In addition to using DropBox to sync files between your Macs, you can also use it to share files with friends. You can make a file public and provide your friends with a link to it. You can also share a folder between friends with DropBox accounts. There is even a special photo galleries folder that will allow you to share photos easily.
A friend, Jane Frank, an amazing teacher and Apple Professional Development trainer showed this to me and it is just so darn cool. It is also very, very useful. I do tons of professional development, but most important, I teach technology to pre-service teachers and this little trick, just helps me in class. I demonstrate how to do things in class and this little mouse locator really helps my students find where I am asking them to look on the screen.
It is called Mouse Locator by 2 Point 5 Fish. 
Of course it is FREE. I am always looking for FREE. There is a little app you download and then you choose from a gallery of icons or you can even create your own!! Of course. I choose an apple logo, but there are tons of images. You can set how quickly it shows and how long it stay on the screen. Extremely useful, especially for teachers.
The 12-minute video lectures that Bill Gates has called “the start of a revolution” will now be linked with the material in some digital textbooks. Etextbook maker Kno announced Monday that it will integrate thousands of tutorial videos from Khan Academy into its books.
Khan Academy has been praised and funded by both Gates and Google. At its core, it’s a database of instructional YouTube videos that its founder, Salman Kahn, started creating in order to help his cousins with their math homework. Video production quality does not extend beyond the capabilities of Microsoft Paint, but Khan has a knack for making calculus seem like gradeschool math (the archive contains videos on both topics) that has made his tutorials a popular resource for independent learning.
Kno will be linking them to its books through a new “smart links” feature. When students click on a Khan Academy tutorial from a new tab on one of Kno’s digital pages, Khan’s explanation of that topic plays within the book.
“We’re excited that Kno sees the value in our mission and has integrated our videos and study tools directly into their books,” Khan said in a statement.
Kno worked with Kahn Academy to implement its tutorials for the feature’s launch. Eventually, Kno Vice President of Marketing Ousama Haffar says, the feature will expand to include other educational images and videos.
The digital textbook maker is also adding a 3D feature that allows users to turn images like molecule diagrams into 3D objects that rotate on the page.
Sixth-grade math teacher Eric Marcos credits his students with the creation and global popularity of MathTrain.TV, a collection of video math tutorials created by and for students. The tool now includes a podcast and iPhone and iPad compatibility to let students share videos on Twitter and Facebook. Students enjoy creating the videos, and “[t]hey’ll spend over an hour on one math problem. … Instead of listening to the teacher, they’re taking an active role in their own learning,” Marcos said. KQED.org/Mind/Shift blog
Read the full story and access the resources, CLICK HERE
FlipSnack is an online flipping book software that allows you to convert PDF documents into Flash page flip digital publications. It’s the ideal solution for those who wish to embed a book, magazine, catalog, newspaper, portfolio or any other kind of document into a website or blog.
Once created, you can embed your flipping book collection, download them or share them on social networking websites such as Facebook.
Atomic Learning – Probably the most popular educational solution for self-help tutorials on a variety of technology areas.- Woopid – A excellent site for 1000s of free video tutorials on technology. Also, a person can request a tutorial that is not found on the site.
- Learn That – A great site for free tutorials on a variety of subjects included technology.
- Lynda – A paid site similar to Atomic Learning that focuses on software training.
- Tech University – A wonderful site for the Mac user/enthusiast.
- Internet 4 Classrooms – A very nice site with tutorials for Mac and Windows users and lots of links for the K-12 classroom.
- Explania – A fun site with animated tutorials similar to Brainpop. Also, a user can create their own channel for videos and embed videos into their blog/site as well.
- Total Training - A great site with lots of tutorials for a monthly fee, similar to Lynda.
- VTC – 1000s of video tutorials that can be viewed online or purchased as a CD; does require a monthly fee.
- Say it Visually – An interesting site where they create/design videos to meet your needs. They specialize in taking complex topics and making them easy to understand.
At Learn it in 5, you’ll learn what is Web 2.0, and strategies for using Web 2.0 technology in the digital classroom – all in 5 minutes or less.
Learn it in 5 is a powerful library of how-to videos, produced by technology teachers, for the purpose of helping teachers and students create classroom strategies for today’s 21st century’s digital classroom. These step-by-step how-to videos walk teachers through Web 2.0 technology, demonstrating how to use Web 2.0 applications like blogs, social networks, podcasts, interactive videos, wikis, slide sharing and much more.
Read more: http://www.learnitin5.com/
Are you a Mac user? I am and have been forever. In fact, I would not even consider spending my hard earned money on a PC. Enough said!
