Overdrive - eBooks

A not so recent discovery that has been a fantastic find is the app 'Overdrive' which is a eBook reader for the NZ and worldwide libraries.  I was led to this app through the Auckland City Council and my love of books.  It's a great app for adults and even better for students with devices and it's simple and free to access and use.

I'm going to share from the perspective of Auckland City Library - as this is the library I use. However, a quick google, led me to an article saying around 40 NZ libraries had signed up to using Overdrive as one of their core apps (there are several others) to deliver eBooks through.  All you need is to be a member of the particular library in order to issue books.

To use Overdrive, you simply need to download the app which is available on apple and android, as well as a web version.  From here you need to add a library through the side bar, log in using your library card number and you are away.  The app is simple to navigate and move through.  The tool bar on the left hand side gives you access to your library, bookshelf and more.

When searching for books a small symbol on the top right hand corner tells you automatically if they are in (black book) or currently issued (grey book).

 By tapping on the book cover, it takes you to more in-depth information about the book where you can download a small sample of the book, read a blurb, see how many copies are available and how many 'holds' there may currently be on a title.

If the book is currently issued you are able to reserve a book by using the 'Borrow' function. You are able to change options easily and see how many people are ahead of you in the queue before you can get your hands on the book.  The brilliance of this 'holds' area is that you can set up an email alert to let you know when the book has become available for you.  You can set the book to automatically be added to your shelf when it is yours to read. Very handy!

A simple layout of the 'Wish List' - which are the books you would like to come back to at another time.

The account area gives you a quick glance to where you are for issues, holds and how many books are currently available from your wish list too.

I know I have enjoyed watching the range grow and develop.  Overdrive is also involved in the library Big Read - a global event which happens once a year, where 2 books for children/teens are available to read.  People are also invited to take part in the discussion through twitter and blogs.  

Just a quick overview of the Overdrive app - my students have enjoyed beginning to use it and the luxury of having free eBooks at their fingertips.  Happy reading!

Three Ring

There are a number of blogs that I subscribe to that have a focus on iPad use in the classroom.  I'm really interested at looking at in depth ways that iPads/iPods can be used to support the classroom curriculum in developing, supporting and sharing learning processes.  I just have to look at myself and how quickly I will google, translate, photograph or record classroom processes each day since I've gotten an iPhone.

Today when looking through my RSS feed I came across a really interesting and timely post (for me) from Apps in Education around Student ePortfolio options for the iPad.  Several of these e.g. Evernote and Coolibah I already have for a range of uses, but one that struck me for its simple but powerful set up was 'Three Rings' - a free app.

Basically, all you need to do is to set up an account with Three Rings.  From here you can add your students' names quickly via typing them or by adding them through an xls spreadsheet.  I went through this process on the laptop via the Three Ring website, as it was much easier to copy and paste my students across!  Next, you can set up separate classes and subject tags to make it more specific and accessible to Primary and Secondary teachers.  Once you have completed the easy 3 steps of setting these up you are ready to go!

Once you download the app and login you are presented with a simple screen that allows you to choose tags, students and classes before you add a piece of work to your stream.  Once you have selected these options you can choose to take a picture, video, voice recording or select something from your photo roll.  If you are operating from the website you are able to also upload files such as PDFs into your stream.  I'm also hoping that this will include movies etc that students have created in other apps e.g. Sock Puppets or music from Garageband etc.  Once you've finished photographing or recording you click the 'use!' button and it uploads to your account. 

In App - easily tag a student then choose the content to add

The app/website allows you to record a piece of learning, tag it to an individual student, class or subject then be able to view the process via the three ring website once you have logged in.  You are able to click on a student's name or subject and it will give you an individual page just for that student's work.  It works similar to a blog where the latest post is positioned at the top of the page.

The Three Ring website stream

Students can also add a note next to the item they are uploading to talk about why they have selected it, the process they went through etc

The biggest thing that challenges me at the moment about it is that it seems to be very teacher driven as the teacher owns and operates the account.  I'm going to give it a trial with my students and see what they think of it.  I can see potential in the app/website.  

What I think I will do is leave our class iPod set up with the account details and teach a few tomorrow how they can share their best work and the work that they want to share.  I'm sure from that few they will quickly teach each other how to add their work and view it.  It also seems like it would be quite easy to have a class wide password that would allow the students to access and add work via the class laptops/website.

On further reading it seems like there is a good group of educators behind the app looking at making strong improvements to the app.  They seem to be listening to feedback that has been presented to them so far - which is always great from developers.  They liken their app to a digital filing cabinet which will allow for conversation between students, teachers and parents.  Can definitely see the potential for this through it's ease of use.

Top 5 iPhone Travel Apps

It's been a fair while since posting here!

Over the last 5 weeks I've taken this small kiwi girl to the big wide world as I travelled around Europe.  I have had the most amazing adventures and feel like through all my experiences I've brought a lot to my life as well as into my classroom.

