Website/Wiki Tools & Apps Sheet

I recently put together a Website/Wiki Tools & Apps Sheet as I am looking for a long-term hosting solution for my iPad App Recommendations Sheet, since it currently lacks two important functions – notification features (e.g., email, RSS) and statistics capabilities.

The notification features are important because viewers want to be able to receive webpage updates on the platforms of their choosing without having to revisit the site again and again to check for updates. Examples may include their email account, Google Reader, or Facebook as options. In addition, the user of website/wiki (me) wants to know that their information is being visited. Having statistics capabilities on the back-end of the tool is incredibly valuable in terms of collecting data on visitor trends.

I hope to move the iPad App Sheet to a website/wiki after I put up approximately 25 more app recommendations. The Website/Wiki Tools & Apps Sheet can be viewed at the following link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18zkl0IQsPmd88yYRtRUdg9pvrmginKKiAw1Y8tHHmfU/edit

iPad App Recommendations Sheet

This semester, one of my goals was to create a tip sheet on mobile applications specifically for the iPad. What I found, after getting to know approximately 25 apps quite intimately, is that the iPad apps I looked at were more often than not “lighter” versions of the former Web 2.0 tools; that is, if a tool existed before the app, and also meaning if the app was not created by someone other than the tool company itself, to make the tool “mobile.”

This tip sheet is from the perspective of the educator for the purposes of content management and the building of student activities. I foresee looking at apps from the students’ perspective in the future. However, for now, I plan to continue to add more apps to the list, suggesting possible approaches to the management of content and activity building.

My recommendation for fully utilizing apps for the iPad is to consider using both the tool and the app. In other words, use the tool to manage the account. Use the app when mobile.

Below, is the link to the iPad Apps Recommendations Sheet:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UHTytcgax_cV3K0LCVA05v2yAu0c4MMbWAwDR7NWEN4/edit

Blogging Tools & Apps Matrix

Post-course, I plan to continue to blog about technologies related to distance education as a way of communicating tips and tricks I know and learn to others. However, coming into this course, I knew little about blog tools and blogging. Therefore, I put together a blogging tool and apps matrix as a self-reference document, so I could review my long-term options for tools and apps to use prior to committing to one. In other words, I want to be able to blog from my iPad and iPhone in addition to my laptop (work) and desktop (home) computers – the tool and app combination must cross-platform.

I should also mention it was important to me when creating this matrix to share it with others in the cohort, so they could use it as a reference guide as I did; or, use it for purposes of instructional design when developing an activity for students.

Overall, I hope the matrix has some worth to others as it has been a good directional piece for me, helping me to choose a tool/app combination that does what I want it to do.

Please follow the link, below, to view the matrix:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12sYhaeBVxOhX6NuVLHZTdHeVme9pcQdaVTmaTy-6IDE/edit

A Few Thoughts on University Mobile Applications

Several schools across the University of Wisconsin System (Madison, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Eau Claire, La Crosse) recently launched a university-focused mobile application (app) to be used by their students, faculty and staff, and others – specifically for both the iPhone and Android. However, before an administration begins the planning process of an app, what should be the focus of the app in terms of app features?

Below, as a reference, are the informational pages for each university app mentioned, above:

Madison: http://mobile.wisc.edu/

Milwaukee: http://www4.uwm.edu/mobile/

Oshkosh: http://www.uwosh.edu/imc/web-new-media/mobile

Eau Claire: http://www.uwec.edu/mobile.htm

La Crosse: http://uwlax.edu/mobile/

Some university apps—including and those beyond the apps from UW System—have very practical features such as transportation information; computer and laundry machine availability; schedule of university-related activities; campus maps; and learning management system access. Other features—no need to name them, here—appear to be less practical. (I’ll let you be the judge in your own search of university apps!)

Additionally, should certain functions of educational apps (e.g., flashcards, translation tools, writing style guides) be included in the university-focused apps? Might the addition of such functions better-benefit the users of the university-focused app? Should these functions replace the seemingly unimportant “other” features of the current app make-up? I suspect back-end data would tell whomever whether the “less practical” features are being used or not. This data would ultimately signal that the feature would need to be replaced.