If you are new to Mac or just need some help, this is a great site. www.MacHelpForMom.com
According to Barbara Feldman of Surf the Net with Kids website, also an amazing resource you should check out.
“The idea for the site grew from helping his own mother navigate her way around her Mac computer. You are going to love this site if you are:
-
- the go-to computer person for your parents (or grandparents) learning their way around a Mac
- a Mac user wanting to learn more!
Steve’s easy-to-follow, bite-sized videos will help your mom (grandma, aunt, neighbor, anybody) learn how to better use a Mac computer. Just in time for Mother’s Day, this means more quality time with Mom, instead of sitting at her computer teaching her (again) how to add icons to her dock.
Be sure to sign up for Steve’s free weekly email newsletter so both you (and Mom) will know about his latest videos, reviews of helpful resources and other interesting stuff.
Happy Mother’s Day to all!”
Make Use Of has 38 different guides (click on the Guides link at the top on their website), they are all FREE, check out the list below. But if you are a Microsoft Office user………
Learn to get the most out of the latest version of Microsoft Office with the Make Use Of free guide!
Office 2010 includes many improvements over 2007. As with all Office releases, however, these improvements are far from obvious to the average user. Enter Office 2010: Ultimate Tips and Tricks.
DOWNLOAD Microsoft Office 2010: Ultimate Tips & Tricks
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/download-microsoft-office-2010-ultimate-tips-tricks/
This manual, by author Matt Smith, points out all the best new features of
Microsoft’s latest office suite, and explains them all in one handy guide.
In most programs, it’s not hard to find every single feature, but Office 2010
is so expansive that even veteran users will often find that they aren’t expert
in even half of the capabilities the software offers.
DOWNLOAD Microsoft Office 2010: Ultimate Tips & Tricks
Whether you recently purchased Office 2010 and want to get the most out of it, or are considering an upgrade, you don’t want to miss this free guide. There’s much to be learned here, so check it out!
Like all MakeUseOf manuals, this is completely free. By the way they have over 38 different FREE guides. Some Mac, some Windows and som are just other useful things.
I have bolded the ones I think would be particulary useful or ones I have used.
Did I mention they are all FREE
- [2] The Big Book Of iTunes
- [3] The Underground iPhone Guide
- [4] The Complete Guide To Twitter
- [5] The Mac Manual
- [6] The Internet Guide for the Movie Addict
- [7] An Idiot’s Guide To Photoshop
- [9] Smart Productivity Guide
- [11] How To Build Your Own WordPress Site
- [14] The Essential Guide To Digital Photography
- [15] The MakeUseOf Guide To Internet Searching
- [16] The Internet Music Guide For The Audiophile
- [17] The MakeUseOf’s Online Shopping Guide
- [20] The Ultimate Guide To Gmail
- [21] Your Guide To Create Professional Documents on Word
- [23] PSP Downgrading and Upgrading Guide
- [24] The MakeUseOf Guide to File Sharing Networks
- [27] Step-By-Step: Record Your Music with Garageband
- [28] The Office Worker’s 101 Guide to a USB Thumb Drive
- [29] The (Very) Unofficial Facebook Privacy Guide
- [30] Using The Magic Pocket: A Dropbox Guide
- [31] The Awesome Automation Guide for Mac Users
- [36]Five-Star Guide For Your iPad
- [37]How The Internet Works
- 38] You Like This: Your Guide to Facebook Marketing
PC and Various OTHER TYPE MANUALS
- [1] The Idiot’s Guide To Build Your Own PC
- [8] A Newbie’s Getting Started Guide to Linux
- [10] The FREE Torrent Guide
- [12] The Ubuntu Karmic Koala Bible
- [13] The Easy Guide To Computer Networks
- [18] How To Build a Gaming PC
- [19] How To Build A Great Media Center PC
- [22] The MakeUseOf Windows Mobile Guide
- [25] The Complete Beginners Guide To Joomla [PDF]
- [26] The Windows 7 Guide: From Newbies To Pros
- [32] Your PC: Inside and Out [Part 1]
- [33]Your PC: Inside and Out [Part 2]
- [34] Windows on Speed: Ultimate PC Acceleration Manual
- [35] Hackerproof: Your Guide To PC Security
Reimagine the Classroom
We are creating a global learning community with the best teachers in the world. Easily record interactive lessons on your iPad and share them instantly online – reach more students, more easily. ShowMe is an open learning community where anyone can create and share instructional content.
- Teachers and experts can reach more students and showcase their expertise.
