Using Common Sense Media to find Reviewed Apps

Common Sense Media has long been the go to for the K-12 Scope and Sequence for digital citizenship and so much more but often we forget about some of the other great features!

As a parent or a teacher it's important that we find quality apps to add to our devices in the classroom.  Using Common Sense Media's Review page, use search options to find and read about apps, websites, book, movies, and more.  I often find myself searching through the lists and being reminded of some great sites that I may have overlooked!

Choose options and see the ratings and level of learning (if choosing an educational app).

Read a brief overview and view screenshots before downloading it for yourself to check out.  

So if you are looking to refresh some options on your classroom devices, spend sometime checking out this resource!  

Post It App - Great for the Teacher iPad!

I used post its a lot in class.... exit tickets, brainstorming, questions and we still do in our teacher trainings.  Post-it has a free app that allows the user to take the notes with them, move them around, group them, even edit and add additional notes.

These are the actual physical paper post-its.    We used this app to collect thoughts by teachers at the NE Oregon Regional EdTech Cadre about coding in schools.

Teachers wrote thoughts onto Post Its and then used the app to categorize and compare common thoughts that teachers had in their small group. They then sent a picture of their board to our working blog so other groups could see what their thoughts were.


Lots of conversation grew from this as to how to use this app in the classroom. Most common was the comment of how this would be great for a single iPad classroom.  Capture brainstorming, vocabulary, exit tickets, etc... Teachers could use it for later evaluation or in class to project for the whole class to see and help group.    

Klikaklu - Picture Matching Treasure Hunts

Are you familiar with Geocaching, where you use GPS to find a hidden treasure by navigating to a location and using some clues if necessary?  Do you remember the scavenger hunts you went on as a kids where you collected a series of objects from around the neighborhood?





Klikaklu is a free app available for iPhone, iPad, and even Android.  This free app allows you to navigate through a modern treasure hunt.  At each stop there is a photo, find the photo, match it with your iDevice, and proceed onto the next stage. If you complete the hunt successfully, a reward may be waiting on the end.

Where do you find these treasure hunts, or better yet, can you make them?  Klikaklu just revised their app so during the first seven days after installation you can create treasure hunts.  After seven days, you'll need to purchase the upgrade for $4.99 to be able to create new or modify existing treasure hunts.

When creating a Klikaklu hunt you will have two options, either linearly where students progress from clue to clue in order, or as a scavenger hunt where they get all the clues up front and can find them in any order.





This would be a great activity to have incoming students at your school, for instance Freshman orientation day, find different locations throughout the school property.

You could use this activity for regular classes where each stop is a question, math, science, or language arts, and they must generate answers along the way.  Klikaklu has this feature built in where you can have students answer multiple choice, true false, short text, or number questions at each clue and upon completion of the hunt.

For creative writers you could put stops where words are visible,  students must bring back the words they found, and when finished write a story using all the words they chose to bring back.

Klikaklu would be very entertaining for those special days throughout your school calendar. 

Who knows, maybe you'll find that pot of gold at the end of your next treasure hunt.

Great Google Drive App Update!

The latest app update for the Google Drive iOS app has added multiple account log in! As someone who uses multiple google accounts, this makes my workflow on my iPad an even more important tool. 
In my account, I was immediately prompted with the question as to whether I would like to add multiple accounts the first time I logged in after the update.
To switch between the multiple accounts, choose your settings in the upper left corner of the screen.  This will show the account you are currently in. 

 To switch to a different account, choose your account name and it will show you a option to switch or add another account.

 

 And it is quick!  Finally, no more signing out and signing back in to access needed docs when I'm on the go.  

 

Restricting Websites on IOS 7

After upgrading to IOS 7 last week, there were some features this new operating system contained that were intriguing.  One in particular was the ability to control which websites were allowed or not allowed to come through on an iPad.

There are three choices for restricting websites:  All access, limiting adult content, or specific websites only.

If you want some tighter restrictions on content for teens or tweens, a good setting is "limiting adult content".  This setting allows students to navigate to most any kidsafe website, but should block the rest.  If you feel a site is valued and want to have access to that website, click "Allow website" and key in the 4 digit restrictions code.

