(Just) Popped in My Head: February 2013

Feb 28, 2013

Might be growing sugar crystals on a string. We'll see in a few days...

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Feb 22, 2013

TIE 2013 Harry Dickens Session

#TIE2013

iBooks Author - Get the students creating!
Templates for iBooks Author in the iBooks Store
Widgets:

Picture gallery
Videos
Keynote
Questions
Zoom-in/out
Scrolling toolbar
Use HYPE instead of html code option
Embed link to live google form, come back to book
Use HYPE for pics/text/hyperlinks without leaving book
Link to external resources
Embed YouTube videos
Pop-up Widget to add pop-up caption
Word tile widget
Drawing tool
ibook-widgets.com - find other widgets
bookry.com
Flash cards - two-sided cards to include in book
Frame Sequence - create sequence can be dragged through in ipad
Image Carousel - add images/captions to Google Maps
Quiz - Split Whiteboard (text one side, draw on the other, submit to teacher)
Quiz - Split Worksheet - multiple choice, fill-in blank, drag drop, math, etc

Save widgets to computer, drag them into the iBook.

Morrilton students created a free iBook (Common Core Through Our Eyes)

Students create books, incorporate showme videos

Movie Captioner - Add closed captioning to videos

Crazy Talk 7 - Add animation to still images (like blabberizer)

Morfio - iPad app similar to CT7

Creative Book Builder - Publish via email, ePub, ftp, dropbox, google drive, etc

TouchAppCreator - create an app from web pages/web content/books, etc

NearPod - push presentations to various devices.

Blogsy - Post to various blogs, twitter, etc.

Explain A Webpage - Record screenshots with audio and overlays to help tell users where to click. Yes, this is a real app...

UploadSpot - Upload to Arkansas Digital Sandbox or other My VR Spot sites.

MyScript Calculator - handwriting recognition calculator

Long Division

Feb 21, 2013

TIE 2013 QuickFire Susan Gilley and Harry Dickens - APPS

#TIE2013

DIR506L - Access point

Susan Gilley - iOS Apps

sgilley.com (Presos, TIE)

Google App
-- Time and Data
---- Calendars, Discipline, Report Cards, Forms/Grading, Course Registration, Attendance
---- Build agenda on the fly with shared docs
---- Shared Calendar updates on central calendar (how do we set that up)
---- Fundraising

Flubaroo - grading, etc
Looker app - 360 photos
Reflector
OverDrive - Access to books via library
EduCreations
GoogleDrive - Sharing Video
Qrafter - QR Treasure Hunt Generator
Doceri - Remote to desktop from iPad
SplashTop - Remote to desktop
Apps Gone Free
NearPod - Share Power point, polling features, teacher control
Analytiks - web hit counter info
AD Help Desk
Remote Desktop Lite
Pinterest
Twitter
LinkedIn
Furry Friend

"What's in your toolbox?" - Jim Yeager
"Plane is in the air, and we're learning to fly"
"Train has left the station - you're either on, or left behind."
"Not what you know, it's what you share"

Harry Dickens:

iBooks
iBooks Author
Book Widgets
Creative Book Builder
iAnnotatePDF
iMovie
Pages
Numbers
Keynote
Evernote/Penultimate - sync together
Puffin Web Browser - flash-enabled
Crazy Talk 7
Teleprompt+

Learning with George!

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TIE 2013 Conference Notes (Quickfire K-2)

#TIE2013 Notes for K-2 Apps

Storykit - Can record voice in addition to typing. Can paint/write. Title, author, etc.
Audio does not get shared out between ipads.

CroakIt - 30-second audio - post it, share it, etc

Tools4Students - templates/graphic organizers. Students choose the GO and enter their information.
ScribblePress -
EduCreations - record while they write/annotate/etc
ShowMe - same idea as educreations but only 1 page
StoryBuddy
TradingCards - more than one student can use per device. Templates. Make electronic trading cards.

