Splashtop vs. AirServer

The #1 rule of AirServer - don't give out your passwords to your students. This seems obvious, except that the major pitfall of mirroring an iPad is that it will show each character of a password before turning it to a black dot. This issue does not apply to Splashtop because Windows automatically hides characters in a password.

There are a couple of ways around this when you need to log in to a web site or app:

- disconnect from AirServer

- mute your projector - in the projector world, mute means to turn off light

- freeze your projector

On with the comparison...

Splashtop - $4.99 iPad App, free Splashtop Streamer software for Wndows, Mac or Linux

This is a slick option for turning your iPad into a remote control for a computer connected to a SmartBoard or other projector. It puts your Windows/Mac/Linux environment full screen on your iPad.

* iPad is not as smudgy as it appears

Pros:

- Freedom move around the room to interact with your projector.

- Easily interact with PowerPoint, Smart Notebook, other Windows applications on your iPad.

Cons:
- Even with a stylus, it is tough to write or draw in Windows applications like SmartNotebook.
- Splashtop 2 is a little quirky with its sign-in feature. You can use it in a closed network without  being logged in, but if you do use an account you need to be logged in on both the tablet and on the computer or they won't be able to see each other.

Airserver - $3.99/machine Commercial/Education license. Uses AirPlay service on the iPad 2+.

This allows you to mirror your iPad on your projector connected computer. You can also stream audio without video mirroring.

* SmartBoards don't photograph particularly well, but the first window that takes up the majority of the screen is a mirror of the iPad sitting in front of it.

Pros:

- Quick, easy connections.

- Multiple simultaneous connections.

- Ability to show iPad apps on the big screen without being tethered to the front.

- Interactions like writing and drawing are much easier since they are done in the iPad app.

Cons:

- Easy to inadvertently show passwords to students.

- Windows deployment is a little clunky with Direct X and Bonjour Print Services as prerequisites.

- Sometimes loses audio when you reconnect. It is easy to shutdown AirServer and re-open to get it working again, but could become annoying if the problem persists.

Here is a screencast to show how to connect to AirServer:
http://youtu.be/13tfGsQ93vg

7 Signs (ASL, that is) To Streamline Classroom Managment

During Science Fair work days, we utilize a "Question Queue" where students can sign up to get questions answered and go back to work instead of waiting. Occasionally, a student will patiently wait their turn for 10 or 20 minutes only to ask, "Can I go to the bathroom?" To streamline this process - and avoid children suffering in silence - we implemented a simple ASL "toilet" sign so kids could communicate their need without disrupting the conversation.

It became a habit that stuck and now students will raise their hand like this:

I can give them a yes (or no if the situation warrants) and they are off without any interruption to the flow of the lesson.

Here is the printable packet of 7 signs that we are using:
http://goo.gl/1daR7
Images come from mykidentity.com

YouTube Hack

Here is a YouTube Hack inspired by an exchange with one of my 7th graders today.


We set out to see if specifying the end point of a YouTube video is possible. Here is what we came up with:
http://www.youtube.com/v/QDqskltCixA&start=0&end=175&version=3;rel=0

&start=0 indicates a starting point of 0 seconds
&end=175 indicates an ending at 2 minutes, 55 seconds
;rel=0 removes the related videos at the end

In a more generic form where you just have to change the info in []:
http://www.youtube.com/v/[video reference]&start=[start time in seconds]&end=[end time in seconds]&version=3;rel=0

Works for embed code, too:


Disclaimer #1 - judging by the yellow rectangle in the corner, this video may not quite play by fair use rules
Disclaimer #2 - the ending point can be fairly easily removed by hovering over the end point and clicking the X
Disclaimer #3 - this video may try to sign you up for a local dating site

Intro to Twitter for Teachers

Here are some of my favorite "Twitter as an PD tool for teachers" resources:

The 21 Day Twitter Guide for Beginners

http://goo.gl/eFJyS

** This one is awesome - it gives little daily assignments to get you started...and is a byproduct of Twitter collaboration which makes it doubly cool.

How Twitter is Reinventing Collaboration Among Educators:

http://goo.gl/44hE0

Twitter list (good #OREdu people to follow) from Collette Cassinelli:

http://goo.gl/eqJYq

Twitter and Facebook Might Soon Replace Traditional Teacher Professional Development
http://goo.gl/QHViU

Personalizing Teacher Training Through Social Media-Based Improvement
http://goo.gl/q9IHo

Turn Your Digital Whiteboard into a Rotating Slideshow

Since my dream of replacing bulletin boards with wall to wall HD TVs (think Buffalo Wild Wings) to display tech projects seems like a long shot...I went with the next best thing and turned my SmartBoard into a rotating slideshow that adds to the "Print Rich Environment" in my classroom.

Supplies:

- Digital whiteboard connected to computer with internet (Windows 7 in this example)

- Cloud storage with app that syncs to local storage (Drive, Dropbox, and Copy will all work fine)

- iPad (not required but helpful for gathering images)

Simplified Idea:

When I find share-worthy images, I save them on my iPad and then upload them to a folder in Drive. I pointed the desktop background to that folder on my SmartBoard computer and then you will have a slideshow playing in the background.

Detailed Steps:

1) Images can come from any source, but I like to use Twitter images from Commander Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) on the ISS. If you go to his profile page on the iPad and tap one of his images, it will appear in full screen with the Tweeted text below. When I find one I want to display, I do a screen capture (hold power button and then press the home button).

2) Create a folder in the cloud storage service of your choice. The screencast shows Drive. I named the folder "Desktop Pictures" so it is easy to find.

3) Navigate to that folder and tap "+" in the top right corner. Then tap "Upload Photos or Videos" and "Camera Roll." You can select photos to upload by tapping multiple thumbnails and then tapping "Upload."

4) On your Windows computer, double click the Drive app to open your folders. Open the "Desktop Pictures" folder. Click in the address bar to select the path and then Copy it.
5) Open desktop background settings. It is easy to find by hitting start and then typing "wallpaper" or "Change Desktop Background."

6) Change "Picture Location" to "Pictures Library" by selecting it from the drop down menu. Remove the libraries that are already there unless you want them to display in addition to your new images in Drive. Click "Browse," clear the box and Paste the path that you copied in step 4.

7) Set "Picture Position" to "Fit" and adjust the setting for "Change picture every:" to a shorter time like 30 seconds or 1 minute.

8) Save changes and your slideshow will be live.

This is a also a great motivator for cleaning up desktop icons!

Portland Area 1:1 Summit

March 19th was a 1:1 Summit involving Portland area Catholic High Schools and Elementary Schools. Here are the resources from our meeting.

Video from Hangout


Today's Meet Transcript - http://goo.gl/pz5mi

Building a Meta-Symbaloo

Symbaloo.com is a great, free service for sharing links with students. It allows you to place clickable tiles on a Jeopardy-style board. As its use around school has started to grow, I wanted an alternative to publishing each shortcut to the shared student desktop (we are a very Windows-centric environment). This led me to the Meta-Symbaloo - i.e. a Symbaloo for the whole school where each tile is a link to a Symbaloo for a specific grade or subject. This will help to clean up our desktop since there only needs to be one internet shortcut. Teachers can now easily share links to their classes by adding tiles to their own Symbaloo. Students can easily find the links with two clicks (Meta-Symbaloo + their class).


Here is a screencap of our Meta-Symbaloo: