TipLine - Gates' Computer Tips

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 30 Nov 2014 00:39:00 +0000

Education World: Apple Releases Video Highlighting the Benefits of iPads in the Classroom

Apple Releases Video Highlighting the Benefits of iPads in the Classroom #ipaded @jgates513 http://t.co/t1jW1TZs1o

tags: ipaded

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 09 Nov 2014 00:39:00 +0000

Career Change

I'd like to hear from educators thinking about starting a business. http://t.co/cYFI6qJoPn #ukedchat #cpchat #edadmin #edchat #educhat

tags: ukedchat cpchat edadmin edchat educhat

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 00:39:00 +0000

Make My Groups - Flexible Team Generator and Scorer on the App Store on iTunes

Make My Groups app - FREE Team Generator http://t.co/PNjLsMZp #ipaded #edapps #iosedapp Will be using this at http://t.co/Tm1Jqjyb this week

tags: ipaded edapps iosedapp
Try this link to the "Appy Hour" Gdoc

@jgates513 Try this link to the "Appy Hour" Gdoc https://t.co/KcNLZlfb
It's war: Google + QuickOffice vs. Microsoft Offic

It's war: Google + QuickOffice vs. Microsoft Office everywhere http://t.co/9NVASAzB
Renaissance Learning Subtext - Subtext App - Subtext Reader

http://t.co/BvHfoQc9 awesome, lots of potential for social reading in 1:1 iPad schools. #subtext #ipaded

tags: subtext ipaded
iPad productivity apps - Matt Gemmell | iPads i...

iPad productivity apps - Matt Gemmell | http://t.co/YSPogBSv Good blog post about necessary apps. #ipaded #appchat

tags: ipaded appchat
25 Excellent Post-Production and Video Editing iPhone and iPad Apps | Premiumbeat.com

25 Excellent Post-Production and Video Editing iPhone and iPad Apps http://t.co/19csdYs9
advantage of PST “: The amazin

advantage of PST “@jdickerson: The amazing Scott Pelley piece everyone is talking about on family homelessness. http://t.co/Y5GnrNZu”
Day 12: Google Docs on the Go With My iPad | PCWorld

Gdocs on iPad #edcamphbg @jgates513 http://t.co/IkupYoS4

tags: edcamphbg

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 01 Jun 2014 00:39:00 +0000

Our iPad Shelf | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

.@christine_quong My iPad shelf. Front view http://t.co/afYzQPy3sz Back view http://t.co/XWM27cKL1u #iosedapp #iPaded

tags: iosedapp iPaded

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 00:41:00 +0000

iPad Educator Professional Development – The Three R’s
- - This is my note on this page. It really is a very nice page. And I would be talking about the page.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 00:40:00 +0000

Web Highlighter for iPad Safari | Diigo
- Option 2: Create a bookmark on iPad Safari's bookmark bar using the following as web address
- Option 2: Create a bookmark on iPad Safari's bookmark bar using the following as web address

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 13 Oct 2013 00:41:00 +0000

Favorite iPad Lesson Ideas - Google Drive

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 00:41:00 +0000

Google

Did you know the original Google storage was housed in Lego bricks? #HappyBirthdayGoogle http://t.co/q33kt0CywW

tags: HappyBirthdayGoogle

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 22 Sep 2013 00:41:00 +0000

QR Codes for Schools

QR Codes in School - Pinterest board by @lherr: http://t.co/JvdYOWyRyf #mobile2013

tags: mobile2013

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 15 Sep 2013 00:41:00 +0000

Picadilo - Photo editing at its best

Excellent photo editing site.

tags: photo_editing

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 00:42:00 +0000

iPads(Chambersburg): Our Challenge Pros and Cons
- Cloudon pros
  Looks like Microsoft office suite
  Can tie in to google docs for storage, etc
  
  Cloudon cons
  Slow, sluggish, small, difficult to work with
  Requires Internet
  
  Pages pros
  Very easy to use
  Lots of editing options
  Easy access to camera roll
  Easy to copy and paste
  Does not require Internet
  Easy hyperlinks.
  
