The Biggest QR Code in the World and other Important Matters

From Facebook

World's Largest QR Code
The code . . . got the Kraays into the Guinness Book of World Records for "World's Largest QR Code," which was really what drove this whole project. At approximately 29,000 meters (1.1 square miles), that's quite a bit of carefully crafted [cornfield design]. . . . 
http://tinyurl.com/9ztkz8v

Google Drive Versus Evernote
Now iPhone and iPad users can edit Google Docs natively on their devices for the first time. With 5GB of free storage, integration with other Google services, and powerful text and image recognition when searching for files, Google Drive is now a formidable challenger to Evernote on iOS. How do they stack up?
http://tinyurl.com/9ztkz8v



Eight Great Gmail Tips
Over the years, Google has reinforced its unique approach and built bigger and better features into Gmail. The result, however, can be daunting. Which of this email program’s many option do you actually need? Here are eight tips for using the best.
http://tinyurl.com/bw3oz6r

Apple is Already Fighting Amazon in Ebook Price Wars
We’re already seeing that even if Apple would prefer agency pricing, price bands and MFNs for books, it’s willing to compete on price in the absence of those things. And it has a lot more money to do so than other ebook retailers like Barnes & Noble and Kobo.
http://tinyurl.com/8rkhqad

Will the Internet Replace Traditional Education
The future of education, both online and offline, will be won by those who understand that why, how and where people learn are not one­-size-­fits-­all questions.

Take Out from the Opinion Drive-thru

Microsoft Takes Aim At Apple With Business-Friendly 'Surface' Tablet

Microsoft is doing its best to make Windows 8 as attractive as possible, especially to business users, in an attempt to carve out a space in an Apple-dominated tablet market with its Surface tablet.

http://onforb.es/NgFa9I

Apple’s Retina-Equipped MacBook Pro Is a Sight to Behold

With its newest MacBook Pro, Apple has drafted another set of design standards and build philosophies for PC makers to follow, this time for high-performance machines. The next wave of portable computers will become even slimmer. They will lose their optical drives. Their serviceability will be limited. And the screens will get better — much better.

http://bit.ly/NO8CFk

50 Must Have iOS Apps for iPhone and iPad Users

iPhone is a great phone. Hardware and software aside, what makes the phone great is the app ecosystem. There are lot of apps available in Apple App Store and you will surely find lot of apps that you’ll like. In this post, I have listed 50 apps that I have found after lot of searching and trying.

http://bit.ly/NO66ik

QR Codes: Poetry & Speech Units

While QR codes could be used to direct students to any type of podcast, they are incredibly helpful for teaching poetry and short speeches. In such a context, students have the ability to choose their own “text” and listen, review, take notes, even evaluate.

http://bit.ly/NO6ygE

14 Ways to Use Garageband in the Classroom

Garageband is a great app that I think any student or teacher using an iPad should consider buying. It is a multi-track audio editing app that is as robust as you will ever need (unless of course you teach audio production). Later this week I will be posting a new page full of Garageband resources for teachers, students and learning. For now, you can get your brain juices flowing by reading the list below, watching the embeded ‘how to’ videos, and then go start playing with Garageband yourself!

http://bit.ly/MuvnYX

Obama directive means federal agencies have to go mobile — can newsrooms keep up?

Major federal agencies are getting 12 months to implement new mobile strategies, the White House announced on Wednesday. President Barack Obama says each major agency has to pick two “key government services” to make available on mobile phones. Obama said in a statement that “Americans deserve a government that works for them anytime, anywhere, and on any device.”

http://bit.ly/KjndTs

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"Take Out" with generous permission of americanvirus

New Apps and Methods

CloudOn Brings Microsoft Office Apps To iPads

If you’re a frequent Microsoft Office user, then this is a must-have iPad app. Until Microsoft releases an official iOS version of its Office suite, this is the best alternative on an iOS device.

http://bit.ly/zzlBu7

QR Coded Student Videos: Classifying Activity

Have them generate QR Codes for each video they created using a service such http://goqr.me/ or  YouTube Video QR Code Generator.  These are generated by inserting the YouTube video URL to general the QR code.

http://bit.ly/AsirrY

Professor’s Classroom iPad App Debuts

A professor from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor is trying to turn the iPad into a new kind of classroom tool that lets students draw on a shared canvas.

http://bit.ly/vZj3B1 

Inkling Creates First Industrial-Grade Publishing Platform For Interactive eBooks

The team set out to build a publishing platform that would redefine digital media, starting with reinventing the textbook. But in doing so, they’ve discovered that to reinvent books, they’ve had to go back to ground zero and re-imagine the entire printing process itself.

http://tcrn.ch/wDaEyk

Twitter Helps Journalists Break News

Researchers at Rutgers University and Microsoft developed Seriously Rapid Source Review to give journalists access to breaking news like never before. Reporters won’t have to comb the web — or Twitter’s 200 million tweets a day — for sources.

http://on.mash.to/xzcICe

Scanner Apps Turn the Phone Into a Fax Machine

The scanning process is fairly consistent, regardless of the app. You take a photo of a page, preferably in good light. The software scans the image and lets you crop it before a version is created for sharing. 

http://nyti.ms/zG0AeA 

Connections, Common Sense, QR Codes, and other Good Stuff!

Beginning the School Year:  It's about Connections, Not Content


Most classes, starting with about middle school, begin the school year with reviewing the content to be covered, expectations regarding grades, and other academic information provided by the teacher or instructor.  The human or social element is often disregarded.  

What is interesting is that most learners enter the classroom wondering who is in the course.  They want to know about the teacher and the people in the class not what material is to be covered. What this says to me as an educator is that it all begins with a social connection – between the educator and the learners, and between the learners themselves.

The QR Code for the Drive-thru

http://bit.ly/nTksrk

Online Education: A Word of Caution


 The pedagogical structures for most online courses is traditional and does not meet the needs of all students and the variety of learning styles that they come with. Although there might be a variety of media types, such as videos or music or reading, the lesson design is still in the "sage on the stage" mode, where the course knows the content and pushes it out on students. 

http://huff.to/n3v7eY





If Cellphones Existed Back in the Founding Fathers' Time

In many ways, our personal communications technologies are as integral to our modern life as a sidearm was in Washington and Jefferson’s day.

http://zd.net/reJJLg




Casting a Wide Net for Mentors

This fall, thousands of the nation's students hoping to find specialized knowledge on subjects ranging from paleontology to bus mechanics will do what Julia did: develop "PLNs," or Personal Learning Networks.Created by a loose consortium of teachers that now numbers nearly 9,700, PLNs use social networking to match experts with students who otherwise wouldn't be able to find specialized instruction, help or advice.

http://usat.ly/nAzkO2




QR Code Resources in Education


All about QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) by the Cybraryman


http://cybraryman.com/qrcodes.html

Common Sense Tips for Internet Safety
Digital life is very public and often permanent. If our kids don't protect their privacy, what they do online will create digital footprints that wander and persist. Something that happens on the spur of the moment -- a funny picture, a certain post -- can resurface years later. And if kids aren't careful, their reputations can get away from them and third parties -- like marketers or potential employers -- can access what kids thought was private information.


http://bit.ly/nCBzIY