Getting lost in the technology

I  use the ipad for the course content in VIS 332 (Graphic Design 3) and VIS 334 (Design Production 3) which just wrapped up. The students spent the semester learning the skills to create websites. The last project was a responsive design that would change layouts for desktop, tablet and mobile. This involved fluid grids, flexible images, media queries, and dynamic content. It was challenging for them especially since the content had to be the same but the layout changed with the different device.  It requires more project planning (sketching, wireframing and prototyping) than students like to do and working with HTML as early as possible (using Photoshop for creating assets rather than full layouts) something students also don't like doing.

The projects were submitted the first week of December and were disappointing. The layouts were incomplete, unbalanced and didn't function properly.  The next class, I gave them a 4 hour assignment to use all the content they had amassed for the website and create a collateral print product. It was quite surprising. They came up with better print layouts in 4 hours then the 12 hours of class time they had for the websites. Many of the print designs appeared to have more design elements and layout strategies then their websites. The following class I did a critique showing them the print designs and the web designs side by side.  When I asked them why they were different, they said that they were more comfortable designing for print. They thought better in print. They got lost in the technology.

"So use that. Start with what you know."  

With every new design project that is assigned, I told them to start with what they know.  Design a collateral product for print before starting the web design project. Have an interactive experience to design? Just make up a "fake" collateral print product, then use those design elements and decisions made for the print project in the  the project planning, wireframes and prototyping for the website design and construction. Don't design the layout for the website, Start with what you know. I actually think I saw some lightbulbs.

The tablet was useful for this project because the students got to see the site they were constructing on the device. We also viewed them on some phones. But this project was not just about the use of technology because it is easy to get lost in technology. I found that this is true and not only applies to my design lesson but could be applied to a lot of situations and circumstances.  The answer? Start with what we know and then use technology to enhance the experience.

Free Apple's apps

I recently upgraded my iPhone to iPhone 5c when I saw a deal from Bestbuy plus I wanted to give myself an early Christmas gift. I had to do the regular routine to transfer all my data and apps to the new phone. When I updated the apps from the iPhone, there was a message asking do you want to download Page, Number, iPhoto, Keynote, iTune U, Podcasts, GarageBand, and iMovie for free? I said yes of course. 15 mins later, I did get those apps on my iPhone. I immediately got my iPad to see if those apps were available too. Yes, I was able to download them on the iPad for free too with the exception on Page because it requires a password from IT. I guess it is because I have a new apple device or it is just a special day. I hope all of you get this free-apps message when you update your apps next time. Wish you all have a happy holiday and a happy new year.

Semester End

Well, the semester is coming to an end- classes and exams are over, and for many of us, the grades are in. This has been a challenging semester for incorporating the iPod into my courses, but I'm looking forward to using the Human Anatomy app in my Medical Anthropology course and am testing geography based apps for the Globalization course.

Have a wonderful Winter Break- see you all in 2014.

End of the iPad Semester

After attending the CTLT iPad grant meeting from November I decided to deeply reflect on what was discussed. The discussion reminded me of similar discussions that I've had with training professionals about the use of technology in their organizational education initiatives. In many cases, training and development professionals try to use technology to create better organizational learning amongst employees only to find that the technology wasn't the solution they were looking for. I've gone through this example simply to show that technology is a tool that needs to be used judiciously. These past few months of using the iPad in the classroom have been very informative. The iPad is a tool that's extremely useful in the development of course material however my usage of it in class has been limited at best.

One issue that arose during the CTLT iPad grant meeting was how the iPad changes your presentation style. I wanted to talk about an issue that I've had with using the iPad in the classroom. When I first got the iPad I imagined that it would help me be more mobile in the classroom. I tend to move around the classroom as a way of engaging students. I use PowerPoint in the classroom and I find that I am constantly moving back to the podium to move to my next slide.

I imagined that the iPad would solve this situation. That I would be able to move freely while using the iPad. Without the correct attachment though you're not going to get that kind of result so through most of this semester I've been doing my little dance back and forth between the audience and the podium. I'm looking forward to using the iPad and having it serve as an accessory that serves me as I move between the screen and the audience.

That idea of the iPad as an accessory to my teaching is what I want to highlight in today's post. The idea that I've read in some education blogs that the iPad by itself will revolutionize teaching seems far fetched to me. PowerPoint didn't revolutionize teaching it just added another tool in our arsenal. When we consider the use of technology we need to be more judicious in how we envision the technology as a tool for our teaching style and approach. Too often we're caught up in the glitz and glamor or a shiny new object. We are the instructors not the device.

I'll be designing some additional methods to use the iPad more judiciously in my classes next semester. I plan on using it to help me move with a purpose. Rather than aimlessly moving back and forth I'd like to use my physical movements (coupled with the iPad) to engage my students in a more active learning process. Stay tuned to this blog to find out how that works out!

I hope everyone has a great end of semester and that we continue to work together and share our best practices for this cool piece of technology.

