3-D printers, or plastic extrusion machines that can make products, are poised to enter home electronics market - latimes.com

3-D printers, or plastic extrusion machines that can make products, are poised to enter home electronics market - latimes.com

iPAD- "Coming to a school near you?"

iPads are coming...to school, well, colleges right now.

A few signs that iPads are coming to school officially began last week in my first online class with California educators on the topic of "How to use the iPad in Education".  The enthusiasm and high interest of fellow educators whose comments were well founded in creditable, applicable uses of a new tool made for a good reason to embrace this new tool. I thank them for sharing new apps and ideas.

Other signs on the college front, are the lucky students will be getting free iPads at the some colleges and universities including the  Illinois Institute of Technology .  They are providing their undergraduates iPads in order to introduce them to new technologies. Seton hall is also giving all entering students an iPad for connectivity. There are some glitches (no surprise for new tech)  in the networking connectivity in a few colleges- Princeton and George Washington University - but Apple is working on the security issues.

My thoughts always go back to the basics, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic in which the iPad has made some great progress.  An advantage the iPad has is in Reading.

READING BOOKS

My preference for 'reading books on the iPad' includes  the visual swish of the page turning, ability to lighten the screen with no need for a night reading light, definitions of words readily available WITH additional info, and books are cheaper! One can also have the text read aloud to them by changing the settings for voice aloud- very helpful for dsylexic and  visually impaired challenges are overcome as one can have books read aloud.

 One book or app can be shared on one computer with many iPads ( at least for now) which means we save on purchasing many books or apps. In our fiscal crisis now, that is a big plus!

It still seems more likely that the iPad is prompting the digital textbook era indicated by the new Kindle app for the iPad and the app for Direct purchasing of textbooks.

As for reading, Palm Beach State College has a e-digital library with iPads that patrons can check out and download a book to read. It is a service beyond it's time and sounds wonderful.

My prediction is: let it get into more people's hands and used more often. The real test is in it's use.

iPad is sooo cool!

iPad 
Case
After shopping around to find a pocketbook or travel bag, I went to Ebay and got a great iPAD case.
 $10.95 and free shipping - this is a great buy and works really well. Also has a kick stand that slides nicely against the back cover when not in use. It feels and looks like leather and holds the iPAD in place while using it in all positions. Never use an iPad without a case!

APPs  Although I have Pages and Keynote on my Mac- I need SOME creative tools on my iPAD so bought them for about $20 this week and really love the Keynote ( similar to PowerPoint for presentations) but has the most gorgeous and eye captivating wipes and visuals. It is easy to use to make your content look very professional and eye catching especially on The iPad. Plus, you can connect the iPad directly to show it to a group without carrying your computer. Pages ( like Word) is for making word documents for Mac products and transferable to Word documents. The templates for teachers, home, and business produce professional documents.

Urban Spoon: Looking for a place to eat and want more info than Yelp, go to URBAN SPOON. I  love it! It identifies places to eat, maps, reviews, etc in an easy format with a fun spin! iPad version is so easy to view and locates your choices on a map connected with reviews and directions.
With over 25,000 choices in LA alone, it helps as it narrows down the choices by cost, all types of food, and locations.
Games:  I was up late at night this week, trying to get past  Level 4  on "Angry Birds" lite version -video.  Physics problem- solving skills are useful as one uses little birds to tumble down walls of crystal, wood, and bricks surrounding smiling pigs. The animal sounds are annoying and if you turn them down, you miss the tumbling crystal and poofs of success. Yes, I downloaded the HD version and made it to Level 10 in no time. Physics is helpful. Some have said that you can download the iPhone version for one dollar but the iPad version has better graphics.  Thanks, Clenet, for telling me all about tapping for extras, ie. blue birds burst to three, red birds to power thrust, and patience!

iPad in Education: Yes! iPADs are great for schools!  I am a working model of how it is so applicable to the schools and learning and will report to you all.   Students are really excited, so excited that it is becoming a popular choice for birthday and graduation gifts. High school students are leaders and smart about grasping to new things! This is one of them.

"Painting Electronics" of M.I.T. Media Lab was GREAT!

"Painting Electronics"

Leah Buechley & team of the 

M.I.T. Media Lab 

Workshop

High Tech/Low Tech
Picture Projects
iPhone (left)
iPad (Right)
by Peg Verdi

Wonderful, exciting, and innovative studies are being done in the M.I.T. Media Lab and here was another chance for me to experience it firsthand. On a beautiful sunny Saturday in Cambridge, I was surrounded by a great group of creative, innovative, well versed in technology and design people who guided our equally motivated and talented group of learners as we journeyed into the world of integrating circuitry and design at M.I.T.  Leah Beuchley- High Tech /Low Tech Studies  workshop assisted by her team of innovators (  Emily Marie Lovell, Dave Mellis, Hannah Perner-Wilson, and Bonifaz Haufman )   all of whom were so helpful, patient, and knowledgeable. I  learned soooo much- using the right side and the left side of my brain !    Exploring how technology facilitates expressions and ways it empowers us in communication and the arts is exciting. Teardrop kits used  for paper models ( which our table took to 3D paper models) and touching upon the pop book with dynamic aspects of sound and light Would love to work with the wearable elements of circuitry and modular chips. Thanks Dave for the explanation of how to program the chips and Leah and Emily for guiding my design and bridges. Will share some more pics of this great day- in the meantime, look at these pics for what is 'behind the scenes".  and many thank you's to Leah, her staff, and my new table creator friends! ( Susan, Angela, and Violet! ) for fulfilling one of my dreams and opening a new door of discovery and creating for me.