I have recently initiated a new website called iPhone in Ed related to the relevance of iPhones as 21C learning tools. iPhone in Education aims to collate, review and categorise applications made for the iPhone and specifically useful in teaching and learning.
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Alas, quite a few Mac related things have been ticking over in my mind. Or is this an open letter to Jonathan Ive? I’ve fantasised about iPhones place in education before; I’ve also publicly fantasised about ePortfolios before - please indulge me again.
Recently I attended a seminar by Professor Richard Kimbell from, Director of Technology Education Research Unit, Goldsmiths’ College, University of London. This seminar provided an opportunity for educators in W.A. to learn about the use of PDAs and other digital technologies to support assessment. The event was summarised thus:
Embedding ICT across the curriculum (i.e. getting it out of ICT suites) has been a notoriously difficult and frequently unsuccessful enterprise. Embedding ICT into assessment practice might therefore be thought to be even more tricky. The use of mobile / hand-held digital technologies transforms the debate and makes possible a complete re-visioning of the teaching/learning/assessing relationship. The e-scape pilot (just completed in 15 schools) provides glimpses into the possible futures for e-assessment.
....... continue readingiPhone is perfect for ePortfolios!.
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Thanks to Bronwen for bringing to my attention Skitch - the latest highly intuitive tool from the guys at Plasq. ICTs that have *FUN FOR ALL AGES* written all over them are hard to find. Three years ago when Comic Life appeared on the Mac platform it became a quick way to show the amazing simplicity of the OS X interface and the iLife suite integration. Apple loved it so much they began include it free on most Macs. Last month Plasq announced a ComicLife beta for Windows. The Windows beta of ComicLife is currently down but will be up again soon. Treat your Windows using pals to a nice UI! First time users are regularly amazed at the ease of use Comic Life provides. Skitch has a similar “wow why hasn’t anyone done this b4?” factor. For Skitch sign up is req’d to try the beta - I don’t have any invites yet but Plasq promises more soon. Please email me and I’ll pass one on. Possible uses of Skitch in the classroom:
Quick screen-cap and draw function has the most immediately obvious use in an educational setting.
The UI offers many neat features like not having to select the text tool - just start typing.
Web-sharing across schools and annotating resources and user-guides.
Using iSight to capture live video shots that one can scribble and jot on.
Re-size and crop by simply dragging a corner + all sketches are vector and scaleable.
....... continue readingSkitch in the classroom.
It contains 425 words, 1 image = an estimated 1:42 mins reading time.
I am a Project Developer at a City Learning Centre in North London who is currently delivering on a Masters course called the Transformation Teachers Programme. We currently have 35 teachers on the course, who come from 10 secondary schools, 4 special school and also involves a number of National Strategy consultants. The participants have all been challenged to investigate, through classroom based action research, how teaching and learning can be transformed enabled by digital media and the use of Web 2.0.
We decided to give the staff kit comprising of a Mac Book partitioned to provide both Mac and PC environments, a digital camera and tripod and a selection of software. As approx 90% of the group had never used Macs before, there was a real sense of excitement and concern when they got the kit.
We have established individual blogs for each participant so that they can blog their journey through the project but have also set up a number of blogs to draw out the experiences of the group. Our Apple Mac Blog will seek to explain how the macs can be used creatively in the classroom - the important element here is that these teachers are all so new to the Mac that it is refreshing to see how easy they are finding the transition from PC to Mac. There is also a blog to draw out possibilities for Assessment for Learning. Both these blogs are in their infancy but we are keen to establish international links to be able to both share our experiences and benefit from other peoples ideas so please visit the blogs and add comments or posts as you feel fit.
....... continue readingPlease excuse the intrusion…..
It contains 287 words, 0 images = an estimated 1:09 mins reading time.
