Netbooks vs. iPod touch

I've spent a lot of time on this blog sharing information about using iPod touch in teaching and learning. As you can tell, I believe it's a fantastic tool for educators and students.

But, is there a better tool for the classroom?

I've also written about netbooks--those low-cost notebook computers with screens between 7 and 10 inches in size. Netbooks are becoming cheaper everyday and are in high demand. I've been using an ASUS 1000HA Eee PC that runs Windows XP, has a 120GB hard drive, a 10.2 inch screen, a keyboard that is 92% the size of a standard keyboard, and a 1.6 Mhz processor. I love using my Eee PC and it really could replace my trusty MacBook.

Let's compare netbooks like the Eee PC 1000HA to iPod touch.

Both iPod touch and netbooks:

• seem to hold up to being dropped
• have Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet
• are small enough to fit on a desk along with a book or paper
• can play podcasts and media from iTunes U
• support voice recording
• hold a charge longer than a laptop computer
• excite student to use them

iPod touch:

• requires very little technical support
• gets no viruses
• is used in conjunction with a desktop computer
• is backed up each time synced
• has slightly longer battery life
• easily fits in a pocket or backpack
• has a very fast reboot time
• is priced at $230

Netbooks:

• have a real life keyboard
• play Flash videos and interactive Flash content
• often have a built-in webcam and microphone
• support the use of USB devices, including flash drives
• play a variety of video formats (not just mpeg-4)
• can print to USB and networked printers
• make it easier to work with full sized websites because of the larger screen
• can use the full desktop iTunes version (if it's a netbook with Windows)
• connect to file servers
• do not require a credit card on file to download software
• appear more serious and less gimmicky
• are manufactured by a variety of companies in a variety of configurations
• are price at $300+

If I were given the choice in what kind of devices to get for my classroom, it would be an easy one. Since I'd want my students to blog, contribute to a wiki, create podcasts, and edit video, my choice would have to be netbooks. But, I'd want netbooks with plenty of memory and a larger screen. The current netbooks that are priced similarly to the iPod touch are underpowered and their 7 inch screen makes them annoying to use.

If it wasn't important to have my students type with a real keyboard and I wasn't planning on sending them to interactive sites with Flash content, then iPod touch deserves a second look. iPod touch would be perfect for specific center or station activities and I know that the library of educational apps is only going to expand. All in all, I'd like to choose both. I'd love to have students use the netbooks to make content for iPod touch. As a teacher, I'd certainly be thrilled to have either netbooks or iPod touch in the hands of my students.

We had a similar discussion to this one two years on this blog before the term netbook was coined and before the iPod touch was released. Like two years ago, feel free to share your thoughts in a comment.

12 Days of iPod touch concludes tomorrow with my best tips for Safari, text entry, and the Home screen.

iPod touch and Homepages

Many teachers have a class homepage because it is a place where they can share information, assignments, and web links. Teachers with a set of iPod touches can make a similar homepage that is formatted to work well on the iPod's screen. There are many different tools out there to help you build a mobile page. My favorite is Wirenode.

Wirenode is a free service and that not only provides a way to build a page, but it hosts it as well. You get to pick a URL and when someone visits that URL, Wirenode actually detects what kind of device is accessing the site and formats the page to look just right. Here's a simple classroom example page I made at Wirenode.com:

A homepage is immensely helpful as it's really not fun for students to type in long web addresses using the iPod touch's onscreen keyboard. Now that you watched my video about how to link to items within iTunes, you can certainly use that knowledge to link to podcasts and apps in your Wirenode site.

When you create a site, you get a WYSIWYG page editor that has text formatting tools along with buttons for hyperlinking and importing images. Below is what the site looks like as I'm editing it in my desktop web browser.

After editing my site in Wirenode, there is a Publish button. The second after I click that button, my Wirenode site is instantly updated. I know in a classroom setting things can be very last minute. As a teacher, I can add links to my class Wirenode site over lunch and then the links are instantly published and available for the afternoon science class. To give students one-tap access to my homepage, I'd have students add a bookmark on each iPod touch's Home screen as a web clip.

Wirenode is simple enough that you can probably dive right in and get started. For those that want a little tutorial, wirenode.com provides a brief tour.

Yes, you can view full-sized web pages on an iPod touch. But, using Wirenode makes it simple to instantly share links with iPod touch-using students and they won't have to pinch, zoom, or scroll much to find those links.

