iBooks Textbooks are now available in the US. Apple’s version of the e-textbook is another reason why we need iPads in the classroom.

Senior vice president Phil Schiller led us through Apple’s special event for educators today at the Guggenheim Museum, New York City.

• This post is written based on the official Apple video about iBooks Textbooks because textbooks are not available in Canada, yet.
• You can however, download the iBook Textbook (E.O. Wilson’s Life on Earth – Edward O. Wilson, Morgan Ryan & Gael McGill) that they use in the iBooks 2 launch video to see the potential of iBooks Textbooks and it’s mind boggling.
• This is compared to the Pearson eText – NCS Pearson app which is incredibly slow and lacks the intuitive iPad swipe and pinch gestures.

iBooks Textbooks have a lot of potential for the K-12 classroom:

• Traditional Textbooks compared to iBooks Textbooks on the iPad
• Reasons why teachers and schools should consider using iBooks Textbooks instead of traditional printed textbooks
• Why iBooks Textbooks are better than the Pearson eText iPad app?
• How do you create iBooks Textbooks?
• Where do you find iBooks Textbooks?
• Other questions and possibilities with iBooks Textbooks
• This post was written using Dragon Naturally Speaking. The cool thing is that if you have a bluetooth headset, you can talk to your computer while listening to the lecture in your ear. (See how accurate Dragon Naturally Speaking was in this post.) Continue reading “iBooks Textbooks in elementary, middle, and highschool classrooms” »

Who is that girl? Who is that guy? Is she a model? Are these real people or is this just stock photography?

This post is part of our series on using photos on blogs:

• The first post was about where to get free photos for  your blog.
• Next, we talked about stock photography and why we decided to go with Big Stock Photo for this site.
• We also talked about how critical thinking images is an important media literacy skill that students need to develop. Just because a website or an advertisement shows happy people, it doesn’t necessarily mean that those people use the product mentioned on the website. (Heck, our site talks about Dragon Naturally Speaking and shows images of children using headsets and laptops but our photos come from Big Stock Photo. For privacy reasons, they’re not students that we personally work with.)

Today will be talking about some internet tools that you can use to figure out who is that girl / person. That way, you can figure out whether the images used on a website are paid models, or real people. Teachers can find their own examples of websites that use stock photography (to teach critical thinking skills when viewing images on websites.)

• Using Google Goggles to figure out who is that girl / guy / person
• Using Google Image Search to figure out who is that girl / guy / person.
• What about student/teacher privacy? Who is that girl? Can you search people based on a photo of them?

This post was written using Dragon Naturally Speaking voice-recognition software. Continue reading “Who Is That Girl? Using Photos on Blogs, Part 4” »

This post was written using Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11.5 premium wireless using Windows 7 64-bit.

• What is Dragon Naturally Speaking?
• Compare the different versions of Dragon Naturally Speaking before you download.

A few people have been searching this blog on classroom technology for information about how to download Dragon Naturally Speaking and so I thought I would put all of the links in one spot.

Download Dragon Naturally Speaking software links

• Download Dragon Naturally Speaking Trial version (Try Dragon Naturally Speaking risk free for 30 days.)
• Download Dragon Naturally Speaking 11.5 Online (3 reasons why you should download Dragon Naturally Speaking instead of buying the boxed physical shipment.)
• Download Dragon Naturally Speaking free service pack 1 (upgrade to Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11.5)
• Dragon Naturally Speaking was used to write this post. Find out how accurate the voice-recognition software was today

Continue reading “Download Dragon Naturally Speaking Software (Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11.5)” »

Critical Thinking Images on websites is our third episode in our series about using photos on blogs.

• Use free photos on your classroom blog to make your writing (and your students’ writing) more interesting.
• What is stock photography? Why did I decide to go with Big Stock Photo on this blog.
• Today’s post is to help teachers get students critical thinking images, videos, and other content that we see on websites, brochures, advertisements, etc.
• The next post is to give you two tools to tell if the people in any photo are professional models (i.e. is this a stock photograph?)

People use stock photography because it’s quicker, easier, and cheaper than hiring a photographer. Royalty-free stock photography is not exclusive, which means that anyone can buy that photo and use in their projects.