- Students can watch lessons for free, plus ask questions and collaborate.
ShowMe brings together great instructors and motivated students under one roof.
The app is in beta, so you have to sign up to receive an invitation to get the app. I am waiting for my invite now.
Clif has a great video that will show you what the app does.
“ShowMe makes it possible to easily record interactive lessons on your iPad and share them online. It’s simple and intuitive and is the type of technology that can revolutionize the way we teach, provide support, and individualize instruction. Here is a quick video demonstration.”
“That’s one mighty powerful tablet you’ve got there. Let’s make sure you know how to get the most out of its spiffiest new toys.”
Learn
- Orientation Lock or Mute?
- Passcode Denied…DELETE ALL!
- Home Sharing
- Focus & Meter
- Don’t Zoom—Ever
- Get a Grip: You’ll probably hold the iPad by its sides, but…
- Take Charge in FaceTime
- iMovie: Precision Editor
- iMovie: Find Your Audio
- GarageBand: Two Tracks
- GarageBand: Smart Drums
- Photo Booth Fun!
http://www.maclife.com/article/howtos/11_tips_mastering_your_ipad_2
explore. share. contribute.
Adam S. Bellow, www.eduTecher.net
eduTecher was founded in late 2007 as a way to keep track of the growing number of web tools that could be used in the classroom setting. The website’s mission is to help educators and schools around the world effectively integrate technology and web tools into the classroom. eduTecher currently provides links to thousands of web tools and provides concise information on how these tools may be useful in the classroom setting. We don’t charge any subscription fees, nor do we litter our pages with annoying ads. We also offer educators an easy way to connect with one another, share their favorite links, and form a PLN.
Besides the wealth of links to Web Tools, users can also find self-produced webisodes of eduTecherTV with walkthroughs and demonstrations on how to use specific Web Tools for educational purposes. Users can create a free account and get access to wealth of features that make exploring and sharing sites on eduTecher fast and simple. eduTecher, like technology in general, has been a work in progress, changing and evolving to best meet the needs of it’s users. We are always open to feedback and advice. Please share this site with your colleagues and students. You can also download the free eduTecher iPhone application or Android Application and have access to all the great resources right in the palm of your hand.
I now have an iPad2 and am in the process of getting things set up. So far, loving it. Screen quality is considerably better, and much lighter. I have the pink “cover” and it is cool, but worry about protection. Anyway, I am excited to have to new version. So on to Apps for this week.
Mac|Life’s weekly App|Life review:”Take note, Apple. This is how it’s done. Apple’s iPad is certainly capable of replacing every notebook you’ll ever need, but let’s be serious — 
nothing about Apple’s Notes app is going to entice any fence-sitters to ditch their trusty pen and paper. Ginger Labs’ Notability, however, just might.”
**iPad 2 launch sale. 80% off! Limited time only!** Only 99 cents!
“Notability is the perfect companion for iPad in education.” – EdReach
Notability is a powerful app for typing, organizing and recording your notes on iPad. It improves your productivity in lectures, meetings and interviews when you need to work fast, and also afterward to organize, review, edit and share your notes.
CAPTURE EVERYTHING
Notability provides all of the essentials for taking notes fast — typing, drawing and recording. And so much more.
- Quickly type notes and outlines.
- Bullet lists and number lists are fast and easy to create.
- Each note can include multiple fonts, colors, styles and sizes.
- Both the onscreen and external keyboards are well-supported.
- You can draw colorful figures and write with your finger or stylus. You can add photos and web clips with the text automatically wrapping around them.
- Make audio recordings. Recordings are automatically linked to your notes so you’ll always be sure to get the point. And recording continues even when using other apps on iPad.
REVIEW AND EDIT LATER
Edit notes by adding colors to the text, easily edit a figure, or add a photo or a web clip. Hide the keyboard to see more of your notes.
STAY ORGAN
IZED & SAFE
The Library makes it easy to organize notes into your subject categories, to sort them, and to find them via search. You can easily share and backup your notes in a variety of formats via email, or upload them to Dropbox, iDisk or a WebDAV server. iTunes File Sharing is a fast way to send notes to your computer for further review and edit.
EDIT NOTES ON A COMPUTER TOO
iMovie & GarageBand
iMovie for iPad Tips and Tricks from Mac
Mac|Life: Unlike the first iPad, you can edit short films with the iPad 2, thanks to iMovie. But editing by touch involves a lot of gestures and without knowing what they are, you could end up being frustrated by the whole process. So we’ve compiled a few tips to help you hit the ground running.
