Posts made in January, 2012

iPad vs. laptop Part 1: Storage Solutions

Posted by Brad Flickinger on Jan 31, 2012 in Uncategorized | 7 comments

#edchat #mlearning #ipaded #ipad

Teaching with my iPad.

I believe that I have now gotten to the point of giving up my laptop (MacBook Pro) and just use my iPad 2 for everything that I do. My poor laptop has not left my desk for months, but how do I really get things done (like work) on my measly little iPad (16 GB model)?

Now granted, there are some hurdles you need to overcome before you can take to plunge into the sea of an iPad only lifestyle.

Hurdle Number 1 – STORAGE:

Like I said earlier, I only have a 16 GB iPad, which is not very much when you think of it.  So let’s look at what I did to solve this problem…

Solution Number 1 – DROPBOX: Dropbox like many of you already know, is cloud storage for your iPad and other devices, it allows you to easily move files to and from one another. Plus many iPad apps use it for storage, which frees up precious space on your iPad. In fact, as I write this post in the app iA Writer, it is storing in in Dropbox. You might need to pay for larger storage because the free 2 GB can go fast if you are iPad only. More info on Dropbox.

Solution Number 2 – POGOPLUG: You will need PogoPlug in addition to Dropbox. A PogoPlug is a device that plugs into your home network, which you then plug in a hard drive. I bought my PogoPlug for around $75 and I plugged in a 1.5 TB hard drive I had kicking around. I then moved every digital thing I owned onto that drive; music, movies, files, you name it, I put it on that drive. The app on my iPad allows me to access all of these files from any Internet connection in the world.One more important thing about the PogoPlug is that it allows me to sync my photos and videos to it from my iPad and iPhone. Since I shoot a lot of photos and videos on my two iDevices, this was a critical component to freeing up storage space. I just sync and then delete the originals off my iDevices. Ahhh, sweet free space. More info on PogoPlug.

Solution Number 3 – ITUNES MATCH: I personally thingk that my PogoPlug does the work on iTunes Match for me, but some of you might want to add this to your iPad only world. iTunes Match allows you to access all of your music from all of your iDevices, which again, frees up space on your iPad. More info on iTunes Match. Updates (2/4/12): I recently purchased iTunes Match because the PogoPlug did not keep my playlists and iTunes Match improved my music (better file type). Now I can access my entire library from anywhere with Internet.

Although I do not mention it as a solution, I do use the basic iCloud account to sync my iWork documents. I feel using iCloud with the iPad is just a given — with all that it will do to sync your info between all of your devices, it is a must have.

In the next post I will tackle the controversial issue of whether or not to use an external keyboard with you iPad. (Hint, hint, you’re not going to like what I am going to say).

- Brad Flickinger, tech teacher, Bethke Elementary School.

Add your own ideas using the comment section below.

How do you know so much about filmmaking?

Posted by Brad Flickinger on Jan 29, 2012 in school technology | 0 comments

#edtech #edchat #FETC

After my recent presentation at FETC, I got the usual question, “How do you know so much about filmmaking?” My answer is simple, “Atomic Learning.”

Filmmaking with kids.

Years ago when I first wanted my elementary kids to make their own movie I turned to the Video Story Telling Guide at Atomic Learning. Back then we barely had anything — a flip video camera, a tripod and our school had a subscription to Atomic Learning. That was it, but it was plenty enough to make a movie. The first movie I made was “Dude! Where’s My Pencil?” Thanks to what I learned about filmmaking from the video tutorials I found on Atomic Learning, So began on my path to student filmmaking and I haven’t looked back since.

I look at the lessons on Atomic Learning as just tools that help me get to where I want to be as a 21st Century educator. Since my first film, I moved on into podcasting with young students, and many other projects. Projects that help my students become better prepared for the modern world that they live in. Projects that I was able to do because of the lessons I found on Atomic Learning.

The latest thing I had to take on was the iPad, more and more students are using them and I want to make sure I was ahead of the curve so I turned back to Atomic Learning and did a search for iPad and I got 192 lessons! I scanned the lessons and soon for the ones that I needed to stay ahead of my kids.

At a modern educator I need every tool that helps me stay on top of my profession, so it is nice that I don’t have to go all over the web looking for help.

- Brad Flickinger, Tech Teacher, Bethke Elementary School

Podstock 2012 You’ve Gotta Go!

Posted by Brad Flickinger on Jan 27, 2012 in school technology | 2 comments

#edtech #edchat #podstock2012

I put together a little video about the keynote that I will be giving at Podstock 2012 this year…

My FETC Presentation as PDF

Posted by Brad Flickinger on Jan 26, 2012 in school technology | 0 comments

#edtech #FETC

Here is a copy of the presentation I gave yesterday at FETC. “Unbelievable Elementary Tech Projects.”

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3473176/Unbelievable_Tech.pdf

Is the keyboard dead?

Posted by Brad Flickinger on Jan 26, 2012 in school technology | 1 comment

#edtech #edchat #mlearning

The kids of today are fine to not have a physical keyboard.

Has the physical keyboard gone the way of the Dodo bird?

This week I went to the FETC in Orlando, so I got to see thousands of techie teachers in one place over a few days. With such wide view of so many people I started to wonder about the future of some of the technology that we use, or don’t use.

As I looked around I noticed that most of the teachers were either using Smartphones or tablets to take their notes of the sessions they attended. Only a small percentage had laptop computers and an even smaller percentage had actual paper notebooks with real pens! Now granted, this was a tech convention, so I know that this group does not actually represent the real population, but I do think that they are a bit of a crystal ball of what is to come.

The kids of today are getting so used to either onscreen or micro keyboards that they almost wouldn’t know what to do with a real one if the had one in front of them. It is us adults that are having a hard time with the transition.

I still see many adults with a mouse connected to the laptop — like they are still trying to hold on to a little bit of the past. They balance the mouse on their knee or on the corner of their laptop. Their refusal of using their trackpad makes them look silly to the younger generation, “Check out the guy with his mouse,” they chuckle at each other as they point. “It’s called a trackpad, use it.”

My wife gave me a wireless keyboard recently. Don’t tell my wife but it is still in the wrapper. I don’t want it. I hate when I see people trying to turn their tablets into laptops by adding keyboards. This looks as silly as the mouse balancers.

The biggest problem with this is that the people who are in charge of technology for schools are sometimes stuck in these old paradigms. “We can’t get tablets for the students, they don’t have keyboards, how could they do a report?” I have news for you, the kids don’t want them. Like me they have adjusted to the onscreen keyboard.

If we are truly living in the “post PC era,” as recent reports suggest, then while are we still trying to put our schools and students back into it?

- Brad Flickinger, Tech Teacher, Bethke Elementary School