6 Apps for Creating Outlines on the iPad:

Capturing information quickly and efficiently in a classroom is an important skill. So much of what we do in the classroom needs to be documented either by you, the teacher or by the students. Apps that make this process quick and easy are therefore vital. Here are a quick list that might work in your classroom - some are quite expensive but they do offer a vastly different product depending on who will be the primary user.

Notability: $0.99

Notability 4.0 is the first truly integrated note-taking app for iPad. Standing on a framework that automatically links notes with audio recordings, Notability supports all of your note-taking needs -- handwriting, PDF annotation, word processing, and more work together seamlessly allowing you to create comprehensive, beautiful notes, quickly and simply. Auto Sync ensures your notes are backed up safely.



http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/notability-handwriting-note/id360593530?mt=8

OminOutliner for iPad: $20.99 AU

OmniOutliner starts as a blank page. But as you collect, compose, and rearrange text, its powerful outlining features emerge to organize your ideas. Hierarchy, columns, styling, notes — use them all in concert or keep things simple, depending on the project at hand. From basic lists and tables to serious writing and data wrangling, OmniOutliner understands how to keep your work structured and tidy.



http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/omnioutliner/id430118869?mt=8

iOutline for iPad: $0.99 AU

An outline editor is an essential tool. Point lists and numbered lists, which predate computers, are themselves essential tools. Being able to keep these lists on an iPad makes them cleaner, more useful, and easier to modify. iOutline is an outline editor for the iPad, in which you can build lists of single-line items. You can add sub-items and items at the same level of indentation.



http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/id401884533

Outliner for iPad: $5.49 AU

CarbonFin Outliner for iPad allows you to organize your thoughts, tasks, and projects. Easily create a todo list for today, or track an entire project anywhere you are. Share your outlines, edit them online, and collaborate with other Outliner users. Create outlines for structured notes, lists, tasks, tasks with subtasks, projects or search through all your outlines, or find text in the current outline.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/outliner-for-ipad/id360659928?mt=8

Simple Outliner: FREE

Simple Outliner is an outline processor which can be operated easily. To pop up the menu, tap the bottom of the main screen. Edit an item by double tapping it. To show a note wipe the item left or delete or copy an item by wiping it right. To change an item into folder, double tap the dot at the left of it. To change the outline level of an item, shift it horizontally.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/simple-outliner-free/id357042200?mt=8

Circus Ponies Notebook: $31.99 AU

Ever wonder why note taking apps don't let you bold, underline, color text, or use multiple fonts? The answer is because it's HARD. Problem is, bold and other text styling are super important when taking notes. Sometimes you need to scribble, sometimes you want to add a diagram. It's a rare app that allows all three. Add to this the ability to sync your notes between your iPad and Mac via Dropbox.


http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/circus-ponies-notebook/id405636065?mt=8

100+ iPad Apps Perfect For High School

If you’re a student, teacher, or administrator at a high school looking into adopting iPads for educational purposes, it’s important to know that the iPad is more than just an easy way to browse the web or visit the app store.
There are actually thousands of educational apps hiding in the bowels of the app store.But how do you find them? Unless you know exactly what you’re looking for, it is usually pretty tough to find the best apps. Heck, once you may come across an app it may prove to not be worth the time it took to download!
The Palm Beach School System has an incredible wiki where members of the community share their favorite apps for specific disciplines. Below I’ve embedded their list for the top high school apps but they also have a curated list of apps for middle school and elementary school.
I wanted to give a mention to the people behind the project. Be sure to reach out to them if you have any questions or just want to let them know that you are benefiting from their hard work:

• John Shoemaker (John.Shoemaker@palmbeachschools.org)
• Melissa Lander (Melissa.Lander@palmbeachschools.org)
• John Long (John.Long.1@palmbeachschools.org)

(H/T to @rmbyrne for introducing me to this wiki! Be sure to follow him at the always wonderful Free Tech 4 Teachers site.) Most of the links below are to the iTunes store. It may open up iTunes on your computer.