Students need email addresses for various apps in order to share out via email.

TIE 2013 Conference (Special Ed)

Notes from #TIE2013 QuickFire:

Apps for Special Ed:

iMovie - kids can sign
FaceTime - kids can sign to each other
AudioNote - Record students, transcribe notes
BookCreator - incorporate video - kids signing, or need visual help.

http://www.bit.ly/SpecialEdApps/

Visually impaired:

Talking Calculator
Talking Clock
Teleprompt Plus
Proloquo to go - $189 - grand daddy of special ed apps
Decide Now
Spin-a-Win
Class Dojo - behavior management app

TIE 2013 Spring Conference (Writing Quickfire)

I will be posting notes from the #TIE2013 Conference. Hopefully, you will find something useful for your classroom or daily life.

PreWriting/Writing Apps:

iThoughtsHD
MindMeister
MeoGraph
InkleWriter
LifeCards - postcards

Presentation Tools:

HaikuDeck

Issuu
Wikispaces
Lulu
Createspace

The view from my hotel room shows puddles and nothing more. Guess the bad weather in Conway is further west...

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Feb 18, 2013

Much Ado About Followers

One of the most prevalent posts I see on various social media outlets takes the form of the following: "OMG! I used to have 987 followers, and now I only have 953! What am I doing wrong!?"

First of all, losing followers generally has very little to do with you. Just like friends in the offline world, friends (read, followers) in the online world will come and go. It really is no big deal. Post what you normally post that got folks to follow you/friend you/connect with you in the first place. And, if you are NOT doing that, perhaps that is a place to look.

Then again, maybe the folks that left your stream of thought did so because they got what they needed (or what they felt they needed) from your posts. Are you posting your own content? Do you spend most of your time reposting (read, sharing) what others have posted. If it is the latter, your followers may have decided to cross over from your stream to the folks you are reposting. After all, if you're doing it, then why should your followers bother with you when they can go straight to the source of your posts?

Sometimes, folks quit following because you quit posting. I'm not saying you have to post every 10 minutes, but when was the last time you posted something? And, the last time you posted something original? And, the last time you responded to someone?

Just like offline lives, online lives seek interaction with other people. If folks are posting to you, responding to you, reaching out to you and you are not reciprocating, then those same people will quit trying. After they quit trying to truly connect to you, they will quit following you. Why? Because you evidently only like to hear yourself speak (er, see your own posts).

All of this aside, people will come and go. So what? As long as you are keeping up your end of the equation, there is nothing you can do to keep folks around. Some, much like offline friends, will stick around for years. Others may come by for a while, leave, and then come back again. And still others will visit a while then leave forever. That's life - online or off.

The advantage to going bald? I now have a fire extinguisher growing out of my head!

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Awards ceremony from the cheer competition the other day.

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Feb 14, 2013

She "gets" me so well!!

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Feb 12, 2013

Found a blast from the past in the Tech Closet...

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Feb 9, 2013

A few firsts

Waxing nostalgia this evening, I decided to think back to several "firsts" in my life:

