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This title is really the case study for a wider topic on Remote Apps.
For me this is one of the most exciting (tech) influences on mobile learning ... the interconnectivity between devices.
I have two folders on my iPad [Remote1 and Remote2] which are full of Apps that enable connectivity between the iPad and other devices ... and that connectivity can be both ways.
See the two screen shots below.
This topic could probably be a mini ebook in its own right ... so I've taken the easy route and did a screencast myself ... but just on the iPad
[I used the App Display Recorder ($1.99) to make this screencast which then uploaded to YouTube]
I highlight just one App .... "LogMeIn" ... there is a free version athttp://itunes.apple.com/us/app/logmein/id479229407?mt=8 but I'm using the pro version called "Ignition" which costs over US$100 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ignition/id299616801?mt=8
... and just in case you think I'm rich ... when the LogMeIn [Ingition] App first came out it had less funtionality and was only a few dollars ... and when they upgraded they auto upgraded early adopters to the full version ... (phew).
This gendre of Apps provide the functionality to mirror a screen from e.g. Laptop (Windoz or Mac) to the iPad with the iPad touch screen having full interactivity ... so control your laptop/desktop from the other side of the room ... or the other side of the world. Note that I'm not talking about mirroring the iPad screen to another machine or projector ... that's in another blog post/book chapter
If you are wondering which one to try first ... maybe give Splashtop ($4.99) a spinhttp://itunes.apple.com/us/app/splashtop-remote-desktop-for/id382509315?mt=8
Case Study : Using the iPad as a Graphics Tablet
To illustrate one possible use of these Apps see the video below which I made to answer the question in a Ning forum (thanks Juliana) ... "Can an iPad be used as a graphics tablet" for screencasting on a desktop/laptop.
Health Warning ... this video was made very late one night with assistance from my cats ... I used a hand-held Flip Camera.
More mobile learning resources on shambles.NET at http://shambles.net/ICT/#mobile
Screencasting info at http://www.shambles.net/pages/staff/screencast/
This Blog was originally posted on the Blog "Shamblesguru's iPad"
Have fun ....
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Today I completed one of my favorite Dewey Decimal activities withfourth grade. We've studied Dewey quite a bit, so for this last classof the year (other activities will supersede class the next 2 weeks) Iused a variation of the Scavenger hunt found here: http://www.webquests.ips.k12.in.us/Communities/webquests/Assets/webquests/media/spring01/dennis/myrealwebquest.htmlby Marietta Sue Dennis. I'm sure that I found it originally throughLM_Net, but I can't find the post in the archives. I thought it wasSuby Wallace whose Thinkquest, Do We do Dewey, I use every year.
I pair up the students, give each pair a Dewey Decimal sheet with the categories from my Dewey for kids web site: http://www.cf.k12.wi.us/library/deweydecimal.htmThen each pair get a different card with a task. They may use only theDDC sheet to find a book that would answer the question or help them dothe task. Examples are: You have to explain football to Mrs. Oelke, orYou need to identify a tree in your back yard, Or You need to plan atrip to Hawaii. etc. When the pair find a book that will work, theyraise their hand and I check their work. If it is correct, I put acolored check on the post it note that has their names on it. Thenthey turn in that card and get a new one. I run around like crazy, butthey love it. In 20 minutes the top pairs got 8-9 cards, and everypair got at least 3. Noisy, crazy, but all of us had fun.
Download dewey scavenger cards.doc
Download deweyfor kids.doc
Book Review
Body Swap by Sylvia McNicoll
Read courtesy of www.netgalley.com
Publication date: 09 Oct 2018
I think that Sylvia McNicoll and Dundurn are selling themselves short: This is not just a YA Middle School novel. While it's appropriate for middle schoolers (i.e., no cursing), I'm sure it would be appealing to high schoolers and adults, too. It reminded me of a seamless mash-up of the stories behind Cocoon, Big, and Lovely Bones (the book, not the movie). Magical realism at its best.
At first I was confused by both the swapping of bodies and the alternating chapters. It took me a while to make the mental switches back-and-forth while I read. I do wonder if some readers will find the double switching confusing. I thought that might detract from my enjoyment of the story, but I got used to the seesawing. I'm glad I did.
The characters were believable and played both of their parts really well. Their duality offered the introspection we often can only assume occurs within characters; McNicoll allowed the reader inside of the characters' heads, which allowed the readers to contemplate what their own reactions might have been under similar circumstances. This provided a very powerful way to get absorbed into a story.
McNicoll provided a means of exploring one's own preconceived notions (in this case about ageism) without being preachy, which is hugely important for our YA readers. I'm looking forward to getting Body Swap for my high school library and will recommend it for my middle school library, as well.
Book Review: Nowhere on Earth by Nick Lake
Pub Date: 26 May 2020
Read courtesy of http://netgalley.com
One word: derivative.
First, though, this book didn't know what it wanted to be. It felt easy to read, but right off the bat (chapter 1, paragraph 1) the author threw in "big words," which could easily turn off the reluctant reader who might have otherwise found this a highly accessible book.