  Pages cons
  No comments for markups
  Cannot have multiple editors
  Cannot access docs from home without iPad
  
  Skydrive pros
  Easy to insert pics, links, charts
  Looks like ms office
  Has excel
  Has PowerPoint
  Nice photo editing/formatting
  Workflow very nice
  
  Skydrive cons
  Can't paste
  Cumbersome, clunky
  Requires Internet
  
  Google drive pros
  Easy to share
  
  Google drive cons
  Not user friendly
  No pictures, no tables, no hyperlinks

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 00:41:00 +0000

Change This - Innovation Begins Here: How to Become the Hero in the Hero’s Journey

"Innovation Begins Here" free ebook from @briansolis http://t.co/GkWITVqkLa Excellent! HT @sai_iowa #iaedfuture #plaea

tags: iaedfuture plaea

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 00:43:00 +0000

Mirror iPad, iPhone, iPod to Your Screen for Free — Tony Vincent - Learning in Hand

Mirror iPad, iPhone, iPod to Your Screen for Free — Tony Vincent #edchat #edtech #ipadchat #ipaded http://t.co/3tlIO5mCN2

tags: edchat edtech ipadchat ipaded

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

An "Office" challenge on the ipads

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 03:57:00 +0000

I'm very lucky to be able to teach a graduate level course on iPads in Education. I'm currently working with a wonderful group of teachers in the central PA area (IU8).

 Today we had a showdown between some "Office" apps. Now, before you start, I know that it's not fair to compare the ipad to a laptop. It's different. It's not about how it's the same as a laptop. It's the very difference that's important. I get it. But, at the middle and high school levels, at SOME point, the students will have to write something, turn it in to the teacher to be 'corrected/graded' and have it returned to them. In a one to one setting, there is no escaping this - or shame on us if that's NOT the case.

 So, in today's class we broke out in groups of 4, with each person in the group taking one of the main contenders: Pages, CloudOn, Google Drive, and Skydrive. (skydrive.com via Safari). They were asked to perform the following tasks, which I felt were very basic tasks and not an unreasonable expectation of a word processor.

 The Challenge:

 Type some text - How does it handle spelling errors?

What formatting options do you have? Can you add a comment?
How do you control margins?

Make a hyperlink - Can it be done easily? (Take a phrase, like 'Go here', and link it to Google.com)
Paste some text from another app (From a webpage or even a Note)
Add a photo

What formatting options do you have?
How easy is it to add an image?
Can you add an image from the camera?

Can you add a table?

How easy is it to modify the table?

Share it with yourself (as the teacher)

Must it be shared via email?
Can the document be shared with another potential editor?
Does it have dropbox support? What other options does it have? (What formats are supported?)

Can you "correct" it and get it back to the student?

What annotation options do you have?
Is this method satisfactory to you - if you have 100 students doing the same thing?

How would this app work in a shared ipad environment vs 1:1?
Which app does more to advance teaching and learning?
Share your findings with the group.

So, first of all, are those unreasonable feature requests? If you say yes, please tell me in the comments WHY you think those are unreasonable. Format options, hyperlinks, adding photos (from the built in camera, too), and a table. Surely those can't be asking too much.

And the challenge to continue the experiment from 'student to teacher and back.' Isn't that a fair test? Isn't it important to know that the workflow is manageable? And, isn't it also fair to ask them to consider how it would work in a shared cart environment? This is a grad course, after all. We're exploring the options.

I'll post the rough draft of the pros and cons from our followup discussion in a moment, but let me say up front, that these results are NOT uncommon. I've taught this course seven times before this, and it's been the same each time. Granted, the apps have improved, but only in one case did it improve enough to make a difference in the standing.

First, the results as I wrote them down as they offered them, then a couple comments.

Results of the Office Challenge
Pages pros
 Familiar feel (very ipad friendly) 
Easily adjusted margins 
Great spell check 
Text wrap around images 
Easy bar graphs 
Access to camera roll 
No internet connection needed (important for some students) 
Can save in multiple formats  

Pages cons
 Cost
 Must Email to teacher (can't share)
 No comments, making markups difficult
 No collaborators. Very unfortunate in 2013 
Meant for one person. Won't function well in a cart situation

 Cloudon cons 
Must reload when switching apps- very slow! 
Poor image handling 
No collaborators - meant for one person 
Requires Internet 
Pixelated and hard on the eyes

 Cloudon pros
 Annotations are available making markups easier 
Looks like ms word, so familiar to many 
Nice interface with Dropbox 
Can open and create ppts  

Google drive pros
 Collaborative editing.
Simply share with another person.
Real-time editing. Ie: no email needed 
Streamlines workflow
Can see, in real time, edits of other authors

Google drive cons 
No camera roll access
 Very limited formatting options.
 Requires Internet - problem for some students 
Very limited functionality 
No images
 no tables
No hyperlinks

Skydrive.com pros
 Has powerpoint
 Has Excel
 Has One note - excellent for note taking 
Access to camera roll
Sharing via email or collaborators allowing synchronous editing
Can insert comments
Many options for sharing - privacy 
Nice formatting options - especially with images
Tables

Skydrive cons
 Requires Internet - problem for some students 
Not as good as using laptop 
Can't move images -at least, not that we could see 
Can't modify tables - or not that we could find

We also talked about using Dropbox to submit documents to the teacher. While it's possible for students to read the reports submitted buy others and the paraphrase to get credit, one person thought that at least that person was reading -something that might not be done otherwise.

