The Educational Mac

Simplenote- An iEAR review

Thu, 1 Jul 2010 17:59:41 -0600

Cross posted at iEar.org
App Title: Simplenote
Grade Level:  This one's primarily for the teachers. But could be used as a writing tool at any Level
Purpose: A
Program Functionality: A
Overall Educational Value:  A
Cost: $ - Free, (ad supported, one ad at the top of your list of notes, I rarely even see it) Also you can purchase a pro account for $9.00 a year(gets rid of the ads and give a few more features). I don't see this as necessary in any way though. Simplenote is a Univeral App so the same download gives you the iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad versions.
Recommendation:  I did a pretty awful demo of this app at the Bird of a Feather session, so I want to make sure I give Simplenote its proper due. Simplenote is one of my go to apps. I use it everyday for a variety of reasons. As the title infers Simplenote is just that, simple. The app itself is a one trick pony. It allows you to create plain text notes. Wow, you say, isnt' there a ton of note taking apps out there, and pretty dynamic ones. Yes there are, but again the key to this one is simple. Even at that the simplicity moves beyond the app because when you download and start using the app you create an account at Simplenote.com. Now what ever text you put into a note in Simplenote gets synched to your Simplenote account and you can access it from any computer. But wait, that's not all, Simplenote also syncs with several desktop apps on a Mac or PC. The one I use is Notational Velocity which is a free open source note taking app. You simply point the desktop app to your Simplenote.com account. So whatever I put into Simplenote is available 3 places, in the app, in the cloud, and on the desktop.

Also wherever you access your notes they are fully searchable. you can perform a search and easily find notes or information within any note. This search works in all 3 places.

Again, simple says it all, Simplenote and Notational Velocity do text only, but they do it very well. There are more robust apps like Evernote and the like, but for quick, easy, and yes simple, Simplenote is generally the first arrow I pull out of my quiver when I need to jot down a few ideas or take notes in a meeting.
 Classroom Use Examples/Ideas: A great tool for teachers to walk around the room and take observation notes on students. A quick and easy way to file ideas. For student use, you can tie more than one device to a Simplenote account. So if you had a classroom set of devices, you tie Simplenote on each of the devices to the same account. Now a teacher could pose a writing prompt and have the students record their responses in Simplenote. The teacher and all of the other students would have access to the responses which would be great for peer editing or review. For a quick writing tool, I don't think Simplenote can be beat. The sync options however turn it into a true powerhouse.
Developer Website: www.simplenote.com iTunes Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/simplenote/id289429962?mt=8
Other: Don’t forget to check out our Ning (Online Community) devoted to helping teachers utilize these devices to the their fullest. Please leave a comment if you agree, disagree, or have other creative uses for this app in the classroom, etc.

No Teacher Left Behind? - A Guest Post

Sun, 4 Apr 2010 09:08:35 -0600

A member of my PLN requested an opportunity to do an anonymous guest post. I am more than happy to provide this space to help, especially as I feel very strongly about the topic. My response, is if there is no one to blaze trails, then no ever finds a better path.

Last week I was having a conversation with my administrator about how to personalize professional development for the teachers in my building. My school is very small so providing personalized learning opportunities for each staff member is reasonable. I asked how we make sure each teacher receives the kind of training they need in order to continue growing. I remarked that most of my learning takes place on my own time through my personal learning network. His response was that he does not want one teacher to be way out front while the rest are way behind. It isn't fair to the students that some of them get to do things in your class that they cannot do in their other classes."
Really? What does that even mean? I interpreted to mean that I need to apply the brakes and put my brain on ice until the other teachers catch up and that isn't likely to happen anytime soon. Why? Because I spend hours of my own time learning and growing. It is how I choose to invest a great deal of my free time. The other teachers, while not opposed to learning new things, are not passionate about it. For the most part their day begins at 7:30 and ends when they walk out the door. With the limited opportunities provided during the school year there is no way the others can catch up unless they decide to invest their own time. While they are experts in their subject matter their understanding of how to integrate technology into their classrooms is very limited. This happens to be my greatest strength.
I am left wondering what I am supposed to do. Am I supposed to not utilize my skills because my coworkers don't know how to do the same things I do? Am I expected to stagnate while I wait for them to catch up? I have offered to teach them, but there is never enough time. (This year has been crazy at my school and there really hasn't been time.)
How can a district claim to be progressive when they are asking those at the forefront to stop blazing trails? What kind of administrator tries to stand in the way of a passionate teacher who is committed to being a life-long learner? What message are we sending to both students and teachers when we basically tell people to stop learning?