Second, I honestly do not know if my high schoolers like reading stories where the teenage protagonist (Emily) is smarter than the adults, but I personally dislike that as a plot method. Yes, teenagers mostly do think they are smarter than their parents, but to make that the premise of a book, as if the teen is a superhero and the parents are clueless, gets old.
OK, back to "derivative." Quite early in the story I felt like I was reading E.T., the Extra-terrestrial. This feeling resurfaced often. Then the Men in Black reference was repeated (and repeated) throughout the book. Then the plane crash was like Hatchet. I even got a hint of Star Wars with a line that sounded like, "These are not the droids you are looking for." Then a little bit of Star Trek was thrown in with their "prime directive"; Aidan couldn't interfere with the Earth's history. I hit my limit when Aidan's departure mimicked E.T.'s "I'll be right here" and I pictured the author thinking, "Queue E.T.s glowing finger." That wasn't the last unoriginal reference, though; the goodbye scene with Emily and Aidan turned into the intro from The Big Bang Theory.
I found the author's descriptions of Emily's father to be inconsistent in that his personality didn't match his character in the end. Throughout she describe him as "all military precision and attention," "Emily's dad had many useful things in his backpack - that was his style...," "...her dad, sticking to the logic of the story," "She was still averting her eyes. Her dad would see her lies in an instant, if he looked into them," "...her dad said needlessly, and Emily realized something else: this was how he dealt with stress. By trying to understand, to analyze," and "That was Emily's dad: no need to discuss what kind of message, or how, or anything irrelevant like that. Pure focus on the plan." Then at the end,
There was an awkward silence, and then they laughed. They tried not to talk too much about the time after the plane crash - he parents told themselves a story abut it, that they'd been in a rush to get to civilization, but Emily could tell they only partially believed it, and that the best way for them to reconcile the events with the kind of people they understood themselves to be was to not think about it.
To be fair, there were some positives. The author obviously took a great deal of thought into making Aidan's character's abilities consistent and plausible. That's a real plus, since the story wouldn't have worked at all without this being tight and dependable. I was also pleasantly surprised at how clever the author had Emily be at the end with the man in the gray suit, playing like she knew as much as her parents did about the events that occurred.
However, I think the author did more thinking about how he could mix ET with Agent J or Spock than he did about making an original and absorbing story. <2 stars>
Book Review
Crying Laughing by Lance Rubin
Publishing date: November 19, 2019
Read courtesy of netgalley.com
5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
If we couldn't get more of Denton Little, at least we have Winnie Friedman. Cleverly written story about comedy without being forced and corny -- quite an achievement. Makes me want to start an improv club for my students!
Even though I know a bat mitzvah is for girls and a bar mitzvah is for boys, and the reader is told about the character's bat mitzvah, I still found myself [pleasantly] surprised when I absorbed that the protagonist was a female and not a male. This is a good thing since I was able to break myself from stereotypical thinking early in the story. I think that the character is Jewish also makes for a subtle take on the humor that other ethnicities might not have inherent in their culture, the subtleties between puns and sarcasm, which are so integral to Jewish and Yiddish parlance. In other words, this mix of character development worked very well for this story.
And speaking of inherent ... sporks are inherently funny. Just sayin'...
Teens will relate to the cute humor throughout the story, too. For example, categorizing potential relationships as "hope-will-flirts," "neutral-will-flirts," and "please-don't-flirts" is funny and quite teenager-ish.
While the humor carries the story afloat, the author does an a-ma-zing job of showing a teen's understanding of complicated adult conversations. Winnie's father has ALS, and the subject is handled honestly from the patient-, the parent, and the family-perspectives. All of the characters are treated with equal humanness and not made into oversimplified caricatures.
The few criticisms I have do not deter from the 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ or the story. There are just a few times where the writing is too PC or 'too' inclusive just to fit in with the contemporary times....Jews, hijabs, and trigger warnings. There are also some contemporary references that might date the book before it's ready to be a thing of the past: Polly-O string cheese (specifically Polly-O), the TV show Parks and Rec, Totes McGotes, and FOMO.
Regardless, I loved this book and cannot wait to get it for my high school library!
Okay, not easy, but much clearer! Kentucky Virtual Library's Research Rocket offers a student-friendly, step-by-step introduction to the research process.
While the screen shot to the right gives you a basic idea of the steps involved, what it doesn't show you is that each individual step provides its own easy to understand tutorial (see below).
For media center specialists or teachers introducing students to the research process, this is both a great introduction and a great stand-alone resource to which students can refer when going through the motions of information collection and organization.
(The picture to the right is the page a student would access if she clicked on the "Scan First" square of Step 4 on the map. As she reads over the information provided, she can also roll the mouse over the graphics, which provides additional visual cues).
And of course, there's always the option of using individual components of the whole process (such as the Scan/Survey module here) as reading comprehension skill builders in the elementary classroom.
Girl on the Run
by Abigail Johnson
Pub Date: 06 Oct 2020
Read courtesy of netgalley.com
LOVED IT! Is there such a thing as a 6 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐review?
