Tablets

TECH

With the amount of tablets on the market today, it is very difficult to decide which tablet will best fit your needs. I think the foundation of deciding which tablet is best for you lies in your personal needs.  A tablet that is sufficient for me, may not be for someone else.   For instance, I have a Kindle Fire.  For my needs, that has been sufficient...until I began the Educational Technology class!  I have found that some of the features of an iPad better fit the classroom needs.  For example, our book's website suggest apps that could be used in the classroom for various ages.  I tried to load these apps for my children to use but they were not available for the Kindle. This is not an isolated incidence.  I have run across several educational app suggestions that have not been supported by the Kindle technology, (i.e. e-storia). 

Through research, here is what I have found regarding the tablets on the market:

Microsoft Surface:

• ·      Microsoft Surface is a hybrid, tablet and laptop. If use with Microsoft Office is the dominant concern, Microsoft Surface tablet with Windows 8 is the clear choice. 
• ·      That said, the other tablet options do have software comparable to the features of Microsoft Office.
• ·      When looking for a tablet, Office features are often not the primary concern. Many people looking at tablets are concerned with apps. The Windows Store still is being developed and does not yet appear to have a large base of apps and what they do have are largely games due to the connection to the Xbox.  
• It should also be noted that the Surface is noted to be a bit larger and heavier. 

Apple:

• ·      Holds an advantage in books, as it provides access to iBooks, Kindle, Nook and Google Play.
• ·      When looking at Movies/TV/Video and Music, Apple continues to have a strong advantage. Apple downloads this material so it is available for use with or without a WiFi or cellular connection.  However, the same is true of Androids due to their use of Amazon.
• ·      Apple has a long relationship with schools, medical facilities and arts and therefore can be expected to have a stronger advantage in relevant apps for education.
• ·      Apple does not use Flash player, which is used provide a way to efficiently deliver large video and interactive files. Apple uses HTML5, which can be converted to Flash in some cases.   Some consider this to be Apple’s greatest weakness.

Andriod:

• ·      When looking at Movies/TV/Video and Music, Amazon gives androids a good advantage.  However, the same is true of Apple. On the other hand,  Android streams purchased material, rather than downloads it, and this might be a consideration if WiFi is not an option or no cellular connection is established.
• ·      Apps use different, “real estate,” offering varying versions of apps. Amazon has a strong app base but if considering android use for schools, only about 10% of apps are educational.

In regard to connectivity, it should be considered that Barnes and Noble (Nook) and Microsoft (Surface) do not offer cellular connectivity options. When considering connectivity needs, the availability of WiFi as well as the upcharge cost of cellular connectivity should be considered. In most school setting, I would think WiFi connectivity would be sufficient.

An additional piece of information necessary in researching what is available for a particular device is that Kindle solely uses apps, movies, books, etc, sold by Amazon.  Nooks apps are sold by Barnes and Noble.  Nexus uses Google and some Amazon apps.  Apple uses iTunes and Amazon apps.

When considering cost, Android technology is considerably less up front but when comparing to the app options, I do not think it is an adequate choice for school use.

I personally also favor the larger size of the iPad.  For longer periods of use, I think a larger screen is advantageous.  I also think that in a school setting, the larger screen size can decrease issues such as cheating, as discussed in class this past week.

When considering using tablets in a school setting, I think it is noteworthy that Apple has a long history of relationships with schools.  Nowhere else in the literature did I find that any of the other tablet makers have purposed to include schools in their product’s development. Also, the way in which Apple has developed their software as a closed operating system is also a positive for Apple.  When looking at putting a system in place in a school, a system with the least likelihood for potential crashes, etc, is preferable.  Another thing I noted in my research was that other tablets were trying to “compare to” or “match” what Apple was doing. Therefore, my recommendation would have to be for Apple products to be the tablet of choice. 

GAIN

Today I learned a lot about Google Presentations.  While I have to admit my knowledge about PowerPoint is fairly basic, I found Google Presentations to be almost as user friendly as the features I have used in PowerPoint.

I enjoyed the fact that Google Presentations would automatically save your presentation every few seconds.  This feature came in especially handy for me, as I was working on putting together a presentation and the internet went down.  When it came back up, my presentation looked exactly as it did prior to the internet disconnection.

A feature that I did not find as user-friendly was that fact that in order to import personal photos, you first have to put them into Google photos.  I was unable to add the images straight from my iphoto program into a Google Presentation. While importing the photos into Google was easy, it was an extra time-consuming step.  In the tutorial I also learned that you can import additional templates and I thought that was a nice feature.  However, when I went to import a photo album template like shown in the tutorial, the option to import additional templates was not listed in my drop-down menu.