12 Days of iPod touch continues tomorrow when I share my thoughts on iPods versus netbooks.

iPod touch and Quizzes

A search of the App Store for iPod touch and iPhone reveals dozens of quiz applications. There are gobs of apps to study specific topics like: world capitals, Dutch, chemistry, spelling, SAT vocabulary, pop culture, and Roman numerals. While it's awesome that there are so many pre-made quizzes out there, teachers and students need to be able to make their very own quizzes. The App Store doesn't yet have many make-your-own-quiz apps. But, here are three I'd like to share with you.

	Quiz Creator $0.99 Quiz Creator is somewhat clunky, but they appear to be making improvements. I like that it is pretty easy to create your quiz right on the iPod itself. And, you can attach an image from your iPod's Photo Library and record audio (requires a mic) to go with each question. Typing in questions on the iPod touch's keyboard takes a long time. Quiz Creator offers an a way to make a quiz online at ifomia.com/quiz. After making a quiz online, you enter your email address to get the access code to download the quiz into the Quiz Creator app.
	gFlash+ Free Although gFlash+ is a flash card app, it can also be used in multiple-choice mode for quizzing. You can download various quizzes that gFlash+ offers online. You cannot make your own card sets on the iPod itself; you make your own quizzes following a template in Google Docs and then share that document with gFlash's email. AppVee has a minute-and-half long video review of gFlash+ which gives a good overview of its features. While gFlash+ is free of charge, it does display small banner ads.
	iFlipr Free or $4.99 iFlipr let you download sets of flash cards made by other users or create your own. Like gFlash+, iFlipr also has a multiple-choice mode. In order to create flash cards, you must register with an email address and password. While it's a very good thing you can create your own cards on the iPod touch, it's faster to create them on the desktop and download them to your iPod--a feature iFlipr does offer. AppVee has a minute-and-half long video review of iFlipr which gives a good overview of its features. The developer offers a nine-minute intro video. iFlipr Lite has a ten-card limit. The full version of iFlipr is $4.99 and removes that limitation.

I always say that having students create their own study aids, it only aids in their study. Admittedly, these apps aren't the best the App Store has to offer. Their ease-of-use and ability to share quizzes/flash cards could use some work. But it's a good start and I suspect we'll be seeing more make-your-own-quiz apps soon.

iPods Episode #15: Linking to iTunes

Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #15: Linking to iTunes is the podcast's first video episode and it's is online now. In the video I show different ways to create hyperlinks to items within the iTunes Store, like podcasts and apps.

The episode is particularly relevant for iPod touch and iPhone users, as the same hyperlinks that work with a desktop browser and iTunes also work with mobile Safari, mobile iTunes, and the mobile App Store on the device itself.

I've previously written about linking to items in iTunes, but this video goes into more detail. Watch all 10 minutes of Episode #15 to learn how to link to media and apps in iTunes and see how those links work on an iPod touch.

Transcript

This is Learning in Hand: iPods. I'm Tony Vincent and this is the show where I share tips, how-tos, and ideas for iPods in teaching and learning. Episode 15, "Linking to iTunes" recorded December 2008, happens now!

This is the first of many episodes of Learning in Hand: iPods that is video. More and more of what I will share on this show is visual,especially as the focus changes from click-wheel iPods to iPod touch and iPhone. By the way, I'm wearing these earbuds because they are the kind with a microphone--I tested recording video using a desktop mic and it just didn't sound as good--so I'm using these.

Alright. So, you might have noticed an iTunes icon on webpages. When you click it, your browser redirects you to iTunes and opens on the details page for a podcast, musical album, movie, or software in the App Store. When I click the iTunes button on on the Our City Podcast webpage in my web browser, it opens iTunes right up to the podcast's details page in the iTunes Store.

Now, check this out. I have the Our City Podcast page opened in mobile Safari on my iPod touch. Tapping that same iTunes button on my website launches mobile iTunes on the iPod and opens to the Our City Podcast details page where I can download specific episodes right there on the device itself without the help of a desktop computer.

Let me show you the first of two ways to hyperlink to the iTunes Store. You'll need to go to the iTunes Link Maker atapple.com/itunes/linkmaker or just Google "iTunes" and "link maker" and it will be the first search result.

With iTunes Link Maker, you search for the item in the iTunes Store to which you want to link. I type in Our City and choose Podcast as the Media Type. But as you can see, you can also link to other media types, like Music, Movies, TV Shows, Audio Books, Applications, and iTunes U.

