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But after a change to a conservative government that has a very poor track record when it comes to supporting public education, Victorian teachers are slowly awakening to a very different landscape. Perhaps the most rude awakening has occurred by way of the latest notebook lease offer from DEECD.

"We trust much of our lives to our mobile devices, whether smartphones or tablets or a traditional notebook computers. But what do you do if one of these devices is lost or stolen?"

Penzu is a ittle bit notebook, little bit Edmodo.

I have been hearing more and more about BYOD or "bring your own device" on Twitter and in the blogs and educational news sources I read. It seems to be a growing trend in the business world too. Yet, the controversy around this idea seems almost as large as the hype. BYO is not a novel concept for restaurants or even schools when it comes to basic supplies (everyone can remember being asked to bring that box of crayons or later your composition notebook) but apparently devices are a different story.

Decision: To use the Notebook, The Tablet or my iPhone. I think to myself. How do other people view Twitter? Where are they? Who are they and how often to they check Twitter and for how long. I guess this line of thought is why I became a Geographer. Then I thought to myself. I have all the resources I need in my hand to answer these questions. It's nearly lunchtime so I'll post a 24 hours survey, tweet a few invites to participate and tomorrow lunch I can check the results. So I did. Below are the results and some discussion from #WhoTweets. I would like to acknowledge all those who responded and retweeted to the invite to participate. 97 Respondents is a great result. Thank you everyone.

"As our students get older, they become more responsible...we hope. A laptop or tablet has replaced the notebook and pen over the past few years since our present technological explosion. Many students can't wait until the age that their teachers allow them to bring in their own devices. Unfortunately, no matter the level, not all students are encouraged to bring technology into the classroom. And those that are encouraged to do so, may not be doing it for the right reasons."

"It seems like every other month, Evernote gets additional upgrades. A few are quietly released, while others are highly anticipated by heavy Evernote users. Since I wrote my last article about Evernote's new design and file storage upgrades, the popular notebook has gotten important new features, including Reminders, a highlighter and tighter security for subscribers, among others."

"For a long time, customers on volume licensing plans have just assumed its logical to keep paying for each desktop or notebook to get a copy of Office. But SoftWatch has highlighted in great detail what a lot of IT departments probably already suspected: That's an awful lot of expense for not a lot of return. Alternatives like Google Apps and Apple's free Office-like Pages, Numbers and Keynote come in at much lower prices and offer file compatibility along with much of the functionality of Microsoft's suite. While none are perfect substitutes, what IT has come to realize in the past half decade is that often productivity isn't about perfection."

This is a neat annotated list of apps that address the following needs I want my students to record and edit video on the iPad.  I want my students to record and / or edit audio on the iPad.  I want my students to read class content on the iPad.  I want my students to annotate course readings on the iPad  I want my students to be able to use audio books on the iPad.  I want my students to use the iPad as a digitial notebook / note-taking device.  I want my students to use their iPads to create screencasts to share and demonstrate their understanding. I want my students to create presentations on the iPad.  I want my students to create digital stories on the iPad.  I want my students to be able to study with the iPad.  I want to use the iPad as a student response system.  I want my students to create written content on the iPad.  I want my students to blog on the iPad. I want my students to create ePubs / iBooks to read on the iPad.

app recommendations teachers in classroom