Language Arts/Reading:

1. iBooks – a ereader book store.
2. Book Creator – Create your own iBooks right on the iPad. (Allows everything except video)
3. Reading Trainer – This app teaches you how to train your eyes and brain to read and comprehend text faster. Think of it as exercise for your reading skills.
4. Free Books – 23,469 Classics to Go
5. Dictionary.com – Dictionary & Thesaurus – A dictionary and a Thesaurus.
6. Literary Analysis Guide – Elements of literature are arranged graphically around three wheels (poetry, prose, and rhetoric).
7. Kindle – Kindle is an eReader from Amazon.com
8. Shakespeare Pro – Complete works of Shakespeare. 41 plays, 154 sonnets, and 6 poems. All works can be cross searched for anything.
9. Jules Verne Collection – Sixteen of Jules Verne’s books
10. MaxJournal – A simple and elegant journal.
11. meStudying: Reading For College Success – A practice reading placement test from the Florida Virtual School.
12. LitCharts – Link to LitCharts website. Each of the LitCharts are available on the iPad

Math:

1. Math Formulas – Reference Guide – This app contains over 100 math forumlas at a high school level. Most formulas have examples for ease of understanding. A great app for higher level math.
2. The Ruler – measure things in inches or centimeters
3. Math Quizzer – Math Quizzer is an interactive and fun way to, not only learn, but also to boost your skills in; Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division. It offers an easy to understand chalkboard visual, which keeps track of your “score” as you progress.
4. Bloomberg – Bring the power of the most trusted source for financial information to your iPad, along with tools to help you analyze the world’s markets.
5. Fractals – Move and pinch fractals in real time.
6. Geometry Stash – Access the most commonly used theorems, postulates, and corollaries.

Calculators

1. SpaceTime – Powerful graphing calculator. 2D and 3D graphing
2. PocketCAS pro – Advanced Graphic and Symbolic Scientific Calculator. Handles every mathematical problem you might encounter in school or university.
3. PocketCAS lite – Free Graphic calculator. Not as many features as the pro version above.
4. Quick Graph – 2D and 3D graphing calculator.

Social Studies:

1. U.S. Geography by Discovery Education – Become an expert in U.S. Geography with this app. Dozens of videos and interactive gameplay.
2. Civil War America’s Epic Struggle-Civil War: America’s Epic Struggle Features over 1,000 high-res photos, more than an hour of multimedia presentations, in excess of 100 authentic maps, dozens of first hand accounts, and numerous text articles and biographies, it provides instantaneous access to information on every aspect of the war.
3. Beautiful Planet HD – Beautiful Planet is a groundbreaking app that captures the breathtaking beauty of our world and its cultures. Featuring a collection of galleries three decades in the making by travel photographer, author and explorer, Peter Guttman, Beautiful Planet spans seven continents and 160 countries.
4. World Atlas HD – The best maps available from National Geographic
5. History:Maps of World – Collection of High-Resolution historical Maps.
6. USA Thematic Atlas & Facts – High quality maps filled with facts and information.
7. USA Puzzle – A USA puzzle that needs to be put together. Double tap on the state for information about that state.
8. Motionx GPS HD – Maps and navigation instruments. Maps from all over the world. Can include waypoints. Can be good for Geocaching.
9. The History Clock – An app that converts the current time to a year and gives a fast fact about that year.
10. The World Factbook for iPad – Extensive information of over 250 countries around the world.
11. WORLD BOOK – This Day in History – Interactive multimedia calendar that features historical events for the day.
12. The Presidency – Historical information on every President of the United States.
13. Presidents HD- Historical information on every President of the United States.
14. Declaration for iPad – A copy of the Declaration of Independence.
15. Constitution for iPad – A copy of the Constitution of the United States.
16. MyCongress – A portal to detailed information about elected congress officials. Please note: This is not an official government resource
17. GeogXPert – A reference app – containing maps which allow you to look up countries and find country information – as well as a quiz app.

Science:

1. 3D Cell Simulation and Stain Tool – Learn about the cell and its structures in a 3D tool.
   
