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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
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If you and your kids still want to win iTunes and get a shot at our $200 Grand prize, THIS IS OUR FINAL WEEK OF COMPETITION!Anyone can get involved. You just need to create a Brainypic at Brainyflix.com.Good luck, everybody! :D
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.
you can also snag the graphics & dowload the originals by visiting my wiki....link on the blog above!!! PS. i created the Kick YouTube header using a cool FREE spell with flickr app that can be found here on my Web 2.Oh! Tools wikipage
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!
Information Fluency Teacher Resource Kits
This is the home page for our Full Circle Resource Kits. Each Kit is designed to provide online and face to face teachers with a comprehensive set of online articles about searching, evaluating, and ethically using digital content. Includes, games, assessment ideas, and curriculum building resources.
Topics Include:
- Getting Started with the Search Process
- Instructional Guidelines Database Selection
- Deep Web Searching
- Question to Query
- Optimal Queries
- Effective Operators
- Homing in on Relevant Information
- Browsing: Directories, Links, Tags
- Web 2.0 Search Applications
- Evaluation: Author, Publisher, Bias, Links, Date, Evidence, Accuracy
- Ethical Use
- Citation
- An interactive game Micromodule companion: Understand how to discover pages that link to the webpage under investigation.
- An interactive MicroModule companion. This tutorial provides an opportunity to apply research and detective techniques that help you find the author of a website.
- An interactive MicroModule companion. Investigative techniques for determining the Publisher of a website.
- An interactive MicroModule companion. How to recognize indicators of Bias. Read passages from actual websites then check your understanding of bias using 5 essential criteria.
- An interactive MicroModule companion. Determine the freshness of information by fining out how recently a web page was published or updated.
- Five separate evaluation challenges that compare your investigative findings to those of others in your class. Can you detect which websites are hoaxes and which are not?
- Live webpage evaluation games that challenge your skills to locate and evaluate information on the Internet.
- This tutorial provides an opportunity to apply copyright and fair use knowledge in a learning game setting.
- Our original plagiarism challenge: can you tell which students are guilty of plagiarism? \nTest your skills at detecting plagiarism.
- Part two of this series of tutorial games for improving one's understanding of plagiarism and how to avoid it.
- Part three of series of tutorial games for improving one's understanding of plagiarism and how to avoid it. This game asked you to investigate science topics. Plagiarized or Paraphrased? Test your skills at detecting plagiarism.
Book Review
The Liars of Mariposa Island
by Jennifer Mathieu
Publication Date 17 Sep 2019
Read courtesy of NetGalley.com
I have to be honest; I forgot what the title of this book was while I was reading it. Now that I see it has the word "Liars" in it, the book makes more sense. It's about liars. I like the book a 1/2 star better than I did before remembering the title.
The story is about a dysfunctional family fooling itself at every turn. Each family member lies to him/herself and, in turn, to each other. And it's not the kind of lying that's obvious; it's a self-preservation technique, yet it crumbles rather than coheres the family. On the other hand, some of the lying is so obvious that it's hard to believe its believed.
I enjoyed the point in the book when the reader is finally let in on the biggest lie perpetuated by the two teen children in the family. Once it is revealed, the mother's self-denial becomes more apparent and more dysfunctional.
The mother's lie to her children comes to light later in the story; however, it's revealed in too obvious a manner. It felt the plot point that allowed this lie to emerge lacked narrative creativity (been there, done that).
The story includes sex, and drugs, and boozy beach parties. These feel gratuitously included to "appeal" to teen readers.
Finally, the ending was abrupt. The only truth to the story is that no one wins in the end, including the reader.
Book review of
XL by Scott Brown
Pub Date: 26 Mar 2019
Read courtesy of netgalley.com
I love Scott Brown's writing style: interesting vocabulary, descriptive metaphors, a glimmer of breaking the fourth wall, and a bit of dry, subtle humor. It works. If you don't like being given one of the funniest lines of a movie during a trailer, don't read the next part of this sentence since I'm going to ruin a chuckle for you: car mitzvah, when you turn 16 and get your driver's licence and your parents buy you a car. OK- you can resume reading. I also like that Brown gave me things to ponder, like if are there only two kinds of quests (end of chapter 2).
I do beg to differ with one factoid that seemed to play a large (pun intended) part in the plot; Will says, "Fact. Small things don't live as long." But that's not true; small dogs live longer than big dogs. Just sayin'.
Brown did a nice job of consistently characterizing each of his secondary characters; they had unique personalities. He also did well with his extended metaphor of the gorillas in the zoo at which his father worked with the three-way relationship of Will, Drew, and Monica - the three main characters. In chapter 6 Will's impending experiences are even foreshadowed by the gorilla's behavior. Some symbolism was just a little too obvious, though, like the placement of the necklace given to him by one girl when he was in the presence of another (chapter 12).
I stayed interested in how the conflicts were going to resolve themselves, but I was, unfortunately, slightly disappointed with the unfinished, happy ending. So, they all stay friends, but... What happens to Will and his XL situation? Does Monica, who is a strong character throughout the story, end up compromising her Plan? Now that Drew abandoned his Plan, where does that leave his future? I know... "the best-laid plans of mice and men..."; that's the message in itself. But I'm not sure I've been given enough information about the characters to strongly speculate about their futures. In spite of this, I enjoyed the underlying premise of, "Be careful what you wish for; you might get it."
⭐⭐⭐⭐/☆☆☆☆☆
