airsketch icon
instructional technology, iPad, Mobile, Presentation

App of the Week: AirSketch

Turn your iPad into a wireless whiteboard! Annotate PDF documents and images live.  You can project PDF documents such as exported PowerPoints, to a computer on the same local network then annotate them in real time. Airsketch works like a mirror image of your iPad (viewed inside of the Airsketch App) that is projected by another computer through a shared website.

In other words, it does not connect your iPad wirelessly through the projector — it allows you to display your Airsketch to a website, which is projected by another computer.

For example, when you open Airsketch on the iPad, there is a small wireless icon in the bottom left. When you select that icon, it gives you the IP address that your display can be seen. When you open Firefox (or another web browser) on a classroom computer and put that address in the URL, you will see the same screen as on the iPad.

From there, you can display PDFs (but not PPTs unless they are converted to PDFs) via Dropbox; select the Send-To icon in Dropbox located in the upper right. You can also show images on your iPad’s camera roll.

Price: Free, $9.99 for all the features

Platform: iPad only

More Information: http://www.qrayon.com/home/airsketch/

syncpad on three devices
Collaboration, Distance Ed, instructional technology, iPad, Mobile, Presentation, Share

App of the Week: SyncPad

UPDATE: 3/1/16 – My apologies.  I wrote this post in advance and had it auto post.  It turns out between when I wrote it and when it posted, SyncPad is no longer available.  I attempted to contact them via their website but the contact form no longer works. — Mendi

 

SyncPad is the ultimate whiteboard for remote and local collaboration. Would you like to share your ideas with a coworker but you are out of town? Don’t worry, just create a room with your SyncPad and share the name of the room with your co-worker, who can enter in his SyncPad or simply use any browser, visiting http://mysyncpad.com/roomname.

Uses:

  • Remote Tutoring
  • Collaboration
  • Shared Whiteboard

Price: Free, $4.99/mo Pro.
Platform:  iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch
More info: https://syncpadapp.com

streamtome icon
Conferencing, Distance Ed, iPad, Mobile, Presentation, Share, TLT

App of the Week: StreamToMe

Use StreamToMe on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad to play *video*, *music* and *photo* files streamed over WiFi or 3G from your Mac or Windows PC. No prior conversion or syncing required (huge number of formats supported without conversion) just tap the file and it plays. Using TV out cables (iPhone4 or newer) or an Apple TV (with iPhone3Gs or newer), StreamToMe can play through your TV, turning your iPhone/iPod/iPad plus your Mac/PC into a home media center for all your files.

Price: $2.99

Platform: iPad and iPhone

More infohttp://itunes.apple.com/us/app/streamtome/id325327899?mt=8

Dragon icon
Accessibility, iPad, Mobile, Productivity

App of the Week: Create Email and Notes With Your Voice Using Dragon Dictation

Dragon Dictation is an easy-to-use voice recognition application powered by Dragon® NaturallySpeaking® that allows you to easily speak and instantly see your text or email messages. In fact, it’s up to five (5) times faster than typing on the keyboard.

With Dragon Dictation you can also dictate status updates directly to your Social Networking applications (Facebook and Twitter) or send notes and reminders to yourself….all using your voice. So when you’re on-the-go, stop typing and start speaking – from short text messages to longer email messages, and anything in between.

Dragon Dictation supports a multitude of global languages. For a full list of currently supported languages visit www.dragonmobileapps.com.

Price: Free

Platform: iPad and iPhone

More infohttp://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dragon-dictation/id341446764?mt=8

Aurasma icon
iPad, Mobile

App of the Week: Aurasma – Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality is a view of a “physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented (or supplemented) by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data.”*  Aurasma is an app that allows you create and view augmented reality experiences.  With this app you can take an image of an actual item in your environment (called a trigger image) and to it add an image or video (an overlay).  When the user points the mobile camera at the actual item the overlay displays.

Uses:

  • Use a book cover to trigger a video of the literary analysis of the book.
  • Use a scientific poster image to trigger a video of the experiment or an explanation of the video.
  • Use a picture of a painting to trigger the artist’s explanation of the painting.
  • Use a picture of a building in town to trigger a video of the history of the video or a historical image of the building.