2. EMD PTE – A highly interactive periodic table of elements.
3. AP Biology Vocabulary Review – All of the vocabulary included in the College Board AP Biology Course.
4. VideoScience – Science experiments with video.
5. Chem 11 Prep – Grade 11 Chemistry exam prep.
6. The Elements: A Visual Exploration – If you think you’ve seen the periodic table, think again. The Elements: A Visual Exploration lets you experience the beauty and fascination of the building blocks of our universe in a way you’ve never seen before. And as the first really new ebook developed from the ground up for iPad, The Elements beautifully shows off the capabilities of this lovely device.
7. A Life Among Whales – Video documentary featuring the exploration into the life and work of whale biologist Roger Payne
8. Newtons Laws – Explains Newton’s first two laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation.
9. Periodic Table of the Elements – Standard periodic table of elements. Free as of May 16, 2010
10. Molecules – View and manipulate 3D renderings of molecules.
11. 3D Brain – Rotate and zoom around 29 interactive structures in the brain.
12. Science Glossary – an extensive glossary of scientific terms and biographies.
13. PhysicsXL: Mechanics – An app that contains a series of exercises based on physics.
14. HD Birds Encyclopedia – Highly graphic encyclopedia that has detailed and comprehensive information about a variety of birds.
15. myArm Muscles – Visually rich and stimulating way to learn about our complex arm muscles.
16. PLoS Reader – Read the most recent articles from the seven journals published by the Public Library of Science.
17. HD Marine Life – An encyclopedia of marine life.
18. Frog Dissection – A virtual frog dissection app.

Astronomy

1. HD Solar System – Highly graphic encyclopedia that has detailed and comprehensive information about the solar system.
2. GoSkyWatch Planetarium – Easily and quickly identify and locate stars, planets, constellations and more with a touch or by simply pointing to the sky. Have fun with family and friends discovering the images in the night sky. Go outside and explore the night sky.
3. Star Walk – An interactive astronomy guide.
4. Solar Walk – A 3D Solar System Model.
5. Distant Suns – A database of over 130,000 stars, nebula, and galaxies.
6. DrakeEQ HD – 3D simulation of the Milky Way Galaxy
7. GoSkyWatch Planetarium – Locate stars, planets, and constellations.

Electives/Other:

1. Magic Piano – Play timeless pieces on spiral and circular keyboards, or follow beams of light – mastery requires only imagination. Play alone, or travel through a warp hole and play Piano Roulette with other performers across the world.
2. Fashion Sketchbook: The Stylish Dress Up Game – A fashion design application that allows the users to design outfits.

Art

1. Adobe Ideas – a digital sketchbook
2. SketchBook Pro – A professional-grade paint and drawing application.
3. Brushes – Brushes is a painting application designed from scratch for the iPad. Featuring an advanced color picker, several realistic brushes, multiple layers, extreme zooming, and a simple yet deep interface, it is a powerful tool for creating original artwork on your mobile device. The June 1, 2009 cover of The New Yorker was created in Brushes.
4. Picasso HD – A virtual gallery of Pablo Picasso’s work featuring hundreds of high definition paintings of his greatest works.
5. Van Gogh HD – A virtual gallery of Vincent Van Gogh’s work featuring hundreds of high definition paintings of his greatest works.
6. Klimt HD – A virtual gallery of Austrian Painter Gustav Klimt work featuring hundreds of high definition paintings of his greatest works.
7. Smudge – Finger painting app
8. Skrambler X – Assemble famous masterpieces like a jigsaw puzzle. Learn interesting facts about the artists and their artwork while putting each piece in place.
9. Gravilux – an app that lets you draw with stars
10. The Hot Rod Art Book: Masters of Chicken Scratch – Over 100 pages of hot rod artwork. Over one and a half hours of instructional videos that show the complete process from sketch to rendering.

Foreign Language

1. TAO – TranslateIt! Online – one click translation of text into numerous languages using Google translate.
2. AIUEO-HIRAGANA – Touch, Listen, and Learn Japanese.
3. Japanese Phrases & Lessons – 2,700 Japanese phrases with sound
4. French English Dictionary & Translator – French – English Dictionary
5. TouchLanguage French – Learn over 2,000 French words and phrases
6. BidBox Vocabulary Trainer: English – Spanish – Learn Spanish vocabulary
7. 简明英汉词典 – English – Chinese Dictionary
8. German English Dictionary & Translator – German – English Dictionary
9. Italian English Dictionary & Translator – Italian – English Dictionary

Music

1. Key Wiz – Learn how to play the piano.
2. Virtuoso Piano Free 2 HD – Learn the basics of music and how to play the piano.
3. Magic Piano – Play the piano freestyle or on a spiral keyboard.
4. Air Harp – Strum and pluck the strings for a harp sound.

