Sharing class books created in IBA

For those teachers wondering how they can share an iBooks Author project with their
class this is a simple solution.

Lets say that a student has created a book but you don't want to publish it to the iBooks store. However, you do want to make this book available to other students - to download, share and read it.  

1. Export the book as an iBook from the Share menu in iBooks Author and the finished book will have the .ibook file extension. 
2. Next, upload this copy to Dropbox and share the link with your students.  
3. Place the file into the Public folder in Dropbox, this takes less clicks to download. 
4. Finally, students need to visit the Dropbox site in Safari on their iPads and click the option to open the file in iBooks.
5. All students now have access to the finished book and can read it in iBooks on their own iPad.

Snapguide - create & share How to's

Anyone involved in Education and training will love this free app. Its simple but oh so effective. Students (and adults) of all ages can choose to create a guide about something or learn how to do something by reading somebody else's step-by-step how to guide.

Finding the category of guides you are interested in is simple too - simply filter by Topic. 

Download from the App store here

Perfect for explaining science experiments, maths concepts, writing instructions. Learn how to create, build, make or draw something or use a particular technique. With built in photo-editing features you can now rotate and enhance images as you write your guide. 
Snapguide is also available as Web2.0 software and works on a computer as well as an iPad. Students can choose to create a guide from their PC, Mac, iPhone or iPad and learning can take place anywhere, anytime from a mobile device. Brilliant for assessment opportunities and revision.

Check out How to Grow Cress by Barbara Ainscough on Snapguide.

Example iPad policies

If you're working in a school or college environment and using mobile devices like iPads, then inevitably you will be expected to have a policy on various aspects of iPad use.

Many thanks to Simon Elliott @simon_elliott at Mounts Bay Academy for sharing these policies and other pdfs such as essential apps and lesson plans.

Simon Elliott is happy for anyone to use the documents as long as credit is given to Mounts Bay Academy and Simon's website thefreemac.com.

Courtesy of Mounts Bay Academy

Scratch programming - Red Nose Day

Hope that you get your school involved! Why not get your students and colleagues creating Scratch based Red Nose Day games? To support Red Nose Day Get students programming in Scratch  Have Fun! Volunteer University Students and school students have started to add resources and links on www.scratchyournose.com please register to offer your support and get updates. Students at Highfields School, Wolverhampton, supported by Inspire will be live streaming out support activities during the day, schedule tbc.  Why not download a poster from here, print it out and put it up in your school. How many students can you get programming this week? Andrew Goff Director of Education Proud supporters of scratchyournose.com In support of Comic Relief,  registered charity 326568 (England/Wales); SC039730 (Scotland)

Padagogy Wheel

Thanks to Allan Carrington - University of Adelaide for this idea. 

I find the wheel really useful and the process of Analyse - Evaluate - Create - Understand - Apply - is already very familiar to the teachers I work with.  

More information about this wheel, including a link to the app wheel with hyperlinks to each of the apps in the iTunes store can be found here.

Allan put this wheel together several years ago so you may not agree with his app choices but thats no problem! Simply substitute your own favourite apps into the wheel to create your own bespoke pedagogy for your school.

Click on the image and zoom to increase the size.

Blogging Tools for the iPad

If you like the idea of introducing your class to blogging but are not sure where to start or which tools to use then take a look at the following suggestions - all three blogging tools are FREE.

Traditionally Ive been a big fan of Blogger, which is what Im using right now. I was introduced to Wordpress on the iPad and found that to be equally useful, and tend to use one or the other when Im training KS3 and KS4 teachers and students.

However, Kidblog was drawn to my attention just the other day and this looks fantastic for primary pupils. What I particularly like is the ability to embed a host of multimedia resources such as video, images and audio - Wordpress is not so straightforward with handling video, but perhaps thats the way youd prefer it as a teacher?

Kidblog is designed for K-12 teachers who want to provide each student with an individual blog - but having looked at it Id be more than happy to use with College students too. 
Students publish posts and participate in academic discussions within a secure classroom blogging community. Teachers maintain complete control over student blogs and user accounts.

• create classroom discussions
• learn digital citizenship
• practice writing skills
• create an e-portfolio
• reflect on learning
• formatively assess writing

Kidblog makes it easy to publish rich multimedia content - embed slideshows, videos, podcasts, artwork, Google Docs etc. all in a single, secure e-portfolio that you’ll be proud to show parents and colleagues.
Teachers control all privacy settings, everything is moderated by you, so nothing gets published until you decide. 

If you feel youre ready to get those kids of yours writing for a real purpose and audience then maybe its time to download a FREE blogging app and get started.

New Stylus for iPad

I had the pleasure of working on the TTS Group Stand at the acclaimed Education ICT Bett Show this year (Jan 30 - Feb 1 2013).

TTS have just released a new set of affordable resources for the iPad in schools.

Poppy drawn with iCrayon in Brushes app

Something I almost overlooked, but now Im convinced I could not work without in a classroom, are the new range of styluses. Check out the iCrayon at just £5.99 or the Paint brush stylus for something even more sophisticated with an interchangeable head.

Once you pick up the iCrayon you will be reluctant to put it down again. Not only do I use it for drawing and painting but also find myself using it across a whole range of apps including Explain Everything, Showbie and Bee-bot.

This is my first attempt at painting a flower using the Brushes App, so much easier to do with an iCrayon than your finger! - have to say Im quite pleased with the result......

Just one last thing I need to do - get my class set of iCrayons ordered!