I'm a few days late, but I was waiting on purpose so that I could make an eve-of-Thanksgiving posting. I'm thankful that I have a career that keeps me in the forefront of technology, and that I work with people who encourage and support our efforts to bring the best to our students. For example, Kenny Tax has kindly offered to help me install a new ap, which we've scheduled for next week. A happy and healthy Thanksgiving to one and all!

Operational at last

Nice to be back on-line, but not much to report. My classroom was converted into a tech room  but wasn't fully operational for the first month of class and of course, we were unable to hook up even then.
However, I'm looking forward to utilizing the iPad in my next Intro to Medical Anthropology using the Anatomy Atlas Visible Body app, among others. I'm still exploring possibilities for other courses, so if anyone has suggestions for global mapping, please let me know.
Should be able to blog at the appropriate time next month, and I hope to have more to report by then.

iPad Testing and Prototyping

Interaction Design is a new class in the Visual Communications curriculum that deals with the design of interfaces (digital and otherwise) that are user-centric. This project was to create a "Flat" design for a digital calendar. This was designed and prototyped on the site www.proto.io and then tested and debugged using the iPad, as well as student iPhones and Android devices. Testing can be done on the site, but it's no replacement for testing on the device.

ARTstor

     Thanks for hosting the seminar this morning. I found it very useful.
With the distribution of the VGA cables and adapter, I can finally put the iPad to full use in the classroom and begin to employ what I proposed to do. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to experiment and I welcome any app recommendations for visual presentations to complement the ARTstor software.
     If you're not familiar with ARTstor, it is a visual image bank licensed by the FSC library. It runs on it's own platform and will take the place of a PowerPoint presentation. Most of the Art history professors currently use ARTstor but I'm certain many other disciplines would find it very useful for image based presentations and  art image folder sharing with students. For instance, required material can be placed in a virtual file share with your classes.
     ARTstor has a mobile device app for iPad. Find it at <www.Artstor.org.>   You can get a password from Karen Gelles to log in.
I'm looking forward to the next info Seminar and I'm holding the last three Fridays in January open until I hear back from Michael Knauth with a confirmation.
     If anyone attends the University Club Luncheon on Wednesday, 11/20, you may just witness the first iPad presentation by this blogger. The food being prepared by Dr. Elgart is Mexican, in observance of Dia de la Revolucíon (Day of the Revolution.) The subject of the lecture will be, "Diego Rivera and the Mexican Revolution."
     Please note, my iPad experimentation on my colleagues before presenting to our students reflects my awareness and appreciation of all of your kind patience and understanding.
-T Germano

I thought today's seminar was extremely useful and want to offer my thanks to one and all for sharing their ideas. A special shout-out to Matthew for emailing me about the revision program after the seminar and to Kenny for telling me about the phone ap and his willingness to help instal it on my I-pad on Monday. More colleagues deserve thanks, but I only met some of you today, so forgive me for not thanking you by name. Nonetheless, I do appreciate your generosity in sharing your expertise.

Power Point in iPad

I was trying to use Power Point presentation from the iPad. Though they claim Mac system to run MS software, but they are not fully compatible. When I open my presentation, the font and,especially, the graphics, get messed up.

iPad might have a similar tool named Keynote, which I have not used yet. I am wondering if there is a way to convert the Power Point file to Keynote file.

Daily free apps!

App Store used to have an app called "appgratis". It announces a free app or a discounted app daily for both iPad or iPhone. I got few good ones from there. When I got the iPad from CTLT, I wanted to install this app to the iPad too but found out Apple decided not carry it in the App Store.  Lucky, I  can subscribe on their website and receive their free app announcement from emails. By the way, they announce free Android apps too! I hope you will find this website useful. 

Update

Just a quick update. Unfortunately, SlideRocket is going to cease to exist as of this December.

Scanning on the Ipad

I am teaching a course called Digital Media and Methods, a foundation course encompassing the digital technology utilized in the design field.  The lesson this week was Capture and Production (essentially how you convert an object with physical dimensions to digital dimensions so it can be used in a design product [ie website, brochure, etc.]) The technology in our computer labs is pretty extensive scanners, projector, computers, cameras—so I didn't need to use the ipad for this lesson. But I wanted to try to incorporate its use in the classroom.

Two devices used to "capture" are digital cameras and scanners. Turns out, the ipad has the capacity to take pretty good pictures using the built-in camera.  And most of the free scanning apps I found allow you to scan in documents as a jpg or pdf that can be emailed or uploaded to cloud storage (drop box, icloud etc.) This is useful, however, the file formats created are images not editable text. To be fair, a flatbed scanner does the same thing. 

However, there are apps that can convert images to editable text. I found a free one called Image to Text OCR which creates editable text from images. Once scanned and emailed it, you receive the image and a text file with the editable text extracted from the image.  Pretty useful…maybe not for this lesson, but I have a lot of hard copy notes that I want to convert to and editable digital form for use in my lectures. This app may help me attain that goal.