Download:

  • iOS (iPad/iPhone) — https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/aurasma/id432526396?mt=8
  • Android — https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aurasma.aurasma&hl=en

There is also a web creation application located at https://studio.aurasma.com/login

 

 

Sphere icon
iPad, Mobile, TLT

App of the Week: Sphere – 360º Photography

Sphere 360 is the closest one can come to teleportation. With Tour Wrist one can visit travel destinations one minute, hotels and restaurants the next, or even look inside new cars and homes.

Simply by moving your iPhone up, down, or in any other direction, the user gets a 360 degree view of what one’s chosen to view.

With powerful search and sort tools, Sphere 360 gives you the power to travel, remotely.

Price: Free

Platform: iPad and iPhone

More infohttp://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tourwrist/id335671384?mt=8

iPad Pro
iPad, TLT

New Apple iPad Pro

On Tuesday, Apple made its annual announcement of new products.  These included an upgrade to the iPhone, a revamped and improved Apple TV, and some new Apple Watch bands and faces.  However, the most interesting announcement was the iPad Pro and frankly, I’m not sure how I feel about it.  The iPad Pro is the newest in the iPad line.  It’s sleek, thin (6.9 mm) and light (1.5 lbs) and is 12.9 inches on the diagonal.  Basically it’s as wide as an iPad Air is tall and has 5.6 million pixels, more than a 15″ MacBook Pro Retina.

iPad Air vs iPad Pro

So why build such a large iPad?

Apple says it’s to reach the enterprise market but most would agree it’s to compete with the Microsoft Surface.  The iPad Pro has some additional accessories that will make it a direct competitor: a full-size keyboard cover and a fine-point stylus called the Apple Pencil.  On paper, here’s how they compare:

iPad Pro Microsoft Surface Pro 3
Dimensions  12 x 8.6 in. 11.5 x 7.9 in.
Screen size  12.9 in. 12 in.
Weight  1.57 lb 1.76 lb
Memory  32 GB
128 GB
64 GB
128 GB
256 GB
512 GB
Price $799 – 32 GB wifi
$949 – 128 GB wifi
$1,079 – 128 GB wifi & cell
$799 – 64 GB wifi
$999 – 128 GB wifi
$1,149 – 256 GB wifi
$1,799 – 512 GB wifi
Operating system  iOS 9 Windows 8.1
Camera 8 MP rear, 1.2 MP front 1080p rear, 5 MP front
External keyboard  $169  $129
External stylus Apple Pencil – $99 included

 

Apple is marketing the bigger size and speed as offering great benefits to both the creative type and the business type.

The Creative:

For those who love their iPad for drawing or creating then, the bigger iPad offers bigger, crisper images that are easier to work with.  Combine this is the precision point of the Apple Pencil and it would appear to be a creator’s dream.  The Autocad app supposedly flys on the iPad Pro, allowing you to work in 3D and full resolution with little to no refresh time.  Many of the drawing apps will also take advantage of the pressure sensitivity and tip slant provided by the Apple Pencil.  Apple Pencil tipped on its side  For the videographer, the iPad pro offers 4 speakers (one on each corner) that will auto-balance themselves based on the iPad Pro orientation.

The Office:

The iPad Pro also offers something for the office.  Even without the external keyboard the larger surface offers a full-size on-screen keyboard making it easier than ever to touch type.  Apple has also formed a partnership with Microsoft to bring Office to the iPad.  Word, Excel, and PowerPoint will now be fully functional on the iPad Pro and will allow ink annotations.onboard keyboard

The iPad Pro and Apple Pencil will be available for purchase in November and I’m excited to see if the product actually is as cool as Apple makes it seem.  One thing to keep in mind before you run out a buy yours is, according to several reviews I read, that there are not current plans to create iPad apps specifically for the iPad Pro’s larger screen.  As of now you’ll just run all your regular apps they’ll just be bigger.  This may change in the future but as of now that is the plan.  I’m looking forward to seeing it in action.  Once I get my hands on one I’ll let you know what I think.

Adobe Voice
instructional technology, iPad, Mobile, Presentation, Share, Video

Make Professional Looking Voice Stories with Adobe Voice

“Adobe Voice is a free iPad app that helps you create stunning animated videos in minutes.”  Just “pick from over 25,000 beautiful iconic images to show your ideas (or choose from photos on your tablet).” Record your voice over the images, one image at a time.  “Set the mood with a musical soundtrack and choose the perfect look with just one tap. Watch your story automatically come alive with cinema-quality animation and share it with anyone online.”