In addition to their university app page, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has an additional page for recommended, “educational,” stand-alone apps. It's found at:  https://www4.uwm.edu/pass/downloadable-applications.cfm

Does your campus have an app? What features to you like? What features do you dislike? What functions would you add to the app if you could?

No need to name the institution… just your “likes, dislikes,” and "additions."

Online, Instructor-Created, Language Activities

I’d like to bring your attention to a relatively new, online, language activity tool called the Syntax Untangler. The Syntax Untangler was developed by Alan Ng, Continuing Studies, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The purpose of the tool is to help language learners improve their small-scale reading skills. Any language can be used with the Syntax Untangler. Additionally, it’s an open source tool, meaning anyone with programming know-how can participate in the design and building of the tool’s next versions.

More information, including examples of current features, online training, login information, Frequently Asked Questions and Known Issues information, and a slideshow presentation, can be found at: http://courses.dcs.wisc.edu/untangler/

References

Ng, A. (2011, November 3). Syntax untangler. Retrieved from
http://courses.dcs.wisc.edu/untangler/

A Suggestion for PowerPoints with Audio

It is not uncommon for a new, distance education (DE) instructor to want to add audio to their PowerPoint slides to enhance their presentation. However, even though adding audio to a presentation is considered to be a “best practice” in DE, and, knowing it does, in fact, enhance the slides themselves, and makes them more accessible as well, the combine—presentation and added audio—creates one large file that can affect the performance of the learning management system (LMS), especially if an instructor uploads many “enhanced” presentations in preparation for a 16-week course.

PowerPoint & Audio: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint-help/add-and-play-sounds-in-a-presentation-HA001230305.aspx?CTT=3

A good solution to this problem is to use a screen capturing tool to record, and chunk, the presentation for the intended audience. A URL is provided to the instructor once the presentation is captured, where the presentation is now hosted by an external server instead of being hosted by the server that carries the load of the LMS – less stress equals better LMS performance!

A couple of free, capturing options include, but are not limited to: Screenr and Jing.

Screenr: http://www.screenr.com/
Jing: http://www.techsmith.com/jing/

Other paid options include, but are not limited to: Camtasia and Tegrity.

Camtasia: http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia/
Tegrity: http://www.tegrity.com/

Both Screenr and Jing have limited capturing times—approximately five minutes—whereas one can make longer captures with Camtasia and Tegrity, if desired. The instructor should keep in mind that Screenr and Jing should be selected if one is new to capturing (for ease of use) and/or if the capture they make will only be used for a short period of time – in other words, the process is quicker with Screenr/Jing and not as permanent.

On the other hand, the instructor should use Camtasia or Tegrity if the capture is intended to be more permanent, meaning the captured presentation will be reused several times over in upcoming semesters. Last, the learning curve for Camtasia and Tegrity is much steeper than with Screenr and Jing, so choose your capturing tool wisely!

The Guardian Eyewitness App

Lately, I have been looking at iPad apps for the purposes of teaching and learning in a distance education (DE) course. The last app I explored is the Guardian Eyewitness App, which is labeled as a Curricula Support app by iTunes. The app is a collection of single photographs from the Guardian’s past 100 days – one photo for each of the 100 days. Every day a new photograph is added to the collection as the new photograph replaces the photo from the 100th day.

I feel this app benefits both the instructor and the students in a DE course. It benefits the instructor in that the app allows for the sharing of a current event photograph via email, Twitter, or Facebook. One could share the photo—in addition to a text write up—with their students as an introduction to an upcoming module/unit/activity or as a reflection to a module/unit/activity. The only shortfall to the photo sharing is that the photo can only be shared outside of a learning management system (LMS)—Moodle, Desire2Learn, Blackboard—as copying it from email, Twitter, or Facebook, and uploading it to an LMS may be a copyright violation – one would have to double-check with their campus copyright officer, first, before doing so.

Students—especially those with a visual learning style—benefit from the app as they receive an image along with the instructor’s introductory/reflection notes in regards to a particular module/unit/activity. Receiving shared images, even though it is outside the LMS, can be a powerful learning experience as the images available through the app are truly global/diverse in nature.

Guardian Eyewitness App: http://www.guardian.co.uk/mobile/ipad/eyewitness