design application that allows the users to design outfits.
Art

SketchBook Pro – A professional-grade paint and drawing application.
Brushes – Brushes is a painting application designed from scratch for the iPad. Featuring an advanced color picker, several realistic brushes, multiple layers, extreme zooming, and a simple yet deep interface, it is a powerful tool for creating original artwork on your mobile device. The June 1, 2009 cover of The New Yorker was created in Brushes.
Picasso HD – A virtual gallery of Pablo Picasso’s work featuring hundreds of high definition paintings of his greatest works.
Van Gogh HD – A virtual gallery of Vincent Van Gogh’s work featuring hundreds of high definition paintings of his greatest works.
Klimt HD – A virtual gallery of Austrian Painter Gustav Klimt work featuring hundreds of high definition paintings of his greatest works.
Smudge – Finger painting app
Skrambler X – Assemble famous masterpieces like a jigsaw puzzle. Learn interesting facts about the artists and their artwork while putting each piece in place.
Gravilux – an app that lets you draw with stars
The Hot Rod Art Book: Masters of Chicken Scratch – Over 100 pages of hot rod artwork. Over one and a half hours of instructional videos that show the complete process from sketch to rendering.
ArtStudio – Similar to Sketchbook Pro – a professional drawing / painting application
ArtRage – Similar to Sketchbook Pro – painting and drawing tools that work just like the real thing!

Foreign Language

TAO – TranslateIt! Online – one click translation of text into numerous languages using Google translate.
AIUEO-HIRAGANA – Touch, Listen, and Learn Japanese.
Japanese Phrases & Lessons – 2,700 Japanese phrases with sound
French English Dictionary & Translator – French – English Dictionary
TouchLanguage French – Learn over 2,000 French words and phrases
BidBox Vocabulary Trainer: English – Spanish – Learn Spanish vocabulary
简明英汉词典 – English – Chinese Dictionary
German English Dictionary & Translator – German – English Dictionary
Italian English Dictionary & Translator – Italian – English Dictionary

Music

Key Wiz – Learn how to play the piano.
Virtuoso Piano Free 2 HD – Learn the basics of music and how to play the piano.
Magic Piano – Play the piano freestyle or on a spiral keyboard.
Air Harp – Strum and pluck the strings for a harp sound.
ESE Modifications/Accommodations

Proloquo2Go – full featured alternative communication solution for people who have difficulty speaking
Speak it! Text to Speech – A high quality text to speech app.
Pocket Picture Planner HD – Use pictures or graphics to create a visual calendar.

All Subjects/General/Productivity

Keynote – A slideshow presentation program
Pages- A word processing program
Numbers – A spreadsheet application
iBooks – a ereader book store
iStudiez Pro – calendar and assignment planner
Mobile Mouse – Mobile Mouse instantly transforms your iPad into a wireless mouse and trackpad for your computer.
Bento – Manage things with 25 ready to use databases.
GoodReader – Within moments of downloading GoodReader, you’ll be transferring files from the computer to the iPad. Supports a wide range of files.
Note Taker HD – An app for writing handwritten notes, diagrams, etc.
Sundry Notes Pro – Sundry Notes is the first social note taking application. Write, draw, record and research right within the app – and then share your notes with others.Take notes right within your application, including: Write text (and change font color, size, etc.), draw anywhere in your notes, search Wikipedia, Google, and Google Books – and grab images from them for your notes using two fingers, Import PDFs from the internet, Import images from your photo library, record sound/voice, Change page background to graph paper, lined paper, legal paper, etc.
CourseNotes – Take notes in class and keep them organized by subject area.
MindNode – Mind mapping, brainstorming, organization.
iThoughtsHD – A mind map tool for the iPad
Evernote – Evernote turns the iPad into an extension of your brain, helping you remember anything and everything that happens in your life.
Stick It – Sticky Notes with Bump™ – Sticky notes you can share with other iPad Users
PrintCentral – View, store, and print from the iPad
Educate – The ultimate teacher’s companion providing mobile access to your student’s data, teaching strategies, eLearning tools, and timetable.
OmniGraffle – Brainstorming, diagraming, charts, graphic design, etc.
GoDocs iPad/iPhone (Google Docs™ support) – View, edit, share, and download Google Docs
Office² HD – View, create, and edit Word and Excel files
Cramberry – Create flash cards to study from.
Professor Garfield Cyberbullying – Garfield and Friends share information about Cyberbullying
Professor Garfield Online Safety – Garfield and Friends share information about Online Safety
eClicker and eClicker Host- A personal response system that allows teachers to poll their classes in real time.
Blackboard Presenter – Turns iPad into a blackboard presenter using the VGA dongle. Mirrors iPad screen to the projector.
PDF Reader Pro Edition – PDF reader.
WritePad for iPad – WritePad lets you take notes in your own handwriting with an iPad stylus, pen, or even your finger.
Browser Duo – Designed specifically for the iPad, Browser Duo takes advantage of the iPad’s amazing screen size to enable multi-tasking in the browser.

Taking a look at these....

