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"We're sure there's at least one person out there who has been itching to shoot boat-loads of video with their iPad 2. Perhaps even a short film or two. After we pointed out how crazy you are, we might suggest looking into a tripod-mountable case like Makayama's Movie Mount. This simple plastic frame adds a number of things that a budding iPad videographer might appreciate, including a pair of hot shoes for hooking up lights and mics, and a mount for lenses, just in case you prefer wide-angle or telephoto shots. You can even switch between the conversion lenses and the built-in one on the fly thanks to the sliding adapter. The Movie Mount is available to pre-order now for $69.95, with the first deliveries expected to ship in October. Before you go, check out the gallery below, as well as the video and PR after the break."

A no-cost, self-directed, virtual school built for the vocal health of U.S. teachers

"Noterize allows you to view and annotate any available PDF or PowerPoint document. The built-in web browser enables direct importing of files from the web (including university and corporate sites), while integration with Box.net and Dropbox makes transferring documents between your computer and iPad as simple as can be. Once your documents are in Noterize, use the PDF search functionality to quickly find what you are looking for. "

"Are you in search of a good reminder app? iOS 5 will come with a built-in reminder app, but perhaps you can't wait until then."

"Many iPhone users rely entirely on the iPhone as their camera of choice, so why not take the best pictures possible? That's what these Camera app tips are for, helping you snap better photos and making you a better photographer by taking advantage of some of the wonderful features that are built into the camera app."

"The Camera App is probably the best feature of the iPad for learning, and in combination with the built in Camera Roll App its full functionality is mostly under utilised. Without using any other Apps at all students have the opportunity to document their work by photo, reflect on their work by videoing themselves responding. They can also edit their photos to focus or zoom in on an aspect. They can create folders of photos to organise their work and then create slideshows that they could Airplay in class"

"Haiku Deck is a fantastic tool for designing slideshow presentations. The best aspect of Haiku Deck is the built-in Creative Commons image search tool. That tool makes it easy to find high resolution images to match the message of each slide in your presentation. Over the last year I've had a handful of occasions on which used Haiku Deck to find images and design slides before dropping them into Keynote. On the same track, Haiku Deck recently published directions for exporting Haiku Deck to PowerPoint. That option is available in both the iPad and web app versions of Haiku Deck. "

"Genius Hour in the classroom is an approach to learning built around student curiosity, self-directed learning, and passion-based work. In traditional learning, teachers map out academic standards, and plan units and lessons based around those standards. In Genius Hour, students are in control, choosing what they study, how they study it, and what they do, produce, or create as a result. As a learning model, it promotes inquiry, research, creativity, and self-directed learning."

"Developers Touchpress are quickly becoming one of the top creators of iPad apps. The Orchestra is just another fine example of how apps should be designed and built. Although the app centres around classical music, you don't necessarily have to enjoy classical music in order to appreciate it. The focus of the app is to help users understand and observe an orchestra while they are playing - with note-by-note visualisations of each piece as it's played. There are multiple camera angles and views so that you can switch between them at any point during the music."

"Math Shake is an engaging, playful app that helps students learn to solve word problems.  It contains thousands of questions which students turn into an equation by looking for keywords and clues in the problem. Once students have discovered the equation, they can use a variety of built-in learning tools such as number lines, tens frames, fraction pieces and counters to work our their answer. Teachers and parents can also use these tools to teach effective strategies."

"This year I am working at a new school where all the kids are new Dutch immigrants. That means that they have just arrived in The Netherlands and our biggest job is to teach them Dutch as quickly as possible. We are a 1:1 iPad school and we have seen students benefit greatly from all of the rich-media language learning apps. This blog post however does not focus on the apps, but the features that are built within the iPad. Take some time to explain these features in the iPad's settings to make your students aware of how they can benefit their language learning."

"Many teachers and schools have already 'gone Google' so what better way to figure out how to actually get started with the powerful tools than from an effective checklist that lets you quickly discover and check off new ways to use Google Apps For Education in your classroom, school, or district. We're working on building a powerful interactive guide to Google education tools as well as many other useful products so check back soon for the launch of Genius Guides. In the meantime, use this below visual as a means to start experimenting and implementing Google-built education apps in ways you may not have considered before reading this post on Daily Genius."

