Group items tagged

"The iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch make excellent digital readers, and the iBooks apps is where most people will spend their time reading books on the iOS platform. iBooks is deceptively simple though, and though it works great on it's own, taking the time to learn a few things and adjust a few simple settings can make a world of difference in the readability of ebooks or anything else in your digital library. With that in mind, here are 5 simple tricks to get a better reading experience in iOS with the iBooks app."

"Understanding the fundamentals of electricity is an important part of science education. Often, simple demonstrations work better than textbooks, lectures or even videos. Simple science projects get students involved and help hold their interest. There are several simple electric circuits that can be easily built."

"Your iPhone is a smartphone, and if it isn't making you smarter as well then you just aren't using the devices included features to it's full potential. Here are three super simple tips that let your iPhone make you smarter, these will be perfect for educators, learners, students, or really, just about anyone - unless you're a human dictionary and encyclopedia, that is. There's no need to download any new apps or do anything that's not included in stock iOS."

"Simple Physics is an iPad app that presents users with fun and challenging engineering problems. The app has twelve challenges that progress in difficulty as you move through the app. The premise of each challenge is the same. The challenge is to create a structure like a bridge or staircase that can support a given amount of weight. You're given a budget for materials for each structure and you have to stay under that budget. When your structure is complete, test it to find out if it will wor"

"Our blog has been a little quiet for a while (okay.. a LONG while..), which I attribute to an abundance of activity, not a lack thereof! A wonderful visit this year by teachers from Iowa, Wisconsin, and Champaign, Illinois reminded us of the importance of documenting and sharing our iPad journey, so the Burley team is making a resolution to post more frequently in 2014. Now in year four of iPad implementation, our approach to apps has evolved considerably. We started where many teachers start: by combing through the app store, looking for apps for just about everything. And we still get excited when we discover a cool new app -- who doesn't? But as time has passed, we find ourselves settling in to workflows and tools that can be used again and again across the curriculum. We've realized that a powerful, effective technology program can be implemented with just a few simple, well-chosen workflows."

"Your school has spent a lot of money on those iPads, and their skilful deployment in music lessons can be a real game-changer for both specialist and non-specialist classroom teachers. Unsure where to start? Transformance Music's Ben Sellers shares five simple ideas to incorporate GarageBand for iPad into your music lessons at KS1, 2 and 3."

"T-Charts Pros and Cons is a free iPad app designed to help you organize your thoughts about a question or dilemma. This simple app provides a clean layout in which you can write your pros and cons lists. Each thing that you write on your lists can be given a different weight. For example, if you're trying to decide if you should study or go to a party you can give extra weight to "will probably do better on the test if I study" in your chart. Within T-Charts Pros and Cons you can create and manage multiple lists. All of your lists can be emailed to friends for their input and feedback."

"There is something deeply satisfying about a simple and elegant (and cheap!) solution to an annoying storage problem. There is also something especially gratifying about utilizing normally wasted space, as a number of these racks and holders do. "Working the cube," a mentor of mine in my youth used to call it; always considering how to optimize every square inch of a workspace, not just the walls and the floors. Here are five great ways to work your cube with some clever shop storage."

"About a year ago I wrote an article about a simple exercise I created to help teams solve problems without discussion. It was called "Lightning Decision Jam" and it became a surprisingly huge hit! Since I wrote that article, people from companies all around the world have been contacting me and telling me how much it's changed how they work for the better. Lighting Decision Jam (or LDJ) was perfect for groups of any almost any size from 4 to 120. It just works! There was one glaring problem with it, though… it doesn't really work for an individual. That's right, identifying and solving your own problems in a systematic way just hasn't been possible… UNTIL TODAY!*"

"Right now I'm lucky enough to be collaborating with the amazing educators, Michelle Hiebert and Jason Graham. They've invited my class to work on creating a collaborative book. The idea is for one class to write a bit and then pass it on to the next class who in turn adds a bit and then passes it on etc. We've decided to use the Book Creator app on the iPad to create our book. My kinder students have had success in creating books with this simple to use app. We have decided to use DropBox as a way to share the book back and forth with each other. (I recently learned this process from @KLirenman, another awesome educator.) What I thought I'd do is provide a simple how-to on this process. "

"Social reading is revolutionizing the way anyone reads. While most participate in social media, such as Facebook or Twitter in their personal lives, social media in the form of social reading is expanding into the classroom, making reading more enjoyable and exciting for all readers young and old. The basis of social reading is simple, through the use of apps and devices reading goes beyond the actual words on the page and opens up a myriad of options for readers to share their thoughts, favorite quotes, and overall opinions of the things they have read. Social reading apps allow readers to connect and share, much like a book group, all through the use of technology. These 5 social reading apps make communicating about books and literature very simple and enjoyable all from the comforts of a tablet or smartphone."

