#5 Notes

I decided to download a couple of these apps to my iPhone and try them out, since they seem to be more "phone-ish" than iPadish in their nature. I generally use the "Notes" app on both my devices for notes and lists, and iCal to organize my time..

 

Remember the Milk has a cute icon.  That's it.  After playing with it for five minutes, I was so done.  First of all, I don't think this app is all that intuitive, and I'm a pretty tech-savvy person.  If I can't figure it out pretty quickly, I lose interest fast.  It was WAY too busy.  I made myself a note in both typing and text-to-speech (which seemed to work fine).  When I was done, I got stuck in this cycle of "edit" or "done".  The only way to get back home was to completely shut down the app.  After trying three different times, I said forget it. And I promptly deleted it.

I tried Dragon Dictation next.  As far as "getting" my dictation, it was the same as Siri is when I use my iPhone.  I still have to insert periods and commas when I want them, and I need to enunciate.  One thing that was strange was that deleting a message I dictated was not simple.  I could only get rid of a word at a time; I couldn't find a way to just delete the whole thing, which seems odd.  I mean, how hard can it be to make that an option somewhere?






Honestly, I can't see myself needing to use either of these apps....and although the app on my phone called "Notes" is pretty basic, it does what I need it to do....and when I need to use text-to-speech to update a status, send a text or e-mail, or whatever....Siri does just fine.

#4 Keeping Up

I think this was a GREAT idea for a "thing"...I've been a Zite user (but not super -religiously) for about two years.  I like it fine, but it's always kind of the thing I check when I'm bored, and I haven't made it a priority.  Part of this might be because I see a lot of the articles from Zite via Twitter, so I just don't visit the app very much.

When I downloaded Flipboard, it had a rating of four+ stars, so I figured it would be okay. Then I made my account, opened it up, and WOW!  This thing is cool!  And I'm quite surprised I've never heard of it before.

I could actually use Flipboard and dump my apps for Facebook, Twitter, and Zite if I wanted to.  Connecting Flipboard to my social media sites is pretty cool, and setting up my Flipboard "subscriptions" was super easy.  I deleted Sports and some fashion garbage...added Children & Teen Books and some Apple stuff, and I was good to go.  I had the same articles I would have seen on my Zite, but instant access to my Facebook and Twitter feeds...and the instant access to both of those feeds?  WAY prettier than the way they are naturally presented (I think).

Now, this doesn't mean that I will dump those apps and access everything via Flipboard...sometimes I just need a straight newsfeed to plow through when I haven't checked Twitter in a day or two, and this feed requires a lot of swiping because of the pictures (which I like, because you get to see them without having to click, but it takes up more space....).  I really like the way that Facebook feeds though...especially when it comes to my own pictures and timeline. Aesthetically, it's more pleasing....and posting is easy, though I didn't do much with my own photos or albums. I bet I'll still prefer to use my full laptop when doing stuff like that.

Here's my only gripe: I tried to comment on someone else's post.  It kept saying it "error posting reply" and I kept hitting retry....but it actually did post, so I had 11 of the same exact comments on my niece's wall.  It was sort of funny, because she was headed out on a trip to California and I told her to "Have a great time" eleven times.  Her response was, "Okay, okay.  I will!"

I don't think I'd like Flipboard as much on my phone....too small, but as an iPad app, it's one I'll be putting on my home screen.

#3 Utilities

Utilities: The word that makes people want to sleep...or maybe weep.

But.....I use and love lots of the utilities on my devices...especially my calendar and calculator.

To complete this "thing" about utilities I downloaded RedLaser, which I would likely use on my phone rather than my iPad, and for mostly personal reasons...like saving money.  I have an Amazon app that does some of this same stuff.  I also use Target's Cartwheel app for shopping, so I see the usefulness of RedLaser.  The app itself was pretty intuitive, and it was easy to create a QR code on it....though it's not the app's main focus.  If you're intuitive about technology, it's easy to get to the QRCode part.

There are a number of places QR codes can be created, and they all operate in pretty much the same way.  When exploring RedLaser, I went on my laptop and created one on goQR.me.  I also created one on my iPad at qrstuff.com.  That site was kind of "busy" and might be intimidating for a novice.  It's pretty robust and someone who does a lot with QR codes would probably love it because you can save codes and do analytics and all sorts of things. I like that I can use any of my three devices to make a code.

How would I use a code at work?  I'd post it in the library near a display.  I created this mini-poster to put up with a Nancy Farmer display we're doing next month:

It's pretty basic, but I'm glad I did it.  I didn't realize creating a code was so easy....I can see doing this in the future for all sorts of things in the media center.  When we're fully 1:1, I can see us doing it for things like trivia contests and scavenger hunts.

#2 Mobile Device Tips

I will be completing the 23 Mobile Things on my iPad Mini, though I will likely also try some things on my iPhone....I'm all Apple.  Totally drank that Kool-Aid.

As the media specialist in my building, I am expected to know a number of tips and tricks, especially to help my 8th grade students who started a 1:1 program this year.  Here are a few things I've learned about iPads, especially with iOS 7.

1. Hard resets are your best friend!  A hard reset is more than just turning the device off and on.  It resets the settings on the iPad, and we find that it solves about 90% of the issues our kids have with devices (after we close apps, restart apps, and try the basic troubleshoots).  Hard resetting is as simple as holding down the home and sleep buttons simultaneously until the Apple logo shows up, and then letting go.  No data is lost.....settings are just reset.  We ask kids to try the basic troubleshoots first, and then we use this one.

2. Need a fast charge?  Put the iPad in airplane mode.  This automatically disables wi-fi and bluetooth, so the device doesn't waste energy looking for devices or networks.  When our kids run out of battery during the day, this works very well.

3. Battery lifesavers? Close out apps, turn off parallax mode (animations), turn down brightness, set the auto-lock to two minutes...and don't have apps running that are always out there crawling.

4. In my opinion, the best feature about iOS 7 is the control center on the device.  I love that volume and brightness are a swipe away, and the Airdrop feature is AWESOME!  I use it often to share pics with co-workers, or even with my son or my iPhone.  AirPlay was available with iOS 6, but is much easier for teachers to access with iOS 7 in the control center, and we are choosing to use this feature to project in many of our classrooms now.

5. Automatic updates are AWESOME!!!  My students have turned on automatic app updates in the app store and it has saved us so much administrative time in having to touch and update devices. I'm encouraging staff to do this as well, because some of them don't come to us for updates and end up with problems because they are using outdated apps. This does use some battery, but I think the benefits definitely outweigh the costs.

Introduction and Mobile Thing #1: The Blog!

This blog will serve as a great tool for me to process my 23 Mobile Things, as well as have an archive for  future reference. I've been on Blogger since 2008 and it's a good platform.  It's nice that everything is connected with my Google accounts.

My hope is that participating in this challenge will give me a few "golden nuggets" that I can share with my staff at Becker Middle School. I am really great at finding apps, buying apps, and troubleshooting when we have "issues", but I rarely get to use apps.  Hopefully this set of activities will force me to stop and do that!

As the media specialist, staff members come to me with questions about apps, and I don't always have the answers.....especially because we have SO many. This will hopefully give me some time to explore apps in an organized way and learn some new things that I can share.