Hi all,
Sorry that I am delaying in keeping you posted! My problem is that when I start surfing then it takes so much time and I am sure you all are suffering  from "no-time" syndrome that is our society problem so .... Any how as I was reading your posts, it shows that you all are enjoying your IPad as much as I do! Thanks to CTLT for awarding it to me.
The course that I am planning to specifically use IPad will be offered in spring. But so far I used this sweet device for my other courses presentation , easy communication  when I go to conferences and reading research papers. I really enjoy using the Pages, still exploring Keynote!
It is light , accecable and user friendly device ....stay tuned;)

Today's my day for blogging, so what do I have to tell you... I have been very successful using pocketcloud to get remote access in my ERP class to the Infor Visual ERP Server. I have been pulling up the modules and able to display individually to each student. Very intriguing and helpful. I have been using socrative in every class, students like participating using their phones, hopefully they will be better prepared for future classes in anticipation of the quiz I am having. I have been successful in using angel which was a problem before my update. Recently I was having issues with sending through pages and doc's or word or pdf's but was given some assistance. I had problems with my login when downloading apps since I had three different requests for app installs with three different id's and passwords only one being mine but now this has been taken care of and I understand better. Strange when updating I only had one id and password which was mine at all times. Glad this has been taken care of. I still have an issue using the IPAD with MYMISLAB from Pearson since I can not open assignments in that system that are Microsoft Access, they do not open. The excel and word assignments do but not Access. Hopefully we can figure away around that. My students are not very good with either excel or access so these exercises are needed and required. Been playing around with teamviewer which is an awesome tool. I will be using it in every classroom, very thrilling since I was trying to use reflector..to no avail. Thank you That's all for now.

Here's a guest post from my colleague Marla Johnston. She's one of the new faculty members in the Department of Psychology and she is a delight! I hope you enjoy her  blog post about her use of the iPad in her Psychology courses. 

For a long time, my experiences of iPads were twofold: 1) it kept my children quiet on long car rides (I love you, Angry Birds!), and 2) it was great for surfing Pinterest or Facebook on a lazy Sunday morning.  But this semester, I decided to toss my old way of lecturing, embrace technology more fully, and make my iPad mini my new classroom best friend.  The results have been a blast!

All of my class presentations are done in Keynote for Apple.  It’s like PowerPoint only for the “cool kids.”  I come in the classroom, hook up my iPad mini to the podium and I’m good to go.  I have every lecture presentation there in front of me with the touch of a finger.  I’ve discovered all sorts of fun tricks in Keynote like embedding videos and using the tools of the program to make my presentations visually more interesting.  One of the things I love about presenting off my iPad is that I can switch from Keynote and have access to fantastic Apps in class.  For example, there is an amazing App called “Brain 3d”.  It allows you to view different parts of the brain from all angles and it even has an information toolbar you can open on the side that gives details about the function of a particular brain location.  Being able to show Apps like this allows my students to have a more hands on experience of the lecture and it allows me to more fully share my enthusiasm for a particular topic.

In addition to course material related Apps, there are also Apps for attendance and grading.  One of my favorite Apps is “Groovy Grader”.  If I use a non-scantron test and score it, “Groovy Grader” tells me at a glance what the grade is when you get 34 right out of 45.  My iPad is the keeper of grades, lectures, attendance, and even notes about my students if need be.  For years I taught the old fashioned way.  Overheads and the document camera were my old stand bys and they definitely worked.  But now that I’ve made the change, there is no turning back.  The ipad is intuitive, elegant, and really allows for a level of sophisticated presentations that newer generations of students have come to expect.  I’m excited by what I’ve learned so far and even more excited to learn what else I can do with this fantastic classroom tool!

I bought my reading ap from the i-tunes store- my first ap! Called "Fluency Finder," it promises to do what I need, but now I have to figure out how to work it. Here's the link if you're interested in this application for your classroom: http://www.fluencyfinder.com/ The description: Announcing FluencyFinder 2.0! The “everything app” for reading fluency assessments – including one-step reading comprehension and data-sharing email features! FluencyFinder is an indispensable reading assessment tool for teachers, parents, and ESL students. Here's the phone from the ad, but the image of the ap won't show up. Ah, something else to learn!

And by the way, I use Grammarly's grammar corrector because even English professors occasionally makes grammar errors.

Some Application Suggestions

While I try to finish a more elaborate case study, I wanted to share some iPad apps that I find to be extremely useful.

Write for iPad

Write for iPad is a handy note taking and composition program. Can use it pretty well writing CSS and HTML. On a Mac, there is desktop version of the app that updates with your iPad. Uses DropBox and iCloud syncing, among other amazing capabilities.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/write-for-ipad-beautiful-note/id638171770?mt=8

Instapaper

Instapaper is a great way to save and store web pages for reading later offline. It supports iPad and desktop OSs.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/instapaper/id288545208?mt=8

SyncSpace

SyncSpace is a great program for remote iPad collaboration. Two authors can work simultaneously via wifi. It depends on your connection speed, but I tried it with a friend who has a very slow connection and it worked pretty well. It's free for a limited version. Get a copy and give me a call if you want to try it out.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/syncspace-free-zoomable-shared/id530089254?mt=8

SlideRocket Player

From the web page:

"Show your stunning presentations on the iPad with the SlideRocket Player! Simply download a SlideRocket or Powerpoint presentation to show it anytime, anywhere, online or off. Share presentations across the table or across the globe. You can even invite someone to view your presentation from a simple link. Plus, built in analytics let you know when and where someone's viewed your presentation. All your presentations go with you wherever you go."

