It’s important to understand the distinction between apps and eBooks, as it's something that often confuses both publishers and consumers. It basically comes down to formats; apps are mostly native iOS or Android software, whereas eBooks are documents of a particular format, such as the open standards EPUB and Mobipocket (.mobi). ... And eBooks can be further distinguished from “enhanced eBooks,” which use formats such as ePUB3 for iBooks (Apple) and Kindle Format 8 (KF8) for Kindle Fire (Amazon). eBooks were the first to appear on devices such as the Kindle, and have very limited interactivity. You are mainly able to flip the pages, search for content, or highlight words to see a dictionary definition. These devices also allowed font size to be increased to enable visually impaired readers enjoy books more easily. This gave publishers the unforeseen benefit of regaining a large population of users who couldn’t read printed books. ... Enhanced eBooks (ePUB3) are a new digital publication standard that allows easy integration of video, audio, and interactivity. I expect this format to advance the future of textbooks and other educational material. Future textbooks might be able to "read themselves" with audio narration, perhaps preventing students from actually reading. But the benefits outweigh the downsides; for example, the new text books might also offer the ability to make and share annotations without destroying the book, interactive self-tests throughout the chapters, and generally a much more enjoyable learning experience. ... There are a few exceptions where this type of interactivity is actually a success. For example. one of the first books published as an interactive app for the iPad was Alice in Wonderland. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/alice-for-the-ipad/id354537426?mt=8 This book was a phenomenal success though offered nothing but eye-candy interactivity. When the app was first published, the reviews called it "a reinvention of reading” that made clever use of the accelerometer to make Alice grow as big as a house or to throw tarts at the Queen of Hearts and watch them bounce. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/14/alice-in-wonderland-ipad_n_537122.html ... Although these activities through the 52 pages of the book are fun, I think they distract from the actual story. The reason this book was such a success is due its having been published when the iPad was fairly new, and touch interactivity was still an exciting experience. ... Cozmo's Day Off is an interactive eBook that was on the top-seller list for many months, and is packed with interactive elements that made it a great success .. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cozmos-day-off-childrens-interactive/id409177911?mt=8 Google updated its search app for iPhone today with a complete redesign that makes it more like the iPad version. This was already Google's best iOS experience by far, and now it's faster, more attractive, and consistent across devices. ... The start screen is now the same as on the iPad app. It is the classic Google search box reimagined for the touchscreen. It's just a plain, off-white background, the iconic Google name (and even a mobile-friendly version of the day's Google Doodle), and three other buttons: "Apps," "Voice" and "Goggles." Voice search lets you speak your query aloud, and it's impressively accurate. Goggles lets you search visually using the camera. It recognizes text and objects, and it's learning more over time. The "Apps" section is a launcher for all the various Google Web apps, which is probably why this app is so good. Google's other native iOS apps, like Gmail, Translate and especially Voice are weird, hobbled versions of what Google's Web apps can do in the browser. Google+ was, too, until its recent redesign, which is pretty but still slow and lacking features. The main Google app for iOS has always been fast, pretty and rock-solid. You get the impression that Google wants users to do all their Googling inside it. 
MindGenius for iPad can help you improve your personal productivity and can be used in conjunction with MindGenius for PC. Open maps created in the desktop version and vice versa. 
This week’s newsletter features top educators’ advice on how to locate and select top-rated apps for iPads, iPods, tablets, and other mobile devices. Via shm, Linda Looije Pulse brings all your news together. Exciting to use, quick to read, ready to share.
 Via Ana Cristina Pratas 
If you’ve been dying to find a decent — let me just say it, great — WordPress blogging app for the tablet then Blogsy might just be what you were looking for... Via Sam Gliksman Some of the Internet's best resources dedicated exclusively to educational uses of the iPad. ... The popularity of the iPad in our schools continues to grow, and with it, the proliferation of related web articles, tips, how-to’s, and so on. This week we searched out some excellent free Internet based web sites and resources dedicated to the use of the iPad in the instructional setting. ... Related Posts (if the above topic is of interest, you might want to check these out): ... http://www.emergingedtech.com/2012/02/apple-tv-in-the-classroom-the-new-smart-board/ ... http://www.emergingedtech.com/2012/02/apple-tv-in-the-classroom-the-new-smart-board/ ...
With the growing number of gaming and video apps for the iPad and iPhone, it’s almost hard to believe that there are apps available to educate and inform. Let's take a look at some of the top apps that can teach you something! 
Since Edgar Allan Poe’s works reside in the public domain, the late author’s oeuvre is ripe material for iOS developers. But a Spanish developer Play Creatividad‘s offering iPoe – The Interactive and Illustrated Edgar Allan Poe Collection is of such high quality that it underscores the strength of Poe’s material, while highlighting the strengths of reading a digital, interactive story. While the developers may not have had to pay Poe’s estate to license the material, they created an app whose richness adds to Poe’s legacy, and will hopefully add to his fan base.