Additionally,  I liked the font options presented and there were a variety of background choices. There were also multiple options for pulling in internet images, which could be useful for educators who do not happen to have that collection of pictures on their computer.  Animation could also be added to your presentation, which further enhances its attractiveness.

I also like the fact that I could import previously made PowerPoint presentations and use those slides in Google Presentations.  Not only could they just be used, but they could also be edited and the backgrounds changed to match the template you picked in Google. I explored this option and was able to pull in slides with ease.

Overall, I found Google Presentations to be easy to use with multiple options. The cost benefits and the sharing benefits of this technology make it very appealing.  The collaborative nature of this will aid students in fulfilling Common Core Standards. (Anchor Standard 5: Speaking and Listening).  A feature that I did not use in my presentation but that would be advantageous to students is the ability to add notes to the bottom of each slide and then the ability to print those notes.  During the editing process, students can add notes regarding the information they are adding to the slide to help better inform their class partners as to why this information was edited.

Lastly, the cloud storage offered for this program makes it nice in that your presentation follows you to any computer with internet access.  This feature is particularly nice for busy students and teachers.

My presentation can be found at:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19r87tDt7Q0NLEFbyC-rwZ3UnV3loMbhJsM7I0RC0skI/edit?usp=sharing

Google Drive

GAIN

I briefly addressed Google Drive in the previous blog but will go into more detail here.  It is a document sharing application. 

One of the benefits to Google Drive is that your work can go with you anywhere.  Programs such as Word require the user to either work on the same computer or carry their work with them on a portable drive. With Google Drive, your work can follow you to any computer with an Internet connection due to cloud storage.  One document can be as long as 500 pages and there are no limits on the number of documents a user can create.  In comparison to other word processing applications, I found Google Documents to be user-friendly and have a number of features. 

Google Documents is also tied to the Common Core Standards in the following aspects. The common Core Standard for Writing, Anchor Standard 5, can be enhanced by Google Documents, as it has the ability for students and teachers to see a revision history of their work.  The work is saved every two seconds, creating a trail of revisions.  A student can even delete a paragraph during the writing stage but go back and find it later if they decide to add it back in.  

Anchor Standard 6 deals with collaborative work.  I have first hand experience with discussions regarding the effectiveness of this application.  This application is used in the academic world amongst researchers who are involved in collaborative research. The ability to collaborate is a large benefit of Google Drive.  Multiple users can work on a project without having multiple versions of the project, which can cause confusion in the editing process.  This standard will allow students to learn to work collaboratively and will allow teachers to see a student's progress and leave feedback.  Students can also publish their work on the Web or to other select people with just a click of a button when using Google Documents. 

Anchor Core 10 focuses on collecting research from the Internet by using copy and paste features for links, text or pictures. The material can be saved in Google Docs to be reviewed by other collaborators.

Anchor core standards for Production and Distribution and Writing state that students must produce writing using digital tools, meaning they will be required to begin exploring keyboarding skills as early as Kindergarten.  By fourth grade, students should be able to produce a one-page paper. Correcting mistakes is also part of this process and students will be introduced to features such as spell-check.  These are just a few of the writing standards associated with the Common Core Standards that can be made possible by the use of Google Documents. 

Lastly, for the contents of this blog, Common Core Standards also require collaborative note taking skills using Google Documents. Students can be instructed to type notes which later can be revised and saved for future use.  This feature can also be useful because students can see what others are typing and can enhance their learning experience. 

I think it will be interesting to see how Google Documents and other Google applications will be integrated into the classroom.  It is an exciting time in technology for schools and I am excited to be a part of it. 

A few Google Applications

TECH

I had never explored the features of Google. I knew there were applications available but I had not taken the time to explore them.  I can see how many of these applications could be very beneficial, especially in the education field.  As an increasingly collaborative field, many of these features such as e-mail features, task lists, calendar sharing capabilities and document sharing would make life easier. 

Gmail offers a variety of organizational features to streamline your email. You can add labels to your e-mails to categorize them into folders such as family, work, school or vacations.  You can have  contact lists that can also be categorized into groups.  As a teacher, having group lists is very helpful for sending e-mail out to parents of your students.  E-mail is a great way to communicate reminders and helps save paper.  The ability to create a contact list saves you the time of having to enter the addresses multiple times or even just remember to enter them individually.  I have sent many e-mails out to parents but have never taken the time to make a group.  I just mentally go through the list of students to make sure I get it out to everyone.  Finding this feature is going to be of great benefit.  Gmail also allows you to personalize your messages.  If you need to have a professional looking page with a signature on it, you have that option.  If you prefer a fun, whimsical page, that option is available too. Of course, these features are not necessary to the content of your message but sometimes adding personalization to you e-mail can make it stand out.  Another personalization Gmail offers is to generate a vacation response.  This feature could be useful during times when you are away from your computer such as teachers meetings or on days you have a substitute teacher.  

