Category Archives: Uncategorized

My Hype Project

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I discovered Hype this morning as I was investigating iAuthor to create iBooks. It costs about $50.00.  It creates HTML5 files to insert into your books to make them interactive.  This is a very basic project.  I added images and animated only a little.  I added a video.  I added sound.  I had trouble using the built-in dictation feature so used insert video to add mp3 files I created on Audacity and that seemed to work.  There are many features surrounding the images that I didn’t bother with and I certainly didn’t explore the animation options much.

I can see using this often to create exciting iBooks for my students or even having them create their own iBooks using my Macbook Pro.

Here is the link.  I hope it works for you.  You don’t have to be a dropbox user to see it.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/98074816/Hype%20Summer/Hype%20Summer.html

 

Idea Sketch–free app that maps and outlines

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Why people movehttp://paulhami.edublogs.org/2011/12/17/idea-sketch-free-basic-and-effective-mind-mapping-tool-for-ipad-and-iphone/

Here is the site that explains what all idea sketch can do.  I worked on it to create a very simple project that isn’t finished this snapshot will show you what it can do.

So first I create the concept map or whatever you want to call it.  I connect smaller ideas to larger ones.  It looks like this:

Then you click on the outline button and it creates the outline for you.

You can toggle back and forth between the concept map and the outline.  You can add notes of descriptions to each shape as well.

Skitch

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Just today I used this app to try to understand my air con remote which is written in Chinese characters.  So between Google Translate, a great website where someone tried to translate the remote, and Skitch, I figured out some of the controls.  Trouble is, the AC is still not cooling.  Here is what I did.  I took a picture of the remote, and then used Skitch to write in the English translation.  I printed the picture with the annotations from Skitch to leave beside my remote.  This should help me, especially once the AC is working!

Dumb Phone…

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You can see in this picture old and new technology.  My brand new iPad and my six year old Nokia phone.  (I also have a one year old MacBook Pro.)  I’m considering buying a new phone but thought I might wait and see what the new iPhone 5 (or whatever they call it) has to offer.  I like having unlocked phones so I can use it in the US and Taipei but an unlocked iPhone is cost prohibitive.  Stay tuned to see if I bite the bullet on a new phone.

Kno, Collaborize and more

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There are so many apps out there that it is hard to keep up with them all.  I can see real potential in Kno which offers many e-textbooks to teachers and students.  The real potential for me with my fifth graders is creating textbooks with all of the Kno features by adding PDFs.  We introduced an immigration unit last year and a lot of the info is over our kids’ heads.  I think our team could create PDFs with the information at a kid friendly level and then use the Kno site to turn them into e-texts.  Check out this article from THE Journal.  http://thejournal.com/articles/2012/08/07/kno-brings-interactive-textbooks-to-k12-for-9.99.aspx?sc_lang=en

Collaborize is more than just getting kids to collaborate on schoolwork.  http://www.collaborizeclassroom.com

This goes beyond Google Doc sharing and blogging by putting it together and giving the students more opportunity to initiate discussions.

Flubaroo is another tool that works with Google to help teachers grade.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ60szcUbBE&feature=player_embedded

Google has so much potential.  Have you seen Google Goggle?  Google Voice?  Google Forms?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBDtOc4AHCQ&feature=player_embedded

Apps that help keep me up-to-date

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Try Zite to gather magazine articles about what you are interested in reading.

Also try Flipboard, which creates a type of magazine with videos and sites about what you want to read and watch and learn about.

I can see my students creating these to help them gather info on what interests them.

I also use Pinterest and Scoop-It but for different purposes.