Testing Out Apps for School

I am in the process of trying to find high quality apps for school that are useful yet inexpensive. I'm going to post a little review of each app and a sample product if possible/applicable.

TypeDrawing ($2.99): This app lets you draw with words. You can type in your own words or use symbols from a menu. You can change font colors and font, or you can make them random. You can adjust the size of the font manually or you can set the size to be determined by drawing speed. I like that you can import a photo and draw over it and then make the photo transparent, so you don't see that it was ever there. That's what I did for this sample self-portrait...

Wordfoto ($1.99): This app lets you upload a photo and then recreate it using words. You can choose from a preselected list of words or you can enter in words of your own choosing. Here's a sample...

Colorsplash ($1.99): This app lets you upload a photo which is then changed to black and white. Then you get to paint the color back into just the parts that you want colorful. Here's a sample:

Halftone ($0.99): This app lets you upload a photo and turn it into a comic/cartoon type photo. Here's a couple of samples:

Handfont ($3.99): This app lets you write on the screen to set up a font with your very own handwriting. Here's a sample:

If you have suggestions for other free or inexpensive Apps, please leave a comment to tell me about it. Thanks!

A New Venture Into Mobile Learning

I'm in the middle of a new venture at school. We are the proud new owners of an iPad cart with 30 iPads for students to use. It has been a process setting them up. Before beginning the process of setting up the iPads, I did some research online and came across some helpful resources including: iPad deployment: Backup/restore deployment strategy and steps and http://help.apple.com/configurator/mac/1.0/.

Here are some things that I have learned are important.

1. Set up an email account dedicated to the maintenance of the iPads. You will need this to create an Apple ID to sync the ipads with iTunes. 
2. Set up an email account dedicated to the maintenance of the volume purchase plan if you intend to purchase apps from the iTunes store. In order to apply to purchase apps through the volume purchase plan, you'll need this email address to create yet another Apple ID.
3. Download Configurator on an Apple machine that can be dedicated to syncing the iPads. This doesn't mean that the machine can't be used for other purposes.
4. Wait to label each iPad/iPad case until AFTER you set them up initially. When syncing the first time, the iPads are NOT numbered according to the slot they are in on the cart. I didn't know this until after I had already labeled each iPad and wrote the corresponding number on the case. This meant that, after the initial setup, I had to take all of the covers off, put them on the correct iPad, and put them back in numerical order.

I'm sure there are other things that I will be learning as I keep working through this process. I'll update this post with other tips and ideas that seem important as I come across them.

Communication 101

***Here is my entry for the 100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups, Week 56. If you want to know more about this visit Julia's Place.***

I was foolishly underthe impression that there are some basic fundamentals of good communication. Ifyou wish to get your message across, you must simply follow these steps:

Use eye contact.

Be direct and to thepoint.

Speak clearly.

Being clear is essentialto good communication.

Ha! No one told me thesebasic fundamentals don’t apply to communication with a spouse or a teenager. Nomatter how clear my thoughts seems to me, the messages leaving my lips getcompletely jumbled up before they reach the ears of the intended recipient. Isthere a Communication (with family members) 101 course? Sign me up!