What's New with iOS 9.3

Apple's iOS 9.3 is here so what does that mean for Apple users? There are three significant updates: night shift, notes, and education. If you have yet to update your iOS device, you may want to read this "throwback" post on what to know before downloading any iOS updates. The post is about iOS 7, but the two rule of thumb principles on what to do before updating still apply today. http://goo.gl/bdDaFV 

Here is what you need to know about iOS 9.3 (by now there is already a 9.3.1 update)

• Night Shift
• Apple has made the display "color friendly" by giving users an option to use warmer (orange color) color tones at night. For my fellow iPad readers at night, you can set your night shift display to turn on automatically with the schedule feature. 
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• You can also access Night Shift in the Control Center.
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• Notes
• Now you can better protect your notes by locking them. Locked notes require a password to unlock or use the fingerprint feature to open.
• Click this link to read a tutorial on how to lock notes on an iOS device. 

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• Education
• For years, the iPad was meant to be a single-user device. As schools deployed shared sets of iPads into the educational world, the problem of managing shared sets became a huge problem for classroom teachers. Multiple users on the same device caused students to lose work or their settings. With iOS 9.3 managing multiple users on a single device could be a significant selling point for education.
• This update offers the following educational features:
• Shared Sets
• Students can pick up where they left off.
• Once a student logs in, they have access to all their apps and materials.
• Simpler login for younger students.
• New Classroom App
• This app becomes the "teaching assistant" for the educator.
• Teachers can see any iPad screen of students with Screen View.
• Teachers can reset forgotten passwords. 
• Teachers can launch an app or website or lock an app to keep students focused. 
• Apple School Manager Portal
• The manager portal is more of a technical feature used by technology to enroll and set up iPads.
• NOTE: The education features is initiated at the admin level. Currently, the technology department is exploring these features and speaking with an Apple engineer on the functionality of this update. 

Sources:

Swider, M. (2016). iOS 9.3: What features are in the new iPhone and iPad update?.TechRadar. Retrieved 6 April 2016, from http://www.techradar.com/us/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/ios-9-3-update-new-iphone-and-ipad-features-1313731

Tanous, J. (2016). How to Lock a Note in the iOS Notes App. TekRevue. Retrieved 7 April 2016, from http://www.tekrevue.com/tip/lock-notes-ios/

Education - Mac, iPad, Apple TV. (2016).Apple. Retrieved 7 April 2016, from http://www.apple.com/education/products/#learning-with-ipad

Education Preview - Apple (UK). (2016).Apple. Retrieved 7 April 2016, from http://www.apple.com/uk/education/preview/

Apps for the Holidays

If you are like me, you are probably on holiday overload, from all the shopping, to decorations, to preparing for travel and much more. Take a break and check out some of my favorite apps.

The following app categories are:

• Shopping - learn some ways to save a buck during the holidays.
• Food - from mobile ordering to recipe collection
• Photos 
• Social Media - I've embraced Snapchat as a way to communicate with my college daughter
• Travel - apps to help police sightings, places to stop and where to find cheap gas
• eReaders - check out ways to get free books via Overdrive and much more
• Music streaming
• Television apps - catch up on all your favorite shows
• Games - fun gaming apps to play with others and stand alone
• Crazy Photo/Voice - have fun with your children making fun video with crazy faces and voices

Below is a Thinglink with descriptions and links to the app. Hover over the picture of the app to read the description and get the link. Many apps can be found in the iTunes store and the Google Play store. However, the link for each app is for the iTunes store.

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/728274771581599744

Help...I'm Out of Storage on My iPhone!

The worst messages that can pop up on my iPhone are the following...
  *  Storage Almost Full
  *  Cannot Take Photo
  *  Cannot Record
  *  Not Enough Space
  *  Manage Your Storage
So what happens now? How does one go about managing the dreaded storage issue on an iPhone? This blog post is a gathering of information from other posts and will offer some ways to clean up your iPhone and create more storage. But before we start with ways to create more storage, let's take a look at what items are taking up the most storage on your phone.

Go to Settings/General/Usage and then Manage Storage. A list will populate as to what storage is being used.