And, we talked about not being able to return graded papers via dropbox. We really worked through the workflow issue.

So - The final vote?
Well, those who worked with Pages really liked it. But - we felt that it was really meant for an individual and therefore would have problems in a shared cart setting. Plus, in today's world, what a shame it is to have a word processor that does not allow for multiple editors.

 NOBODY liked Google drive. NOT ONE. It's lack of formatting options, and lack of access to the camera roll (and the camera) were non-starters. Do you mean that we can't take a picture of our lab experiment and add it to our writeup about it? #fail

 CloudOn was just FAR too slow. That, coupled with the lack of multiple editors, also made it a loser. In fact, in all the (now eight) sections I've had, a scant hand full have chosen it. But, that was before the changes to Skydrive.

 Skydrive won. (Accessing it via safari at skydrive.com) Prior to this latest revision, skydrive would finish BELOW last place. It was awful. Folks would stop testing it. Now, it seems to be the winner. It seemed to allow us to do more, format more, AND it managed the workflow by allowing the student to share the documents with the teacher. No dropbox issues. No email issues.

 I will admit that I guided the conversation, asking questions like, "Yes, but in today's world, is it OK to have a word processor that doesn't allow for multiple, synchronous editors?" And, "But, requiring an internet connection means that some students won't be able to use it at home." Or, "Are we sacrificing features (especially in the case of Google Drive) just so we can have an ipad?" Or, "Do you mean that I can't use this ipad to write up a report and expect it to access the camera?"

 Yes, I did pose questions that had them thinking about the pros and cons. And, I'll have to wait and see how they report back on which app they would choose. But, from the discussion, Skydrive (maybe tied with Pages) won. Google Drive finished dead last!

 Surprised? I'd LOVE to hear your comments.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 00:41:00 +0000

UniShared - Home

A great way to take collaborative notes

tags: notes

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 00:43:00 +0000

The History 2.0 Classroom: TimelineJS X Google Drive = Collaborative Timelines with iPads

"TimelineJS is a web based timeline creator, that in my opinion is the best timeline creation tool on the web. What I like most about this platform is that the creation process takes place in a google form. There is a template that can be downloaded from the TimelineJS site that is automatically pulled into a users Google Drive account. With the recent update to the Google Drive app for the iPad, this document can now be edited collaboratively. "

tags: timelines

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 00:41:00 +0000

Syria confirms Israeli jets bombed military site

Beirut: Israel conducted a rare airstrike on a military target inside Syria, foreign officials and Syrian state TV said on Wednesday, amid fears President Bashar Assad's regime is providing weapons to the Islamic militant group Hezbollah.

tags: Syria

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

NOBODY Can Afford This

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 20:50:00 +0000

I recently spent about 45 minutes talking with a teacher in a PA district who has almost completely lost her love for teaching. Why? The filtering rules in the district are slowly ruining her.

It's not a rich district, but it's far above the average. It's in the town of a highly respected college, so the children of many faculty members attend. It's also a bedroom community for folks who don't want to live in the nearby cities. They don't want for technology, at least in terms of the numbers of devices available. But, unless their use is judged by the use of Microsoft Word, then it's a total failure.

Google Docs is BLOCKED. No one will say exactly why, it just is. The district didn't join the state-wide WAN, so they don't have access to Discovery Streaming or the Safari Montage system on the WAN. All wikis are blocked. All blogs are blocked. Even a silly site like Voki is blocked. Youtube is blocked for all. Twitter is blocked. Diigo and Delicious are blocked. They have a moodle server, but student accounts are so poorly managed that few teachers bother to try to use it. It's far more trouble than it's worth. Work tickets take weeks to resolve, even though there are fewer than 2700 students in the entire district.

The (new) tech director was never an educator (as if that needed to be said) and has made life impossible for the staff who want to become more relevant with their teaching styles. Most now just ignore the technology.

They do well on the PSSA's and always make AYP. A very high percentage will attend and graduate from a four year college. It would be easy, then, to push the status quo.

But, I would argue that they cannot afford this person who has made these filtering decisions. They are graduating over 200 students a year and sending them off to try to compete in this world without ever having experienced collaborating in a Google Doc, or building a wiki with another class. They've never been able to experience twitter as a learning tool. They've never been able to write for an audience of more than one, their teacher.