"At Branson Junior High, our amazing team of teachers and principals, along with the encouraging support of our school district superintendents to be innovative with a purpose, are on a journey to personalize learning for every child. We are starting small, but dreaming big and have already experienced some momentous transformations in our school culture. At this school year's kick-off orientation event for parents and learners, we built on the familiar analogy of a go-kart track to communicate the vision of personalized learning at BJH (Branson, MO is a big tourist destination in mid-America). Most junior high/middle school aged kids would be excited to hear their parents say they were going to the go-kart track for a night out of family fun. However, if when they arrived at the track the parent asked the attendant for a two-seater go-kart and then directed their son/daughter to climb in the passenger seat, the child's excitement level would immediately deflate. You can easily picture in your mind's eye the typical response a child would have to their parent's action: "I thought we were here to have fun?! Can't we each have our own go-kart to drive?" Likewise, if we desire fully engaged and responsible learners, then we must provide them the opportunities to drive their own go-kart. Just like a go-kart track, we set-up safe boundaries, provide some initial guidance, but then let the learner buckle-up and drive!"

"The iPhone and iPad make great email companions, thanks to the built-in Mail app. Unfortunately, large attachments can eat lots of data, or worse, not send at all. Luckily services like Dropbox are making it easier than ever to share files via email, no matter how big they are. Once you've got the file in Dropbox, you can send it via the Mail app in just a few taps!"

"Sometimes you're shooting a video with the built-in iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad Camera app and you find yourself wanting to take a still photo at the same time. Whether it's an amazing moment amid the action, or just a great composition you want to capture in its won right, there are times when you'll want to have your video and photo too! Luckily, Apple makes it easy to do."

"For the typical American kindergartner, unstructured free play during the school day consists of 20 to 30 minutes of recess, and perhaps some time at indoor "stations" - perhaps creating with building blocks, costumes, or musical instruments. But what if there was more? What if the answer to "what did you do in school today?" was, "I climbed a tree, played in the mud, built a fire"? That is exactly the kind of learning going on in the Swiss Waldkindergartens, or forest kindergartens, where children ages four to seven spend all of their school days playing outdoors, no matter the weather. With no explicit math or literacy taught until first grade, the Swiss have no set goals for kindergartners beyond a few measurements, like using scissors and writing one's own name. They instead have chosen to focus on the social interaction and emotional well-being found in free play."

"The Photos app for iPhone and iPad not only lets you edit and organize your pictures, but also lets you show them off to friends and family with just a few taps. That's thanks to the built-in slideshow feature, which ads movement and sound and special transition. If you'd like, you can even AirPlay them to an Apple TV for a family or group viewing experience. Just tell it what photo you want to start with!"

"Most of us know you should read something out loud when proofreading, but we may miss critical errors. We insert words we think are there, but aren't, because we wrote it. Using the text-to-speech function on your device will help prevent your internal autocorrect from missing errors. Over at TUAW, they suggest using the Mac's and iOS's built-in text to speech function. Windows, Android and Chrome have text-to-speech too, though, so this tip works anywhere. You'll hear words that are missing and punctuation that's off when the text doesn't sound right. It's no replacement for a human, but can help in a pinch."

"Can you imagine not being able to read printed words? What would your life be like if books, newspapers, websites, email, and even signs were all virtually incomprehensible to you? How would you get through the day? For up to one in five people like me with dyslexia these are not hypothetical questions, they are our reality. Yet, thanks to accessibility technologies built into Apple's iPhone, iPad, and Mac, it's a reality that can be challenged. Dyslexia makes reading a simple paragraph, let alone textbooks, a tedious and frustrating process. Spelling and written expression can also be very difficult. ( (Despite this, dyslexia does not impact intellectual ability. It doesn't cause people to read backwards or see words upside down. It does, however, make figuring out what sounds go with which letters difficult. Deciphering unfamiliar words on a page can be extremely difficult, if not impossible. ((So what do people who have dyslexia do when they encounter printed text? Some simply avoid it or give up. Others find methods to help them succeed."

"As many people with dyslexia already know, the iPad has developed into an indispensable tool for various language-based activities. During the last five years, Apple has put a great deal of effort into steadily improving the accessibility features of its mobile operating system, iOS. Currently, users can take advantage of built-in dictation, word prediction, and multiple text-to-speech options. In addition, the newest version of the operating system, iOS 8, allows for the installation of third-party keyboards. These mark an increase in the amount of assistive technology (AT) that can be used universally with iPad apps involving reading and writing."