Now that you know where all the "gremlins" are located, time to get your storage under control. Here are a few tips for cleaning up:

1. Delete Apps You Don't Use
• Take stock of the apps that you really, truly need -- ones you use at least once per day or more -- and keep those. I'm notorious for downloading apps for the sake of downloading. Be selective with apps that you keep on your phone. 
2. Delete and Reinstall Apps
• Apps that have been on your iPhone for awhile tend to accrue data. Some of the worst offenders are social media apps, like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. As you use these apps, data builds up, and the only way to delete it is to remove the app. 
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3. Be Choosy With Your Music
• The days of storing all your songs on your device are over. Download the albums you love, and stream the rest. Consider downloading Spotify or Apple Music to listen to any music you want without hogging your phone's memory. Here is a comparison between the two: http://goo.gl/ya6m7K (NOTE: Spotify offers a student discount for $4.99 a month.)
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4. Delete Those ZILLIONS of Texts
• Sentimental types, brace yourselves. You're not helping anyone by hoarding all those texts on your phone. In iOS 8, you can change your settings to automatically delete read texts after a month (instead of the auto setting 'forever'), which will prevent iMessage causing you storage woes in the future.
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Favorite Finds

Last week I had the opportunity to attend some great sessions at the TCEA Conference. I enjoyed collaborating and learning from technology leaders through the face-to-face sessions I attended. I also enjoyed being able to follow fellow conference attendees on Twitter as they shared resources and information using the conference hashtag, #TCEA15. It was especially beneficial to debrief with fellow Dragons and talk about how to apply the knowledge and ideas we gleaned. Carroll ISD was well represented by Teachers, Coordinators, Principals, and the Technology Department.

As we reflect on our learning, the Instructional Technology Team, along with other TCEA attendees, will be sharing some of our “favorite finds”—web sites, apps, and ideas—with you over the next couple of weeks. I hope you will find an idea, resource, or web site that inspires you to try something new. 

Here are my Top 3 Favorite Finds:

• Innovation Day- The idea of an Innovation Day is so exciting as we strive to teach our students to take ownership of their learning. What better way to do this than to plan a day in which they can work on anything they want!
• An entire day is dedicated to self-directed learning.
• Students can work on ANYTHING THEY CHOOSE.
• Students must show evidence of their learning.
• Teachers are the guide on the side.
• Workspaces are organized by interest groups.
• NO GRADES are taken.
• NO AWARDS are given
• Plickers (free) Not enough devices in your classroom? Plickers is a simple, formative assessment tool that allows teachers to use their mobile device to collect data without the need for student devices. Students respond using downloadable response cards. Response cards, Apple and Android apps are all available on the Plickers web site.
• Post-It Plus App (free) I love post-it notes for brainstorming and collaboration. Now with the app, you can have the best of both worlds. You have the visual and kinesthetic appeal of the physical post-it notes. And with the app, you can easily scan all the post-it notes to digitize your ideas. Once scanned, you have the ability to organize them digitally and share in a variety of formats!

Wishes Come True with Siri

The new year is here and time to try the new features in Siri. If you have an iPhone and haven't tried Siri, Apple's voice command system, then you should give it a try. When you first start using Siri it is important to remember that your voice will be misunderstood at first. Keep using it so Siri can become familiar with your voice and commands. When iOS7 came out Siri was also updated. Take a moment to read some of my favorite things Siri can do from the article by Bakari Chanavu. 

iOS 7 is Here...What to Know Before and After Downloading

iOS 7 is here so what should you know before and after downloading Apple's new operating system? It always surprises me how many people experience difficulties when Apple releases new operating system updates. As I look back over the releases I realize that the problem lies in forgetting some of the basic steps. This post will look at two major basic steps that many users forget to do before they jump into downloading a new operating system. Then you will find eight tips on how to maneuver through the changes after the download is complete. 

BEFORE downloading iOS 7, two basic steps to follow:

1. BACKUP. BACKUP. BACKUP.

• You should always backup your device before making such a big change as downloading a new operating system. That way if any contacts, calendar appointments, notes, etc. are compromised during the download you can retrieve them by restoring your phone to the last backup. That's what I call "Apple 101." Before you go to the Apple Genius bar - backup, get a new phone - backup, download a new iOS operating system - backup, or for good measure just backup every couple of weeks in case your phone crashes.
• iCloud Backup vs. Computer Backup
• I am not a big fan of backing up to iCloud because Apple only gives you a certain amount of space for free. Each backup requires additional space which will eventually deplete. Plus, I found it difficult to find my backup when I used iCloud.
• I find it much easier to backup my devices to the computer. Be warned...make sure your computer is also being backed up via an external hard drive or some type of cloud storage. 
• In all my years of owning an iOS device, I have yet to lose my contacts, photos, notes, calendar appointments, etc. I say that boldly because I have a rule of thumb and that is that I back up my devices at least once a month. Should something disappear, I can go back and restore my device to the latest backup.

2. UPDATE YOUR APPS

• With the release of iOS 7, app developers are quickly pushing out their updated apps. Be sure to go to the App Store and run the updates. Anytime a new operating system is released users need to update their apps so they are compatible with the new system.
• Warning about Updating Apps: Be sure to read the fine print before pressing the update button. Developers will list what is included in the download and if there could be complications. Sometimes it is better to wait depending on what is listed in the update.

AFTER downloading iOS 7, a few tips on changes:

1.  Notification Center 

• New tabs at the top: Today/All/Missed
• Today reveals the weather and your calendar for the day.
• All reveals all notifications.
• Missed reveals any notifications that were not seen.

2.  Spotlight Search

• The spotlight search feature has moved. No longer does swiping to the right reveal the spotlight, but now swipe down (but not swiping from the top of the screen or you will get the notification center) to get to the spotlight search feature.

3.  Shutting Down Apps

• Normally, if users want to close out apps, they double tap the home button and pick the apps they want to close. In iOS 7, after the double tap, apps now appear as a series of screens users scroll left to right. To close apps, simply swipe up.

4.  Deleting Emails 

• In the past, users could swipe left or right on an email to delete. Now users have different options per swipe. Left swipe gives the trash or move option. Right swipe opens the email.

5.  Bigger Folders

• Folders are no longer limited to a certain number of apps. Each one will now hold as many apps as you choose. New pages are created within the folder to accommodate the apps added.

6.  Blocking Numbers

• There's now an option to block callers. You can do this with settings/phone/block and add new, contacts, or numbers found in the Recents menu. Click the info button on the right and scroll down to Block. The feature will block any phone calls, messages or FaceTime chats from that contact.

7.  Camera

• There are more options right in front of you, like High Dynamic Range and Panorama. 
• There's also a new Square option and native filters; Instagram fans will love this. 
• Photos are organized differently, too. There's the standard albums, but when you tap the Photos icon at the bottom left, you can view images as "collections" sorted by date.
• Albums now contain a video and panorama album.

8.  Control Center Features

• From the lock screen, swipe upward on the bar located at the bottom of your device. When you swipe you now have access to these features.
• The top section has five features: Airplane Mode, Wifi, Bluetooth, Do Not Disturb,Orientation Lock
• The middle section features:  Music and Brightness control
• The bottom section features: Flashlight (new feature), Clock/Timer, Calculator, Camera

Additional resources for this article:

7 tips and tricks for navigating iOS 7

Your Guide to iOS 7

Presentation and Creation Apps

With the growth of iPads in the classrooms, I decided to share some of my favorite apps for creation and presentation. Each app has its own distinct features so choose the app that best fits your teaching style. Be sure to investigate all eight apps. They all work great in the classroom.

9Slides (free)
With 9Slides import your Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe PDF presentations from SlideShare, Google-Drive, Dropbox or BOX, record your video delivering the presentation and publish it online for your online audience. Also access 9Slides via its website. The website and app sync together plus you can create on the app.
Features:
☆ Cloud-based solution
☆ View on most browsers
☆ Password protect available with upgrade
☆ Add video and audio commentary directly from iPad
☆ Import from Microsoft PowerPoint or Adobe presentations from SlideShare, Dropbox, Google, or Box

Explain Everything ($2.99)
Explain Everything is an easy-to-use design, screencasting, and interactive whiteboard tool that lets you annotate, animate, narrate, import, and export almost anything to and from almost anywhere. Take presentations to the next level with students. Click here for a guide for using Explain Everything.

Features:
☆ Create slides, draw in any color, add shapes, add text, and use a laser pointer.
☆ Rotate, move, scale, copy, paste, clone, and lock any object added to the stage.
☆ Add new or existing photos and videos.
☆ Import PDF, PPT, DOC, XLS, Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and RTF files from Evernote, Dropbox, Box, GDrive, WebDAV, Email, iTunes, and any app that allows you to open these files types using "Open In…"

Educreations (free)
Educreations is a recordable interactive whiteboard that captures your voice and handwriting to produce amazing video lessons that you can share online. Students and colleagues can replay your lessons in any web browser, or from within our app on their iPads.

Features:
☆ Record and replay your voice, handwriting and drawings
☆ Add text to any page
☆ Add photos from the iPad camera, Photo Albums, Dropbox or the Web
☆ Animate images by dragging them around while recording
☆ Pause and resume recording anytime
☆ Create multiple whiteboard pages
☆ Undo and redo your actions
☆ Create a free account on Educreations website and choose who can view your lessons
☆ Share your lessons via email, Facebook and Twitter
☆ Embed your lessons on your blog or website

ShowMe (free)
ShowMe allows you to record voice-over whiteboard tutorials and share them online. Turn your iPad into your personal interactive whiteboard! Drop in images onto the whiteboard, make your ShowMe as long or as short as it needs to be, and record as many ShowMe’s as you want.