ESE Modifications/Accomodations

1. Proloquo2Go – full featured alternative communication solution for people who have difficulty speaking
2. Speak it! Text to Speech – A high quality text to speech app.
3. Pocket Picture Planner HD – Use pictures or graphics to create a visual calendar.

All Subjects/General/Productivity:

1. Keynote – A slideshow presentation program
2. Pages- A word processing program
3. Numbers – A spreadsheet application
4. iBooks – a ereader book store.
5. BrainPOP Featured Movie – Tim and Mobi on the iPad! All access to BrainPOP’s 750+ Movie library and Quizzes if your district subscribes.
6. Notability – text to speech or just a note taking app
7. Puppet Pals – Create your own unique shows with animation and audio in real time!
8. Bento – Manage things with 25 ready to use databases.
9. GoodReader – Within moments of downloading GoodReader, you’ll be transferring files from the computer to the iPad. Supports a wide range of files.
10. Note Taker HD – An app for writing handwritten notes, diagrams, etc.
11. Sundry Notes Pro – Sundry Notes is the first social note taking application. Write, draw, record and research right within the app – and then share your notes with others.Take notes right within your application, including: Write text (and change font color, size, etc.), draw anywhere in your notes, search Wikipedia, Google, and Google Books – and grab images from them for your notes using two fingers, Import PDFs from the internet, Import images from your photo library, record sound/voice, Change page background to graph paper, lined paper, legal paper, etc.
12. MindNode – Mind mapping, brainstorming, organization.
13. iThoughtsHD – A mind map tool for the iPad
14. Evernote – Evernote turns the iPad into an extension of your brain, helping you remember anything and everything that happens in your life.
15. Stick It – Sticky Notes with Bump™ – Sticky notes you can share with other iPad Users
16. Educate – The ultimate teacher’s companion providing mobile access to your student’s data, teaching strategies, eLearning tools, and timetable.
17. Cramberry – Create flash cards to study from.
18. Professor Garfield Cyberbullying – Garfield and Friends share information about Cyberbullying
19. Professor Garfield Online Safety – Garfield and Friends share information about Online Safety
20. eClicker and eClicker Host- A personal response system that allows teachers to poll their classes in real time.
21. PDF Reader Pro Edition – PDF reader.
22. Discovery Education – Educational videos (Subscription Required)

This article was originally posted at http://edudemic.com/2011/11/ipad-high-school/

iPads in the Classroom

By Jessica B. Mulholland

After a year on the market, the iPad is still the hottest tablet around. And students in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have been lucky enough to use them in the classroom for an entire school year.

Teachers at various CPS institutions are using the iPad to heighten student learning at all grade levels. Whether it’s helping special education students “speak” to grocery store clerks on field trips, assisting high school physics students in “building” roller coasters to understand motion and energy, or conducting daily formative assessments to improve student performance, the iPad engages students — and according to experts, that’s the most rewarding part.

“What we’ve found with the iPads as we’ve rolled this out is that having kids with a device such as the iPad in the classroom — within the curriculum — is very powerful,” said CPS Technology Education Director John Connolly. “Our feedback from our teachers and students is that this is something they’re using every day. It’s embedded in all of their subjects, even if they were originally targeting one subject, and we’re seeing some really cool things happening with those students.”

CPS is testing the device in more than 20 schools to see whether it could eventually become a permanent learning tool for the entire school district. Since the trial launched last August, other school districts around the country have followed suit. The expansion of technology in education — and in government at large — is widespread. Over the last several years, many colleges, universities and K-12 school districts, not to mention local and state agencies, have incorporated emerging technology like Apple iPhones and Amazon Kindles into their daily lives. Adding the iPad is just an extension of this.

While some contend that such technology incorporated into the classroom can be more of a distraction than a learning tool, CPS executives, educators and students are proving otherwise.

iPads in Action

At Chicago’s Burley Elementary School, Technology Coordinator Carolyn Skibba said iPads allow for easy collaboration among teachers and students. The administration, she said, was excited about the potential of a device that’s small, flexible, portable, visual and hands-on, especially when working with younger students.

“It really seemed like something that could integrate more seamlessly into the learning experience for the kids,” she said. “We felt that other technology initiatives in the district had to some extent underserved or overlooked our youngest learners, and we felt that the iPad was a tool, because of its visual and hands-on design, would really be a natural fit for our youngest learners.”