Design presentations in PowerPoint or online at sliderocket.com, which has handy composing, formatting and sharing options. Display them anywhere from your iPad.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sliderocket-player/id462996758?mt=8

Inspire Pro

If you have an artist in creating any kind of imagery on your iPad, Inspire Pro is amazing.

Used in conjunction with the Sensu brush stylus (https://www.sensubrush.com/) and experience the best digital painting experience without spending thousands on a Wacom tablet.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/inspire-pro-paint-draw-sketch/id355460798?mt=8

I believe all of these have free versions or versions with limited capabilities.

Inspire pro is about 5 bucks. The Sensu brush is relatively expensive, depending on which one you choose, between 25 and 45 bucks. Well worth it if you want to REALLY experience digital painting.

This is just to check if my account is working. Will write later in detail.

Hi colleagues, I found the workshop on Friday very useful. I use I Annotate and is worth the money but wished that the College took initiative to get campus license for all!!? Also I will welcome if anyone has seen a stylus for drawing using the screen for hand writing engineering equations.
Happy IPading ( new word not yet in the dictionary)
Mir

Back on schedule

Hello .  I am just beginning to use some of the pictures I have taken to create some cases for my students,   It is really very time consuming to do so but it will be worth it.  

I have shown the students some videos that I took of the instrumentation in the laboratory and they really enjoyed seeing it in addition to discussing it.  


I attended the SLN workshop last Fri and learned of some apps that I will be exploring in the future.   Once I have had some time to explore them, I will share the ones I like.

I also have had some difficulty with updating and using some of the apps that came preloaded on the iPad.    I tried to download a free article to the iBooks but it asked for an apple password that was not mine.   There was no way to switch to my apple Id either.    Who do we contact to resolve this?

Upcoming Workshop Oct. 22nd

On October 22nd, I will deliver a presentation based on my experience at the Edtechteacher workshop—The Ipad Classroom that was held in July at Harvard University Law School.  The workshop will provide attendees with an overview of the potential rewards of utilizing Ipads in the classroom. The focus of this presentation will be utilizing the following apps in our classrooms: Socrative, Notability, and Explain Everything.  It would be helpful to know how familiar people are with these apps.  In addition, we will ask that all attendees please come to the workshop with your own iPad and iTunes account.  We also recommend that the following apps be installed on your iPad and that you experiment and explore these apps prior to our workshop.  Please do let me know how familiar you are with the apps listed above and below.

• iBooks (free)
• Educreations (free)
• Explain Everything ($2.99)
• iMovie ($4.99)
• SoundCloud (free)
• Socrative - Teacher & Student app (free)
• Notability ($1.99)
• ScreenChomp (free)
• Evernote(free)
• Skitch (free)
• Penultimate (free)
• VoiceThread (free)
• Animoto (free)
• Fotobabble (free)
• Diigo (free)
• DropBox (free)
• Google Drive (free)
• Box (free)
• Flipboard (free)
• Feedly (free)
• TouchApp Creator ($3.99)

Farmingdale State College Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology: Wow

This semester I am not teaching the course CRJ230 Biometrics and Identity Theft I proposed to use the iPad for. However, I saw their some updates and wanted to install them. Unfortunately, there is an existing appleID in the iPad I do not have the password.

I created a new ID, but the existing one still pops up for the installation. Not sure exactly what to do.

What is the password for it (ID: ipadctlt15 or something like that)? Doe anyone have the password so I can do the updates?
Thanks.

It's getting useful

Navigating September has been challenging. New classes, new students, creating new assignments, grading, preparing for lectures and shuffling my kids to their never ending 5-day-a-week-activities. I know, I have no one to blame but myself but I decided to adapt and see if the ipad could be my companion as I sat through soccer practice (4 days a week - no I am not kidding), ballet class or music lessons.

Armed with my 4 month old friend I sat in the waiting room of the ballet school. I turned it on and thanks to the free wifi, I got online without a problem. Using Safari, I went to Solostream.com. I was thinking of having my students use blog software as an introduction to formatting text for web design. Solostream has a bunch of videos they call wordpress 101 and I wanted to see if it was a worthwhile endeavor. After a few attempts (I didn't remember my password), I got in and clicked on the video. Error message. You need the new flash plugin to view this video.

Turns out flash isn't supported on the iPad. Here are Steve Jobs thoughts on Flash. (Summary for those who don't want to read it: Flash lacked full support for touch screens, it created security and performance issues, it ate into battery life and it created an extra layer between the developer and the operating system.