Features: 
☆ Voice-record
☆ Multiple brush colors
☆ Pause and erase
☆ Import pictures from your photo library, built-in camera, or web image search
☆ Unlimited lesson length
☆ Free to upload and share your recordings with friends
☆ Easy embedding for sharing anywhere

Variety of Uses:
☆ Grade student work with commentary explaining the reasoning behind their performance
☆ Easily explain a range of topics from math to chemistry to music theory to basket weaving.
☆ Use ShowMe as an interactive whiteboard substitute
☆ Diagram offensive and defensive strategies for sports

Appser for Google Docs (free)
With Appser for Google Docs run the full, original, PC version of Google Docs™ app on your iPad. Now, integrated with Presentation Note - the top app for presenting directly from the iPad. Edit documents, presentations and even spreadsheets – a complete office suite to suit your mobile productivity needs.

Features:
☆ Connect the iPad to an external screen for a near PC experience
☆ State-of-the-art accuracy when clicking even on the tiniest icons
☆ Resize and move objects with one finger
☆ Scroll up and down with two fingers
☆ Integrated with Presentation Note, for a great live presentation experience

Nearpod (free)
The Nearpod platform combines presentation, collaboration, and real-time assessment tools into one integrated solution. Teachers use Nearpod to share content with their students and to manage the flow of the lecture. Students use Nearpod on their iOS devices to receive content and to participate in engaging and collaboration activities.

Features:
☆ One single app for both teachers and students. Teachers sign in with their credentials and students using teacher provided PIN for each class.
☆ Teachers log in to Nearpod website to create multimedia presentations with interactive features such as quizzes, videos, polls, drawing tools, and more.
☆ Teachers can see students’ answers in real time on the Nearpod app.
☆ Teachers can log in to Nearpod website to access post-session data and obtain detailed activity reports.

AirSketch ($9.99)
With AirSketch turn your iPad into a wireless whiteboard! Annotate PDF documents and images live. Just fire up Air Sketch on the iPad and open the specified URL from any  browser on the local network. Your photos and drawings show up natively in the browser. There's no additional client software to install, or services to subscribe to.

Features:
☆ Real-time sketching to your browser
☆ Open PDF documents from Mail or other Apps in Air Sketch to wirelessly annotate
☆ 5 drawing tools: Pencil, pen, marker, brush, and highlighter
☆ Fluidly zoom and pan using 2 fingers to edit your sketches
☆ Email your sketches as PDF or images

Doceri (free app - $30 site license)
Combining screencasting, desktop control, and an interactive whiteboard in one app, you’ll never have to turn your back to the class or audience again. Doceri does it all! This definitely is my new favorite app for presenting material. Download the Doceri Desktop for your Mac or PC by clicking here.

Features:
☆ CREATE hand written or hand drawn Doceri projects on your iPad
☆ CONTROL a computer through your iPad.
☆ PRESENT anything from your Mac or PC connected to a projector, using Doceri’s desktop software.
☆ SHARE still image captures, multi-page PDFs or audio/video screencasts via email, iTunes, YouTube or Facebook.

Apps and Sites to Make Holiday Travel Easier

Many of us travel during the holidays, some to remote and exotic locations and others to Small Town,  USA where internet and cell service might be hard to find. Or maybe you are going to have a stay-cation and enjoy the comforts of home. Here are five of my favorite go-to apps to use for holiday travel and other times, too! All the apps listed below are free and work on both Android and iOS devices as well as your personal computer.  You will want to refer back to this post again when spring break and summer travel beckons.

Hipmunk is a great site that makes finding flights and hotels easy. The interface provides a visual organization with the best possible flight combinations on just a single screen.  You can sort by price, times and more and book your flight directly from hipmunk.You can see what you give up or what you have to pay to get more or less amenities.  If you want one stop shopping for flights or hotels, then check out Hipmunk.



The Wifi Finder app will use your device's GPS, find the  closest wifi hot spot, and provide directions on how to get there. This app is a great way to save on data charges when traveling or even when you are out for the day at home. The app can access over more than 650,000 locations in 144 countries!Another plus is that you can filter by restaurant, café, hotel, etc. Download in the App Store or in the Google Play Store.