"In our #bigmakerbook, I suggest crafting with paper circuits to learn about simple and parallel circuits before delving into sewing circuitry. Last year, my GirlsinTech campers had a great time with paper circuits, but when we began to explore sewing circuits, they ran into many roadblocks. Some had never sewn before, some couldn't thread the needle, some had pre-conceived ideas about sewing that led to disastrous short circuits, etc. (Note: I did have great success with teaching a parallel circuit bracelet at the DPL, but I also had 3 extra helpers for that workshop!)  So I wanted to try something new this year to get students started sewing and creating circuitry knowledge, but still keep the project simple. I wanted to share that project with you, and give you a list of some of my favorite sewing electronics books that aided me in my own journey to learning about creating and debugging soft circuits."

"Yet, it's quite common nowadays to be in a situation where you have to use a section of the PDF file. For example, if you want to grab some images or graphs from an existing PDF and place them into your own PowerPoint presentation, you are unable to do so, as the PDF is not editable. Unless you buy an expensive PDF editing program, you cannot copy and paste images from PDF documents. That is why certain companies have created simple tools that address this particular issue. So, without any further ado, here are the 5 best PDF to JPG converters that are accurate, simple to use and free:"

"If you're stuck on a computer that doesn't let you set up your own tools and is lacking a program like Adobe Reader, which comes with simple form filling and signature features, you can turn to online solutions for all your PDF editing needs. Here are six simple ways you can edit PDFs online, right in your browser. No downloading required."

Wesley Fryer is the author of "Playing with Media: simple ideas for powerful sharing" (July 2011) and a contributing author of "What School Leaders Need to Know About Digital Technologies and Social Media" (September 2011). Wesley co-authored Chapter 3 of the book, "Podcasts and Webinars," with Steve Dembo. "Playing with Media: simple ideas for powerful sharing" is available in 3 eBook formats and as a paperback! Additional resources are on playingwithmedia.com. See and contribute student media examples on share.playingwithmedia.com. Learn about workshop and videoconference opportunities on learn.playingwithmedia.com.

"Slice It! is a sneakily simple and completely engaging way of teaching users of all ages to visualize geometric figures. The goal of Slice It! is really quite simple: cut the provided shape into whatever number of pieces the level asks for, with just the number of lines the level offers you. Oh, and just to keep it interesting: make all of the pieces EQUAL."

"It's no secret that curling is somewhat of a lovable laughingstock in the world of winter sports. Compared to the adrenaline-pumping action of ice hockey, snowboarding and freestyle skiing, a bunch of people in sneakers sweeping around a rock might seem a bit ... simple. As it turns out, the sport is about as far from simple as you can possibly get."

"Storyboard That is a service that you and your students can use to create simple comic strips. I've reviewed it in the past and today I would like to share a demonstration of how to use it. The video below demonstrates how to use the basic functions of Storyboard That."

" Using Twitter sounds so simple. Type out no more than 140 characters - the maximum allowed in a single tweet - and hit send. That's all, right? Not quite. Twitter's interface may look simple, but it is not, and its complexity has turned off many people who tried the service. This is a problem because one of the big questions facing Twitter before it starts trading as a public company, perhaps as early as next month, is whether it can attract enough users to become a robust outlet for advertising dollars. Although Twitter brings in money from advertising, it does not yet sell enough ads to make a profit. "

"With most teachers out of school for the summer by now, summer learning loss probably isn't top priority. After all, the kids are back in their parents' hands for at least a couple of months, right? If the students aren't in your classroom, there isn't a whole lot you can do beyond a summer reading list (that the parents may or may not encourage their students to complete, anyway). What you do have to worry about is the amount of catching up you need to do once you have students back in your classroom in the fall. The handy infographic below takes a look at some interesting statistics on summer learning loss, aka the 'summer slide'. It also offers some really simple ways to keep kids' brains churning along during their summer break. You can even offer these as simple recommendations to parents, to show them that summer learning doesn't necessarily mean their kids need to sit down and read all of Dostoevsky's works before the evenings get chilly!"