Disappointed. I googled it. Maybe there was a workaround.  I found the Photon Flash Player for ipad which is a flash video player for the ipad. But it isn't free and well, I just spent way too much money for ballet lessons so I was going to pass. But for those of you who aren't as cheap/broke as I am here is the link.  It's only $4.99 limited time sale (regular $9.99).

So watching videos on Solostream…fail.

But I was not going to give up. I went to another site. Lynda.com. Not only did I remember my password on the first try, I was able to watch the videos easily on the ipad without having to download anything. Then I was curious to see if it would work on another site I use for training—learnable.com. It worked just as easily. So I guess on the bigger tutorial sites that are not using flash videos, it works really well.

Who hoo! I popped in my earphones and happily listened to the instruction. I usually take notes when I watch these training videos but since I wasn't sitting at a table it wasn't the perfect scenario for note taking. But not dragging my laptop and getting work done during what I had considered lost time is as good as it gets. 

Wow

I am so thrilled, I finally have use of the Visual ERP remotely on my IPAD in my classroom, very awesome. I can individually go to students in the lab with my IPAD and show them right there. Very very effective in teaching this class. This is called pocket cloud and I did not get it from the INFOR Visual company but one of my students. I was waiting for Infor to get back to me but this works perfectly. Fantastic. This is a very big deal for my use of this IPAD far exceeding what I initially proposed. Incredible. About five of my students are using their IPADs inside and outside of the classroom. Hoping I can use for my MIS class now...will keep you advised..

IPAD updated to IOS 7 (updated)

I have to say with the latest update on my iPad I am a bit more at home.  It seems to be a lot more android like in its look.  I was a little confused when my friends began to post they were upgrading to iOS 7, and I didn't see any of the updates for mine.  I would have thought the update would have been presented in the app store but it wasn't.  After a bit of research and a phone all from Peter I learned that I had to tell the iPad to do the update.  I headed over to the settings, then to general, then to software update...and I was off.

For some reason I wasn't able to complete the update on the campus network, but then again i kept it with me as I walked around the building so maybe that was my problem.  When I got home, I connected downloaded and installed it in about 1 hr.  I like the new security features implemented in it. I noted that if someone does manage to steal it, according to the update, they will have a harder time reprogramming it without my password.

I am not sure what other features they have added but I will play around and see what else this new so can do.  

Has anyone used the iPad to display the contents of their iPad in a class configured with a projector?  I have used it to demo a few slides to a small group of students for my set220 class but I couldn't imagine using it for a full class, or for more then about 10 students


* if you havent updated...you may not want to.  if you own any 3rd party lightning cables they will not work any longer....Really apple!!!

IPAD Use with ERP gifted software in my class

Hi! Happy to say I found a way to use my IPAD in my ERP class through INFOR for the Visual Synergy ERP gifted software they provide to FSC in every semester for this sixth year. I can now hopefully use this ERP in the classroom on my ipad with a tool called road warrior that this industry leader uses with its customers, in their business and with their employees. This will allow me to access the right information as I go around the classroom answering students questions and showing them immediately the screen of the applicable modules. I have my id and password for the classroom application as well as my students have their id and passwords but right now we can not access yet on the ipad, they are working on it and hopefully soon I will be fully functional in my class with remote access to the hosted server using this ipad and my students using theirs. I cant wait and my students are so eager or at least some are to be able to use their IPAD to do class work and homework assignments while accessing the gifted ERP server anywhere on their IPAD. Getting some where...

I wanted to apologize for the late blog post. It's been a busy and difficult summer but now that the semester has begun I'm back and in full swing. 

When I first heard about the CTLT iPad initiative, I considered the use of the iPad in a statistics class as the most powerful use of the device. As I began preparing for my courses this summer, I started to play around with the iPad and found some differences in the user interface compared to my phone and computer which are both running on non-Mac operating systems. Getting comfortable using the iPad has proven a challenge. While the device itself is simple to use I always find the operating system differences between Android and Windows to be a bit off-putting. As an avowed fan of Android stepping into the world of iOS has been eye-opening. However, fitting the iPad's use into my standard class sessions has been a bit challenging. I'm slowly integrating the device into my classroom sessions. 

Thus far, I have found the iPad useful for in-class presentations of PowerPoint slides in class. I'm going to begin using some statistics applications (some of which are listed at this helpful link) I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences with this device in this classroom especially in light of the challenges of teaching statistics. Hopefully everyone can benefit from my musings on the iPad over the next several months. 

Dr. Sy Islam  

Writing on PDF files

Welcome back, everyone! Over the summer, I was looking for an app that allows sketching on PDF, PPT or other office files. In my classes, I usually display the teaching materials through PowerPoint. Most of the time, I would roll up the screen and let the materials projected onto the whiteboard. With this setup, I can explain the materials better by writing comments directly on the board while having the teaching materials as a background. But it is not comfortable to teach with the bright light shining on me all the time. So I explored the possibility of delivering the materials through iPad with the sketching app. The app I found is called “Wireshare”.  It allows sketching on PDF files on iPad. Unfortunately, it doesn’t allow sketching on PowerPoint files. But guess what! I can always convert the ppt files to PDF format.   Another great feature about this app is that it can transfer my files directly from the computer to the iPad through wifi without using dropbox or some cloud storage services.

