Good Tuesday morning and welcome to the last edition of Coffee & iPads! Today’s topic is the last in a series about tools you don’t know you have on the iPad; specifically, annotating photos in the new iOS. Continue reading
Good Tuesday morning and welcome to another edition of Coffee & iPads! Today’s topic is the first in a series about tools you don’t know you have on the iPad. Today, we look at quick response scanners or QR codes.
Remember those barcode looking things that used to be everywhere a few years back and now they are nowhere because nobody used them? Well, they are going to start coming back. Part of the reason they were never popular was because you had to have a separate app that would scan them and that meant that you had to open the app to make it work. It wasn’t worth the extra tap. Apple and Android devices, however, are making them a lot easier to scan by incorporating the scanners in their camera app. Continue reading
Good Tuesday morning and welcome to a special edition of Coffee & iPads! Today’s topic is helping parents parent with the iPad. I feel this topic is of special significance and I have made the decision to send it to all staff and not just weekly subscribers. I hope after reading this, you will forgive my intrusion.
As much as these devices have made parts of our lives more efficient and teaching more effective, we need to recognize the obvious truth: they have caused negative behaviors and can impact the physical well-being of our students and families. Tech addiction and the consequences associated with it is a societal problem that is currently being studied(See my past newsletter on this issue here). This is a problem that would exist whether or not we were a one to one district. By providing iPads to our students, however, we have entered the issue, we must recognize the problem and we have a role to educate and provide our families with tools and resources to manage behaviors at home. Consider the following statistics:
– 92% of teens 13 to 17 report going online daily
– Nearly 3/4 of teens own or have access to a smartphone
– Seventy-one percent of teenagers use Facebook, making it the most popular social media site for the age group.
Statistics found from the Pew Research Center. More information about technology in society can be found in this part of the Pew Research Center site.
The devices issued by the school are managed, controlled and monitored by our IT department. I had a conversation with our Network Manager, Jeremy Schoonover, and this is what he said that parents should know:
– The App Store does not exist on any student device in our school district. Rather, the district provides an app repository that requested apps, by teachers and students, will be provided after thorough review and approval.
– All web content is filtered at school and home. Students should not be able to access inappropriate material.
– Social media is blocked. No Facebook, Twitter, Instagram on school issued devices.
– YouTube is allowed through the browser for educational purposes. It is in safe mode for middle school students and below.
– iPads are used because they are not susceptible to viruses.
– iPads are also used because students’ data is not obtainable by third parties.
While the district has locked down iPads to ensure students’ safety, a majority have personal devices. For parents struggling with students and technology at home, here are some resources:
Finally, I would encourage all teachers to remind parents that students do not need to use their devices for school work if it is causing problems in the home and that they should communicate with teachers. Activities not involving technology can be substituted with an alternative activity or only done at school.
If you have your own thoughts on this topic and these suggestions, feel free to send them to me.
This newsletter is an experiment. It is also flexible to your needs. Please feel free to provide your feedback on the usefulness of the information I have been sending you by replying to any of the newsletter emails.
We have almost reached the end of the trial period for Coffee and iPads. In the next few weeks, subscribers should expect to receive a survey to gauge the effectiveness of this newsletter in meeting teacher and student needs. With your feedback, I will decide the next step in this adventure. Thank you!
Good Tuesday morning! Situational Awareness: Starbuck’s Holiday Cups were revealed Wednesday November 1st. I apologize for not alerting you earlier.
I also apologize for not informing you about today’s topic earlier in the Coffee and iPads newsletters. The number one complaint I heard from staff and students about the iPads in years past was the lack of a keyboard. Today, I want to talk all about keyboards: real and virtual.
It’s a shame that our students all received actual keyboards with their iPads and teachers did not. There is so much to learn from having the same technology experiences as our students. Specifically, students should know about keyboard shortcuts. Please share the following with your students. They will love the fact that they can navigate through the iPad with these quick shortcuts:
There are times I prefer the virtual keyboard. Specifically for the functionality it can offer when using trackpad mode.
If you have your own thoughts on this topic and these suggestions, feel free to send them to me.
This newsletter is an experiment. It is also flexible to your needs. Please feel free to provide your feedback on the usefulness of the information I have been sending you by replying to any of the newsletter emails. Are there other topics you would like me to cover? Is something not clear and needs further explaining? I value your feedback and will use it to make this newsletter better for you. Thank you!
