I have the pleasure of co-teaching a freshman science class this semester - the class is full of inquisitive and amazing students! This week, we conducted a lab investigation on synthetic polymers. I was able to capture video clips and use iMovie to create a visual representation of their 84 minute class in just over 4 minutes! Enjoy!
I don't normally have time to surf through the headlines on Yahoo. com, but I found myself with a few extra minutes this morning and was immediately drawn to a story about a baby beluga whale being born to a first time mother, in an aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia. Here's the link to the article... http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/33671/aquariums+prized+beluga+whale+baby+in+a+struggle+for+survival/ Beluga whales born to first time mothers, have a small chance of survival, whether or not they're born in captivity or wild. Why?! In my quest for an answer, I visited the Blog of the Aquarium, and was saddened to find out, the baby calf had passed away 5 days after its birth... the Senior VP and Chief Zoologist has published a touching video & story about this experience. You can see it by visiting YouTube. This story reminds me of an opportunity I had on my 21st birthday. My parents paid for me and my friend Jon (he's in the white hat) to participate in the "Beluga Whale" experience at Mystic Aquarium. Belugas are such a gentle, peaceful creature.
The Wide World of Apps. Where in the world do we start when we look for apps? iTunes is a great resource, but there are so many apps that go untAPPed, where's the best direction to go? Here are a few suggestions! AppStart for iPad http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/appstart-for-ipad-2012-edition/id408984648?mt=8 "AppStart takes a fresh and fun approach to teach the average Joe (or insert your name here) how to become more familiar with his/her iPad and apps. NO THIS IS NOT A BORING MANUAL. We’ll fill you on the basic things that everyone should know, and then get you started with the best apps for you. Throughout the app you’ll find special sections that tell you apps you'll need to turn your iPad into a specific kind of tool. You'll also be given a list of the essentials apps for certain types of user (lawyers, teachers, musicians, moms, dads, etc). If you see something that sounds interesting to you, click it! We’ll give you the exact set of apps to download and you’ll be on your way, no need to scour the top charts in the App Store. " (iTunes description, free) Apps Gone Free http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/appsgonefree/id470693788?mt=8 "Every day hundreds of apps reduce their price to free for a limited time to try to stimulate excitement. Wouldn't it be great to get a hand picked, human curated list of ONLY the ones that are good? You shouldn't waste your time finding these deals, then scouring through them all to find something worth downloading. Let AppsGoneFree do all the work for you. Every day we'll give you custom advice written by a professional AppAdvice app enthusiast. We handpick only the best apps that are temporarily free each day, and tell you all about them so you can choose if they are for you. You'll get a list of these apps, along with a couple of sentences about why the app should be installed!" (iTunes description, free) App Advice
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/appadvice/id364906378?mt=8 "AppAdvice tells you everything there is to know about apps and your iPhone or iPad. What's the latest app news? Which apps came out and need to be downloaded right now? Want to see a detailed review of any app in the top 25? Need to know what the best Twitter client is? AppAdvice shows you which apps you can't live without and uncovers tips and tricks to get your iDevice rocking to its full potential." (iTunes description, ) I attended an iPad workshop at UCONN today... there were over 400 teachers, administrators and students at this workshop. The keynote speaker was Dr. Alice Christie (www.alicechristie.org) and she shared an infinite amount of knowledge - which I would love to share, however, it would be pages long. So I've chosen the top 3 things I learned from her today.
1. Let's not waste our time using apps that tap the part of our brain that promotes consumption, repetition, addiction, drill and practice, and stymie creativity. Let's spend our time collaborating, communicating, creating and problem solving. 2. Think about how technology inspires you. Take those inspirations, and do something with them. 3. Technology can be used to reach "unimaginable" heights. How will you use technology as your ladder to reach these heights? Dr. Christie introduced a really neat concept today - Google Treks. http://googletreks.org/. This pairing of geography to tech based learning experiences promotes a more comprehensive comprehension of information. This Google Trek example, Barbie Doll , is based on a poem. The Trek takes you around the world as the poem is geographically connected to author and manufacturer. Such a NEAT concept!! Finally, I added a new feature to the "Today's Featured Movie, Widgets & Polls" page. |