My first drive-in movie (that I recall, anyway): "Orca" - about killer whales or something. Or maybe it was "Grease?"
My first "date:" 2nd grade, we went to a Penguins hockey game
My first Elementary School: Skyline Elem School in Prospect Park, near Baldwin PA
My first haunted house: The March of Dimes House on Streets Run Road near Pittsburgh PA
My first High School: Elizabeth-Forward High
My first college: Loretto Heights College, Denver
My first regular paying job: Target, Aurora CO
My first computer: Commodore 64 with Tape Drive
My first word: I am told it was "tunnel"
My first purchased record: "I've had enough" by Wings
The first home I remember: we lived on some street in Coraopolis pa (We pronounced is "Cory-op-olis" - not sure of they still say it that way or not)
The first car my parents owned that I can recall: A yellow VW Bug
The first novel I ever read: "Great Expectations"
The first car Shan and I bought together: 1988 Dodge Daytona
The first movie that scared the crud out of me: "Embryo"
The first R-Rated movie I remember watching: "Risky Business"
The first movie I saw more than once: "Star Wars - A New Hope" (though it was just called "Star Wars" in those days) - I saw it no fewer than 7 times.
My first "TV Crush" - Nancy McKeon, "Facts of Life"
My first "Movie Crush" - either Jodie Foster ("Tom Sawyer") or Kim Richards ("Witch Mountain"), not sure which I saw in a movie first. Either way, it was the 70's. Hmm, or maybe it was Tatum O'Neal in "Bad News Bears" Haha.
My first "shaving accident:" I was in 5th or 6th grade and I was playing with my Dad's razor. I slid my thumb across the blade. I told my parents I had been playing with a Tonka truck.
My first ride on public transportation (that I recall): I was in 2nd grade, and a group of my friends rode a bus to the movies. We thought we had traveled miles and miles. Turns out, it was less than 1/4-1/2 a mile.
My first kiss with Shan: Outside Russell Fine Arts at Henderson State University. I will never forget it. :-)

I have many other firsts, of course, but these are some that just Popped in My Head.

Feb 6, 2013

Midori - Resurfaces Again

Back in 2008, I wrote a piece on my company techblog about Midori:

Hedging bets against Midori?

I admit it. I have not been following the latest gossip in the frontlines of Microsoft development. Frankly, I have too much going on. However, the newest buzzword from the folks in Redmond is "Midori." What is it?

Midori, rumored to be out in 2011, is a 'possible' departure from anything related to Windows. Sort of. It is supposed to Microsoft's way of leaving Windows in the dust and starting over with a new operating system that is NOT backward-compatible with previous versions of Windows.

So, you have thousands, tens of thousands, millions of dollars worth of software and man-hours tied up in your network operating systems and servers because you went with the 'big dogs?' Tough. Dump it and start over.

I understand the 'logic' behind wanting to make such a move on Microsoft's part - Windows has become so bloated, it is almost unusable (read, Vista in the early days). In an effort to keep everyone happy, Windows programmers have been holding on to legacy APIs, DLLs, and a varied hodgepodge of other acronyms in the name of customer satisfaction.

Starting over SOUNDS like a good idea. But, here's my issue with it... If I have to start over with a system that will not run my current programs (though there is talk of a Windows-like emulator that would TRY to run your current apps), then why would I spend a gazillion dollars to make that move?

Look, if it means learning a whole new OS, frankly, I've got my picks out there. I could switch to Novell-Linux or a variety of other Linux-based OSes. What difference would it make? And, if I switched away from Microsoft, I would open the doors on all kinds of free and/or open-source software that can do basically what I'm doing now.

Wait, that means I would have to learn new software. From the looks of it, I would be doing that in either case. I might as well save myself some money as this dog learns some new tricks.

The company techblog is on a dying platform that we have since moved away to a hosted solution. In the name of preservation, I have been moving posts from that site to our new site. This post, though, I opted to move here. In any case, I decided to see if the Midori Project was still around. Sure enough:

Here is a ZNET article about the changes to the personnel and a discussion in the comments about the OS itself: http://www.zdnet.com/microsofts-midori-operating-system-skunkworks-project-soldiers-on-7000007110/

As you can see, the OS did not come to light in the form of Vista, Win7, or anything else over the past 5 years. I hold fast to my comments above: Microsoft Midori will be unlike any other OS Microsoft has produced. I also believe it will be the "equivalent" of Windows 10 (Windows X, if you will). Of course, it won't be called "Windows." We're on Windows 8 as of this current writing. I believe we will see Windows 9 and then we will no longer see ANY version of OS called "Windows." When the release date for "WinX" comes around, Microsoft will wow the world with their new OS. And, when that happens, everyone gets to start over as far as anything Microsoft is concerned.