Last year I made BEAUT podcasts and managed to publish 10 podcasts. My BEAUT Podcast Vol2 has been accepted in the iTunes music Store. It should appear tomorrow or later today. If you do a search for BEAUT you will find it. I would love to have some feedback on the podcasts. Somethings mentioned may be local but a lot is for all educators using Macs. This latest podcast (11) has a great tip on keeping a track of enhanced or as Dan Schmit says interactive podcasts.
This online service called FlipClip takes short-video clips and transforms them into small flip books traditionally the domain of quirky gift shops. This is an interesting way to share and preserve short clips your students make in the physical world - great for clay animation made with iStopMotion or for clips with subtitles in iMovie. Basically you upload 15 or 30 seconds of video to the website and select a book size. They print out several frames from your video and assemble a book which animates when flipped. Check out a short video clip here. Surprisingly they aren’t very expensive considering they are personalised. Pricing works out to AUD$11 per book, and $13.40 for postage. A bulk order of 25 books can be sent for the postage price of AUD$34. Some technical info from the FlipClip website:
The ideal resolution for a FlipClip is 640×480, and there are some great cameras available now that will record movies at that resolution or higher. Although FlipClips can be printed from any resolution video, short clips (under 30 seconds) at 320×240 or 640×480 are optimal. Frame rates aren’t as important, so you can safely record at 10 or 15 frames per second and still have a great looking FlipClip. FlipClips.com currently restricts the size of file uploads to 25 Megabytes, so you may want to edit your video’s length and, if possible, compress it before uploading. FlipClips are intended to be used for movies, where flipping the pages reveals the motion.
....... continue readingFlip Clips - for the web2.0 tool-belt.
It contains 290 words, 1 image = an estimated 1:10 mins reading time.
Welcome to AusMacEd - this is our official launch post to the group blog.
Good luck to all AusMacEdders and may the force be with you
As promised I’ve been working on a multi-user blog for Australian educators using Macs and iPods (and iPhones). The goal of AusMacEd is to bring our vibrant discussions about the huge potential of Apple based solutions in Australian education out onto the internet in a pro-active and web2.0 manner. So this is a personal invite to be the first to the *LIVE* launch of http://ausmaced.org.
I intend to let the Maced list know later this weekend. If you think there are any issues or ideas that need discussing related to the launch please contact me. In the meantime if you have the time and inclination please make a post and comment to get things kickstarted. As they say on Windows click to “ start”
If any of you are interested in joining a voluntary AusMacEd moderation and administration team of the website please do let me know. Recently I began a new role in the Curriculum Through ICT section of WA’s DET so I may be a little pushed for time in the next month as I get my head around the new position.
Some background. The idea of ‘AusMacEd’ for came about for these reasons:
....... continue readingHappy Australia Day - AusMacEd is *LIVE*.
It contains 275 words, 1 image = an estimated 1:06 mins reading time.
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Welcome to AusMacEd
AusMacEd is a hub for collaboration and documentation of the good work being done by Australian Educators using Macs and iPods.
Chris Parcel: iStudyToGo is a cool application that lets you put your school notes on your iPod. It is designed specifically for students studying for the SAT and comes with 5000 preloaded SAT words.
Raul Erazo: Can someone explain how you are using iphones in teaching math? I am interested in cathing up with this trend….
Paul Reid: G’day Kris, commonly in XP you need to toggle with the ATI control panel to get the correct settings. There are more complicated ways of fixing BootCamp projector use for Vista here:...
Lee: that was pretty cool I never used the script editor never new what it was. Can u do that with any other applications??
Kyrne Holloway: I would like to suggest iShowU as an alternative to Snapz Pro as it provides a lot of control over compression settings for the movie you create. School-House is very good. People may be interested in...
Steve Adcock: Just letting you know that Pixelmator is out of Beta is no longer available until it is for sale. For virtualisation, I just wanted to add Crossover http://www.codeweavers.com/pro ducts/cxmac/ which is...