Who else has experienced something similar to this? I am anxious to hear how you handle being asked to stop growing.

Depict - A Game That Will Draw You In

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 16:28:07 -0600

Cross-Posted at http://www.iear.org
App Title: Depict
Grade Level: 4-12
Purpose: B Program Functionality: A  Overall Educational Value: B+ Cost: $-Free

Recommendation:     I swore my first review for IEAR would not be a game. However as I looked at apps for potential review this month, I kept coming back to Depict. If you are familiar with Pictionary, then you will understand Depict. When you launch Depict you can choose to play a Quick Match or with Play with Friends (which I will get back to in a minute). In an education setting, I would avoid the Quick Match as that throws you into a game with a variety of people that you have no control over.
   In Play with Friends mode, if you have no friends available the game with throw you into Solo mode. In this mode, a drawing begins to be displayed on the screen. Along with the drawing, 4 to 6 buttons with the names of what the drawing could be appear. As the drawing progresses the player selects what they think the drawing is. If they are correct they get a point. Then they are presented with another drawing and so forth. The drawings are simple and most look pretty much like what I would draw. A potential pitfall is that people can draw what they want and something inappropriate could pop up. There is a whistle icon on the screen so that if it happens you can "blow the whistle" on that drawing. If it gets flagged twice it is pulled from the server.
    When you choose to play with friends, you can set up a friends list and choose from those friends. Depict uses the Open Feint system, so I would recommend that teachers set up the names and accounts for the iPods in a generic fashion. The students then can select to play just with each other and not with just anybody out there. In this mode, the person whose turn it is to draw is given the word and begins drawing. Then the others are shown the list of word choices and make their guesses. When drawing you have access to a pencil tool, an eraser, and a color pallet of about 40 colors. Points are awarded to those who guess correctly and the artist if there are correct guesses. The first correct guess receives more points than the second and so on. The artist also gets the total number of points that the guessers receive. If no one guesses correctly, then no points are awarded. There is a time limit of 30 seconds per round. A game consists of 5 rounds and you can have up to 5 players, so all 5 would get a turn to be the artist. The artist with the most points at the end wins the game.
    One other thing, the puzzles use words that, when drawn would look similar. Some of them can be a little difficult. For example one time I was supposed to draw wheat. The other choices were barley, grain and grass. I couldn't decide how to draw wheat different than barley or grass. Also I think students would need to read fairly well to know the words so I would probably recommend this game for about 4th grade on up.
Classroom Use Examples / Ideas: I think this could be a great tool for teaching spatial recognition and detail in the classroom. Students would learn to use space wisely for drawing. They would also develop skill in providing detail visually. I don't know that it would improve art skills but one thing I like about it is that all of the artwork looks pretty similar, so my terrible art skills aren't on display. I also like that this game rewards every one who makes a correct answer and not just the first, although being first does get you more of a reward.
Developer Website: http://makeshiftgames.com/depict/

ITunes Link:Depict
Reviewer Name: Kelly Dumont Reviewer Blog: http://www.theeducationalmac.com
Other: I can't wait to play this on an iPad with that larger screen. I bet the developers can't wait either.
Hey, check out our Ning (Online Community) devoted to helping teachers utilize these devices to the their fullest. Please leave a comment if you agree, disagree, or have other creative uses for this app in the classroom, etc.

1 Year and Loving IT!

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:16:36 -0600

One year ago today, I walked into a former elementary school. It had been repurposed as the initial home for the new Canyons School District. I walked into a new job. I had, the previous day walked out of a job I thought I would have for the rest of my career. I was nervous, apprehensive, but more than anything else, excited for the challenge that would lie ahead.
It has been a whirlwind of a year. I can’t believe it has been a year. It has gone by so fast. There has been a lot accomplished and there is still a ton more to do, but I am so grateful for the opportunity that I was given to come and work here. To build something new was not something I was planning on 18 months ago or even 15 months ago. But, here we are building.
I have to thank my directors for allowing me this opportunity and for having the courage to blaze this trail. I also have to thank my team and all of the teams in the department for the tremendous work we have all done together over the past year.
I am psyched for what lies ahead in the coming year.