After clicking search, I can see a list of search results. I find the one I'm looking for and click the Arrow next to it. Then iTunes Linkmaker gives me give me HTML code to put into my website, wiki, or blog. Because it's HTML, you most likely can't just copy or paste it into a webpage. You'll need to toggle into HTML mode. I use Dreamweaver for my website, so I toggle to Code view and paste the copied HTML code there. Then I switch back to Design view to see what it looks like. Let's preview this in the browser. I click the button, and now iTunes opens to the details page for the Our City Podcast!

Ok, maybe you want to use just a text hyperlink or use your own image for linking. On that iTunes Link Maker page, you can right-click the image next to Link Test and copy the link. Now I can type text and select it to hyperlink with the copied link. I'm going to paste what I copied from the Link Maker just so you can see what the URL looks like. It's pretty long, but you can see that it links to the store and includes a unique Podcast ID so that iTunes can open to that podcast.

If you don't need that iTunes button or you want more control over what you're linking to, then you can use the second method of linking to items in the iTunes Store. Here's how it works.

Go to the details page for what you'd like to link to. Right-click the Artwork and then choose Copy iTunes Store URL. Then you have that same URL you could have gotten from iTunes Link Maker. But, you can also use it to link to specific episodes. I can right-click a specific episode and copy the iTunes Store URL. Now, let me paste that URL into a Google Doc document just for demonstration purposes. Now when I click that link, not only does it open to the podcast page, but the specific episode I link to is highlighted.

You can use this right-click and copy method in the App Store as well. I can right-click on the icon for Word Warp and Copy iTunes Store URL. Like I would with a podcast episode, I can paste that URL into a webpage or document.

If you read my blog at learninginhand.com, you have probably noticed that I use this method to link to iPod touch and iPhone apps I write about. Here's something cool. So I'm on mobile Safari on an iPod touch. I can tap the link for an app that's I've put on my blog. The mobile App Store on my iPod touch launches and takes me to the details page for that app where I can download it. This is super useful when teachers want students to download a specific app. Instead of the student taking the time to find the app, they can tap its link to have it instantly available to them!

Ok, a couple more tips on linking to the iTunes Store. You can actually copy the link to just about anything you can click on in the iTunes Store. I can go to the Podcasts section of iTunes, select Education, and then right-click K-12 to link to that specific category of the iTunes Store, Podcasts - Education - K-12 . When clicked in a desktop browser or on an iPod touch or iPhone, the user to taken to the K-12 Podcasts category.

You can also link to search results. Let me show you how to do this for "math". On the results page, right-click See All in the Applications results and Copy the iTunes URL. When someone follows that URL, they are instantly taken to the iTunes search results that include Math and are in the App Store. Unfortunately, links to search results only works on desktop browsers and won't work on an iPod touch or iPhone. Also, links to iTunes U won't work on an iPod touch or iPhone because iTunes U does not yet appear in the mobile iTunes Store.

On the desktop side, if someone clicks a link to something in the iTunes store, but they don't have iTunes installed, the link will take them to a page where they can download iTunes, which, as you know, is a free download for Windows and Macintosh.

If you're a teacher with a class website, linking to items within the iTunes Store can help your students and parents subscribe to podcasts and watch or listen to specific media in the iTunes Store. If you're a teacher with iPod touches, it's really convenient to use iTunes Store links to direct students to podcasts and apps to download.

That's a wrap for Episode 15. Thank so much for watching. For more about podcasting and iPods, head on over to learninginhand.com. Stay super everyone!

iPod touch and Games

The App Store for iPod touch and iPhone has over 10,000 apps and a quarter of those are games. Many of the games are ones teachers wouldn't mind having in their classrooms because of their educational value. I thought I'd share six of my favorites.