Fast paced and tight, I read this book in an afternoon. I was engaged by the characters and the plot. I enjoyed being able to anticipate where things were going or where they had come from. I sometimes get frustrated trying to follow a thriller's flow of information, and I sometimes think the authors do it on purpose for some kind of gotcha. Abigail Johnson didn't confuse me, purposefully or not. She allowed the readers to explore both with the characters and to make suppositions on their own without making the readers feel duped or slow-witted.
Recommend this book to readers who like Amazon's Hanna.
As an aside, it did help that I grew up and worked near the story's setting; although, the geography itself could have been anywhere with regards to the story. It was just fun for me to read of places I know: Bridgeton, Cheltenham, Perkasie, Elkins Park, etc.
I can't wait to put this in to my high school readers' hands.
Book Review:
Any Second by Kevin Emerson
Pub. date: November 20, 2018
Read courtesy of netgalley.com
5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review!
I cannot wait to get this book for my high school's library!
My students are taught to be an upstander instead of a bystander. In Any Second, Maya did this... and beyond. Kevin Emerson wrote a story that is both unique and scarily possible, which is what makes it such a compelling read.
Emerson did a great job with the pace of the storytelling and the points at which the narrator's focus switched between Maya and Eli. There was also enough detail to create mental pictures without being grossed-out to the point at which the story's narrative could have been overshadowed by the horror of the circumstances. There was enough to make the reader squirm without having to be told the minutia of Eli's torture and captivity.
The author created an atmosphere that allowed the reader to be drawn into Maya's and Eli's decision making. As a reader I was being told things each character couldn't know, and since I had no way of telling them, I had tension, sympathy, relief, anxiety, and hope right along with them.
The main characters had consistently true personalities, which helped this reader connect with the plot and action. The minor characters never felt extraneous and were used well to move the story forward. One Second will appeal to many different kinds of readers and could be recommended to readers of realistic fiction as well as of action/adventure or suspense fiction.
[The only negative critique -- a hiccup I encountered -- is in chapter 17, where Eli contemplates "how some commentators said Eli's disappearance would have been a bigger deal if he'd been white." Emerson has already made the book uber-inclusive (ex., religion, sexual orientation, gender roles, class, etc.), so this one line struck me as intrusive to the flow of the story, an extraneous or obvious attempt to highlight what the author had already made clear about Eli's ethnicity when discussing Eli's names.]
Flutter
by Gina Linko
Pub Date: 23 Oct 2012
read courtesy of Netgalley.com
Note: I, too, received this as a galley copy to review many years ago, but I just got around to posting about it.
This was a quick read, well, a compelling read, because I was pulled along by the plot, the mystery of Emery's illness, and the connections all of the characters had. Time travel always messes with my head (think Back to the Future), so I had fun trying to piece the story together at the same time Emery was. Then... and I agree with other reviewers on this, too ... I had my WTF moment at the end. If I hadn't read the print version and instead read the Netgalley digital version, I might have missed the author's note that she likes to pursue "What if...?". Only this note, that the author was purporting that alternative inevitabilities are her passion, allowed me to understand why Linko surprised her readers with this twist.
Overall, this was good, interesting YA writing. Yet, though I understand why Linko couldn't have built up to this ending earlier, it really did come out of nowhere with the minor exception of a conversation Emery and Ash had late in the story.
This book would be hard to classify as scifi, because it turns into fantasy. Recommend this book to readers who like the book The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold or the movie The Sixth Sense.
Caution: Spoiler alerts:
by Gina Linko
Pub Date: 23 Oct 2012
read courtesy of Netgalley.com
Note: I, too, received this as a galley copy to review many years ago, but I just got around to posting about it.
This was a quick read, well, a compelling read, because I was pulled along by the plot, the mystery of Emery's illness, and the connections all of the characters had. Time travel always messes with my head (think Back to the Future), so I had fun trying to piece the story together at the same time Emery was. Then... and I agree with other reviewers on this, too ... I had my WTF moment at the end. If I hadn't read the print version and instead read the Netgalley digital version, I might have missed the author's note that she likes to pursue "What if...?". Only this note, that the author was purporting that alternative inevitabilities are her passion, allowed me to understand why Linko surprised her readers with this twist.
Overall, this was good, interesting YA writing. Yet, though I understand why Linko couldn't have built up to this ending earlier, it really did come out of nowhere with the minor exception of a conversation Emery and Ash had late in the story.
This book would be hard to classify as scifi, because it turns into fantasy. Recommend this book to readers who like the book The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold or the movie The Sixth Sense.
Caution: Spoiler alerts:
- Where did Dala go when she fluttered with Emery? If the past was an afterlife, then did Emery kill Dala somehow?
- How could Emery take people/things from the present back and forth to the afterlife? Did they temporarily die, too?
- Why could Emery see her grandmother, Ash's brother, her mom, but not Ash's mom in the afterlife?
- In hindsight, it makes sense that Emery couldn't see Ash's father in the afterlife, but that still doesn't explain why she didn't see his mother.
