1. 2 months ago 

    Using the iPad for education

    [caption id=”” align=”alignleft” width=”250” caption=”Image via CrunchBase”]Image representing iPad as depicted in CrunchBase[/caption]

    The iPad is now in its third generation. It can be effectively argued that the iPad is the most versatile educational tool ever invented - at least since the printing press.

    Here is an exhaustive, yet incomplete, list of iPad apps that will benefit learners of all ages. Some of these apps are better than others. Some are designed for younger users, others are designed for more experienced users. Make sure to read the reviews and do other research to make sure that the app is a good fit for you.

    AppShopper.com is a good place to watch for app sales and other important information about apps.

    NOTE: The term “3D” in the descriptions below refers to the fact that the graphics are designed using 3D computer generated graphics (like Pixar animation) - not stereoscopic 3D as you would see in a 3D movie or ViewMaster.

    ESSENTIAL APPS FOR EVERYONE - These are apps that we recommend for all iPad users.

    Dropbox - Online storage service. Dropbox gives you 2GB for free. Anything you store in your Dropbox account will be accessible via the Dropbox app on the iPad or any other device that allows you to access Dropbox.com. Dropbox makes apps for almost all smartphone and tablet platforms.

    Evernote - Online note, memo, photo and bookmarking app. Anything you put into Evernote will be available through any device that is connected to the Internet via Evernote.com or the Evernote app for that device.

    Netflix - If you are subscriber to Netflix, you can watch online streaming movies on the iPad for free.

    ART - Fine art, graphic art, photography, art history. Some of these apps have both free and pay versions available.

    Inspire Pro - powerful drawing and painting app

    Procreate - painting simulator with realistic smudge effect

    ArtRage - painting simulator with 3D paint and canvas texture

    Life - classic photos from the magazine from around the world

    Adobe Ideas - quick drawing tool for shapes and text - great for quick charts

    Bamboo Paper - easy sketchbook and notebook app

    ComicBook - create very cool comicbook pages from your photos

    123D Sculpt - powerful 3D image creation and manipulation app from the makers of AutoCAD

    How To Draw - children’s drawing tutorial

    ColorRange - adjust the color in photos

    Inkiness - sketchpad and drawing app that simulates pen and ink

    Photoshop Express (PS Express) - simple image editor for photographs

    MyBrushes - simple, yet powerful painting/drawing app

    Bord - a chalkboard simulator

    Snapseed - very cool photo editor

    Art HD - learn about art history and famous artwork

    SketchBook Pro - very powerful drawing/painting app with layers and other image editing features

    ASTRONOMY - There are hundreds of cool astronomy apps. Many are free, but the more expensive ones usually have features that are worth the price.

     NASA - official app of NASA

    Mooncast - track the phases of the moon and receive alerts before a full moon

    SkySafari - one of many astronomy programs that uses the screen and gyros to navigate constellations and celestial bodies

    BIOLOGY - These apps use computer generated 3D images, video, audio and other interactive multimedia elements to surpass anything you will find in a textbook.

    Anatomy 3D:Organs - one of many excellent interactive textbook biology apps by Anatomy 3D

    iCell - simple free app that provides 3D models of animal, plant and bacteria cells

    3D Brain - exactly what it sounds like, an interactive 3D model of the brain

    Instant Anatomy - flash cards on various anatomy topics

    URVL (Upper Respiratory Virtual Lab) -  upper respiratory scope simulator

    BOARD GAMES - Almost every board game has an iPad version. However, there are some board games that teach math, critical thinking and spelling.

    Monopoly - this version teaches you how to play like an expert, nothing is left out

    Scrabble - play by yourself or with a group, shortcuts help you learn new words

    Risk - classic or modified versions teach critical thinking and problem solving

    Real Solitaire Free - free version of solitair with many variations of the game to choose from

    Ticket to Ride - this railroad-building game is one of the best strategy games available

    CALCULATORS - There are probably thousands of calculator apps available in the app store. If there is something specific that you need to calculate, chances are there is a calculator app designed for your specific task. These are just a few of examples.

    Calculator XL - a really big calculator with really big buttons

    Calculator for iPad - yep, that’s what it’s called - a scientific (non-graphing) calculator

    Here’s a list of some of the better graphing calculator apps

    Currency - how many rubles in a peso?

    Units - convert units of volume, time, weight, electricity, etc

    ExcelFormulas - just a long list of excel formulas

    COOKING - You could dedicate an entire 16GB iPad to nothing but cooking apps. Here are two that lead the pack, but there are hundreds more out there.

    Recipes Genius - pick your ingredients, meal or genera and let the app find the recipe

    AllRecipes - the accompanying app to the popular website allrecipes.com

    Epicurious - worthy rival to AllRecipes

    eBOOKS and READERS- Why buy a Nook, Kindle or other eReader, when you can have them all on one device? Most eBook readers allow you to read the book on multiple devices without losing your place.