— https://standout.adobe.com/voice/
As I started exploring Adobe Voice I was impressed by how easy it was to use but I wasn’t sure what I would use it for.  However, the more I played with it the more I realized that it has an enormous number of uses.  Adobe Voice allows you to create a slideshow of sorts with icons, Creative Commons images, and text.  You then add your voice to each “slide” as narration.  Finally you embellish your project using themes that control the font, color, and transitions of your slides and background music to set the tone of the project.  When your project is complete you share it by clicking on the Publish button and can easily publish it to the Adobe Cloud as well as social media, email and text.

Student Uses Faculty Uses
Create a biography/autobiography
Create how-to videos
Recount a story
Create an oral history
Promote an event
Create a public service announcement
Promote an idea
Tell what happened
Teach a lesson
Record a lecture
Create a personal introduction
Recount a story
Introduce a new subject
Summarize a chapter

 

What I liked was how easy it was to use.  I also like that it uses Creative Commons images and free music so copyright is not a problem.  The sharing is super easy and the fact that you can share them privately is also very important when working with student projects.

What some may like less is that you can’t add any video.  This isn’t a deal breaker for me and I know that it’s kind of outside the intended purpose of this app.  The fact that you can’t use it without an Adobe ID is a bit of a drag for K12 (esp. K8) students.  Not everyone wants their students to get these types of accounts. There may be a workaround for this but I didn’t investigate it further.  The think that bothered me the most was the lack of ability to make basic changes to the project such as placement and font.  I know for many this could be seen as a positive because it makes it easier to use and a bit more universal but if you are pretty tech savvy and like to control a lot of items in a project this isn’t the app for you.  You can’t control the placement of the image or text boxes nor can you control font or alignment within the boxes.  Again, not a deal breaker, just something to be aware of.

All in all I think this is a great, FREE, app to use as both a student or a teacher.  Unfortunately, at this time it is only for iOS devices and I’m not sure if there is an Android version on the horizon.

Price:  Free
Platform:  iOS only

App Location:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adobe-voice-show-your-story/id852555131?mt=8

1-1-1, iPad, Mobile

Guest Post: How a Calendar Service Saved and an App Nearly Destroyed My Sanity

Our guest blogger is Gretchen McLaine, Associate Professor of Dance. Gretchen was a participant in the 2014 Summer FTI, and this post is a review of Gretchen’s experience integrating two new tools into her courses.


 

If you are like most faculty here at the college, you embrace any opportunity to make more efficient use of your time and simplify your work life. Being the lone full-time faculty member and director of a vibrant, new program, I appreciate any chance to make my job a bit more manageable. However, with so many options from which to choose, I turned to our Faculty Technology Institute last summer for finding ways to make my life easier.

One of my favorite time savers is YouCanBookMe. If you do not currently use this website, you should. YouCanBookMe is a free service where anyone with your URL can schedule an appointment with you. Not only does the site sync with your Google calendar, it only shows your availability, not any personal information about your appointments. You can also decide specific times of each day to make yourself available/unavailable. My URL is included on my syllabi as well as on my office door. All of my advising appointments are scheduled through this amazing, free service, which has stopped the endless hours of emailing back and forth with students as we try to coordinate schedules.

My experiences with the Grader application has almost cost me my sanity, and has certainly cost me a lot of wasted time. Available for iPad, this app is supposed to integrate with the College’s learning management system, otherwise known as OAKS. One of the advantages of its use is the ability to grade files submitted to OAKS dropbox folders without requiring Internet access. However, before you can grade offline, you must go through the app while online and download the contents of these folders, remembering to hit the download buttons on each folder and then hitting the sync icon. If you are unable to do this, then the app isn’t useful. And even if you grade while off-line, you must sync again whenever you regain Internet connectivity for those files to be returned to the students. For some reason and on multiple occasions, I have graded papers only to have lost them when I synced the folders. And while there have been some improvements in the stability of this app over the past year, I have also experienced this app freezing while grading (losing graded papers in the process) on multiple occasions. Maybe it is user error, but my experiences with this app have proven more frustrating than fruitful.