The kids have taken to the technology, navigating the iPad’s apps with ease and using the touchscreen like pros, she said. The second-graders in teacher Begoña Cowan’s class learn about spelling and pronunciation without having to share a pile of traditional magnetic letters. Instead, each student uses the ABC — Magnetic Alphabet app on his or her iPad to spell “-oom” and “-oop” words. When it’s time to put the iPads away, they each return the device to the cart with two hands held up against their chests to keep it safe.

First-grade students have used apps like Pages, Simplenote and smartNote to help with basic word processing. For one assignment, the kids copied a photo of a totem pole from the Web, pasted it in the app and wrote a few sentences about the meaning of the totem pole, which shows honor when a tribe chief has died.

“We’ve done a lot of explicit instruction on how to use the iPad and basic word-processing skills for young children, and the iPad allows us to take a virtual field trip every day by searching Web content in a way that’s user-friendly for early childhood students,” said teacher Kristin Ziemke-Fastabend.

At the Chicago High School for the Arts, physics students work in small groups to use the Coaster Physics app to create roller coasters while incorporating traditional learning methods, said CPS Technology Integration Specialist Margaret Murphy.

“They start out with sheets to do the mathematics — the physics calculations — and another person is drawing a roller coaster on a large sheet of paper,” she said. “Another is designing it on the iPad, and they’re all sharing with each other, making sure the way their math worked out is working on the iPad, and it is matching what they’ve drawn on their paper.”

When teacher Kevin Cram taught the roller coaster lesson plan pre-iPad, he said several students didn’t have the opportunity to design their own roller coasters, which involved physical materials like pipe insulation that students cut up and glued together to make one-dimensional projects. “Not everyone was able to create as much as I wanted,” he said. “The iPad allowed easy access and manipulation and creation because of this app. So every group got to design and put their ideas into an actual model.”

Also using a blended approach in the classroom is Jenny Cho-Magiera, whose fourth-grade class at the National Teachers Academy used iPads to follow along with a voice-recorded lesson about the anatomy of a flower. The students saw the pages in the book from which Cho-Magiera was reading. Any student who missed the lesson could review that exact lesson at a later time.

Where does traditional teaching enter the picture? Her teacher’s assistant moved from table to table with a real lily to show students what they were learning about.

High-Tech Learning

For Cho-Magiera, the most revolutionary thing about the iPad is how fast she can respond to students’ assessments of the day’s lesson. Before the iPad, the children would scribble something on a half-sheet of paper and turn it in, sometimes forgetting to write their names. Cho-Magiera wasn’t able to react or answer questions until at least the next day.

Now Cho-Magiera said she uses Google Forms, a survey development interface. In about 30 seconds, she can put three or four questions in the form, and the students use the iPads to answer. The results are formulated into a Google spreadsheet in real time, and she can immediately sort through them and form work groups based on which students need help with different topics.

“Just like that, I have my differentiated groups for that day,” she said. “I don’t need to wait 24 hours to put them into a group — when they forgot what they were learning about yesterday. As a result of that, their proficiency has gone up because my teaching has become more efficient.”

Back at the School for the Arts, Cram also uses iPads for formative assessments, utilizing what he calls a “WebQuest.” Cram likes to include both a pre-quiz and a post-quiz, and during a lesson, students investigate different websites on their iPads to research and answer questions. “We can see what areas of growth they have after they’ve done the research,” he said, noting that the answers to both pre- and post-quizzes are submitted via Google docs.

Cram says he hasn’t seen any dramatic improvements in learning since incorporating the iPad, but he anticipates that there will be soon. “The students are much more engaged and interested in the material. And because of that, maybe I’m pushing them a bit more and asking more challenging questions,” he said. “Through practice and more work with challenging questions, and being exposed to that with the engagement at 90 to 100 percent with the iPad versus much lower with a lecture or even hands-on labs.”

The Ground-Up Approach

Incorporating new, up-to-the-minute technology, especially in education, sounds great. It’s been said time and again that students should be taught in ways that they’re comfortable — and they’re quite comfortable with technology. But to critics, technology might hurt more than help the ability to learn. One person questioning the impact of some new technologies on students is President Barack Obama, who at Virginia’s Hampton University commencement, said that with iPods, iPads, Microsoft Xboxes and Sony PlayStations, “information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.”