That’s why you sometimes see the same photo (like the one at the top of this post) appearing over and over again. We need our students to be critical thinking images that we see.

Using Photos on Blogs – Part 3: Critical Thinking Images on Websites

• Critical Thinking Images through with 5 Guiding Questions (Media Literacy)
• The question becomes (when) can you use a fake shot (i.e. stock photography) to make a real point?

• Is it wrong for a documentary to use a fabricated Hollywood shot to make a point, even if there’s science behind it?
• Should the images on a dentist’s website accurately represent their patients?
• Should the images on a politician’s website accurately reflect the people they represent?
• Should the images on a district school board’s website accurately reflect the students and teachers in that school board?

Continue reading “Critical Thinking Images On Websites: Using Photos on Blogs Part 3” »

This post about Big Stock Photo and stock photography is the second part of our series on using photos on blogs.

• The first post was on finding free photos to use in your classroom blog using the creative Commons filter on Flickr.
• Today’s post is about using stock photos on blogs. (I use Big Stock Photo on this blog.)
• Our next post will be about how teachers can use stock photography in a lesson about media literacy and critical thinking

Big Stock Photo sells stock images that you can use in commercial projects, including posters, T-shirts, and websites. (BigStockPhoto was rebranded as Bigstock when it was bought out by Shutterstock.)

Using Photos on Blogs – Part 2: Big Stock Photo

• Beginning Webmasters (i.e. classroom teachers with their first classroom blog) will not buy stock photography
• What is Stock Photography?
• How Much Does Stock Photography Cost?
• Why use Big Stock Photo?
• This post was written using Dragon Naturally Speaking 11.5 Premium.

Continue reading “Big Stock Photo: Promo Coupon – 2 Free Credits – Using Photos on Blogs Part 2” »

When the iPad first made it’s way into our home, I was skeptical.  Exactly why did we need another piece of technology?  Within a few weeks, I was singing a different tune.  I was impressed by the quick start up and the ease of moving between applications. My daughter was impressed with the iPad apps for toddlers like herself.

After a few months, I couldn’t imagine life without it.  Using “regular” computers irritated me because they weren’t as fast or user friendly as the touch sensitive tablet format of the iPad.  My husband grew tired of having to share and soon purchased a second one for me.

Is the iPad a new toy or a new tool?

• iPad Apps for Toddlers like ABC Alphabet Phonics – Preschool Kids Game Free Lite

Continue reading “iPad Apps for Toddlers – Is the iPad A New Toy or a New Tool?” »

This post is part of a series on Using Photos on Blogs

• This is part 1: Using free photos on your classroom blog.
• Coming up next is part 2: Using Stock Photos on your class website…

A picture is worth a thousand words. Which would your students find easier to read:

• a textbook filled with paragraphs and paragraphs of text, or
• a textbook broken up with colorful photos, large font headings, and interesting graphics?

The right picture can capture the reader’s attention. This is true whether you’re using photos on blogs, textbooks, or ads.

More and more people are surfing the internet using a mobile device (i.e. iPads in the classroom.) There are some great apps out there (i.e. Flipboard) which you can use to collect articles from websites, social media feeds, etc. into one place. The articles where people used photos on their blogs tend to stop us (even if it’s just for a moment.)

Our students are growing up in the digital age.

• This is the generation where two-year-olds know that after you take a photo, you can instantly see it on the back of the camera.
• We have a generation of students who have no problems cutting and pasting images online.

I wonder how many students (and teachers) know that just because you find an image online using Google search, it doesn’t mean that you have permission to use that photo.

Using Photos on Blogs – Part 1: Find Great Free Photos

1. How to find great (and free) images to use on your class website or student blogs (using Flickr)
2. Using Photos on Blogs Legally – Three important things to remember when finding free photos for your class website using Flickr and Creative Commons.
3. This post was written using Dragon Naturally Speaking. (What is Dragon Naturally Speaking?)

Continue reading “Using Photos on Blogs Part 1: Find Great Free Photos” »

Are you a student or teacher? Are you thinking about getting Dragon Naturally Speaking 11? Did you know there’s a student/teacher version which is $100 cheaper than the regular premium edition? There are some conditions that apply.