    Kindle - buy books from the kindle store and read them on your iPad

    Nook - buy nook books from the Nook store and read them on your iPad

    CourseSmart - good selection of textbooks and the app lets you bookmark and make notes

    Kno - the best textbook app, lots of features let you make notes, bookmark, highlight, create quizzes and more

    iBooks - apple’s official ebook market and reader

    Google Books - googles official ereader and ebook market

    Inkling - another texbook market and reader competitor to Kno and CourseSmart

    Instapaper - companion app to instapaper.com, this app lets you read content from websites that you mark for later reading

    LEARNING GAMES - There are thousands of learning games. These are just a few that I have run across. While some games teach academic concepts, others teach problem-solving and critical thinking. Math games are listed in the Math section.

    Trainyard - a problem-solving game in which the player must create paths for different colored trains to make it from start to finish without colliding or breaking given rules

    Voxel - this free app is not really a game as much as it is a free-style 3D builder, similar to legos or blocks, the design is a little rough, but people do some amazing things with it

    Angry Birds - the world’s most popular game is also an amazing app for teaching intuitive physical principles, encourage player to not move on to the next stage unless they get three stars (usually with a single bird)

    TinkerBox - this is a very complex app that uses pulleys, weights, levers and other simple machines to build structures that get objets from one point of the screen to another

    TrafficVille HD - use problem-solving skills to manage traffic

    Robo5 HD - it may look like a Mario-style game, but it is full of problem-solving and puzzles

    Flight Control - help planes land on the proper runway, excellent game for teaching patience and problem-solving

    Moxie 2 - very popular reading game, create words out of given words in an UpWords-style game

    LEARNING TOOLS - Handy apps that make studying easier, help students focus and more.

    WolframAlpha - use this app to find almost any fact such as population, solutions to complex physics calculations or how many legs a centipede really has

    A+ Pro - create digital flashcards for everything

    Concentrate! - an app that gives you a repeating 48-minute timer that helps students focus between 12-minute breaks

    How Stuff Works HD - an app that provides a nice graphical interface to HowStuffWorks.com

    Mensa IQ - almost all standardized tests are based on the IQ test, this app can help students practice taking such tests

    Educreations - create recorded lessons for students with this animated whiteboard

    LEARNING VIDEOS

    TED - nothing will expand a mind like watching a few free videos from this collaborative that celebrates Technology Education and Design (TED). These are short talks given by the people who are changing the world

    Discovery Channel - videos and information provided free by Discovery

    PBS - everything PBS on your iPad

    NPR - OK, it’s not videos, but it is multimedia content. Almost every NPR program is accessible through this site

    Khan Academy - the most popular free online video learning model

    ELEMENTARY ED

    There are thousands of apps for this category. A search in the App Store for memory games, patterns, matching, basic math, spelling, etc. will reveal many apps. There are too many good ones to mention. Make sure to read all of the reviews before purchasing.

    GEOGRAPHY

    Google Earth - although the Internet is essential for this app to work, it is essential tool for learning and teaching geography

    Fotopedia Heritage - fotopedia has an entire line of geography apps that use beautiful photographs from around the world to help learners appreciate the geography and cultures from all over the world

    National Geographic World Atlas - this app works like Google Earth but it offers political and geographic information in addition to roads and satellite views

    TourWrist - this free app uses the gyro features of the iPad to explore locations all over the world by holding up the iPad and physically moving around while viewing the screen

    Kids Maps - a very cool globe that provides learners with political, topographical, geographic and city views of the world - very simple app for middle school and younger learners

    GeoWalk - this app is a little clunky, but it provides a way for students to learn about people, places, animals and landmarks all over the world through photos and short narratives

    Esri ArcGIS - this app is for the geology geek who enjoys coordinates and the complexities of GIS data

    Stuck On Earth - this app uses a narrator to help learners explore the world in photographs - millions of photographs

    HISTORY - Again, there are thousands of apps designed to teach history, these are just a few that I have used recently for teaching certain history topics. If you would like a history app about a specific time, location or event, such an app is a simple search away on the App Store.

    History: Maps of the World - just as the name implies - this app provides an archive of scanned maps from throughout history

    The Revolution - an app that provides

    LANGUAGE/LITERACY

     

    MATH

     

    MULTIMEDIA

    NEWS  - I am a journalism professor and I love keeping up with current events. These apps make newsgathering fun and efficient.

     Zite - the lastest news and information categorized and customized

    Flipboard - similar to Zite, but it uses a beautiful magazine-style format, it also gathers posts from Twitter and Facebook

    Almost all news channels, newspapers and magazines also have apps available

    PRODUCTIVITY

     

    REFERENCES

     

    SCIENCE 

    Original Article

  2. 3 months ago 

    Castellini on Computers Podcast/KAFM show

    Rick Castellini, Adam Cochran and Matt Kettlewell teamed up for this episode of the Castellini on Computers Podcast.

    In this episode, we discuss ultrabooks, iPad, Linux, Android vs. iPhone and much much more.

    Listen to all of our past episodes at HelpMeRick.com.