- Tip 1: Shot Duration
- Tip 2: Name That Film
- Tip 3: Split Up
- Tip 4: Shorten Titles
- Tip 5: Clip Rotation
- Tip 6: Jump and Zoom
GarageBand for the iPad
GarageBand turns your iPad into a collection of Touch Instruments and a full-featured recording studio — so you can make music anywhere you go. Use Multi-Touch gestures to play pianos, organs, guitars, drums, and basses on your iPad. They sound and play like their counterparts, but let you do things you could never do on a real instrument. Enjoy a full range of Smart Instruments that make you sound like a pro — even if you’ve never played a note before. Plug an electric guitar into your iPad and play through classic amps and stompbox effects. Use the built-in microphone or a guitar to record, or capture any performance. Then mix up to eight tracks to create a song you can share.
- Play your iPad like a musical instrument.
- Sound like a virtuoso with Smart Instruments.
- Create a song anywhere you go.
- Share your songs.
History Apps
Manual for the United States of America….$2.99
Whether you need to cram for a History final or just got a new job leading a world superpower, having America’s founding documents close at hand is essential. We combined our free copies of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence along with several other important references into one easy to use iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch application.
Included:
- Declaration of Independence with notes, images, and information about the signers
- Articles of Confederation
- U.S. Constitution with notes, images, and information about the signers
- Federalist Papers
- Anti-Federalist Papers
- Bios of Supreme Court Justices
- Washington’s Farewell Address
- Emancipation Proclamation
- Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Address
- Gettysburg Address
- United Nations Charter
- Censure of Joseph McCarthy
- 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
- 1964 Civil Rights Act
- Indian Bill of Rights
- 2001 Patriot Act
- American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
- How Our Laws Are Made
- Opinions from selected landmark Supreme Court cases
- List of U.S. Presidents with bios
- List of U.S. States
- Elected President, Senate, House, State Governors info
- US Flag Code and image/measurement guide
- Set text size preferences in Settings app
Oregon Trail…99 cents
Westward, Ho! Your favorite pioneering adventure game is back and takes you to an exciting, historical side-scrolling adventure entirely rethought to fit the Touch experience of your iPhone / iPod touch.
REMEMBER AMERICA’S CULTURAL ICONIC GAME
- All of the decision-making and problem-solving fun of the original game.
- Prepare for your departure: Select the members of your party, choose your departure date and purchase supplies.
- Fun and educational! Historical references through real locations and famous characters from the past, plus historic facts perfectly explain the perilous journey of pioneers.
A WILDER EXPERIENCE THAN YOU’VE EVER PLAYED BEFORE
- 8 skill-based mini-games, including 2 accelerometer-based challenges: hunting, fishing, river crossing, rafting, wagon repairing, telegraph, berry picking, and gold panning.
- Random events (disease, bandits, hitchhikers, etc.) faced by real pioneers increases the challenge.
- Side-missions add more excitement to your journey, affecting your westward trek.
- Refreshed with modern, colored graphics in a cartoonish style.
Civilization Revolution…..$6.99
Build. Discover. Conquer. Rule the World!
Lead your civilization from the dawn of man to the modern age and beyond in Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution. Go head to head with history’s greatest leaders as you wage war, conduct diplomacy, discover new technologies, inspire your nation and build the most powerful empire the world has ever known.
For nearly two decades, the Sid Meier’s Civilization® franchise has been the benchmark for strategy gaming. Now the greatest strategy game of all time arrives for the Apple iPhone™ and iPod® touch with Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution™.
- LEAD YOUR PEOPLE TO GREATNESS: Choose your victory path: military, cultural, economic or scientific. However you choose to lead your people, there’s a way to win.
- CHOOSE YOUR CIV: Choose from 16 Civilizations throughout history (including America, Spain, China, Japan and Germany) to lead to victory.
- INTENSE COMBAT: Triple your strength by combining up to three units into one powerful army and destroy your enemies. Level them up through military victories to gain additional strength and new abilities.
- TOUCH BASED CONTROLS: Completely new interface designed for gesture-based controls. Zoom in with a pinch, move your units with a drag and scroll across the map with a flick.
- ACCESSIBLE TO ALL: Multiple difficulty levels, an integrated tutorial and friendly advisors are all here to help newcomers and seasoned Civ veterans alike.
- SAME GAME, SMALLER SCREEN: Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution for iPhone and iPod touch has all the same civilizations, gameplay and scenarios from the award winning console game. It’s all of the goodness of Civ right in the palm of your hands.
- GLOBAL DOMINATION TO GO: Conquer the world whenever you want, wherever you want, on your time. Save whenever you like, or just use the autosave feature if you get a call.