For Language Arts, I am looking at/learning about these. Any others, any feedback on these, please share!

iBooks – an ereader book store.
Free Books – 23,469 Classics to Go
Dictionary.com – Dictionary & Thesaurus – A dictionary and a Thesaurus.
Literary Analysis Guide – Elements of literature are arranged graphically around three wheels (poetry, prose, and rhetoric).
Shakespeare Pro – Complete works of Shakespeare. 41 plays, 154 sonnets, and 6 poems. All works can be cross searched for anything.
Jules Verne Collection – Sixteen of Jules Verne’s books
MaxJournal – A simple and elegant journal.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

iPad Article

This article was in the Record last week:


http://goo.gl/qnr9K


Also...I think that the best part of the iPad is the hands on aspect of using it. That is what sets it apart for a laptop. The big question is how to use it effectively in a class with 25 plus kids. There are teachers and students @ Eisenhower who have had great success with it in the small group instruction settings. In this "testing stage" that we are in, a large class might have to have the iPad as one of several stations that kids move through during a class period. If this is beneficial to the students learning, then we could explore the possibility of getting multiple iPads for the classroom. Even the simplest of games such as "Angry Birds" (check it out) allow kids to grasp an understanding of physics, angles, strategy and more that cannot be as effectively demonstrated on a board or watching a video.


Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Jared's Update


Below is an email I just received from Jared, an Eisenhower 8th grader.

Dear Mr. Olejarz,

So far I have used my iPad for...

looking up facts about Anastasia and a genetic disorder (science).

viewing theorems and shape properties (math).

researching topics because there were not enough computers (W.E.L.).

writing down homework (as an assignment pad).

a U.S.B. and a media player for a project (Spanish).

taking notes and typing an essay (social studies).

Also, I was wondering what type of network the school has. This would be useful to me so I could experiment with various apps that would let me access data from my account. Lastly, one of the AirPrint links is broken. Here is a link to the new version, now called AirPrint Activator, http://download.cnet.com/AirPrint-Activator/3000-18487_4-75327225.html?tag=mncol;1 .

Jared 

Sent from my iPad

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Google Chrome Notebooks vs. iPad

Google announced this today. I haven't heard what the costs will be but this is another possibility.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/update-on-chrome-web-store-and-chrome.html

Chrome notebooks are built and optimized for the web,
where you already spend most of your computing time.
So you get a faster, simpler and more secure experience
without all the headaches of ordinary computers.


http://www.google.com/chromeos/features.html

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

iPad 2 reported by the NYT

There are reports that an iPad 2 is on the way:

December 7, 2010, 6:18 pm

IPad 2 Is Due Out in April, Taiwanese Paper Says

Apple has trained customers, investors, bloggers and technology pundits to expect its products to be revamped on a yearly basis. The iPhone, for example, first went on sale late in June 2007. The iPhone 3G followed in July 2008, and the iPhone 3GS in June 2009. The iPhone 4 arrived in June 2010.
So it is not surprising to see reports that the iPad 2 is expected to go on sale in April 2011, a year after the original iPad went on sale in the United States.
Taiwan-based DigiTimes reported on Tuesday that Foxconn, which makes Apple products like the iPhone and iPad, plans to begin shipping an updated iPad as soon as the end of February 2011, citing unnamed sources at Taiwan-based makers of electronics components. DigiTimes, which tracks electronics companies in China and Taiwan closely, said that the new iPad is expected to go on sale in April 2011.
An Apple spokeswoman, Trudy Muller, declined to comment.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

iPads and Education, Jared, Grade 8, Eisenhower MS

The post below is by Jared, an eighth-grade student at Eisenhower. He will be participating as a student tester at Eisenhower. He will be using his own iPAD.

 Jared, Grade 8, Eisenhower MS
The educational uses for iPads are endless, due to the ever-expanding App Store. As of now an iPad can be used for word processing to web browsing. I, personally, use my iPad a lot for word processing. To do this I use the Apple-made iWork apps. They include Keynote, Pages, and Numbers. These applications are almost exactly the same as the version for computers. Also, there are two math related apps I use. One is called Math Reference. This app provides information on algebra, geometry, and many more math classes. Another math app I use is called iScience. In this app you are also able to see math related problems, formulas, etc. In addition, it has chemistry and physics sections. Some science related apps, that I use, are periodic table of elements apps, and space apps. Lastly, I have a world fact-book app and a historical maps app.

General related apps that I own, are iDraft, Inkling, eTextbooks, iTranslate, Convert Units, National Geographic Magazine, iBooks, Kindle, Instapaper, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and many more. iDraft is used as a notebook (for writing)*. Inkling and eTextbooks are virtual textbooks, while iTranslate translates any word you type. I convert the English Conventional system to Metric (or any other conversion) using Convert Units. Lastly, Nat. Geo. Magazine, iBooks, Kindle, Instapaper, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and many more are used for reading text. Lastly, the iPad can be used to project a presentation (for teachers and students alike) and to print a document.

I believe that the iPad is a great device, that will enhance the learning of many students. In the future tablets may even replace desktops.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Netbook for $330 vs. iPad

The info below is from David Pogue at the NYT. If we can get a netbook for $330 vs an iPad for $499 that means that 3 iPads are equal in cost to almost 5 netbooks. Should we also do a test of netbooks?

Acer Aspire One AOD255-1203 - $330 at Amazon

Seven hours of battery life and an Intel dual-core Atom processor give this Acer enough power and stamina to lead this category. The 10-inch screen isn’t the most brilliant display, and the 250-gig hard drive is pretty much standard storage fare. But the light weight (2.5 pounds), full-size keyboard and full complement of ports — three USB ports, Ethernet, multimedia card slot, and webcam — plus a neat array of colors (aquamarine, anyone?) make this a good choice for the netbook customer on a budget.

Click here to get tech specs at the B&H website