10-Rep Learning ~ Teague's Tech Treks

Learning Technology & Tech Observations by Dr. Helen Teague

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Happy Birthday iTunes and iPhone

On January 9, 2001 Apple Computer introduced iTunes! Since then, 10 billion tracks of digital songs, programs, and speeches have been downloaded from the iTunes store. On January 9, 2007, Apple unveiled the iPhone. Soon after,  iPhone “apps” took over and calling mom has never been quite the same! There are now more than 1,000,000 iPhone apps, with 60 billion downloads — helping people learn language, video chat, exercise, write, create, and much more!

happy birthday

 

 

Happy Birthday iTunes and iPhone!

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Add Puffin Browser to your Browser Wardrobe

Browsers are a lot like a wardrobe of coats.  Just as you would never wear a windbreaker to a snowy, night football game, you also need the best browser for your mobile, iPad forays as well.

If you are using an iPad or Galaxy S, perhaps consider the comfort and ease of the Puffin Browser. http://www.puffinbrowser.com/

Puffin Browser helps webpages load more quickly on iPads than on traditional laptops and desktop machines. (Question: for those of us born born man walked on the moon, is the phrase “traditional laptop” an oxymoron?)

Ok, I digressed, now, back to the Puffin Browser.
Because the Puffin servers preprocess and compress web pages, speed is at a premium, even on slow mobile networks.

Puffin Browser gives you the full experience of a desktop version website, and the option to switch to mobile mode.
~From the Puffin Browser website

It is also an available app on iTunes

Think of browsers as a wardrobe of choices. Sometimes you need the anorak, sometimes only the bulky chainmail will do.

Think of the Puffin browser as a sleak, no-wrinkle option to life in the mobile fast lane.

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Back to School~Incorporate Podcasts

BacktoSchoolAs you return to school, consider tranferring your printed resources into podcasts.

Here is a podcast by Tremaine Jackson and  Deborah Tarsiewicz explaining the growing popularity of the genre, Steampunk novels. What I like is the transferability of your hardcopy texts to Web 2.0 tools such as Podcasts. As explained in a previous post on podcasts, I like Pod-0-Matic, a free podcast conversion utility.

Give a listen:

Some uses for Podcasts:
website greeting for parents
daily/weekly class annoucement on your website or blog
student projects –poem recitations, stories, biographies, summaries of novels, historical periods, current event
weekly “TeacherTalk” diaglogue starring you and a colleague

General Tips for Podcasts:
keep language concise, direct, and lively
keep podcasts short…less than 4 minutes
add texture with music, sound effects

Great source for Podcasts:
Library of Congress–my personal favorite
Scientific American
iTunes
Podcast Alley
PodOMatic

click here to read more about incorporating social media in your classroom (pdf download)

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Digital Spring Cleaning

hazel.jpghazel.jpghazel.jpghazel.jpghazel.jpghazel.jpghazel.jpghazel.jpghazel.jpg  Digital Spring Cleaning
The closest I come to becoming “the doctor is in” is to listen to calls, read emails, offer tissues in F2F to those who have “forgotten” (neglected) “meant to” (neglected), and “thought our IT guys did it” (the blame version of neglected) to back up their

Files, Class Notes, Lesson Plans, Bookmarks/Favorites, MP3 songs, iTunes songs , iTunes media , iPod songs, Blog Entries, Webpage files, Pictures, Email (don’t fall for the ‘AutoArchive’ scam) Recipes (?) (I know but I am trying to be inclusive), TAX records/ spreadsheets, IRS hatemail.

What else have I forgotten?

Windows, Apple’s Time Capsule , Anti-Virus programs all have have automatic backups and Time Capsule has a way to back-up wirelessly.

My favorite backup is the portable hard drive, a 40GB model will run only $169.

There are also some swell online tools for this purpose: Data Deposit Box, IDrive, and XDrive (the old FreeDrive now owned by AOL).

Each costs around $5/month or $60/year, less than a session on the psych couch (although, it you are a fan of “In Treatment” the price may be well worth it to spend an hour with Gabriel Byrne)

Anywho, please put on your weekend “TOO-DO” list or “Honey-DO” list to back up ALL your files. Please,

Pretty please with a post-it on top. 🙂

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