In Chicago, Connolly said, the way CPS rolled out the iPad trial has helped conquer this challenge. The school district asked its schools to submit applications, which a committee reviewed and then determined which schools would test the technology.

“Not only is that the fair way to do it,” Connolly said, “but it also allowed schools and teachers who were interested in using technology to step to the forefront.” Two hundred schools applied for grants that were valued at more than $20,000. Each grant includes 32 iPads, one MacBook Pro for syncing purposes, $200 in iTunes credit for applications and a storage cart for the hardware.

Professional development has also been a huge part of the trial’s success. CPS partnered with Apple to provide professional development and create a cohort of collaboration across the schools to share best practices and ideas. Teachers train every other month for one day. The morning is dedicated to learning new applications or new ways to incorporate the iPad into the classroom, and the afternoon is geared toward collaboration.

“What we’ve found in the feedback is that teachers love the time of trading stories of how they’re using and implementing the iPad with other colleagues from other schools, in addition to learning something in the front half of the day,” Connolly said. Trainers also provide onsite training in the classroom, so teachers don’t have to be pulled out of class.

Preparation was another factor in the trial’s success. Each teacher devised a blueprint for incorporating the iPad into his or her lesson plans well in advance of receiving the technology. “So they could expand what they were already comfortable doing,” he said.

“All of that together, it’s kind of the ground-up approach.”

Will iPads Infiltrate CPS?

As teachers become more comfortable using the iPad, demand is growing. “Other teachers are peeking in and saying, ‘We want to use that too,’ which is pretty exciting for us, but now we’re running into an issue of people saying, ‘We need that technology,’” said Connolly.

CPS CIO Arshele Stevens said she believes that knowing how to implement and supervise iPad use in the classroom is key to making sure the device doesn’t become a distraction to learning. Part of the original intent of the iPad trial was to ensure that the district served as a guide for all schools to implement the technology. “We’ve always planned, at the end of the trials, to assess, and then if we see a project that’s really transformed a student’s knowledge of a subject matter, to elevate that,” she said. “We want to create a model.”

CPS has three categories of teachers as far as computers go, Stevens said: those who are proficient, those who are fairly comfortable, and then there’s the larger population, which doesn’t even want to use e-mail. “Those are the teachers who really don’t know how to integrate technology in the classroom. It’s not because they’re reluctant; it’s that they don’t know how,” she said, adding that if the district can, based on a successful trial, create a step-by-step process to incorporate iPads in the classroom for a teacher who’s uncomfortable with technology — a process they’re able to execute — that’s beneficial for the entire district.

The plan, she said, is to expand the program next school year not only to additional schools, but also to users in the central office. “We’re hoping to extend its use,” she said, “because we find that most people are really excited about it.”

This article was originally posted at  http://www.govtech.com/education/iPads-In-The-Classroom.html

3 Ways To Get iPads in Your Classroom

How can you get a classroom set of iPads in your classroom?

Although there are many options available, below are three methods that have succeeded in the past for educators who have sought to integrate new technology in their classrooms.  Keep in mind that these methods don’t only apply to receiving iPads.  They can be used to receive any type of desired technology; however, iPads are hot right now, and for good reasons.

If you’ve had success with other methods, please leave your ideas in the comments section at the end of this post.

Method 1: Create a Classroom Project at DonorsChoose.org

Public school teachers across America can post classroom requests on DonorsChoose.org.  People from all walks of life can browse the directory of projects and may freely determine to fund a project.  Typically, the projects that receive the most funding are the ones that are inspirational.

That being considered, you probably won’t receive funding for a classroom set of iPads by writing “I want iPads because they are cool and they can do neat things.” How can you appeal to the hearts of donors?  This isn’t encouragement to be manipulative, but rather to make sure you express your intents with clarity.