What is Dragon Naturally Speaking Software?

• What is Dragon Naturally Speaking?
• How Good is Dragon Naturally Speaking?
• What kind of commands can you give Dragon Naturally Speaking?
• What is the difference between Dragon Naturally Speaking 11.5 and Dragon Naturally Speaking 11?

Here are 10 things to know before you buy Dragon Naturally Speaking 11 Premium Student/Teacher:

1. You can save $100 by buying the education edition.
2. What’s the difference between Dragon Naturally Speaking 11 Premium Student / Teacher edition and Premium?
3. The Student/Teacher edition is not available at Future Shop, Best Buy or Staples.
4. When you buy Dragon Naturally Speaking 11 from Nuance online, there may be extra fees.
5. Dragon Naturally Speaking 11 Premium Student/Teacher is only available to qualified teachers and students.
• Students under 13 years old can qualify for the Dragon Naturally Speaking Student discount if a teacher writes a letter stating they are a student at their school.
6. If you buy the Dragon Naturally Speaking 11 Premium Student/Teacher Education Edition, apparently all sales are final.
7. Dragon Naturally Speaking 11 Premium Student/Teacher Education Edition does not come with a serial code to activate the software.
8. Only K -12 students and teachers, and higher education students and faculty can buy Dragon Naturally Speaking 11 Premium Student/Teacher.
9. If you think this is more trouble than it’s worth to save a 100 bucks to get the Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Premium Student/Teacher edition for $99.99, then you might consider getting the Dragon Naturally Speaking 11 Home edition for $99.99.
• If you get Dragon Naturally Speaking Home, you can’t upgrade to Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium
10. If you’re thinking about one day going wireless with this voice recognition software, then it’s probably cheaper to get your wireless headset bundled with the software now, rather than buying a Bluetooth headset separately later.

Continue reading “What is Dragon Naturally Speaking? 10 Things to Know Before You Buy Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Student/Teacher Education Version” »

Happy holidays to you and your family from blog.classroomteacher.ca.

If you’re a teacher that lives around here (Ontario, Canada), then chances are you’ve just begun your two weeks of winter holiday: A chance to spend time with family, loved ones, and friends… And hopefully a chance to work on some classroom technology projects, that you just haven’t gotten around to during the school year.

2011 has been a productive year for this site: 31 posts written to help teachers get more out of their computers.

• What is Dragon Naturally Speaking?
• More and more teachers are creating classroom websites to engage their students.
• iPads are great tools for the classroom.
• How to use cloud-based services in the classroom
• How teachers can become more efficient by using classroom technology or software.

Here are some of the things happening behind the scenes on this site:

• I’m hoping to tweak the look, feel and brand of ClassroomTeacher.ca.
• Sometime over the next two weeks, I’m hoping to move this site to a new web host.
• I’d like to invest money into SEO (search engine optimization) to help build this site.
• I’m also hoping to reorganize some of the information on the site.
• I’m thinking about expanding into other projects.

Continue reading “2011 Classroom Technology Blog Review: 31 Posts to Help K-12 Teachers use Technology and Software More Effectively” »

Teachers are adding classroom technology to their programs. There are lots of great websites out there to help teachers bring their lessons out of the brick-and-mortar classroom and into a digital learning space.

Unfortunately, a lot of these websites have terms of service that require users to be 13 years or older in order to sign up for an account. This is to protect minors, to protect companies from accidentally collecting personal information from minors, and to comply with privacy legislation.

It is up to the individual teacher to read the terms of service of any website service before using it with their students to ensure that they comply with any school or government privacy regulations. For example, in the US, the Federal Trade Commission Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) give parents control over what information websites can collect from their kids.

Here are some great websites that teachers use with students. Now let’s think about whether students under 13 years old are actually allowed to create accounts on their own.

• Prezi
• Xtranormal
• Evernote
• Poll Everywhere
• iPads / iTunes / iOS 5
• Google Apps for Education (Google Docs)
• Classroom Blogging Software (WordPress / Blogger)

Continue reading “Great Educational Websites That Your Students May Not Be Allowed to Use” »