iPod

Why the Apple event on Wednesday matters to teachers…

 Ideas, Information, Technology  1 Response »
Sep 102012
 

Not a fanboy.  Please try to keep that in the back of your mind.  Yes, I’m typing this on a Mac, yes I have an iPod.  BUT I have an android phone, several windows PCs and a healthy understanding of the real world.  So please, don’t think this is just a fanboy rant, it’s not.  What it is, is an attempt to point out that we’re at a tipping point in education technology and that the next step, probably made by Apple at their product launch in San Francisco on Wednesday, could change everything.

We’ve had the iPad since the Summer of 2010, an incredibly thin device which uses a touch screen and can fit in an A4 envelope. It can access the web, seamlessly handle your email, manage your media content and a host of other tasks through a wealth of apps. As Steve Jobs used to say it’s “insanely great”. The iPad launched an industry wide rethink of what IT is, what it’s for and who should have it.  Now just about every IT manufacturer has a tablet device, there are a variety of operating systems, and app development is a major growth industry. If you still think IT is sitting behind a massive grey box and a 15 inch CRT monitor or that Microsoft Word and spreadsheets is what the IT curriculum should teach you have missed this revolution completely.

Many schools have ridden the crest of this wave and already brought tablet computers into the classroom.  Schools which issue their learners with their own iPads do exist. Units are being written as we speak allowing you to use tablet computers and mobile devices in art, music and media exams. Companies are already writing apps for classroom teaching, classroom management, assessment and support. The education tablet revolution has started but it it is, at the moment, in the hands of the enthusiast.

It is widely expected that Apple will launch a smaller version of their iPad on Wednesday (I’m not an Apple pundit myself, but Engadget and Macrumors will back me up here) as well as a larger phone, refreshed iMacs and iPods. It could be quite a day. The smaller iPad is a very interesting idea as it comes hot on the heals of the Kindle Fire and a host of other Android based tablet devices.  A smaller screen would bring limitations but it would also bring a cheaper price and perhaps a price so compelling that buying a class set, or indeed one for every learner is financially wise. In the UK you can get an iPad for £329 from the apple store, it’s not the latest model but it’s cheaper than a typical PC laptop. The kindle Fire is £129, just how much would a smaller iPad cost?

The Apple argument will be that the iPad is the only real tablet proposition for schools as there are apps in place, robust app quality control and apps in every subject and for every use. Guaranteed learner engagement in a sleek, brushed aluminium case. Android and the new Windows operating system (which is just around the corner) might argue with that, but the condition is clear.  If Wednesday goes the way the pundits are telling us, we may well be seeing the argument crashing on our desks this week.

If you are not going in this direction, parents will want to know why.

Briefing – Episode 44, Headphones

 Information, Technology  No Responses »
Mar 232012
 

Just like most of us I use headphones every day when listening to music and podcasts on my iPod, so comfort is a very important feature for me.  I find the ones that sit on my ears really uncomfy, and the expensive closed-back, over the ears ones are too heavy. So the small in-ear buds are my workhorse.  In a recording studio you would never use ear-buds, the higher audio quality of the over-the ear, closed back BeyerDynamic ones are an industry standard.

A recent feature which you may have come across are “noise cancelling” headphones such as those made by Bose.  These listen to the noise outside the headphones and reduce that by cancelling it out using reverse phasing.  The headphones noty only sound lovely but they effectively get rid of the rest of the noise that might creep into your head from the outside world.  Try them out at a Bose retailer.

There’s no need to pay huge amounts of money for headphones which are going to be used in a club, for example by a DJ. Go for a mid range price over the ear model such as these by Sennheiser.

Beware educational suppliers who are offering you everything you dream for and only charge you a few quid for them, they will need extreme care and loving tenderness to get them to last longer than a term.

Got any headphones advice or recomendations?  Let us know in the comments section below and please subscribe here or over on YouTube.

Briefing – Episode 41, Batteries

 Information, Personal Productivity, Technology  1 Response »
Mar 022012
 

Do try and cut down on your reliance on alkaline batteries and replace them with rechargeable ones.  There are a bewildering array of types and chemicals being used but really any rechargeable is better than using disposable.  You can get great batteries and chargers in sets from Jessops and Maplins in the UK and I’m sure you will have no problem elsewhere. They feel pricey, especially when you will probably want to buy more than 8, but remember that they are a once in a lifetime purchase – well they should last you enough time for them to become obsolete!

The EEV blog http://www.eevblog.com/ is an excellent place to go for more technological information, delivered by Dave Jones in his own idiosyncratic style.  Dave’s battery post is here.

Don’t throw your used batteries in the bin, make sure they are disposed of properly.  How do you dispose of your used batteries?  Is there a simple and convenient system in place for you?  I think B&Q have a battery bin in their stores, but if you know of anywhere else do let us know in the comments section below and please subscribe here or over on YouTube.

Briefing – Episode 34, iBooks news from Apple

 Information, Technology  No Responses »
Jan 202012
 

Got an iPad?. Use iPads in your classroom?  Well this move from Apple will make it rather likely that iPads might become as ubiquitous in the classroom as iPods are in the high street. Check out the entire presentation as a podcast in iTunes.  If you just want to see sickly advertorial demonstration have a look here.  Textbooks do need a nice disruptive challenge and this might be the right idea at the right time.

Here at A* to G we’re looking at ebooks at the moment and had just about decided to go for an epub format.  This means it would not work on iBooks, although you would be able to read it using a different App on your iPad. At the moment this whole area is a nightmare for small publishers like ourselves.  I wonder if this will help or hinder.

Are you going shopping for an iPad in the next few weeks now that Apple have announced their intention for world textbook domination?  Do let us know at info@astartog.co.uk and please do subscribe either here or at our youtube channel.