Google calendar also has a lot of features to offer as well.  I could see it being very beneficial to schools.  Office administration could easily use it for teachers so they could schedule faculty meetings, school events, field trips, or even days that teachers would be out of the classroom.  Personally, I could also see it being beneficial for family use.  For a busy family with kids going in all different directions, having a central schedule for everyone to post their events could help maintain organization.  Other than the calendar's ability to be shared computer to computer, you can access it on your smartphone.  You can also sync the calendar with other desktop applications such as iCal.  Another feature I find particularly enticing about Google calendars is the RSVP feature.  You can send an invitation to an event to your contacts and they can RSVP as to whether they are available to come to the event.  This creates an easy way for your recipients to let you know if they are able to join you for the event.  You can also add a task list in the calendar application.  You can make multiple task lists but only one will show on your calendar.  Adding a task list can help to organize your to-do list through the ability to add notes and dates to the list. 

Google Drive, formerly known as Google Docs, appears to be a great way to share documents.  I found the template and features to be user-friendly.  I also found that there were many font options and template options. The benefit of sharing a document in such a way is the ability to collaborate on a document.  I know first hand this feature is used by scientists at NASA.  They are able to share documents while working on papers for publication.  The ability to work collaboratively helps in smoothing out the process of writing and re-writing. 

Overall, I found the Google applications to be very user-friendly and I can see the benefit of incorporating them into the field of education. 

GAIN

This is my first real experience with a blog. I have heard people talk about having a blog or following a friend’s blog, but I never have been involved with blogging. I enjoyed tonight’s assignment of creating a blog page. 

In looking at the blogs listed on tonight’s GAIN blogger assignment, I found the blog by David Warlick to be the most interesting.   It first caught my eye because it was colorful.  As I looked further, there were quite a few interesting stories with both pictures and video.  I like the way he incorporated multiple ways of catching the reader’s attention. 

Other blogs had more of an academic look.  In fact, the blog of George Siemens reminded me of a page from an academic journal, with no color or pictures used on his page.  Other bloggers incorporated a background color or a banner across the top but used a lot of text on their page. I personally prefer a page that incorporates visual aids.  I also liked the page of Jeff Utecht, “The Thinking Stick.”  The icons used at the top of the page catch the readers attention and make the page interesting.  He does a good job of engaging the reader's curiosity. 

The first night of class

TECH Assignment:

To be honest, I have been a little slow at learning some of the technological advances of our age.  We did not grow up with a computer in our house, as most children do today.  I was in high school before we bought a computer and it was a dinosaur, with only very basic processing applications. Therefore, it has taken some time to build my confidence for jumping in and trying new things on a computer. However, as the technology age is always evolving, so is our use and reliance on technology such as computers, tablets and smart phones.  Even my three year-old knows how to work these electronics!

I have basic knowledge of both Microsoft and Mac operating systems. For many years, due to cost, I worked on a Window's operating system.  I was vaguely familiar with Mac's as my husband worked in the journalism industry where Macintosh was the industry standard.  It was not until about three years ago that I got my personal Mac. This came about because of its ability to have a remote backup system. After a couple crashes of my Window's based programs, and the loss of a lot of very valuable work data, we made the switch to all Apple products.

I found working on a Mac very easy.  There were many similarities for what I used a computer for.  However, the ability to have a time machine backup system that was not associated with a monthly fee and the ability to move my information easily from Mac to Mac was amazing.  (The time did come when I had to upgrade from a Mac mini to something with more memory and a faster processor.)  Due to the fact that my husband worked on a Mac, we were able to share files easier.  I also enjoy the iphoto and imovie applications.  Editing tasks are much easier with this technology.   The only negative that I have to report is that not all programs are available for Mac.  For example, I do transcription work.  Because one of the formats that some of the doctors use is not supported in the Mac version of my transcription software, I had to install a partition on my computer and run a virtual PC for these program  files.  However, I do understand the reason not all software is available for Mac is because it is not cost effective for software developers to develop the software for for Mac since three is not enough demand amongst Mac users for the software. In my case, this is a bitter-sweet.

I also explored a few of the keyboarding sites online.  I was not aware that programs existed to track and report student's typing progress.  This has come a long ways since the days of typing class where you sat at a typewriter and then hand counted your mistakes.  I found this to be a very interesting option that could be easily incorporated into a classroom to help make students more efficient typists.