Another example of using these restrictions is to select sites you want students to use in order to obtain research on a particular subject.  For instance, students could be researching about a state, an animal, Oregon Trail, or Lewis and Clark.  You can collect all the websites you want available for that research, enter them in the "specific websites only" list, and the rest of the Internet will become off limits during this time period.

If you are restricting sites on your iPad, when opening a new tab in Safari you are provided with colorful icon bookmarks for just those particular websites.

Restricting websites on an iPad further than your district web filtering has advantages, and now IOS 7 gives you rights to tinker with those settings.

I'm Loving the New Flipboard Update!

One of the most used apps on my iPad is Flipboard.  If you haven't tried flipboard yet, you are missing out!  

Flipboard is described as being your personal magazine.  I think of it more as a curation tool to pull all my favorite blog feeds, twitter hashtags, and social media sites into one place.  In the picture below you can see some of the twitter hashtags that I subscribe to.  

But the best part of this app?  The interface, I can flip through it like a magazine, reading brief snippets and tapping on articles I want to read.  

Great place to collect information in one place!

 I used this app ALL the time, and if I found something great I might send it out to twitter or email it myself for later reference (or to anyone else I thought it would be useful for).  A few extra steps, but it was such a great professional tool to find useful information, it was worth it.  

But now with the newest update to Flipboard, keeping all the articles that I really like in one place for later reference just came easier.  

To me, it's like Pinterest - only instead of boards, I can add articles, videos, pics, etc to my own "magazine" that I can name as I please.  

On the right, you can see now that I have my "subscriptions" and now I also have my "magazines".

    To add an article to a "magazine" of your choosing, simply choose the + button in the lower right hand corner.  From here you can "flip it" into a pre-existing magazine or create a new one.  On the right you can see that I have a few magazines created, Writing, iPads in Education, and Digital Citizenship.    

Do understand that by default all your created magazines are public, though you can switch them to private when you are setting up the magazine.  

So here is one of my magazines (above).  I gave it the name "EdTech Thoughts" and put articles that I was finding on anything around the theory, future, expectations, or opinions on Educational Technology. 

I can add this magazine now to my Cover Page (the page you see when you are on the Home of the app) by choosing the "Subscribe" at the top left corner of the magazine.   

I can also share my magazine with others, similar to Pinterest or ScoopIt.  I can email a link to someone, tweet it, or post it to facebook so other people are able to subscribe to anything I add to that magazine.  

You can view my EdTech Thoughts magazine at this link (you will need Flipboard on your iPad to view).

Flipboard also added a bookmarklet that you can install on the iPad or iPhone Chrome Browser so you can "flip" anything to your Flipboard app to curate yourself!  

Have Fun Flipping!  

Turn Your iPad into a Document Camera

I visited with a teacher last week, and her document camera isn't working well.  Not sure what was wrong with it, but the first thing that came to mind was "use your iPad".  This teacher already had been using her iPad that way.

Then later in the week I come across the app called Stage.  This free app is designed to turn your iPad into an interactive whiteboard or document camera.


You have the ability to annotate over the top of the iPad camera, live, without taking the picture.  Tools include a Pen, an eraser, several colors, and sticky notes.  The only tool missing is a highlighter pen.  The app is only a couple months old, so I'm hoping an update will provide enhancements.

If you are using Apple TV or Reflection, you don't need to be tethered to  your document camera, as Stage will let you take your document camera with you.

 A few possibilities include

• annotating on top of a worksheet without importing the image into another app
• annotating on top of student work
• annotating on top of a student science lab experiment
• annotating on top of math manipulatives constructed by a student
• annotating on top of a student's art project 

Distractions - Managing Devices in the Classroom

It takes one frustrating class period with students to cause the idea of using devices in the classroom to go to the back burner.  They were distracted! They wanted to play games, take pictures of themselves, text their buddies.....  

Here are some ways to make the experience easier on the teacher and at the same time teach students how to be better users of the devices they have in their pockets.  