If you know any other sketching apps for Words, Excel, or any MS packages, please let me know too.

Solar Carport Ribbon Cutting

The Solar Carport Ribbon Cutting was a great event. I did not have access to a good camera at the time so I decided to bring my iPad. The picture quality was great it isn't my digital camera but it is almost at good. This is a picture of the car charging station. It was a great day and the lighting was perfect I did not need any flash or anything. I am not a photographer and wouldn't be able to make any comments regarding professional quality or lighting that an expert would make. This picture served the purpose though and allowed me to document the event and I can use the pictures when posting on social media or reporting during presentations.

Just got back from the lab

Hello everyone, I hope you are all enjoying the last few days......
I apologize for the late posting again this month, but I have been tending to some nagging medical issues....nothing serious, just some needed maintenance!
As far as the iPad project,  I have now taken over 200 pictures and several videos!   I am so excited to use them in class.
Ken previously mentioned the connection for presentation use.......I too hope a decision  has been made so we are able to do this because I want to be able to present a picture of a culture with mixed bacterial flora ( as is normally what happens in a clinical specimen) and I will be able to use the zoom in real time from the iPad screen to focus in on the individual colony types for discussion.
 The pictures are just so clear.

I actually wrote this post before the start of the semester, but for some reason it would not load.  I am trying again today.

Well, I waited until today to meet my students to see if any met the criteria for my study and yes! I have several students in each class whose first language isn't English. Several students appear to be weak readers, which I concluded from having everyone read aloud from my "Notes to Students" (the class guidelines) and the syllabus. After I administer the diagnostic writing exams (on Wednesday), I'll know which students I'll invite to use the I-pad to learn to read with greater fluency. Lucky kids - they get to try the latest technology for learning.

Some useful Ipad settings

Having spent my summer jockeying my children to different summer activities and timing their use on the ipad. I have come to two conclusions: Summer activities are awesome and my girls' appetite for downloading games is voracious. I think giving them carte blanche to pick from the myriad of free games available to them may be an error.  I don't get it and really I don't care as long as they are free and appropriate for their age. Problem is, every time they want to download something, I have to stop what I am doing, read the reviews and make sure the content isn't improper (pardon the pun) and enter my apple id numerous times a day.  Good news? I don't have to do all this. There are some general settings help that I came across and thought I would share. Ipad parental controls and Ipad parental ratings.

But here is something that is helpful for the child-ful or child-free especially if you play games that allow in-app purchases. There has been a rise in-app games because the developers add in an easy way to make purchases inside the game itself. In fact this article indicates that in app transactions are responsible for 72% of app revenue.

As a recovering candy crush addict, I have stayed away from games on the ipad, but for those of you that are still able to handle a game or two I recommend turning this off in your settings.
Especially if you are bordering on not being able to help yourself or if you have small children using your device.  

IPAD

Hi! Ken, I am also an android user but have been enjoying this IPAD. As Lorraine mentioned and you did as well I enjoy the talkatone telephone feature. I also use Pages allot as well as bringing in documents from dropbox and cloudon. Working on projects, books, journal papers and a grant opportunity so this helps. I was at a (NG) Next Generation Manufacturing Conference and a Professor from Towson was using her IPAD to present with. She used it so professionally and efficiently,I was eager to start using and practicing that for my classes and presentations. She presented on the incredible lab she created for 3D Printing, where they have over 13 3d printers some dedicated to military applications, aerospace and so on...phenomenal presentation on that technology. I think she was using Keynote which is an great tool for that. I have been playing around with it. I have an issue since I wanted to use this IPAD in my MIS class with a virtual tool I have been using called mymislab but Pearson is not ready with the IPAD version yet, perhaps next semester according to my Pearson rep. I believe other professors use that tool in Math and Spanish I think?? I went to NorthEastern University today with my son...to look for places where I can spend my money...anyway upon arrival and registration for our tour the area for this activity was populated with more that 50 IPADS or so it seemed for all of the students and parents to use, my son was able to scan his entry card and have immediate access to all site info...I liked it...thought most students liked it..the counselors where free to help the many others while the rest of us played..and searched. I have recently installed siriusxm thinking music could help..I have not done diligence with Skype like I should but there's plenty more time too. I plan on using this in my ERP class since I individually go up to each student in the lab and going back n forth to the console which waists time, we'll see how that works out..will keep you all posted. I have remote access to the server but will have to play around. I need to get my textbooks on here ASAP. I have been enjoying this IPAD, thanks.