Around Me takes the guess work out of wondering what restaurants, gas  stations, banks, hotels, movie theaters,  supermarkets are nearby. No matter what your need, you can find what is close by. This super simple app uses your GPS and provides the location on a map, with easy directions on how to get there. Download in the App Store or Google Play Store.

Stay connected when you travel or anytime with Google Voice! Google Voice is a very powerful free tool. It provides you with a US phone number that you can link to your existing cell.  You can use this to receive an place calls for free. You can forward calls from your current phone to your Google Voice number and you can send and receive text messages for free.  Link it to your Google Voice account. It will allow you to place and receive call as long as you have wifi connection. You will not use any minutes/texts from your plan. All the communication will use your Google Voice number, completely free. (coming soon in an upcoming post...how to use Google Voice in the classroom!)
 

Why pay $$$ and international fees when you can get Unlimited FREE, calls and texts to anyone in the world over WiFi or 3G/4G without using any cellphone minutes??  Talkatone is an app for Android and iOS devices that will turn your Droid, iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone into a true internet phone! Link Talkatone to your Google Voice number to place and receive calls as long as you have a wifi connection. These methods will not use any minutes/texts from your plan. All the communication will use your Google Voice number, completely free. This app is very useful if you are traveling abroad.

 

Hopefully, you can stay connected, explore your surroundings and get there economically with these free Apps! Happy Holidays to all.

Time to Learn!

Let the learning begin! We will be attending the 32nd TCEA Annual Convention & Exposition this week.  TCEA’s five-day convention is one of the largest educational technology conventions in the nation and the largest in Texas. There will be astounding professional development, hands-on and peer-to-peer learning opportunities, exploration of new trends through interactive learning environments, in-depth presentations from educational technology experts, and inspiring keynotes. If you want to know more about a specific topic, email your Instructional Technologist by Tuesday. We will be glad to gather information on that topic for you. Also, check our blog during the week for new and exciting information learned at the convention.

Websites of the Week:  Looking for resources for Black History month?  The first site is hosted by the library of Congress and the second site is from the Smithsonian. Put the power of primary sources to work in the classroom. Browse ready-to-use lesson plans, student activities, collection guides and research aids.

·       http://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/

·       http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/resource library/african_american_resources.html

Tips of the Week:

·        Are you fed up with getting bugged by messages asking if you'd like to join this or that Wi- Fi network? Then head to Settings, Wi-Fi, and turn off Ask to Join Networks. You can still join any network that will have you from this same screen, it just won't bug you constantly when the opportunity arises.

·        Double-clicking the Home button shows you all the apps that are running on your iPad.  They are displayed in a bar along the bottom of the screen. Hold down an app until it jiggles, then press the red minus to close the apps. Just swipe the screen downwards to remove this bar.

Pinterest Boards for Education

Pinterest in Education

You were introduced to Pinterest back in November 2011 when Jennifer Waldroop did an introductory post on "Pinning for Pinterest". Now it is time to start following educational boards on Pinterest. Each board offers resources for education. Choose boards as they relate to your field of study or interest. Here's a list of some great boards you may want to start following.


 My Favorite Boards to Follow

• Commerce ISD: Click here to see their boards...so many resources (interactives, TEKS, apps, curriculum based on subject area, flipcharts, virtual field trips, and so many more)
• iPad Apps for Education: Click here to follow this board from "Recess Duty"
• iPad Resources: Click here to follow this board from Janet Corder
• Promethean Resources: Click here to follow this board from Janet Corder
• Promethean Resources for Elementary: Click here to follow this board from Tracy Worley
• Technology Educational Blogs to follow: Click here to follow this board from Kristie Johnson (tons of web 2.0 resources found on these blogs...great place to get ideas for integrating technology in curriculum)

Website of the Week:
Learning in Hand.  If you are interested in implementing mobile learning then this website if for you. Tony Vincent is an independent consultant from Phoenix. His website is filled with information about iPads, iPods, iPod touch, netbooks, Podcasting, and much more. Check out his website for great resources. You can also follow Tony on Twitter (tonyvincent). He will tweet apps for education on a regular basis.  http://learninginhand.com/

Tip of the Week:
Agenda Calendar $.99...if you own an iPad, iPhone, or iPod you don't want to miss this app.

• It syncs with your device to give you a much easier view of the events listed on your calendar. 
• Download the app, click on it, and your calendars from your device appear. 
• The first view is a list view of the days. 
• Be sure to swipe the screen to the left for the day view...then swipe up or down to switch days. 
• From the day view, if you swipe to the left again you will see the individual events listed. From that view you can email or copy event. 
• Click here to download the app.