Brett Moller: A great list of apps… May I add Snapz Pro for screen captures etc… Used it recently for a lesson I did with my students that was captured then added as a podcast. An overview of this is on my...
Paul Reid: A big thank you to Jenny Ashby for hosting tonights Macedders conference. Also to Martin Levins and Andrew Douche for their thought provoking presentations. And most of all to the 29 participants for their...
Beth G: Happy to hear you are using Elluminate Live! for your online conference. Please pass on to your attendees that they can use the technology for free with Elluminate vRoom. It’s our free, 3-user virtual room...
Jenny Ashby: Thanks Paul. It certainly is heating up with lots of people registering and excitement building for the night. What a great way to attend a conference. No travel, no time wasted and in comfort. There is still...
Paul Reid: Mark Prensky has some clear ideas on how mobile phones might be used in education here: http://www.marcprensky.com/blo g/archives/000043.html
Judy OConnell: Glad to have you on board David! I’m sure there’ll be lots of ways you can provide input..the younger, the merrier! Cheers.
Steve Adcock: Good One Judy. Its definitely better than Grab and having to use Preview to change picture formats. Nice find. STeve
Steve Adcock: Departments of Education across Australia enforce policy and often the technology policies are never updated quick enough. At pesent in WA schools, in terms of wireless infrastructure, integrators that win...
John Pearce: Hi Paul, Came across this blog via Judy O’Connell’s Hey Jude. The blog is a nice addition to the blogosphere and the Mac world as well. Congrats. Reading this entry was though was one of those...
Chris Craft: Funny that you blog about this, I just ordered this yesterday! They were out out of stock for the one for MacBook Pros until recently. I am looking forward to recording some good video and taking good...
Jenny Ashby: Another handy app for the ipods is called Zapp Tek iPresentit. The app converts powerpooints,keynotes and PDF’s into movies suitable to view on ipods. This can be handy and coupled with an AV cable can...
Paul Reid: You raise some important considerations for network maintennance in schools Steve, especially those using Windows profiles for student/staff movements on the network. In reducing user profile size network speeds...
Steve Adcock: Windows profiles (these are the files that are copied onto the server or files sent back and forth while logging in from a Windows machine) lack the same precise tools that workgroup manager in OSX server...
Paul Reid: Hi Steve, the new AirPort Extreme is potentially a very useful device for school network support managers. It prompts quite a shift in the ways schools will use their network. As far as schools showing forward...
Reg Whitely: Thanks for this Paul. I’ve tried it and it works well. Just remember that it will only convert WAV and AIFF files. I spent some anxious moments trying to convert some mp3 files before reading the FAQs on...
Greg Alchin: Congratulations Paul on putting the hard yards into making a great resource. Cheers Greg
Paul Reid: Testing Testing 1-2-3, Are these recent comments in the sidebar working? I hope so. If not there must be a stray or tag - or something. Now do I get the Trackbacks functionality to work. And does this comment...
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Online hub for Australian educators using Apple Macintosh: Online hub for Australian educators using Apple Macintosh computers & iPods. … Instead of portable notebook trolleys will we see racks of iPhones in the library … Browse…
Orange: 30,000 iPhones sold so far in France: iPhones in education at Aus Mac Ed Online hub for Australian educators using Apple Macintosh computers & iPods. … Instead of portable notebook trolleys will we see racks of iPhones in the library? …
I have recently initiated a new website called iPhone in Ed related to the relevance of iPhones as 21C learning tools. iPhone in Education aims to collate, review and categorise applications made for the iPhone and specifically useful in teaching and learning.
Recently I attended a seminar by Professor Richard Kimbell from, Director of Technology Education Research Unit, Goldsmiths’ College, University of London. This seminar provided an opportunity for educators in W.A. to learn about the use of PDAs and other digital technologies to support assessment. The event was summarised thus:
Thanks to 
This online service called 
Welcome to AusMacEd - this is our official launch post to the group blog.
