Archives For elementary

GoNow Case for iPad: A Review

kcroy —  April 7, 2013 — 1 Comment

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Carry, Protect and Enhance the sound of your iPad with the GoNow Case by Attainment.

The GoNOW Case for the iPad makes a great case for elementary students because of the built-in handle makes it easier to carry, and an acoustic sound channel boosts the sound of the iPad without batteries, all while providing a layer of protection.

The GoNOW case is a well designed plastic shell with an inner foam cushion. The bottom of the case has four rubber non-skid pads to keep the iPad from sliding off a desk.  Nice touch. The case has many forms and cuts to allow access to all of the needed  iPad’s controls, and even allows the Apple logo on the back to be seen with a circular cutaway.
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We received this cool thank-you note from Idea Paint, so we made a video.

IdeaPaint main

IdeaPaint can transform any flat surface into an erasable marker board. I tested it out for this upcoming school year and I absolutely loved the results.

It’s amazing.

Goodbye chalk.

I really like chalk. When I’m not teaching I travel the country as a speaker and a chalk artist. Seriously.  While chalk is a beautiful medium for art on stage, it is an outdated tool in the classroom, especially as classes bring in more and more technology. 

Chalk is bad for electronics. As a wired educator that loves to engage students and empower them with technology, chalk is simply bad for electronics. If you use chalk and have ever cleaned the filter on your projector or looked inside a computer encasement you know exactly what I mean. 

Dry Erase boards look sharp.  I love the contrast and speed of my writing on dry erase boards. Installing a marker board in a classroom can be difficult and expensive, and you are often limited to specific dimensions. IdeaPaint transcends all ideas of what a dry erasable surface can be and can transform you classroom into an incredible learning environment. 

I was recently moved to a different classroom. I lost my marker board and inherited some blackboards that are well over sixty years old. 

In just a few days with very little effort, I was able to transform these old, beaten chalkboards into beautiful marker boards. Love it.

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Here is a cool infographic on how Wikipedia is redefining research. This info graphic was sent to me by loyal reader, and wired educator, Jen. I know there is a great debate about Wikipedia as a research tool, but it is obvious that it is being used, and I found this infographic an excellent opener for a discussion on Wikipedia. So… take a peek and let me know your thoughts on Wikipedia and student research. See you in the comments. Continue Reading…

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“lorrain croy” lorrain croy

I love reading on the iPad, and iBooks is by far my favorite reading app. In my opinion iBooks has the smoothest user interface and offers the best reading experience. I love that it syncs with my iPhone and I love the ability to search, leave notes, define words, and highlight text. I really get a lot of reading accomplished between my iPad and my iPhone during the day as I wait in lines and other places. (The other reading apps I have downloaded and have used include: Kindle, Nook, and Google Play Books. iBooks trumps them all.) There are some features I like on the other apps and some new ones I’ve dreamed-up I’d like to see added in a future upgrade of iBooks.

Here are my 8 suggestions to improve iBooks:

1) Moveable Bookmark: The red bookmark in the top right corner is great as it always remembers where I am in a book, even when syncing with my iPhone. Sometimes, however, when I open my book I have to hunt around where I am on the page.  I wish the red bookmark was moveable. I would simply drag it down to the paragraph I was reading on the righthand side.
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MACUL 2012 – Reflections on a great EDTech Conference by Andy Losik

 

Boinx iStopMotion software for my Mac was one of my favorite reviews because it was so much fun to use and really let me take my creativity to a new level.  My students have started playing with the software and it really has them dreaming up creative ways to tell their stories digitally and professionally. Well, iStopMotion has brought the entire experience to the iPad, and in my opinion, greatly improved upon an already magical experience. Yes, iStopMotion for the iPad by Boinx Software is that great.  Wired Educator wants this on every classroom iPad. Boom!

iStopMotion for the iPad is selling at an introductory price of $4.99, it will be raised to $9.99 soon.  Even if you haven’t finished reading this review, I’d hit the link and grab at discount. Missed the discount?  It’s still worth the $9.99 price.

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A Review of Bubbling Math iPad App by Tappy Taps Written by Sue Gorman

Children will love doing math using the Bubbling Math App that has math levels, goals, awards and music!

This fun math app provides early learning for kindergarten and helps those in 1st – 4th grade practice and gain proficiency in math skills.

In the Task Configuration section, parents and teachers can set what task to practice from addition, subtraction, multiplication and division at levels from off, easy, medium hard and expert. You can also control the speed of each experience from slow, normal or fast. What I really like about this is the personalized learning aspect as the child’s mastery level can be set differently within each operation. Continue Reading…

By Ryan Orilio, Apple Distinguished Educator


For the last 25+ years the Fiske College guide has been the go-to guide for students who want to begin their undergraduate school search. The Fiske Interactive College Guide is the interactive version of the printed guide, but different in that it included much more than the original.

The Fiske guide is is well laid out and easy to navigate. On the main screen you have the choice of looking through all of the included 316 schools in the guide, or the provided groupings of Best Buy public or private schools, or Ivy League schools. Tap on a grouping and the window expands so that you can scroll through the schools , alphabetically listed in the grouping.

 ”lorrain croy” lorrain croy

Wired Educator’s Grade Card is out and Ecamm’s Call Recorder plug-in for Skype receives our highest marks.

Wired Educator is very excited to post our review Ecamm’s Mac Call Recorder.  It is an incredible solution for voice and video call recording in Skype. We found it incredibly easy to use and a worthwhile app the we plan to use on Wired Educator to produce podcast interviews with teachers, administrators, developers, and other interesting individuals impacting technology in education.

Call Recorder in the Classroom:

I wish I had Mac Call Recorder a couple of years ago. My students and I contacted award-winning author AVI for a Skype interview. It was one of the most rewarding and worthwhile Continue Reading…