Method 2: Submit Grant Proposals

Grant money is in circulation for projects like these; unfortunately, that funding is limited.  Priorities for submitting grant proposals should be (1) meeting deadlines, (2) meeting grant criteria, and (3) ensuring quality submissions.  The following links provide a directory of technology grants available to K-12 teachers:

• Technology Grant News
• Teachers Network: Technology Grants
• Grants @ TeachersCount.org

As mentioned above, your grant proposals need to look good in order to be a considered recipient.  Grant writing isn’t easy; fortunately, there’s help available.  The following links will help you create the best grant application possible:

• Grant Guru Tips
• How to Write Grant Proposals from about.com
• How to Write Educational Grants from ehow.com

Method 3: Visit with Your Technology Coordinator About Budgeting for iPads

As it is in most facets in life, success hinges on positive relationships.  What’s the status of the “relationship bank account” you share with your technology coordinator?  Are you continually making deposits, or is the bank account overdrawn?  Here is some recommended reading that will help ensure you’re making consistent deposits and not writing hot checks:

• How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Relationships 101 by John Maxwell
• Enthusiasm Makes the Difference by Norman Vincent Peale
• Winning with People: Discover the People Principles that Work for You Every Time by John Maxwell

Certainly, the aforementioned methods aren’t just limited to receiving iPads, and there are definitely other options available for receiving technology in your classroom.  However, these methods seem to have garnered success for educators seeking to fund technology projects in their classroom.
What other methods are you aware of?  Feel free to leave your comments and questions below.

Source : k12mobilelearning.com

The next level for creating training courses

The smart phone devices have outclassed its prime adversary landline phones. Today the peripheries of smart phones have moved beyond corporate houses to universities.

Content development in mobile devices is a new concept that had been thought of for quite some time now and that makes a lot of sense — the adoption of these devices around the world is just tremendous. Mobile Learning is growing at an expeditious pace. Business professionals and universities are embracing mobile learning on all sorts of devices.

As advancement of mobile applications continues to expand its global reach with corporations and universities in particular are actively investigating how to deploy learning to mobile professionals.  With careful planning a course developers in particular should be able to craft and deploy a wide variety of content to help those learners who are on the go.

Duke University, Abilene Christian University, Hamilton County Virtual School, University of Adelaide’s Faculty of Science , Hastings College, Leeds College, St Helens College, Walsall College are some of the well known institutes who have opted to replace textbooks and use iPhone and iPad instead. iPad and similar smart phones utility as a mobile learning device has been successfully experimented in many sectors and is recently being introduced to the healthcare sectors.

The term authoring tool can be somewhat misleading. People can easily be deceptive when they hear the term for the first time, the reason behind its close resemblance with word-processing software for professional writers. But the fact is the authoring tools go far beyond writing and word processing.

E-learning authoring tools provide trainers the opportunity and liberty to integrate an array of media to create professional, engaging, interactive, creative and innovative training content.

Today there are numerous types of authoring technologies to choose from, the task may seem somewhat daunting, but if planned in a proper and systematic way it doesn't have to be. One of the secret to pick the correct authoring tool is having a clear understanding about your own technology restrictions, instructional needs and business requirements.

empower, one of the leading provider of comprehensive Healthcare Compliance Solutions through Learning management system (LMS) has developed an iLearn Application compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. This application is very useful for course developers to promote their courses using the ilearn application to users with basic stuff to advanced topics, Healthcare to IT, in an interactive and engaging method.

The iLearn application by empower contains tools to create your own course in your field of expertise. Content developer can create categories and courses in such manner that it can be managed easily by end users who can download the iLearn App from iTunes which comes with a few preloaded courses. End users can view these preloaded courses or can go to store front and can download free courses or demo courses or pay and purchase paid courses. Once the courses are downloaded are visible in his App on his iPhone/iPad. The tool/GUI will automatically create a course in an attractive graphical format as an output. Various others functionality can be easily deployed using the iLearn application.

empower iLearn application is simple and effective it provides tools so effortlessly that you can create your training module within minutes. Put videos, images, audio, text and make the learning the way you want it to be and then since it‘s your amalgamation of hard work and smart work – you give a price tag to it and share it with the world.

About emPower

emPower is a leading provider of comprehensive Healthcare Compliance Solutions through Learning Management System (LMS). Our mission is to provide innovative security solutions to enable compliance with applicable laws and regulations and maximize business performance. We provide range of courses to manage compliance required by regulatory bodies such as OSHA, HIPAA, Joint commission and Red Flag Rule etc. Apart from this emPower also offers custom demos and tutorials for your website, business process management and software implementation.

Our Learning Management system (LMS) allows students to retrieve all the courses 24/7/365 by accessing our portal. emPower e-learning training program is an interactive mode of learning that guides students to progress at their own pace.

For additional information, please visit http://www.empowerbpo.com