Good Tuesday morning! I don’t know about you, but this daylight savings time thing makes me drink extra strong coffee. Throw the fact that I need to get my grades in by Wednesday morning, and am no where near reaching that deadline, and I’m a bit frantic. For this reason, I am going to share a quick little tool with you and get back to grading my students’ writing and drinking my coffee. Meet assistive touch.
If you have your own thoughts on this topic and these suggestions, feel free to send them to me.
This newsletter is an experiment. It is also flexible to your needs. Please feel free to provide your feedback on the usefulness of the information I have been sending you by replying to any of the newsletter emails. Are there other topics you would like me to cover? Is something not clear and needs further explaining?I value your feedback and will use it to make this newsletter better for you. Thank you!
Good morning and happy Halloween! Haven’t quite nailed down that amazing costume idea for the Halloween party tonight? Try this, hold the home button on your iPad and ask Siri “What should I be for Halloween?” If you don’t like the answer, try it a few times and she’ll give you new ideas. Also, ask her “Trick or Treat” and see what happens. Today, I want to look at the powers of Siri; and not just to entertain. There are some real important things that Siri can help you and your students do.
Perhaps one of the more interesting features is Siri allows the ability to transcribe. In other words, you can speak and Siri will write for you. On your keyboard is an icon of a microphone. Tap it and talk. Simply say the punctuation when you want it placed in the text and Siri does it for you. Watch the video below to help generate some possible uses for this function.
If you have your own thoughts on this topic and these suggestions, feel free to send them to me.
This newsletter is an experiment. It is also flexible to your needs. Please feel free to provide your feedback on the usefulness of the information I have been sending you by replying to any of the newsletter emails. Are there other topics you would like me to cover? Is something not clear and needs further explaining? I value your feedback and will use it to make this newsletter better for you. Thank you!
What a wonderful brisk morning! Grab a cup of coffee and ponder the following question. Did you wake up this morning with a roof over your head, in a heated home, with all your appendages and senses? If yes, you are blessed. Not all are able to make it through life without overcoming major obstacles to achieve daily goals. Some have struggles we cannot imagine. No technology can rid the daily struggles these individuals face. However, technology can ease struggles for some and allow a path to success. The iPad has powerful accessibility features that can make learning accessible to many whom it may not have been before. Today, I want to show you how to make text speak to you on the iPad.
Note: These are my first Coffee & iPad videos. Be nice as I did not have a lot of time to make them pretty. By the way, they were made on the iPad.
You can check them off as you go. This works best if you have this email open on your computer or you print this off so you can work with your iPad while you read. Estimated Time to Complete: 3:24 (Times may vary from individual to individual)
If you have your own thoughts on this topic and these suggestions, feel free to send them to me.
This newsletter is an experiment. It is also flexible to your needs. Please feel free to provide your feedback on the usefulness of the information I have been sending you by replying to any of the newsletter emails. Are there other topics you would like me to cover? Is something not clear and needs further explaining? I value your feedback and will use it to make this newsletter better for you. Thank you!
Good Tuesday morning and happy birthday to Jill Amoth! My breakfast has been eaten, teeth brushed and coffee brewed. I like to be efficient. I like to save time. Today’s newsletter is focused on tips and tricks to be efficient with Safari on your iPad.
You can check them off as you go. This works best if you have this email open on your computer or you print this off so you can work with your iPad while you read. Estimated Time to Complete: 1:07 (Times may vary from individual to individual)
All images courtesy of Learning in Hand and 9 to 5 Mac.
Open several tabs in Safari on your iPad. Now, long press the open windows icon. You have the option to close one tab, all open tabs, create a new private tab, open split view, etc.
Long press on a link in a webpage. The following are options you have for the link.
Long press on an image to save it to your camera roll or do the following…
Long press the reader view button to automatically turn reader view on for a website or all sites. This cleans an article of all ads and distractions. 
If you have your own thoughts on this topic and these suggestions, feel free to send them to me.
This newsletter is an experiment. It is also flexible to your needs. Please feel free to provide your feedback on the usefulness of the information I have been sending you by replying to any of the newsletter emails. Are there other topics you would like me to cover? Is something not clear and needs further explaining? I value your feedback and will use it to make this newsletter better for you. Thank you!
Top of the morning to you. The Irish have a saying; “May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, the foresight to know where you are going, and the insight to know when you have gone too far.” This is applicable to our use of technology. Technology is a tool and should only be used when it proves to make education more effective and efficient. We need to be purposeful in how we are using these devices in our classrooms and our lives. Nonetheless, we sometimes go too far with technology, using it all the time for nothing productive. We’ve all witnessed the parent who is too busy reading her email to play with her child or the star struck couple who lovingly stare at their screens during their romantic dinner. In today’s newsletter, we willl look at simple ways to control our technology use rather than our technology controlling us.