Establish Clear Expectations

As with any new activity of course!   When can they use them, how to handle them, what accounts to use, etc...  With older students, especially classrooms using BYOD or iPod touch labs, require that the devices stay on top of the desk (no in the lap texting/game playing), and when not in use “turtle” them or “apples up” meaning the screen is asleep and facedown.  Post your expectations and have consequences for not following them.  The more you use the devices, the easier establishing a routine will become.

Finding Your Workflow

I know what app, I know what I want them to do, but they know more than me!  Please remember, you don’t have to be an expert.  Allow the students to explore the app before using it for an assignment or let them figure it out on the way.  We had a post last fall from a classroom teacher on this very topic: Let Them Explore.   

If it is a creation app, make sure to do a quick sample and figure out the workflow to turn in the assignment.  Will you view it on their device, can it save to their photo album, will they email it to me? Everyones workflow may be a little different, but make sure you decided on that before hand.  

How to Use the Device for Learning

Students need to be exposed to the tools loaded on the devices.  If its BYOD, have them download tools on to their own devices that will teach them to use their device beyond games and their social networks.   

What about how to search for good sites for references or teaching them about copyright issues?  Common Sense Media is a great place to look for lessons pertaining to researching, copyrights, as well as how to be a responsible digital citizen for grades K - 12.  

But They are Still Distracted!

There have been discussions on the distractibility of all the new technologies we use in our everyday life.  It’s not just our students, we too are more distracted than ever (look around at the next staff meeting!)  With iPads there are settings options, like Guided Access, to lock a student in an app, but with high schoolers with their own devices, it’s not that easy.  

In the blog post “Teaching a Distracted Generation to Focus” on Technapex the author discusses the findings of a study on just how distracted we all are.  A great suggestion in the post on taking “Tech Breaks” caught my attention.  It’s the opposite of what it sounds, when teaching class, stop and take a couple minutes to allow students to check their devices, then put them back on the desk and get back to work at the task at hand.   Rather than fighting students throughout the lesson, set a “tech break” in the middle of a lesson, then focus back to the lesson... turn it off/asleep and turtle on the desk. 
Remember, there will always be and always have been distractions in classrooms....note passing, comic books inside the textbook, even the cool mechanical pencil! Do you have any tips and tricks for helping deal with the "distractions" with students? Please feel free to share what has worked for you!

photo credit: blakespot via photopin cc
photo credit: Enokson via photopin cc

Find apps with TechChef4You

Are you searching for a free middle school app to assist with teaching math, or possible a primary app to assist with teaching reading?  TechChef4You, an app, offers a great data base where you might find some valuable resources including apps and Pinterest boards to integrate into your curriculum.

When looking at the app, click on different places off the picture to obtain various information.  For starters, click on the bowl full of apps to bring up a query tool.  

Select your device, grade level, and a category to bring up results based upon your inquiry.  Then find the app you desire and use the link to install it onto your device.

Select the social media icons off the wooden spoon and read through different social media posts.  For example, choose Pinterest, and then be sure to scroll down to find different Pinterest boards for ideas.

Pinterest boards available
from techchef4you

You can also select the RSS pot on the stove and read through the TechChef4You blog.

Instead of searching Google, try looking through TechChef4You for great ideas and apps to help you with integrating iPads into your curriculum.

Updates on Google Drive, Blogger, and Bump

Over the past few weeks there have been updates to many of the apps we work with often. Here's a recap of a few of the apps that have added some great features or new interfaces which make them more user friendly. 

Notice the added Spreadsheet option! 

Google Drive recently added the ability to do spreadsheets within the app. I know there were many that felt that just editing documents was limiting. With the add of spreadsheets, it gives me hope of seeing Google Presentations and other features added in the future!

Basic Interface and Editing Features 

Also a feature that is often overlooked with Google Drive is the ability to upload video or pictures from the photo album on the iPad or take a photo or video inside the Google Drive app. This feature can make it easier to move video files that are too large to email, yet you do not want to use a secondary site like YouTube. Once the photos or video are in google drive you can share them as you can any document on your Google Drive.

Take Photos or Videos Inside the App

New Blogger Interface 

Ability to Adjust the Image Resolution

Blogger also recently released a whole new updated interface on the iPad. Many teachers use Blogger (blogspot) for classroom blogs. The updated app makes it easy to quickly upload photos with a brief dialogue to post, keeping your blog easily updated in a short amount of time. Other added features include changing photo resolution sizes.