While it was Shakespeare, not Poe, who quipped “brevity is the soul of wit,” iPoe is brief by anyones estimation. Rather than attempting to be exhaustive, the app’s inclusion of three stories — “The Oval Portrait,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Masque of the Red Death” — gives readers a perfect introduction (or re-introduction) to Poe’s work. While many readers may be unwilling to tackle a novel written two century’s ago, most readers will find these three stories ask little of the reader and give much in return. 
Some people have asked me “how do I integrate the iPad into my English classes?” I respond by providing some iPad related tasks that link and work well with the text types taught in Aus... 
"We keep playing with different options to get text into our iPads to take notes, keep track of tasks and share our creative work. Earlier this week we covered a new solution to better manage our meeting notes with, MeetingMaker. Today we learned that the folks that brought us TextKraft now has released 1a Easy Writer. While TextKraft is an advanced tool with word suggestions and look ups as you type, 1a Easy Writer is more for the quick note taker and editing smaller documents on the go. 1a Easy Writer is showing in the iTunes store for no charge right now, not sure how long that deal will last.
"1a Easy Writer has a quick access bar above the iPad’s keyboard to cut down on the need to drill through one keyboard to another for features and often used typographical characters:" Via Jim Lerman |
Coach’s Eye is a video analysis app aimed at coaches across all sports. The iPhone version has proved immensely popular and this week the app has been updated, is now a universal app, and has a full iPad version. 
Rob LeFebvre (8:19 pm PDT, May 23) ... According to the project website, T(ether) is a spatially aware display that allows people to interact intuitively with volumetric data. It looks like the iPad camera and that little square attached to the iPad take care of tracking the user’s head position and orientation to manage the virtual 3D space. We’ve seen this type of faux-3D before in augmented reality apps, but never put to such serious use as this. Not only can you reach into the virtual world and manipulate the objects you create there, but there’s a way to connect with others, locally or remotely, to collaborate within a shared 3D virtual space. Looks like all that virtual reality stuff from the late 1990s is coming around again, only with the iPad, an off-the-shelf computing system with plenty of power for this application. ... David Lakatos, one of the researchers involved with the T(ether) project, responded to our email asking about the system. He says, “The iPad is running an app compiled with the Cinder library, which is a C++ wrapper for openGL. We are not using the camera on the iPad – we use a Vicon motion-capture system (used in the film industry) to track the iPads location and orientation. The attached rectangle is what the motion-capture system tracks. By constantly tracking the 5 retroreflective dots on it, we can reconstruct the correct pose (position + orientation) of the iPad. We track the gloves with the same system.” ... Check out the video below to be amazed and awed, and let us know what you think in the comments below. We’re ready for our close up, Mr. Spielberg. ... http://vimeo.com/user11720996/tether 
This week's collection of iOS apps turns your photos into hand-drawn works of art. The first offers one-of-a-kind effects to make your photos look like sketches. The second is an old favorite of mine for the incredibly realistic line drawings you can create. The third takes a different tack, turning your photos into super-realistic paintings in the style of some of the greatest painters ever. ... ... PowerSketch (99 cents) has excellent options for turning your photos into sketches, but the interface can be so confusing at times that you'll need patience to appreciate what's good about the app. ... in the end, PowerSketch offers excellent and unique photo effects, frames you can add as a contrast to your image, and sharing capabilities that let you post your creation to several social networks and even international sites. Hopefully the developers will update the interface to be more linear, because the unique effects are definitely worth checking out, but as is will become frustrating if you don't have a lot of patience. ... http://download.cnet.com/PowerSketch/3000-2192_4-75719012.html ... My Sketch ($1.99) is an old favorite of mine that makes your photos into hand-sketched artistic drawings with only a few easy steps. http://download.cnet.com/My-Sketch/3000-12511_4-75534529.html ... AutoPainter 3 (99 cents) takes a slightly different angle on turning your images into art, by going through a 3-step process to make your image look like a real painting. You start by taking a picture or choosing one from your photo library, then you choose what style of painting you want to make from four choices including Monet, Camille, Val d'Orcia, or Van Gogh. .. http://download.cnet.com/AutoPainter-3/3000-2192_4-75719011.html
Free! - SCOtutor for iPad - Learn All About the iPad
Free for a limited time! - Starting with basic principles, and leading you through all the new features of iOS5 and iCloud, as well as the standard iPad applications, SCOtutor for iPad is an indispensable guide for all iPad users. Via Ana Cristina Pratas Give a presentation wirelessly from your iPhone or iPod Touch without additional presentation software! CURATION RESTART EDUCATION PROJECT http://bit.ly/credproject . Welcome in the new Age of #Curation http://bit.ly/CurationKing & http://bit.ly/curationglog by @ https://twitter.com/#!