I Learn a Lot From Photographers

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 14:25:49 -0600

I feel a pull and based on things I see, like the 365 photo projects (of which I just suck at) and those in my PLN who get involved, I think a lot of you do as well. I continually feel my self pulled or sucked into the world of photography. I am a horrible photographer, but I love taking pictures. So I keep trying to learn in fits and stops how to do it better.
To that end, yesterday I attended Photocamp Utah 2010. I follow a few local photographers on Twitter and when I saw the announcement of the event in January I signed up immediately. A good thing because they ended up with hundreds on the waiting list.
Many times over the past couple of weeks I thought about just bailing or selling my ticket to someone on the waiting list. I knew I would be way in over my head and didn't know how much I would enjoy it. I should have known better, and yes I was in way over my head. The audience was probably 99% professional photographers as were the speakers for the day.
I did learn a lot and have already forgotten much of what I learned. However,I think the reason I like to hang out around photographers is because their craft comes from their heart. Just like I believe a teacher's craft does. In fact I see a lot of corollary between photography and teaching.
Before yesterday, I had never heard of Zack Arias. He is a new hero of mine. Zack was the closing keynote for Photocamp and he was inspiring to me. Zack is a music photographer in Atlanta, GA. He failed in the photography business once, but came back and has done very well in this iteration of himself as a photographer. Besides the beautiful images in his presentation, he gave a few great words of wisdom and encouragement. I think the advice he gave is very appropriate to education and educational technology as well with just a few word substitutions. His presentation is available here. I will also embed it at the end of this post.

1) Know Your Camera - In educational terms, know your tools. He talked about being so knowledgeable about the equipment that when you are actually using it you don't have to think about it. I think this is an area in which we have not done well recently. We throw a lot of stuff into classrooms and never give teachers the opportunity or they never take the opportunity to master using it. When I talk about stuff, I am not just talking about technology, but curriculum, texts, management strategies and on and on. Teachers have to know the tools they are working with before they can use them effectively to teach.
2) Know Your Glass - In photography this means your lens, how you focus. In education I think it means pretty much the same. It is important to know which tool will achieve the desired effect in your classroom. To a photographer, that means knowing which lens is going to give the desired effect in a photo. In education right now a lot of the focus is on testing, particularly this time of year. But I am pretty sure this is not giving us the effect we want.
3) Knowing Light Gives You Options and Control - A huge part of photography is about lighting. How does that apply to education? I see it as a lot of the external forces that impact what happens in our classrooms. If a photographer tries to use only natural light achieving success in a photo can be difficult. So they bring in other light to enhance or diffuse what they are given naturally. In knowing what the deficiencies are in lighting they again can select the correct tools to make adjustments. In the classroom there are a lot of external things that impact what goes on. But the more we understand those forces we can use the tools we have to grant us more options and controls.
4) Nothing Matters More Than Trust - For someone to feel comfortable with a photographer they have to trust them. It is the same in our classrooms. Teachers have to develop trust for many different people. The must develop the trust of their administrators, their peers, their parents, but mostly their students. We have to earn the trust of our students so that they know we are there for them, collectively and individually. If we can build and maintain that trust the students will learn and succeed.
5) Fear Nothing: Gear, Locations, People - This comes back to some of the previous points about knowing and if we know, we shouldn't fear. We need to be fearless in the education of our students. We need to let them know that the should fear nothing as well. That stumbling blocks are just that, they don't need to fear them, face them, conquer them and move on.
6) Ask for Help, Grow Your Network - Those who are reading this already understand it. I see so many requests on Twitter every day from teachers and technology specialists and principals and many others. I never see those requests go unfulfilled. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Others are waiting. As you seek help and provide help for other teachers, your network will grow tremendously. Don't just grow it outside of your immediate confines though. Reach out and develop the network around you as well.
7) Know Your Craft, Know Your Clients, Serve Them Both - Sage advice for anyone who wants to make a living at photography. Critical for us in education. We need to know our students and serve them continually. We also have to know our craft, and contrary to the belief of some that craft is constantly changing. We may not want it to, but it is and if we can't or won't keep up we can't serve our clients.
8)
I want to finish with a couple of other quotes from Zach, but I think you can see how they relate to education as well.

I don't want my clients to say I'm good at Photoshop. I want them to say, I'm a good photographer.

Photography has great rules to break!

Zack also did a video about a year ago that is pretty incredible. Here it is followed by his presentation from yesterday.
Zach Arias - Transform

Zack Arias - Photocamp Utah 2010 Keynote