On this day…FREE
….historical events and birthdays for any day of the year.
On this day…” is a stylish calendar that lets you view historical events, birth and death dates on your iPhone and iPod touch.
FEATURES
- Display Events, Birth and Death dates
- Quickly select a specific calendar date
- Shake your device to reload the current day
- Open entries in the Articles Wikipedia App or Safari
“Google astonished everyone by launching Gmail back in 2004 with a then-generous 1GB of storage; today, that’s climbed to 7.3GB. Thanks to all that space—along with threaded conversations, a powerful spam filter, conversation labels, and more—Gmail remains a standout amid other free webmail products that have been around much longer. Here’s how to tap all that power under its hood.”
- Email From Other Accounts
- Access Gmail in Mail via IMAP
- Mute a Chatty Email Thread
- Tame Your Inbox with Filters
- Supercharge Gmail in the Labs
Check out all the details, CLICK HERE
Every teacher and parent needs to view this TED Talks.
Salman Khan talks about how and why he created the remarkable Khan Academy, a carefully structured series of educational videos offering complete curricula in math and, now, other subjects. He shows the power of interactive exercises, and calls for teachers to consider flipping the traditional classroom script — give students video lectures to watch at home, and do “homework” in the classroom with the teacher available to help.
In 2004, Salman Khan, a hedge fund analyst, began posting math tutorials on YouTube. Six years later, he has posted more than 2.000 tutorials, which are viewed nearly 100,000 times around the world… Full bio and more links
Check out the video from TEDTALKS, CLICK HERE
It is quite entertaining and makes great points about learning, teaching and education.
Every teacher and parent needs to view.
“I assign the video lectures fro homework and now in class we do what use to be the homework.”
What a concept!!
Watch. Practice. Learn almost anything—for free.
What started out as Sal making a few algebra videos for his cousins has grown to over 2,100 videos and 100 self-paced exercises and assessments covering everything from arithmetic to physics, finance, and history.
Even though the original iPad is able to run the latest version of iMovie for iOS, Apple has decided to not allow original iPad users to install iMovie directly through the App Store. This decision has to do with the original iPad’s lack of cameras, slower processor, and less RAM.
Original iPad users who want to run iMovie on their original iPad shouldn’t fear as iMovie can work on their iPads… without a jailbreak. The first thing you need to do is install the latest version of the iPhone Configuration Utility software (Mac and Windows), which was updated to version 3.3 yesterday.
I am not much of a Microsoft user or fan, but many of you are, so I will share their new site. Microsoft has finally mad a little effort in their Education section and now has guides and resources to complement many of their software packages. The site is improved for sure and clearly they are attempting to lure teachers to their site and their downloadable teaching guides are aimed at student engagement.
I suspect they are feeling the pressue of open source and things like google docs. I do think it is interesting that this comes out of Australia. Hmm…..wonder what that is telling us.
Regardless, you might just find something you can use here
CrunchEd Productions provides bite-sized video tutorials on popular educational applications, helping teachers maximise the use of technology in and out of the classroom.
For Example
- USING IMOVIE IN SCIENCE
- COLLABORATIVE LEARNING WITH IMOVIE
- USING KEYNOTE TO CREATE VIDEO PODCASTS
- BOOK REVIEWS IN IMOVIE
- SCORING MUSIC IN GARAGEBAND AND LOGIC
- Creating Enhanced Podcasts with Keynote and GarageBand
And much more. Check this out if you are a Mac user or maybe thinking about becoming one.
Think Tutorial is a database of simple, easy to follow tutorials covering all aspects of popular computing. Technology is fantastic, but it can be difficult to keep up with at times. Think Tutorial’s strength resides in its very intuitive approach and design. Every inch of web estate is used wisely keeping everything simple and organized. Why Free, easy, straight-to-the-point stuff? That’s what people want.
Statistics
- TUTORIALS PUBLISHED: 1,101
- EQUATES TO: +2900 minutes or +48 hours of continuous education.
Silvia Tolisano has a great post today with an amazing tutorial.
What is a techno-tale? A techno-tale is a digitally told story. There are many
ways to create digital stories. One option is to create an illustrated
book-style movie with students telling the story in their own recorded voices.
1. Decide [...]
Read the full story, Creating a Techno-Tale in iMovie
http://langwitches.org/blog/2011/02/09/creating-a-techno-tale-in-imovie/
Watch this tutorial below as a movie or download it as a PDF file.
http://vimeo.com/19721405
Download the step-by step-Instructions as a PDF
