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"Even though it's October it still feels very much like the beginning of the year. One of the first thoughts that many teachers have about their students is "they look so little!" It's true. Those tall confident students that left us have gone on to be "little" to next year's teacher and we have our own new crop of "little" people to educate. This becomes even more pronounced in a technology classroom. Everything takes longer, typing, starting, opening, finding, searching. Whatever it is they need time to figure it out. Patience is key. So what can we do?"

"Siri is one of Apple's flagship features, a virtual, personal, digital assistant with a personality straight out of a Pixar film. If you've got an iPhone 5, iPod touch 5, iPad mini, or iPad 4, then you've got Siri! With Siri, you can do all sorts of amazing, time-saving things, from keeping in contact, to keeping on time, to keeping informed. But first, you may need to get Siri set up and up to speed."

"Hooray! You have a brand new, shiny iPad to use in your classroom this year. Boo-there's only one iPad and 35 eager kids ready to use it. No need to worry-there are lots of amazing things you can do with a single iPad in your classroom, and it doesn't have to be a classroom management nightmare either. Here are 15 of our favorite apps that work great with a one iPad setup AND help to keep kids on task and engaged with what you are learning."

"Sometimes we focus on what an app can't do and forget to look at what it can. That's been the case with iBooks Author, Apple's e-book creation platform released nearly a year ago. Part of the problem was Apple's own hyperbolic statements about its "disruptive" nature to the textbook publishing industry. It failed to live up to the hype for a variety of well-documented reasons. But this post is about what it is, not what it isn't."

"I watched my 12 year old spend 35 minutes working out how to advance to the next level on a character based game on a console the other day. I was amazed at how determined she was to discover how the game worked and what she had to do to complete the level. As a teacher I sat wondering how we could harness this type of motivation in the classroom. "

"After having become familiar with various apps, I've decided that it is time to put my bulky laptop aside and use the iPad almost exclusively in my history lessons. I have resolved not to go out of my way to accommodate the iPad, but to teach in a way that I would normally. If I am to discover new ways of doing things in lessons along the way, so be it."

"The summer is quickly winding down & a number of teachers will be returning to their classroom with new mobile devices (iPads). Throughout the summer I have been conducting workshops on iPad integration with EdTechTeacher and I thought it might be helpful to pull together a back to school list of apps structured around specific classroom goals. While many schools may already have an Apple VPP program already in place, I know a number of teachers will also be purchasing the apps themselves. Therefore, I will do my best to include both a pay & free app for each objective."

"One of the most frustrating things to type on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch keyboards is an email address. Typing out a name, then tapping the ".?123″ button to access special characters and numbers, then tapping it again to type more letters, than tapping it yet again to type a period, and again to finish off an email address, by the time you're done you've shifted between the touch keyboards half a billion times. Instead of repeating that process over and over again, do yourself a favor and create a keyboard shortcut for your email address."

"My school was lucky enough to get a class set of iPads (unless you have a class with over 30 students), and I was lucky enough to be the one in charge of looking after them. Since I am the one in charge of them and the one who really pushed to get them, it seems necessary that I make the most out of these devices. To do this, I have made them a daily part of my grade 12 class, and am currently using them daily with my grade 9 and 10 locally developed class. It has been about three weeks since the start of the semester and the start of my use of iPads in the classroom so I thought I would take the time to reflect on them."

"First, let me thank you for entrusting me with teaching your children, honoring the amazing individuals they are, and helping them discover the confident and empowered young people they can be. Providing a rich and engaging environment for your children to learn in is my utmost concern, but Iately I have had to acknowledge that the young people I see every day do much of the learning that is important to them when they leave the parking lot and head home from school. Thus, I am writing to solicit your help."

"Science is one of those subjects that really excite students because they get to see cause and effect, they get to create, record and then document results and they get to manipulate the variables that produce the data. Students then get to make connections between what they do and the real world. Add an iPad, a series of carefully chosen apps and a couple of probes and you can make all of these observations happen in a mobile environment - outside, at home or even on an excursion. I would love to be a student in a classroom with these tools!"

"What do hammers have to do with iPads? iPads are exactly like hammers, they are simply a tool. While the screen may shine and the intuitive nature of the device impress even the most cynical user, they are little more than tools in the classroom. "

"As anyone with a toddler knows, iPads are addictive for children. They seem to have some sort of special radar that lets them know when an iDevice is within their reach, and they'll do anything they can to get their hands on them. Resistance is futile, but instead of lamenting excessive screen time, you can make your child's iPad addiction a productive one with educational apps, including those that promote early reading. With these 20 apps, children can learn how to write letters, improve phonics fluency, and even write their own books."

Thanks for these great resources. I particularly liked play and sing, with its great British accent. I'm keen to find apps with UK spelling and accents for primary school. Any ideas or pointers would be appreciated.

"After stumbling upon the article, "Switch to e-books was 'an unmitigated disaster,' says school principal," in my feed this past week, it occurred to me that there are increasingly predictable patterns surrounding stories of failed "innovation" in digital learning initiatives. Schools have been assigning computers to each child for some time now. And still, we continue to see stories like this in the media. In short: we can do better than this."

"The jury is still out on school iPad deployments"

"From the day New iPad take his first foot everyone of us is looking for some best apps for new iPad or iPad 3 or iPad HD at least I do that .But there are a wide variety of New iPad apps available for you on iTunes .How do you know the which one is best for your New iPad. So to make that easier I complied a list of best apps for new iPad for 2012 under the same hood which are also compatible with Retina Display of iPad 3."

"I believe that I have now gotten to the point of giving up my laptop (MacBook Pro) and just use my iPad 2 for everything that I do. My poor laptop has not left my desk for months, but how do I really get things done (like work) on my measly little iPad (16 GB model)?"

I'm confused. I think I might've missed something... Why do I need this app? All it does is what AirPlay does already, doesn't it? If one has an AppleTV connected to either a projector or a TV, using the built-in AirPlay iOS 5 feature I can see whatever I do on my iPad on the screen (projector or TV). AND if I simple connect my iPad to a projector via cable 90% of the apps have VGA out - it works. SO WHY do I need this app?

From reading the documentation it appears that this app will enable mirroring with the original iPad. Not having access to an original iPad at the moment I can't confirm this though. The app also works on the iPhone 4 according to the site. Features - http://www.jwalsoft.com/apps/tvout-genie/tvoutfeatures App Store - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tvout-genie!/id399552109?mt=8 I've contacted the App producer to get clarification. ohn

AirServer re-engineered for iOS 6 and iPhone 5 AirServer is an AirPlay receiver for Mac/PC. It allows you to receive AirPlay feeds, similar to an Apple TV, so you can stream content or Mirror your display from your iOS devices or Mountain Lion. AirServer now delivers full 1080p HD mirroring and is faster and more powerful than ever. The update for AirServer is free for existing users, and gives you more features to make the things you do every day even better. AirServer for PC hits version 1.0 and is now feature complete, with audio, movie and photo streaming. All good things come to those who wait.

"With a killer beat in place, it's time to add the second (mostly unsung) hero of modern music: the bass. Whether your tastes run to big, fat and bottom heavy or to quick, snappy and distorted, GarageBand has you covered. With GarageBand for iPad, you can create bass tracks that sound incredibly good with very little knowledge or expertise. Let's take a look at the simplest way to do just that: Smart Bass."