I downloaded a lot... many... heaps... of apps before I went away and there were a good range of them that were quickly deleted!  This post is a quick wrap up of the travel apps that I found to be the most beneficial and worthwhile.

Here are my top 5 (+1) iPhone travel app picks:

Tripit - Free - http://www.tripit.com/
http://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/tripit-travel-organizer-free/id311035142?mt=8

This handy little app was suggested to me by a well travelled friend.  Boy was it worth it's weight in gold! Tripit is simple in what it does and it does it well.
Once you create an account with Tripit and link it to your email it scans through and locates any trip information emails and automatically adds it to your itinerary for that trip.  So you don't need to enter in details and bits of information for your trip - it does it for you!  This was super handy with a trip that had around 11 flights within it! A few minutes after the confirmation email was sent through to my email I would receive an email from tripit letting me know it had been added to my itinerary.  I could flick open the app on my iPhone and there in my 'Europe Trip' would be the new flight added.  There was one flight that Tripit didn't pick up - this was extremely easy to add in my myself from within the app (it can also be done on the website).  The best thing about this is that via the app or website I had access to all my travel scedule, numbers, locations and more!  You can also pay for the full version which includes many features such as a flight checker - that checks to see if your flight is on time or delayed.  If you're a frequent flyer it would be a handy feature!

TripColor - Free http://www.tripcolor.com/
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tripcolor-social-travel-sharing/id459934160?mt=8

Tripcolor was by far my most used app for the entire trip.  It's such an easy to use and effective app that allowed me to be able to share my trip with friends and family via online photo albums.
Once you set up your account you create a new trip - from here you can add photos to your trip, date/timestamp and information/notes about the photo.  The best feature of TripColor was the fact that it used the location information to keep a map of where each photo had been taken.  For example, on my trip to Berlin, I could see all the locations in Berlin I had taken photos.  When viewing it online via the trip photo map I could roll over on the location dot and it would show the photo that was taken in that location! Fantastic!  Check out the TripColor Demo albums here - you need to click on the individual trips to view the map and images.  I will continue to use this even though I'm home - it's a great way to record small trips as well as large ones!

Instagram - Free  http://instagr.am/
http://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/instagram/id389801252?mt=8

If you're a photo freak you'll know about instagram.  It's kinda hard not to after their 1 billion dollar sale to Facebook.  Anyway - Instagram is a photo sharing app that is a must have if you love to take photos.  Create a network of friends and new friends to share your photos with!  You can add hashtags (#) to your posts to link them to certain areas, places and countries along your travels.  It's a great way to link in and find some great places to visit while you are there too!

Guidepal Apps - Free - http://guidepal.com/
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/guidepal-city-guides/id507161832?mt=8

Guidepal offer apps for a huge range of cities!  The app provides you with a guidebook to the area you are visiting.  I found their range of apps to be one of the easiest to navigate.  Once open it gives you a chance to explore in areas such as history and information about the city, attractions, nightlife, food and more.  In each section it's clearly laid out and gives a range of information that is very worthwhile reading.  You can also have a look on the map to see what's close to you.  Augmented Reality is built in to the app - once you open the 'Nearby' section it will show you the name, distance and direction to local attractions and more.  A great range of features!

Timeout - Free -  http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/393/time-out-travel-apps-for-iphone

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/london-travel-guide-time-out/id406332146?mt=8

Timeout offers a range of guidebook apps for cities around Europe.  This was my other 'go to' guidebook that I located a range of interesting attractions and points of interest in the cities I visited.  Timeout is a magazine that is published for purchase around London.  It lists the what's what and main events that are great to attend at that time.  It's seasonal and up to date which I really liked.  The app had a great range of suggestions and led me to a pretty amazing Flamenco dancing show while I was in Barcelona! Worth having a look through when you're new to a city to get a range of ideas and information.

Happycow - $3  http://www.happycow.net/
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/happycow-vegan-vegetarian/id435871950?mt=8

Being vegan and travelling to different countries with a range of languages can be a bit daunting! Not with this app! Happycow is a website that lists vegetarian, vegan and health stores in your area.  The app does exactly this but with the added bonus of using your gps information to tell you how close or far away cafes and restaurants are from you.  This was a great app to locate yummy restaurants through the review feature, where previous customers can leave a review and star rating.

Balloons

On The Mac.AppStorm site today I found an iPhone application called Balloons. I would LOVE to use this in the classroom with students. It's a fairly basic concept, but one that I think would really hook kids in to writing and geography.

The concept is simple - you choose a balloon, write a message and then set it free. You can catch other people's balloons and see where they have ended up. Each message records when and where the balloon has been with room for the 'catcher' to leave a message with photos and text. You can choose to be anonymous or leave a name. When you set a balloon free you can track it and see whether it's still flying, popped and how many messages have been added to it.

There is a lite version (which doesn't do the tracking) for free and a full version for $2.99 from the iTunes store. I would love to hear from anyone that has used in the class!

Check out the video below to get a better understanding: