Roundup: Hidden Object Games on the iPad | Just Another Mobile Monday I am a huge fan of hidden object games. I have been enjoying them on my mobile devices ever since my early days with Windows Mobile and the Dell Axim. I always felt, however, that the small screens on most mobile devices limited these games. A larger screen, it seemed, would allow for a more complex level of difficulty due to the increased detail available to developers. As such, I was pretty excited to dive into this genre an the iPad. Alice in Wonderland Hidden Objects: This was the first hidden objects game I tested out on the iPad, and I have to say I found this game from the developers at Warelex to be a bit of a mixed bag. Once you get into each of the levels, however, the Alice in Wonderland theme dissolves into a series of more or less unrelated garden scenes, each of which (obviously) contains a list of items for you to discover within the image. Cassandra’s Journey: The Legacy of Nostradamus: This hidden object game started with an interesting story line. Be Sociable, Share!
iPad Apps to Meet 14 Learning Objectives This evening Greg Kulowiec shared with me an excellent iPad project that he and Beth Holland recently published for Ed Tech Teacher. iPad As... is a large selection of high-quality iPad-apps designed to meet fourteen different learning objectives. When you visit iPad As... you can click on any of the objectives to be taken to a grid of free and paid apps that can be used to meet that objective. For example, if I want my students to create digital stories on their iPads, I would click on that objective and instantly see a list of the apps that my students could use for that purpose. Each app is accompanied by a description, price, and ease-of-use rating. Applications for Education If your school is using iPads now or is considering getting iPads, but you're not sure what apps are out there for your learning objectives, iPad As... could be a great reference for you to bookmark and share with your colleagues.
Rules of photo composition Photography Composition - Your Photo as a Story Photo Composition Rules What is a photograph? It is a story. What is a story? To increase the expressiveness of your digital pictures, apply the picture composition rules while taking the photos or modeling their edges. Rule of Thirds The Rule of Thirds is based on the fact that the human eye is naturally drawn to a point about two-thirds up a page. Your landscapes will be optimally pleasing to the eye if you apply the Rule of Thirds when you place your horizon line. Golden Section Rule It has been found that certain points in a picture's composition automatically attract the viewer's attention. To get a clearer sense of these special "Golden" composition points, imagine a picture divided into nine unequal parts with four lines. Diagonal Rule One side of the picture is divided into two, and then each half is divided into three parts. Tips for Beginners Hold your camera at the main object's level. Don't be afraid of breaking rules! Page top
Learning and Teaching with iPads Get over it, haters – apps really are the future, says Wired publisher There has been a growing revolt in the publishing community against the idea that iPhone and iPad apps are the best route to digital dollars. The Financial Times shuttered its apps this month, while a popular essay by another publisher lamented that apps were a “collective delusion” and an expensive failure. That’s bunk, according to Wired publisher Howard Mittman, who said in a recent interview that apps have proven “incredibly profitable” and touts the publication’s 165,000 tablet subscribers (65,000 of these are pure-digital subs). So what’s going on? To understand, it’s useful to consider the key complaints set out by Technology Review’s Jason Pontin in his influential “Why Publishers Don’t like Apps” essay from early May, including: expensive developer costsdifficulty quantifying subscribersan unnatural, walled garden reader experience. Pontin also decried the vulturous 30 percent bite that Apple took from many sales, a figure that exceeded publishers’ own margins.
bloomsapps Using Blooms Taxonomy in education is a highly effective way to scaffold learning for the students. With the recent popularity and pervasive nature of iOS devices in school districts it is essential for educators to understand how to implement Blooms in the classroom using the apps that are available. While this list is by no means fully comprehensive, it will assist educators in getting started when implementing iOS devices in the classroom. This site will change almost daily as it will be updated with new and exciting apps! If you find any that you have worked with in your classroom please email dmileham@e1b.org or tweet @bloomsapps or @dmileham75 with your suggestions. Two Links to some iTunesU courses relating to iOS Integration: 1 iPad by Erie 1 Boards of Cooperative Educational Services ( Movie Making\Digital Storytelling Camera to PDF Free - cool little app that turns your device into a scanner. LiveBinders: I would be remiss if I didn't post this.
Tips to Help Identify Scam Apps | iOS Affairs I couldn’t reblog this gem because it isn’t on WordPress, but I just read a blog from February at AppAdvice and wanted to relay these tips to my readers (sorry I’m so behind on my blog reading). Check blogs and websites that are reliable sources for app advice (like mine and AppAdvice’s, but mine at least :)). There is apparently some rule that app reviewers do not take money to do reviews. It’s a good rule and one that I would always follow. Be aware of quality app developers. If you have an app you love, make note of the developer. Read the original article for other great tips and make sure to let me know about bad developers or apps. That’s it for me. Like this: Like Loading...
Assessment & Rubrics A common question that we get with regard to technology projects is "how do I grade it?" The 21st-century communication and collaboration skills which are used with most technology based projects are, in many ways, real-world problem-solving skills. The standard, multiple-choice type tests simply are not going to be able to assess students' learning. Instead of thinking of the assessment itself as the measurement, we are going to need to examine our students' performances of understanding. In other words, the assessment is the tool through which we can gauge how much our students have learned. Performance is most often viewed in the form of formative and summative assessment. Rubrics to Measure Student Learning Providing detailed explanations of an assignment using an online rubric, such as Rubistar or Digial Media Scoring Guides, can assist students in both completing tasks and improving future performance. General Multimedia Assessment Tools Assessing Student Blogging Assessing Wikis
50 Fantastic Free iPad Apps We all love getting something great for free! However, hunting down the good free iPad apps from the terrible ones in the jungle of the App Store can be a difficult job. Fortunately for you, I’m here to help. We’ll try and keep a mix of old classics and new favourites, read on and stock up on fantastic free iPad apps! Like the article? Flipboard Flipboard is one of the most popular news readers for the iPad due to its fantastic, intuitive interface and its sheer ease of use. Planetary Planetary is a fascinating way to explore your music collection that’s only available on the iPad. We recently reviewed Planetary and found it to be a simply stunning free offering for the iPad. Zite Zite is a great way to consume all kinds of news and articles, that gradually learns your preferences and what you like to read. The Onion If you’re not already a fan of The Onion, you probably should be. IMDb Remote Paper Bamboo Paper Bamboo paper is a great way to turn your iPad into a paperless communication tool.
4 Great Rubrics to Help you Select Educational Apps As iPads are increasingly infiltrating our educational systems the question of the pedagogical implications ensuing from the use of these mobile gadgets in the classroom come to the surface. Some do look at them as an added distraction and that learning can be more focused without students having access to them during the class. Traditionalists do advocate this view and are , in fact, against the " over-digitization " of education. To these people I say what John Dewy once said " If we teach today as we thought yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow ". I am strongly in favor of the use of mobile gadgetry for educational purposes. 1- BVLS iPad App Evaluation Form Click Here to download it. 2- iPad App Evaluation Guiding Question Click Here to download it. 3- Mobile Application Selection Rubric Click Here to download it. 4- Critical Evaluation of Content-based iPad/iPod App Click Here to download it.
Apps to Use as Student ePortfolios I have yet to find the perfect Digital Portfolio app that I think I would use exclusively in a Visual Arts class. Some apps can be used as graphic portfolios or as beautiful sketchbooks, others are great at sharing. Not all of the apps available are great at all of these things. I have spent a heap of time trying to find one and would be more than happy for someone to send me the name of one they are using successfully. Having said that the following are apps that I would consider using; Evernote: FREE Evernote is an easy-to-use, free app that helps you remember everything across all of the devices you use. Paper: FREE Paper is an easy and beautiful way to create on iPad. Three Ring: FREE Three Ring is a fast, flexible, and simple way to organize and present your students' real world work, from handwritten assignments to classroom presentations.