No Service Need Something to Communicate with the Outside world

So I finally got to put to the test the Google Talkatone app because during August 4th through the 9th I was in Hamilton NY and my phone had no cell service. I was able to log into the app on my ipad and communicate with the outside world via telephone though. This came in handy because we had to immediately get an updated budget to the US Department of Education for the ASAP Grant that we have and I had to communicate via my ipad entirely. I was able to email back and forth with my assistant and then dictate to him what the conversation should be with the program officer which was easier then continually emailing him. I has to call him numerous times telling him what to do with the budget and how to modify it so that the budget cuts from the government funding could be included and the budget modifications for the current year could be included. It was later sent to the US Department of Education and approved. The only problem that I still have is not being able to manipulate the spreadsheets sent to me. I can't view the formulas or edit them in any of the free apps that are available. I will bring this issue to the CTLT coordinator again.

iPad to the rescue...sort of!

So I have done enough iPad bashing to prove I am an android guy.  That being said I will now say something nice about it.  I was recently stuck in a lab where my cell service was, let's just say, less then stellar.  I was able to still make a phone call to a vendor from the tablet under wifi.  The sound quality was excellent and the person on the other end had no issue hearing me.  Sure, I could have done this from an android device but I was impressed with the sound quality on the iPad.  I will say I think it might even be slightly better then the android I own personally.  Now if only I could figure out how to multitask on it I would be a happy man.  

My original idea of sharing this tablet in my class does not seem to be a possibility, unless I first remove my email.  I would not want to give a student a divide with my work email attached and not stand over them watching every little thing they do.  

I read a Blog post on this blog Bout using the iPad to present at meetings.  I wonder if they have made a decision about the use of the projector cable or Apple TV.  Either way I would love to see something in place before school starts up.

Lastly, I love the fact that I have my text books loaded on this device.  It means I will always have them with me for student questions and student help.  I love the fact that I do not have to carry 2 text books and a lab manual to and from school daily

Planning for the Fall Semester

I want to use the I-pad to help my non-native speaking students achieve greater reading fluency. I do have some students over the summer who could benefit, one from Haiti and two from the Dominican Republic. However, all three have very little free time to come to my office and read passages on the I-pad, since they all work full-time jobs and the classes meet at night, when the kids are already exhausted. I really admire their stamina and determination, and I don't have the heart to make them do extra, uncredited work, no matter how beneficial. The extreme heat has sapped everyone's energy further. To sharpen my I-pad skills in the meantime, I've been downloading apps my students might enjoy, as well as those I can use in my English 310 tech writing class. During the regular semester, I can't imagine anyone would turn down an opportunity to browse on the I-pad, but our students tend to have full lives with little time for extra work. Thus, I plan to sweeten the allure with some vocabulary games and literary magazines. Hey: fun comes with an educational subtext!

Has the Ipad changed your life yet?

I went to a meeting recently to discuss a web site redesign project. It was in a boardroom attended by about 10 people including myself. When I got there, the presentation was on a big screen in front of the room and was controlled by a laptop. I didn't bring my ipad because I wasn't running the presentation and it wasn't school related. But I wondered whether the ipad would have been a good substitute for the laptop in this setting. Seeing how I found that it wasn't in a previous post.

When I got home I did some research and found some interesting articles. I wanted to share them. Here is a link discussing using the ipad for presentation and apps you can use for same. Here is a link to an articles for the ipad apps that can be used for presentations in the classroom and for teaching. Here is a link to an article for some that are free! And here is a link to an article from a teacher who swears the ipad changed her life. While I am very happy to have the ipad, It hasn't changed my life yet…still searching...

Compliance Checking

I am also a few days late in blogging about my iPad activities but I didn't have anything to blog about until now.

I still only continue to use the iPad for meetings. During the summer there are not a lot of activities going on where I can use the iPad for other more exciting items. I will be able to do some exploring hopefully on new apps soon. Yesterday we had a day long meeting which we listened to presentations and learned about activities related to one of the largest grants on Campus. At this event a consultant working with the Department of Energy attended and needed to do a compliance check with some of our records. I was able to pull up the Department of Labor Wage Determination that guides the project and he was able to train us quickly on comparing certified payrolls with this determination. This allowed us to confirm that we have met the required guidelines which are necessary for this contract and we can also bring this information on to the sites where these wage determinations are used and show the contractors. The iPad makes everything portable and we are able to save paper and can easily send the link to the contractor.

The iPad has replaced my personal laptop which I was using for work purposes. It is easier to carry back and forth so that I can complete emails at home and do research related to grants etc.