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  3. 4 months ago 

    Phrases ‘new media’ and ‘social media’ are outdated

    [caption id=”” align=”alignleft” width=”300” caption=”Image via Wikipedia”]English: Research on Iran. by Negar Mottahedeh...[/caption]

    What is new media? Rather, what is new about new media? Of course, the Internet has changed media and added a new dimension of communication and innovation, but when should those who produce and consume online augmented communication stop considering their methods and means as new?

    Of course, the argument for new media is not new vs. old, but new vs. traditional. Traditional media comes in the form of television, radio, newspaper and magazines. However, listening to terrestrial radio via the Internet stream would most likely fall under new media. Same for television. The nightly news broadcast is a form of traditional media, but logging into the broadcast’s website to comment on a story is considered new media.

    If new media is defined as online media consumption, but all traditional media outlets now have online methods of distribution and interaction, is the concept really new anymore?

    So, what’s the alternative? When it comes to research, advertising and study, it is very handy to divide the media into two groups - traditional and…

    How about emerging media? Emerging says it all. It’s not mainstream media, it’s not new or old. It’s emerging. A Google search suggests that others have already claimed the word emerging and associated it with specific types of media. However, the words new and social were also in existence before they were adopted into their contemporary meanings.

    It’s important that those within the industry insist on using a different term for it. Otherwise, we will still be calling ourselves part of the new media 20 years after YouTube and Facebook were created. By that time, all media will be `a la carte.

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  4. 4 months ago 

    A shift in talkingDigital.org

    weapons of mass communication

    Over the past five years (maybe more) talkingDigital has changed directions many times. Most recently the site was used as the master feed for a number of podcasts. We will continue to produce podcasts and post the latest episodes here, but the content of the site will be soon be expanding.

    talkingDigital is the home base for a variety of ongoing projects and experiments conducted by Adam Cochran, a professor of Mass Communication at Colorado Mesa University. For the past year and a half, Cochran has been working on an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Memphis. With the degree work completed, he now has time to work on expanding the content on talkingDigital. We hope to add more podcasts, but also post on topics that are important to the talkingDigital team.

    Our passions at talkingDigital are centered around the role of technology in art, education, and industrial progress. We love politics, disruptive technologies, religion and almost any other subject that tends to lead to world-change. We hope that you enjoy the new direction and we encourage you to comment and participate in the discussions presented.

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  5. 8 months ago 

    Castellini on Computers 023 - Hey buddy, can you spare a TouchPad?

    On this week’s podcast, we discuss…

    Facebook vs. Twitter

    Choosing a Cellphone plan

    Mood-killing music

    Death of WebOS and TouchPad

    What’s next for Kindle?

    What’s up with the ChromeBook?

    Bartering clubs on Facebook

    Invoices and Zoho sweetness

    SquareUp

    and much much more!

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    Original Article

  6. 11 months ago 

    Castellini on Computers 021 - How about some Apple with your Weiner

    In this episode we discuss everything.

    To be a little more specific, we discuss Apple’s proposal for their new HQ, Weiner’s Twitter problem, Nintendo’s new controller, why PC users never remove their laptop stickers and much more.

    Intro Music - CJacks - Rollin’ in the Hoopty

    http://talkingdigital.org
    http://helpmerick.com

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  7. 11 months ago 

    Lumigrate Podcast 006 - All About Facebook, part 2

    This is the second half of our discussion about Facebook with a panel of guests from the Grand Junction Business Incubator Center.

    In this episode, we discuss some of the more advanced concepts of Facebook and we break them down and try to explain them on a basic level. We discuss Facebook pages, who should not use Facebook, how to handle negative feedback and much more.

    As a bonus, here’s a link to some of the material we edited out of the interview. Some of it was deep conversation about Facebook that could not, by any stretch of the imagination, be defined as basic. Other segments were simply goofy bloopers.

    For more discussion about how to get the most out of social media, visit Lumigrate.com.

    Original Article

  8. 11 months ago 
    Lumigrate Podcast - 005 - All About Facebook, part 1

    Episode 005 is one of our best ever. The folks from the Grand Junction Business Incubator Center joined us in-studio where we recorded a two-part discussion about Facebook. This episode, 005, is all about the basics of Facebook. Who should use it, what it is, why it’s important, where to get started and when you should use it.

    For more discussion about Facebook and social media, join the discussion taking place in the forums at Lumigrate.com.

    Original Article

  9. 1 year ago 

    Castellini on Computers 020 - Rick’s Stage 2 Rant

    If you have ever had to hire a service business to get you out of trouble, this podcast is for you. If you own a service business, this podcast for you. If you own a business but do not consider it to be a service business, think again. Rick recently left town for a week. Although this episode is done rant-style, the advice we share will help anyone looking to improve their business reputation and performance.

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  10. 1 year ago 

    Castellini on Computers 019 - The iPad interrogation

    This episode of the podcast is a little different. Although we touch on computer news and a few tech tips at the beginning, the majority of the show is about real-world iPad use.

    Business Insider recently conducted a survey of iPad users about how they use their device. We thought it would “make good radio” to go over the survey questions and discuss the power and possibility of the iPad.

    For past episodes of Castellini on Computers be sure to visit HelpMeRick.com

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