Unlock the Potential of Your iPad Keyboard

This is an excellent How-To-Video from Michael Steeber over at Cult of mac on getting the most from your iPad Keyboard. Make sure you check out their site. It is an excellent resource for all things mac.

Just like other iOS devices there are hidden functions in the keyboard. This video highlights where to find them and how best to make use of them in your daily workflow. One of the important aspects of the iPad is utilising the potential of the device. I often find that many of my students are the ones showing me how to do these keyboard shortcuts ( and I love to record these on our class Ning ) but occasionally I come across a group that struggles to work efficiently with their devices. This is a great little resource for them to access at home and work through to improve their keyboard skills.

Nobody is saying the iPad will replace the Laptop but surely the better we use the device the easier it is to get our students to maximise their learning. Work smarter, not harder. 


The iPad’s onscreen virtual keyboard is nice, it still doesn’t compare with a physical keyboard in usability. Fortunately, Apple includes some relatively hidden features which can greatly improve typing speed as well as usability on the iPad’s keyboard. In this video you’ll find out how to enable these features and use them to their full potential.

Dropbox - Compatible Apps Makes for Efficient Workflow

One of things that most people struggle with in the first couple of days of using their new iPad or Mobile Device is accessing and sharing documents. Often you want to access existing documents from your PC or share a document that you create on the iPad.

The most popular option (but not the only one) is Dropbox. One of the features that makes Dropbox so popular is the number of Apps that are now compatible with it.  Many of these actually have Dropbox features built into them allowing for easy use, quick sharing and efficient file transfer from within the app. Here is a link to the list of 140 or so apps that are currently compatible:






This is how App-Like an E-book can be in iBooks using EPub3

Another excellent article from Cult of Mac, this one written by John Brownlee.

This is what educators have been waiting for. I have written before about the limitations of ePub and what was needed before it became viable for teachers. This is coming close. There does seem to still be some limitations to page layout - I would like to see the ability to make images backgrounds in some areas, more sidebar features and the ability for more external links for textbooks. Having said this, the example shown is far more appealing visually, especially to students - the consumer. Have a look, see what you think.


Walrus Epub demo #3 from Walrus Books on Vimeo.

The most impressive ebooks on the iPad aren’t ebooks at all, but dedicated iOS apps. With the power of HTML5, CSS3, Javascript and ePUB3, though, there’s no reason that has to be the case at all: you can put together a truly interactive, animated ebook right within iBooks.

Check out this awesome look at the iBook put together by Walrus Books for the upcoming Lovecraftian tomeKadath: The Guide To The Unknown City. Not only does it feature interactive maps, embedded fonts, integrated pop-ups and more, but it even has its own in-book meta game and version of in-app purchases.

This is super cool. I wish we saw more iBooks like this, but unfortunately, it seems like most publishers design their ebooks for the lowest common denominator platform — the Kindle.



Why the iPad Should be used in Classrooms

This is a great article written by Michale Kaufman over at iPad in Schools on using the iPad in the classroom. It is general in nature but highlights a number of benefits of using tablets in the classroom. This blog is written by the four founding principals of a consulting firm InnovationLabs. Well worth a look. 

As I’ve written in previous posts, the iPad is having tremendous success being used in school classrooms – from kindergarten classes to university classrooms. The iPad has spawned what I’ve called the ‘tablet wars’ with a wave of tablets introduced at CES in January is just the tip of the iceberg.

Lower price points will make tablets even more appealing to schools over time. For close to a year, Apple went virtually unchallenged in the tablet market. Increased competition should drive down prices. With dozens to hundreds of offerings, many based on Google’s open source Android OS, we can expect to see prices falling quickly just as they have for laptops, smartphones and HDTV sets. If you look at the right time you can even find Apple’s original iPad for as little as $349 (if you get the timing right and don’t mind a refurbished model).

It’s worth noting that the iPad has surpassed even the most optimistic of projections to define a brand new product category and become the best-selling gadget of all time, and Forrester analysts project that in 2011, tablet sales will more than double.

Read the full article:
http://www.ipadinschools.com/284/why-the-ipad-should-be-used-in-classrooms/
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