/web20education - wish you all Lucian http://xeeme.com/Lucianecurator/ . I invite to subscribe for NEW #edtech20 #socialmedia #Curation newsletter http://bitly.com/edtech20newsteller register to join free http://bitly.com/docedtech20 #edtech20 #socialmedia #curation project http://web20education.bo.lt/g6538 and Install free our #mlearning app http://bitly.com/edtech20mLearningapp .Like and collaborate on facebook http://on.fb.me/likeedtech20facebookpage and Circle on Google Plus http://bitly.com/circleedtech20googlepluspage and Subscribe free to gr8 #edtech20 blogs : top 10 blog http://bitly.com/egr8blog :http://bitly.com/feededtech20blogs related to new web 2.0, social media startups http://bitly.com/web20eblog , curation http://bitly.com/curationblog ; mLearning apps http://bitly.com/mLearningblog , google plus http://bitly.com/googleplusblog , and my romanian blog http://bitly.com/eblogulmeu . Like and collaborate on facebook http://on.fb.me/likeedtech20facebookpage , linkedin http://linkd.in/edtech20linkedin , diigo http://bitly.com/edtech20diigo Air Projector projects PDF documents and photos wirelessly from your iPhone or iPod Touch to a web browser connected on the same local network. No additional client software is required. Always be ready with your key presentations in your pocket. Just fire up Air Projector and type in the displayed URL in your web browser. Then flip through the pages or photos on your iPhone and the remote display updates automatically. Tap and hold to show a laser pointer on the remote screen. Send PDF documents from Mail or a third party document manager, such as DropBox, to Air Projector to present them (Air Projector doesn't directly store or manage PDF documents). This works great with exported PDFs from PowerPoint or Keynote. Note that animations and transitions aren't saved in PDF files. Air Projector supports the latest versions of all the popular browsers: IE7+, Firefox 3.6, Safari 5, Chrome, etc. Earlier browser versions may not have have all the required APIs to display correctly. Note: When you first launch Air Projector, it will ask permission to use your current location. This is to access the photos in the photo library (some photos may contain geo-location information). Your location information isn't actually being used. Air Projector requires iOS5. Via Duma Cornel Lucian 
"With a keen interest in ICT and maths, I have been exploring the ways in which iPad apps (other than the “I can do maths….2+2 etc” type) can enhance pupil progress and motivation. I believe that, when done the right way, gaming can play a huge role in learning. If you are going to try any of these ideas in class its best to be quite familiar with the apps and how they work. Via John Evans 
Our Best iPad Apps has recently undergone a full overhaul to keep up with the changes on the iTunes App Store. 13 fresh applications have been included in the latest update, many of which are worth a look. ... Under the Movies category: ... ... .... Via John Evans Notability is optimized for the new iPad! It powerfully integrates handwriting, PDF annotation, typing, recording, and organizing so you can take notes your way! Discover the freedom to capture ideas, share insights, and present information in one perfect place on iPad. ... Via Ana Cristina Pratas, Jim Lerman, Lars-Göran Hedström 
There's no Google Drive iPad app, but with GoodReader, iPad users can access all their Google Drive files and folders from the iPad. Via Tom D'Amico (@TDOttawa) , ABroaderView Vicki Windman The Resource for Education Technology Leaders focusing on K-12 educators How to create a story using apps ... (1) Story Patch- $2.99- Students can create a book with preloaded or added photos. To increase creativity, students can add photos using other apps, such as WordFoto below. ... (2) WordFoto $1.99 Import a photo or image to the app, which comes preloaded with words such as Happy Halloween, Happy New Year and more stock words. ... The app automatically creates a list for you. After your picture is loaded you now choose your word set. All of the words you have chosen layer over your picture. You can choose different styles and fine-tune the photo. Next, add the picture to StoryPatch. ... (3) Doodle Buddy Free- Great for students who like to express themselves through drawing. Pictures from Doodle Buddy can also be saved on your camera roll and be imported into Story Patch. ... (4) Strip Designer $ 2.99 Great app for older students who can make comics using their own pictures and text balloons. As in Power Point or Keynote, students can add different layouts or add photos to each page. Layouts also allow users to change the effects of a slide. If doing an autobiography or biography, users can use WordFoto to describe the person. ... (5) My Story $1.99 Students can create unlimited number of books. Books can open in iBooks, making the student feel as though he/she have created a real book. Students can add text, pictures and audio. The app will even read the story aloud, which is great for students who struggle with reading. ... The goal of an educator is to inspire the student. As the new standards evolve, it is time to look at creative ways to meet them. Instead of feeling the pressure of being evaluated, try to enjoy what you are doing. Our students are smart and need to be challenged. ... (2) http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wordfoto/id414002091?mt=8 (3) http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doodle-buddy-paint-draw-scribble/id313232441?mt=8 (4) http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/strip-designer/id314780738?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 
Autodesk, the makers of the popular iOS app, Sketchbook Pro, have just announced the launch of their new 3D image capturer for the iPad, 123D Catch. Take pictures with your iPad and send them to the Autodesk website to create three-dimensional images that can also be turned into physical sculptures. Haven’t you always wanted a three-inch action figure of yourself?
The app allows users to take up to 40 pictures and upload them to the Autodesk cloud service, where they can then be rendered in 3D. This program does not have to be relegated to toy sculpting either. You could take pictures of your family vacation and show everyone a 3D view of the Eifel Tower, or get a full view of your new haircut to share with friends across the country. 
Frustratingly, many of the best free iPhone apps cost 59p or more for iPad. But there are some rare gems - iPad apps so good you can't believe they're free. And here are our top picks. |
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