The students cannot afford to be cheated out of world class education as they are now. They will be attending college with students who CAN use those tools and who know when to use them. They will be competing with other students who know how to follow twitter hashtags to find meaningful information that is current up to the second. They will be a step behind everyone else and through no fault of their own. Some students will be starting off college with a portfolio of relevant bookmarks that they've saved in Diigo or Delicious. Not these students. Others will know how to set up a twitter hashtag for a class so that they can all study and share together. Not these students. And we could go on and on.

The parents cannot afford to have the education of their children stifled so severely, either. They have paid their fair share of taxes and will be paying a lot of money to put their children through college, yet their children will be starting off at this disadvantage. I HAVE to believe that if they knew how restricted their students were that they would be appalled. Certainly they SHOULD be appalled. They cannot afford to have their tax dollars spend in a manner so contrary to the needs of their children.

This NATION cannot afford that person, either. We need creative thinkers who CAN collaborate, and who CAN use today's tools to learn and share and build. We're not going to solve the problems of this country by blocking out the world from our schools.

NOBODY can afford that person. Somebody in that district MUST stand up and say, "This is NOT the vision for education that we want for our children. Either open this up and provide the PD that we need to fulfill our vision, or we will find someone else who WILL!"

And that shouldn't wait another day. There's too much at stake. Would YOU want YOUR children to spend another day in a school like that?

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 00:42:00 +0000

Try this link to the "Appy Hour" Gdoc

@jgates513 Try this link to the "Appy Hour" Gdoc https://t.co/KcNLZlfb

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 00:42:00 +0000

7 Reasons the iPad Should be the Device of Choice for Any 1:1 Program - iPads in Education
- - This has nothing to do with anything!
- iPad and the functionality to allow for such a wide range of users. We have all seen and heard many tremendous examples of children at the age of 1- being amazingly fluent on an iPad. We have also seen examples of those 100 years and beyond learning how to stay in contact with loved ones, learning and entertaining themselves with ease on their iPad. Today's schools represent an incredibly diverse set of users with very different needs. They need a tool that anyone with any range of skills and intellect can pick up and use naturally. There has never been a tool as capable as the iPad for providing meaningful, engaging content to that wide a range of users.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 00:42:00 +0000

ScootPad :: Practice. Learn. Succeed.

Elementary site (FREE!) where kids can practice reading and math from common core standards-matched work. Looks VERY interesting.

tags: commoncore

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 00:43:00 +0000

Submitting Student Work | iPad Connect

"Students will be submitting a variety of files to their teachers throughout the year depending on the classroom and the assignments students must complete. Below are links to specific pages that will outline the best ways to receive different types of assignments. "

tags: ipads

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 00:43:00 +0000

QR Codes for Schools

Looks like a fun pinterest for qrcode ideas

tags: QRcode

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 00:42:00 +0000

Ed schools vs. education - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

An interesting article, and certainly not without other opinions.

tags: education
- "The achievement gap between the U.S. and the world's top-performing countries can be said to be causing the equivalent of a permanent recession," Mr. Hanushek wrote for Education Next.
- Today we lead the world only in how much we spend per pupil.
- Far and away the most important factor in student learning is the quality of teachers. If we got rid of just the bottom 5 percent to 7 percent of teachers, that alone would lift our kids to Canadian levels, Mr. Hanushek calculates.
- Our teachers "do not know anything," according to Terrence Moore, who teaches history at Hillsdale College. That's largely because most have degrees in education rather than in the subjects they teach.
- "Future teachers are better served by getting good grounding in academic subject matter."
- Ed schools seem to think knowing stuff isn't important.
- "If you confront [teachers] with the fact that they, just as their students, can tell you nothing about the first 10 presidents or the use of the gerund, they will blithely respond that it is not so important for them to know things as to know 'how to know things,' " said Mr. Moore.
- The reform needed is to remove state "certification" requirements. The reason for them, we're told, is to guarantee that only the qualified teach. Their real purpose is to keep the knowledgeable out of the classroom.
- "Yet these education schools," Mr. Moore points out, "not only do not impart real knowledge of academic subjects; they are actively hostile to it."
- If instead of being forced to hire the certified, schools were free to hire the qualified, colleges of education would wither away -- and learning would blossom.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Weekly post (weekly)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Gates) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 00:41:00 +0000

App Store - Make My Groups - Team Generator and Scorer

Make My Groups app - FREE Team Generator http://t.co/PNjLsMZp #ipaded #edapps #iosedapp Will be using this at http://t.co/Tm1Jqjyb this week

tags: ipaded edapps iosedapp
App Store - Make My Groups - Team Generator and Scorer

@nharm: Make My Groups app - FREE Team Generator http://t.co/PNjLsMZp #ipaded #edapps #iosedapp Will be using this at http://t.co/Tm1Jqjyb this week

tags: IFTTT Twitter

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.