March 1, 2010
Read Across America Day: All “Dr. Seuss” Applications on Sale

In celebration of Theodor Geisel’s (Dr. Seuss) birthday, and Read Across America Day, all Dr. Seuss iPhone applications are on sale for $0.99. This is a great deal considering the eBook applications normally are $3.99, the Dr. Seuss camera apps are normally $2.99, and the Grinchmas! game is normally $1.99.

Here are the 6 applications for sale:

(Links open in iTunes)

Check out “The Cat in the Hat” in action below:

9:28pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/421071361/read-across-america-day-all-dr-seuss-applications
FILED UNDER: iphone dr. seuss learning reading kids
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February 26, 2010
Technology booming in ND schools | Grand Forks, North Dakota

“I think maybe more time should be spent with spelling, reading and writing,” said Cleo Kulish, a retired teacher from Dickinson. Kulish taught for about 42 years, some of them in country schools, and said that before she retired about 19 years ago

I don’t think anyone can argue with this. The tools may change, but many of the goals are the same.

6:58am | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/413143479/technology-booming-in-nd-schools-grand-forks-north
FILED UNDER: technology learning
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February 25, 2010
3 Reasons Schools Don't Need iPads - The Atlantic Business Channel

“First, I’d argue that for most subjects, media isn’t very important to learning. Take math, for example. What can multimedia really do that a chalk and blackboard can’t? I guess equations may be prettier on an iPad’s screen, but that’s about it. How about for English/literature? Now you can read a book on the iPad, but you don’t learn more by doing so. And even then, any old e-reader will do. With history, I guess you can view video clips or pictures on an iPad. But you could do the same with a film projector and an e-mail from the professor with the slides/clips attached for studying. Science may sort of blend all of the other three: there may be visuals and equations. But the iPad won’t help you execute the scientific method in the lab.”

Hmmm. Interesting. Another business/finance blogger making assumptions and claims about a product that still is not out. What do other educators think about this? Specifically —-> “media isn’t very important to learning.”

2:14pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/411580456/3-reasons-schools-dont-need-ipads-the-atlantic
FILED UNDER: ipad school learning
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This is my favorite slide from Scott Meech’s presentation at ICE 2010. It really should cause any educator to pause and reflect. Scott has posted the rest on IEAR.org.

This is my favorite slide from Scott Meech’s presentation at ICE 2010. It really should cause any educator to pause and reflect.

Scott has posted the rest on IEAR.org.

7:46am | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/411083170/this-is-my-favorite-slide-from-scott-meechs
FILED UNDER: technology learning excitement
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February 24, 2010
My Kid’s an Honor Student at iPad University: Apple on the Rebound in Edu | John Paczkowski | Digital Daily | AllThingsD

“The soon-to-be-introduced iPad has the potential to change the buying dynamics in both the secondary and higher education markets,” Wolf writes. “At $500 before typical education discounts, the iPad is price competitive with all the PCs schools now purchase. And the device has the potential to go much further if, as it appears certain, education content is customized for the iPad to exploit its unique multimedia capabilities. It is not difficult to imagine classrooms where the iPad takes center stage, capturing a significant percentage of the school market in the process.”

Customization of educational content for the iPad is critical. It can’t just be videos embedded in between blocks of text though. Publishers need to view the iPad (and “new” tablet/slate compututers) as an avenue for new experiences for their users. The “experience” that people have had with current e-readers is not too far off from the printed versions of books that sit on shelves.

As much as I would like to see the iPad play an important role in the school market… I hope it does not take “center stage”. As educators our focus should be on the learner, not the tool they use to learn.

3:21pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/409564672/my-kids-an-honor-student-at-ipad-university-apple-on
FILED UNDER: ipad education learning future apple
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U. releases Kindle pilot data - The Daily Princetonian

Despite the Kindle’s environmental friendliness, users said they often found its design ill-suited for class readings. Students and faculty participating in the program said it was difficult to highlight and annotate PDF files and to use the folder structure intended to organize documents, according to University surveys. The inability to quickly navigate between documents and view two or more documents at the same time also frustrated users.

The challenges that these students and professors had with the Kindle, in its current form, will hopefully change when the iPad comes out. In college I was lucky enough to have professors that accessed different types of literature/articles and made sure to provide access to these documents in PDF form. Most I never printed out. All of them I did highlight and annotate on my computer. I hope that the iPad will replicate this experience.

12:25pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/409338590/u-releases-kindle-pilot-data-the-daily-princetonian
FILED UNDER: kindle ipad learning reading education
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February 23, 2010
friezlandipodprojectlive: “The Touch isn’t a device that lends itself to use from the front of the classroom. It’s real strength lies in providing access to data while pupils work independently. There are times though when instructions need to be delivered from the front, so this week we started to use the visualiser with the Touch. Above you can see the pupil’s working with teaching staff. This has made demonstrating/teaching with the Touch much easier.”

friezlandipodprojectlive:

“The Touch isn’t a device that lends itself to use from the front of the classroom. It’s real strength lies in providing access to data while pupils work independently. There are times though when instructions need to be delivered from the front, so this week we started to use the visualiser with the Touch. Above you can see the pupil’s working with teaching staff. This has made demonstrating/teaching with the Touch much easier.”

3:25pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/407487887/friezlandipodprojectlive-the-touch-isnt-a
FILED UNDER: ipod touch education learning
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February 19, 2010
"I think they definitely reinforce the concepts we’re trying to teach these younger children – handwriting, simple numbers, hand-eye coordination, patterning, letter sounds. And going down the line, I think it will be interesting to see how this concept works when we get the kids together to use them in groups and/or when there’s some teacher input as well."

— Technology advances for toddlers at Country School - Weston, MA - The Weston Town Crier

4:07pm | URL: http://bytes.edumacnation.com/post/399135675/i-think-they-definitely-reinforce-the-concepts
FILED UNDER: ipod touch preschool learning news
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