Share Images over WiFi with Image Transfer

Image Transfer (free)
Photo and Video Transfer ($1.99)

Have you ever wanted to transfer photos and videos from a computer to one or more iOS devices or vice versa? Do you want your students to have a quick and easy way to send you screen shots of their work or share images with each other for a project? Emailing images isn't always a viable option considering limitations on file size and the number of images you can send. Transferring images and videos over wifi is the answer.

Image Transfer and the paid version, Photo and Video Transfer are probably the easiest apps I have found for transferring photos and videos between multiple devices or between devices and computers. The only requirement is that the iOS devices must be on the same wireless network and the computers need access to the internet. A username and password are not needed.   While the free version does limit you to 5 photos at a time, it would be a great way to try the app out for yourself. You can upgrade from within the app if you decide you need to transfer more than 5 photos at a time or you want to transfer videos. You can even transfer between devices that have both free and paid versions.

Transferring images between iOS devices over WiFi using Image Transfer:

1. Each device that you will be transferring images to/from needs to have the app installed and open.
2. Make sure all mobile devices are on the same wireless network.
3. Click the "Send" section of the app to choose photos to send.
4. When the photos have been selected, click the Send button in the upper right hand corner and choose "Send to iPhone or iPad". The app will look for devices on the same network.
5. Click on the name of the device you want to send images to.  A transfer progress window will appear and let you know when the transfer is complete. The receiving device will show a message that the photos were saved to the Camera Roll.
6. Click "Done".

Transferring between iOS devices and a computer 

This process is very similar.  Choose "Send to a Computer" instead of an iOS device.  The app will provide a permalink address for you to enter into a browser on the computer. Images are then downloaded from the iOS devices or uploaded to them through this URL.

Classroom Uses for Image Transfer

1. With the free app, students can transfer up to 5 images to each other for sharing in a project or to the teacher for grading. 
2. With the paid app, students can transfer more than 5 images as well as video projects, recorded book reports and video captures of work done in whiteboard apps that allow saving to the device's photo album (ex. DoodleCast Pro and Sago Mini Doodlecast)
3. Students and teachers can share their field trip photos for slide shows, how-to demonstrations and much more. 

What ideas can you come up with?  Please share in the comment section.

If you are looking for a similar app for your Android device, check out Image Transfer App available on Google Play.

Makeover Your Lesson Using ThingLink

Problem: You’ve taught the same lesson for the past five years. How do you make it better?

Solution: ThingLink, of course! It’s FREE and it’s easy.

ThingLink is a digital tool that allows you to turn any image into an interactive graphic. You can create multiple hot spots on specific parts of an image and turn that image into a multimedia launch pad.

Imagine this. Your lesson is on volcanoes. You have a short video clip on lava landscapes, a web site that depicts the volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean, and a cross section that shows the basic components of a volcano. You also have a graphic organizer on volcanic vocabulary that students will use in their groups.

Here’s how easy it is to create a ThingLink. First, you upload an image. Next, you link your content to the image. It really is that simple. (You do have to create an account but it’s free for educators.)

ThingLink is a tool that is suitable for all classrooms. To learn more, click here. If you have comments or questions about using ThingLink or other digital tools, we’d love to hear from you. Post a comment or send us an email.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

Have you ever taken a photo that needs to be cropped, re-sized, or brightened up a bit? Do red-eyes make you see red? There's a great photo editing program already installed on any computer with Microsoft Office . Here's the catch. If you don't already know about this program, your photos are probably opening in Windows Picture and Fax Viewer which is great for viewing or rotating images but not much else.

It's really easy to change the default image editing program so that your photos always open up in Microsoft Office 2010 (also known as Microsoft Office Picture Manager if you are still using Office 2003 at home).

1. Right-click on any image you have already saved to your computer or an external drive.
2. Choose 'open with'.
3. Drop down to the 'choose program' at the bottom of the list.
4. Choose Microsoft Office 2010 (or Microsoft Office Picture Manager)
5. Make sure the box next to "always use the selected program to open this type of file" is checked.
6. Click OK

You will now be able to crop, rotate, re-size, adjust brightness and contrast, remove red eyes and much more. Click here for an introduction to Microsoft Office Picture Manager

Website of the Week

Bitly.com

Bitly isn't just another URL shortener. Not only can you shorten and share your links, but with Bitly, you can customize the links and track them as well. And as a bonus, Bitly lets you bundle several sites together. Here's my bundle of 16 online photo editors *, just in case you want to be more creative than Microsoft Office Picture Manager allows. Try Bitly today. Signup is free and quick.
*Even though none of these 16 sites are blocked in the district, teachers should evaluate them before recommending to students.

Tip of the Week

Keyboard shortcuts can save you time and frustration. Here are a few for ActivInspire:

Ctrl + U will bring up the Edit Profiles window where you can quickly add tools to you main tool bar.

Ctrl + B will open and close the browsers.

F11 will bring up the dashboard.

Look for other keyboard shortcuts for almost any program by clicking on the file menu, and hovering over the other menus. When a shortcut is available, it will be listed to the right of an option.