uLearning Blog » uLearning

A ‘know-why’ guide to iBooks Author

jnxyz — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 07:28:26 +0000

Its well known that giving easy digital content creation tools into the hands of more teachers and students is a great way to encourage focus on higher order thinking skills in the curriculum. For schools with Macs and iPads, the release of Apple’s iBooks Author software in January made this even more possible.

Attached to this post is 1.0 draft of a ‘know-why’ guide to using iBooks Author to make digital content thats localised and personalised just for your students. Download and enjoy, plus leave comments if you have questions or feedback.

To load, just download directly onto an iPad with iBooks 2 installed, and tap ‘open in iBooks’, or download to your PC and sync via iTunes.

I’ll also attach a PDF version for those who want the info but don’t currently have access to an iPad with iBooks 2 installed.

DROPBOX DOWNLOAD LINKS:

(If tapping to download on an iPad, please wait 1-2 mins for the download screen to appear, then several more while it downloads)

UPDATE – have taken the iBooks file link down as enough time for the feedback version to be up has passed. Will post the final one hopefully in the near future.

~~iBooks file link (45mb)~~

~~PDF file link (51mb)~~

New review: Owle iPhone video recording rig | www.appcessories.info

jnxyz — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:34:59 +0000

Read my review of the Owle rig for educators and parents at www.appcessories.info

Easy HTML5 Animations in iBooks using Tumult Hype and iBooks Author

jnxyz — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:07:21 +0000

I’m sure a whole ecosystem of support products will arise to help educators get the most out of the interactive features in iBooks Author – 3D object galleries etc. The tips below are even better in that it concerns a program that’s already out so you can start right now:

http://tumultco.com/blog/2012/01/20/easy-html5-animations-in-ibooks-using-tumult-hype-and-ibooks-author/

My 1st thoughts on unveiled #OLPC #XO3

jnxyz — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:03:29 +0000

Looks great, but I’ll need to see the software optimized for touch (can’t believe they demo’d it without this!), & an actual ship date… In the meantime, the XO 1.75 will be available from March (my brief hands-on with one showed it to be way faster).

Wow! Titanpad.com #collaborative doc editing now works on iPads! #slide2learn #ADEdu

jnxyz — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Posted via email from Jonathan Nalder

All Prep kids at Cairns West School to hav an #XO personal learning device in 2012 #olpc #eqelearn

jnxyz — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 04:20:10 +0000

Posted via email from Jonathan Nalder

Gr8 quote collection shows how often we underestimate the future #slide2learn #ADEdu

jnxyz — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 22:18:27 +0000

Wow, people are so often wrong about the possibilities of the future:

(via DavidCV comment http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=136181)

“Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.”
– Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
– Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

“I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won’t last out the year.”
– The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

“But what … is it good for?”
– Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968,commenting on the microchip.

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”
– Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.”
– Western Union internal memo, 1876.

“The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?”
– David Sarnoff’s associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.

“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”
– Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.”
– Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.

“If I had thought about it, I wouldn’t have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can’t do this.”
– Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M “Post-It” Notepads.

“So we went to Atari and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we’ll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we’ll come work for you.’ And they said, ‘No.’ So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, ‘Hey, we don’t need you. You haven’t got through college yet.’”
– Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and HP interested in his and Steve Wozniak’s personal computer.

“Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.”
– 1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard’s revolutionary rocket work.

“Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy.”
– Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.

“Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.”
– Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.

“Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.”
– Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.

“Everything that can be invented has been invented.”
– Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.

“Louis Pasteur’s theory of germs is ridiculous fiction”.
– Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872

“The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon”.
– Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873.

“640K ought to be enough for anybody.”
– Bill Gates, 1981

“$100 million dollars is way too much to pay for Microsoft.”
– IBM, 1982

“Who the h_ll wants to hear actors talk?”
– H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.

Posted via email from Jonathan Nalder

Crayola iMarker + ColourStudio HD iPad app

jnxyz — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:25:16 +0000

WHAT

This is a $30 or so fat stylus designed for children that when paired with the free ColourStudio HD iPad app allows kids to digitally paint and draw without their other wandering fingers also making marks and lines.

HOW

The iMarker has a battery that vibrates the marker very slightly. The app recognizes this slight vibration and knows not to accept other screen touches by a child’s fingers.

The app also keeps drawing strokes within a shape so you can’t go outside the lines. This works for the marker or for finger use. Additionally, it’s a moving Colouring book in that parts of the drawings and join-the-dot activities slowly move whilst you are colouring.

VERDICT

Even though my Miss 4 and I only tested the iMarker today, we have had and enjoyed the free app for some time. It has a wide range of activities that have stood the test of time. The iMarker however lasted 3 mins. Why? The marker requires that you push down quite hard on the screen, and miss 4 (a 3 year iOS veteran) grew impatient with this very quickly. She also has no problem keeping just one finger on the screen so doesn’t have the problem of causing unwanted lines etc – the very problem the marker was created to solve (well that and the finding a a new revenue stream for Crayola as real-life marker sales conceivable dry up in the future).

App = 5/5 for range of activities, novel moving pictures, and free price.

Accessory = 2/5 for difficulty with the force required to activate the pen and the fact that the battery will need replacing.

Posted via email from Jonathan Nalder

Rode this little 4 wheel speed demon for 4 Kim’s- in other words I’m beat

jnxyz — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 05:18:19 +0000

Posted via email from Jonathan Nalder

Study shows no difference in paper vs eBooks 4 reading performance; tablets best #ADEdu #slide2learn #eqelearn #mlearn

jnxyz — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:09:31 +0000

Even I am a little sceptical – the contrast of paper is still so much higher and gives less eyestrain than LCD screens, but

“This study provides us with a scientific basis for dispelling the widespread misconception that reading from a screen has negative effects,” explains Füssel. “There is no (reading) culture clash – whether it is analog or digital”

Also – “tablet PCs actually provide an advantage over e-ink readers and the printed page that is not consciously perceivable: the information is processed more easily when a tablet PC is employed. Furthermore, while there were no differences between the three media employed in terms of rates of reading by the younger participants, the older participants exhibited faster reading times when using the tablet PC.”

I did note that an operator of a German eBook platform was a co-initiator of the study – seems pretty legit tho and even used EEG (brainwave) measurements. They really need to state how big the sample size was however.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020094337.htm#.TqYFL2pV-6k.email

Posted via email from Jonathan Nalder