August 18, 2017

11 iOS 11 Features for iPad Educators

Apple describes iOS 11 as “a giant leap for iPhones but a monumental leap for iPads.” Whether you agree or not, there are a number of fantastic new features available for iOS devices when iOS 11 is released. What’s more, many of these additions are only available on iPads and that is great news for those using iOS devices in the classroom. In this post I wanted to run through a few of my favorite new iPad features for efficiency, power and ease of use. Here’s what you need to know.

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5 Blogs to Follow to Get You Ready for the School Year

Indiana Jen

It’s August… school will be starting soon for many of us. In fact, I have less than three weeks before I’m sitting in a classroom with children again. What does this mean for most educators? It’s time to start thinking about school once again. If you haven’t noticed, I made a concerted effort in the month of July to unplug. This meant little writing and little (electronic) reading. However, it’s time to get back at it! Here are 5 blogs that I follow that help me get back in the school year mindset. Add these to your favorite RSS reader (if you need one, check out Feedly).

blogging Courtesy of Doug Peterson https://www.jisc.ac.uk/blog/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-blog-22-sep-2015

Cult of Pedagogy

Cult of Pedagogy covers everything from the social implications of education to specific practices in your classroom. This is a great place to stay on top of trends, practice, and the emotional roller coaster…

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July 13, 2017

Book Creator for Chrome is Here!

As you may have heard on the latest episode of The Edtech Take Out podcast, a public beta of Book Creator for Chrome was officially launched this summer at the ISTE 2017 conference in San Antonio, Texas. Book Creator already has apps for iOS, Android and Windows devices, but this new update means your students can have full access to Red Jumper’s creative storytelling platform on the web with a Mac, PC or Chromebook. Sounds interesting, right? Well, here’s what you need to know.

June 22, 2017

Find Apps That Won’t Work in iOS 11

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When Apple launches iOS 11 this Fall, they are ending support for 32-bit apps. This means that there could be some apps on your iPhone or iPad that won’t work unless they are updated to run as a 64-bit application. Some of these apps will be updated by developers, others will not, but you can plan ahead by seeing which ones are compatible and which ones are not. So, here’s a quick way for you to find apps that won’t work when you decide to upgrade to iOS 11.

June 16, 2017

Create Apple Watch Faces With Canva

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Here’s a simple graphic design project that you or your students could quickly put together in next to no time – custom Apple Watch faces. These stylish backgrounds are easy to make and can be a great representation of your individual style, personality, interests, or even school spirit. Here’s what you need to know if you want to create your own Apple Watch faces.

June 14, 2017

Lesson Plan for Teaching Kids to Spot Fake News

Some fantastic ideas from Jen Carey on how to teach digital literacy to students around the topic of fake news. Well worth a read.

Indiana Jen

Fake News is the phrase du jour. The reality is that misinformation propagates social media (especially Facebook). With the proliferation of Social Media and the use of Social Media (by main stream news organizations, political pundits, and our sitting President), it will remain a platform for sharing information (including the news) for the foreseeable future. Both Facebook and Google have made attempts to tackle fake news. In addition to their own filtering methods, Facebook allows users to flag and report fake news stories. Google has also expanded its fact-check tools to spot and flag fake news.

The reality is, however, that we cannot expect our online platforms to keep up with the deluge of fake media. Media literacy is a necessary skill for our students to learn in order for them to wade through the glut of information available to them online. However, a recent study from Stanford found…

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June 3, 2017

Everyone Can Code With Apple’s K-12 Coding Initiative

Apple’s coding curriculum for schools has been expanded and updated recently to include a full spectrum of offerings for students in K-12 classrooms. It even includes the ability to code smart toys like Spheros and drones. So, if you have access to Apple devices in your school, you should definitely take a look at what this program can offer teachers and students. Here’s what you can expect.