My last "update" on "updates" is Bump.  Bump is a free app that we've looked at for ways of sharing pictures between devices or "bumping" photos to a computer. Their last update has added the ability to bump audio, video, or documents as well. It's an easy way to share items without emailing.   Students do need to create an account in order to bump.  

Subtext Will Read To You

We're often visiting with teachers that need to have accommodations allowing a device to read text to students.  They ask, "Is it possible to have the iPad read something like a Tween Tribune article"?

Subtext, the collaborative reading app, free at the time of this post, has an option that does just that.  Inside the app you find the article on the Internet, add it to your Subtext bookshelf, and use the "play" button when reading the article.  The voice reading the article provides good articulation with voice inflection for a computerized reader, and the app  highlights which sentence is being read.



Let us describe the steps here.
A. Open the subtext app and find Add Books and Docs button
 

B.  Choose to add "Read web pages in Subtext"

C.  Find your webpage/online article, use the google search tool from subtext if needed, and then click Add to Subtext bookshelf button.  Close this window when finished.

D.  On your book shelf click Read It button

E.  Find the Play button when reading an article

F.  Click settings (gear in upper left) to turn on this feature and set the reader speed.

Subtext has much more to offer, which we will cover in a future blog post.  However, this feature can be a great addition for your reading resources.

QR Code Math Problems

QR codes, that little square box that leads to mystery and engagement.  Such is the case for the typical worksheet of math problems.

For example, you have the standard worksheet of several story problems that students need to complete for practice.  This daunting worksheet where teachers find students practicing all the excuses to postpone the activity like "my pencil broke" or "can I use the restroom".

What if each story problem were revealed as the product of a QR code?

I was visiting a classroom last week, and looked at the walls noticing many QR codes scattered about.  I asked what they are used for?  The teacher stated she just put all the problems from the worksheet into QR codes; that students weren't motivated to complete the worksheet but eagerly engaged to complete the QR code tasks.

Try this strategy with your next worksheet for student practice, whether it be solving math problems or writing sentences for vocabulary words.

Mathemagician - Flash Based Games

Mathemagician is a nice online resource allowing students to practice math facts, similar to the Mad Math Minutes lessons.  Students are given a goal of so many problems in a time limit.  When the time limit is over they are provided with a percentage of how well they did.  Students can choose from different operations at different levels.




Here is the catch with using iPads, Mathemagician is a flash based site.  Thus, you need a different app to use in order to interact with this site.  The app we've been using is called Rover.

Safari for the iPad is a better web navigator than Rover  so try navigating to the correct website in Safari, then copy the URL and paste it into Rover.  This way Rover takes you directly to the game and you are ready to play.  You may want to experiment with bookmarking the games into Rover as well.





The creators of Mathemagician (Oswego City School District) also have many other online practice games to choose from.  Click here to get to their table of contents.  Try playing any of the Speed Grid games, like Speed Grid Multiplication, and see if you can complete their task in the specified time limit. These games are reviewing math facts, but instead of supplying the answer you must determine a problem for a given answer. Another series of games to explore is Stop the Clock, for younger children learning to tell time.

iPad Case with Duct Tape?

Just passing along Lon Thornburg's post from his nolimitstolearning.blogspot.com about a great use for duct tape.   Sometimes in the field of education we need to 'MacGyver' a tool to use and this is the perfect example of how duct tape filled a need when purchased holders were not working for this student and his wheelchair.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012

iPad Case with Duct Tape?

Out in the schools the other day, I visited one of my favorite students that has CP and is in a wheelchair. We were able to acquire an iPad for him last year through our regionalUnited Cerebral Palsy Foundation of Oregon and Washington. The wheelchair mount and plate wasn't working well for him and so the team got a roll of black duct tape out and voila! ...a really cool adapted iPad case complete with a foam inner core slanted for his lap and a belt to go around his seat to hold it on.
Pictures are worth a thousand words...so get your roll of duct tape and imagination out and start building!

Sliding the iPad in:

The slanted foam core:

The cover without the iPad inside:

All the best...
Lon