I still need to work with the CTLT to determine if the Apple Store App called numbers can be purchased and downloaded for us to use. Also we need to determine how the updates can be done and pushed to our iPads so that when there is an update for an app that the IT Department downloaded it can be done behind the scenes.

iPad Gang...HELLO!

ithank CTLT for the opportunity to work with the ipad.

ifinally here to blog even though several 7ths of the month have passed.

ilove the iPad...it is sleek and cool.

ifeel a bit like a hipster.

icalled Jill O'Sullivan, and have called the office.

ihaven't been on any trips abroad lately.

iwant to try talkatone from overseas to save $$ when calling home.

ivacationed in west virginia and loved the weather app---thunderstorms all week.

iuse email, but my subfolders don't seem to load.

idownloaded tumblr app to blog. will update next time

iconfess

iblog from my desktop...it's a mac...does that count?


isorry!! :-)

Hello everyone! I am sorry that I am posting a few days late.   I have been taking some pictures and videos with my iPad at the lab.  The images are so clear.   I am trying to obtain a visual library of laboratory procedures commonly used as well as images of isolated bacterial colonies.   I have also photographed identification and drug susceptibility panels and the images are so clear that I will easily be able to design an assignment and have students read the panels and report results.
  I have also located a Facebook page that has links to free microbiology content online.  I will be investigating this in the upcoming weeks as well.

Google Play Books

I enjoy using the iPad as a book reader. Apple's iBooks nicely arrange my notes and PDF files that I have. But I also like to use Google's Play books to read my books because it has the "page flipping effect" even it is a PDF file (i like this feature over iBooks). Play books  also allows me to store the files in the cloud and read them on my phone or computer as needed.

FYI, you cannot upload your files through the Play books app. You will need to login the google play book website and upload the files. Hope you like this book reader app too.

https://play.google.com/books

Like everyone else, I've been getting to know my new friend, and here's what I've discovered: 1. I don't like the touchpad. As someone who keyboards all day long, whether it's responding to students' emails, grading papers electronically, editing a manuscript (one of my students has written a novel, and I'm helping him get set with chapter 1), or responding to the College's emails, I find the touchpad annoying. Therefore, I bought a case with a keyboard attached. This is quite a handy gadget, folks, if like me, you're happier with a traditional keyboard. 2. Speaking of keyboarding, I MUST find a way to disable the autocorrect. I don't like this feature on any computer or tablet, because I don't want Hal putting words in my mouth. Autocorrect is especially assertive on the I-pad. Anyone know how to dismantle this? 3. I've always thought of myself as resolutely uncool, the stereotypical nerdy kid (allow me my illusions, please) with her head buried in a thick book. But when I carry the I-pad, I am suddenly tres cool, au courant, stylish. What is that about? In my later years, I suddenly assume the heavy mantle of coolness because I'm carrying a sleek gadget? This says far more about our society than it says about me, I fear.

Ipad—not a laptop

My hesitation about setting up and using the ipad was misplaced. Turns out, you just have to turn it on and it appears ready for action. There was some organization required (if you prefer a clutter-free screen).  I spent some time just getting to know some apps that came on the tablet. I already had an Apple id (required to download anything) so I shooed my salivating children away and sat down to do some serious research on the device.

I intend to use the ipad in VIS 332 and VIS 334. These courses are upper division classes where students are immersed in interactive web design including designing for different digital devices. Yes, that means they will be designing for tablets. This involves fluid grids, flexible images, media queries, and dynamic content. While you can complete this task on a desktop, there are a lot of applications that can aid in development for the ipad. Finding the most efficient ones is on my summer to do list. But at the orientation, Michael Knauth indicated that we should consider how to use the ipad in the classroom as a teaching tool. 

I began exploring with some games. Can you blame me? To appease my children, I downloaded a fairy fashion game (where you pick clothes out for the fairy "model"), a dentist game (where you clean characters teeth…I am not kidding), Interactive Pet  (where you take care of your pet), Smurf build a town, Candy Crush, Bubble Breaker, word games and more. In fact, it appears that my children have downloaded every free game available. But I would recommend skipping this step because I became obsessed with candy crush and can't remember one whole week before summer session A began. Once I realized how much time I was devoting to the game, I deleted it from the device.

Armed with my beginning-of-summer willpower, I began to investigate 21st century literacy applications and processes. I went to search for information by browsing. But browsing on the ipad was slow because it difficult to type on the virtual keyboard. Additionally, not all sites were easy to navigate.  When I research a topic, I gather data first. I create bookmarks and sometimes copy and paste into word files to review later. This takes seconds on the laptop but much longer on the ipad.  I wondered if I should invest in an external keyboard to see if I could work better, but I already have a laptop and a desktop. Apparently I am not alone in thinking that browsing the internet on an ipad is not ideal.

That said, I did enjoy watching things in the ipad. I like learning via tutorials, videos and webinars. Currently,  Lynda.com or Learnable are my go to sites for software tutorials. While waiting for my daughter's dance class, I brought the ipad and watched a video. I would never have brought my laptop (I was already weighed down with all the girls stuff—change of clothes, shoes, snacks, water bottles.) Lightweight and slim, the ipad took no extra space than a magazine. I popped in my earbuds and the hour flew by. I would think watching anything [videos, tv programs and movies] would work great. In fact, I have a friend who commutes to Manhattan from Holbrook and watches movies on her ipad.

So my results after a month in summary—Ipad—not a laptop but a good device for consuming media. While I don't plan on requiring students to use an ipad in my courses, my conclusions are shared by other teachers.