Research has proven that technology can be addictive and software developers use strategies, knowingly or unknowingly, that can develop tech-junkies. A chemical in the area of the brain that causes pleasure, called dopamine, can be triggered through very simple interactions such as causing our device to chime every time we receive a message from someone or show the number of unread emails you have in your inbox. Notifications are ruining our lives (A great article on the subject).
Video courtesy of PBS Newshour.
A similar piece done by 60 Minutes.
You can check them off as you go. This works best if you have this email open on your computer or you print this off so you can work with your iPad while you read. Estimated Time to Complete: 4:17 (Times may vary from individual to individual)
– [ ] Go to Settings—-> Do Not Disturb. Toggle the Do Not Disturb feature so it is on. This silences your device. Decide if you want to set a schedule for this feature to be on or if you should always have it on. I have mine set to always.
– [ ] Go to Settings—> Notifications. Tap on each app and turn off allow notifications. This will stop the pop down banners when a message comes to you and turn off the badge counts that appear on your apps.
– [ ] Swipe up until you have accessed control center (Reference last weeks newsletter if you are not sure how to do this). Tapping the bell will allow you to quickly turn silence on and off. Note, this silences noises made by notifications and does not mute your audio. Tapping the crescent moon will allow you to turn Do Not Disturb off and on quickly.
– [ ] Tap on an app and drag it over another app until a folder is created.Now, drag all your apps into that folder. This forces you to know exactly what app you want to use when go into your iPad. You can pull down on the home screen of the iPad and search for that app rather than browsing through all of your apps. You can also place commonly used apps on the dock (See the newsletter from two weeks ago if you forgot how to do this).
– [ ] Set a time of the day that you check and respond to messages. Stick to it and honor your non technology times.
If you have your own thoughts on this topic and these suggestions, feel free to send them to me.
This newsletter is an experiment. It is also flexible to your needs. Please feel free to provide your feedback on the usefulness of the information I have been sending you by replying to any of the newsletter emails. Are there other topics you would like me to cover? Is something not clear and needs further explaining? I value your feedback and will use it to make this newsletter better for you. Thank you!
Good morning and thank you for subscribing to the newsletter. I believe I can speak on behalf of the entire school district when I say that your commitment to improve your knowledge and use of technology in the classroom is appreciated. For this reason, the district will be providing you with free coffee and a beautiful styrofoam cup at your next inservice. Here we go.
You can check them off as you go. This works best if you have this email open on your computer or you print this off so you can work with your iPad while you read. Estimated Time to Complete: 2:42 (Times may vary from individual to individual)
– [ ] Take your finger and swipe up from the bottom as if you were bringing the dock up. Instead of stopping when the dock pops up, keep swiping up. This area is called the control center. You can get here by double taping the home button too. What you see are open windows/apps on the left (Called the app switcher) and quick action buttons on the right.
– [ ] With control center open, swipe from the left of your screen to the right. You can see all windows/apps you have had open in the app switcher. Any split screen windows you have open will remain open. For example, if you always surf the web with safari and have the notes app open, that window will keep those two apps open.
– [ ] Place your finger on one of the windows in the app switcher and swipe up. This is how you get rid of open windows/apps. As we have been told many times, you really don’t need to do this unless you want to force quit an app. Open windows/apps do not waste your battery or slow down your iPad.
– [ ] Go to settings —> select Control Center—>Customize Controls. That’s right, you can control what quick action buttons appear on the right of your control center. Add Screen Recording. I would also suggest adding the clock and Apple TV remote.
– [ ] Long press any of the quick actions in the control center and you get more options.
The screen recording tool is perhaps the most powerful feature in iOS 11 for teachers. It can only be turned on through the control center settings and accessed in control center.
Picture courtesy of Tony Vincent at Learning in Hand. Also a great resource for lesson ideas and effective use of technology.
Video courtesy of AppleInsider.
If you have your own thoughts on this feature, feel free to send them to me.
This newsletter is an experiment. It is also flexible to your needs. Please feel free to provide your feedback on the usefulness of the information I have been sending you by replying to any of the newsletter emails. Are there other topics you would like me to cover? Is something not clear and needs further explaining? I value your feedback and will use it to make this newsletter better for you. Thank you!
Mr. Kamrowski 