	Free Word Warp Free Word Warp gives you six random letters and your job is to make words with those letters. You get more points for words with more letters. Each and every puzzle has at least one word that uses all six letters. Free Word Warp has ads. The ad-free version of Word Warp is $0.99. A related game is Letras ($0.99). Letras gives you a grid of scrambled letters. The object of the game is to connect the letters to make words before time runs out.
	Lemonade Stand $0.99 This is the same game I enjoyed playing in the 80s! You are in charge of a lemonade stand where you try to make as much money as you can in 30 days. Each day you're given a weather report and then you decide how many glasses to make, what to charge per glass, and how many advertising signs to make. After tapping the Go button, you'll see a report of how much money was made or lost. I love the economics aspect of this game. I also love the mental math skills students practice as they play. A similar game is Lemonade 2 ($1.99). It has more advanced graphics and more variables, including adjusting your lemonade's recipe.
	Brain Toot Free or $0.99 Brain Toot includes 16 "brain training" exercises to test math, memory, visual, and thinking skills. The free version only has 4 of these exercises. Exercises include Number Pop, Word Scramble, Block Drop, and more. The game has a similar premise to the wildly popular Nintendo DS game Brain Age. Similar iPod touch apps include Speed Brain ($0.99), Train Your Brain ($1.99), Brain Surge (2.99), and Brain Jogging ($0.99)
	SimCity $9.99 You're probably familiar with SimCity and this one is made specifically for iPod touch and iPhone. It's the game where you take charge of an entire city. To play, you must plan, build, and manage your city and deal with taxes, zoning, roads, and disasters. SimCity is a great simulation where students can experiment with what works best in their cities. By playing, they learn about city management, balancing a budget, and patience. The publisher of SimCity recommends that you turn off and then turn back on your iPod touch or iPhone before playing (I'm guessing because SimCity requires lots of memory and rebooting the device opens up the available memory).
	Touch4 Free Touch4 is the iPod touch version of Connect Four. Players try to be the first to place four checkers in a row. Touch4 is a two-player game; your opponent can be the computer, another human playing on the same iPod, a random human from the Internet, or a human with their own iPod on your same Wi-Fi network. A quick Google search brought up some webpages that explain how to win at Connect Four. Two I liked are Connect 4 Tutorial and How To Win Connect-4.
	TanZen Light Free TanZen is a puzzle game of tangrams. A tangram is a set of seven flat geometric pieces. When you play TanZen, you pick a silhouette puzzle. Then your task is to move and rotate all seven pieces to recreate the silhouette's shape without overlapping any of the pieces. TanZen Lite contains 18 puzzles. For $0.99 you can buy the full version that has 405 puzzles to solve. Similar iPod touch apps include Tangram Puzzle Pro Lite (Free) and TangTouch Lite.

These games certainly take some brain power. Palm handhelds and Pocket PCs have had plenty of these kinds of games available. My fifth graders even made some excellent videos when tasked with explaining a Palm game and giving tips on how to win. Besides using games for formal lessons, having games in the classroom is especially helpful when it comes to classroom management. Teachers can expect fewer classroom disruptions from students who are "done" because they have some great game choices to play to keep them out of trouble.

Tomorrow for 12 Days of iPod touch I show you how to link to apps and podcasts in the iTunes Store.

Student Excitement for iPods

Last week I lead a workshop with a group of teachers from the Cave Creek School Unified School District in Arizona. Cave Creek has been issuing teachers iPod classics for a couple years now. You can view lesson plans written by Cave Creek teachers involved in the iPods in the Classroom project.

Holly Silvestri, a Spanish teacher at Cactus Shadows High School, sent along this email after participating in the workshop:

I came out of training yesterday and some of my students saw me. It happened to be a group of kids that I have had some issues with in class, but they still have a pleasant rapport with me. They yelled, "Hey Dra. S, you're here! Why weren't you in class?

I walked over and responded that I had iPod training.

They said incredulously, "You need training to use an iPod?"

I responded, "No, but in how to use it in class." I then asked, "How would you like to use your iPods to learn in class?"

The kid with whom I have butted heads all year turned around and said, "You're kidding!" His eyes were wide with joy.

I said, "Absolutely not," and he bear hugged me, saying, "I love you, Dr S! When do we start?"

One of the benefits of using iPods for learning is that students are very much drawn to them. Many have their own iPods and would love to use them for learning. If you invite iPods into your classroom, don't expect a bear hug, but do expect excitement!

iPod touch and Microphones

Unlike iPhone, iPod touch does not sport a built-in microphone. Thanks to a recent software update, the second generation iPod touch (with volume buttons on the left side) can now use add-on microphones like TuneTalk from Belkin and iTalk Pro from Griffin. These microphones attach to iPod's dock connector. iPod touch also supports microphones that use the headphone port like Apple's Earphones with Mic or Incipio's new $18 Lloyd microphone for iPod 4G (which does indeed work with iPod touch, it just doesn't fit nicely).

In order to record audio with iPod touch, you'll need to download an app. Luckily, a search for voice recorder in the App Store reveals over a dozen applications. In that search, you'll come across the free iTalk Recorder. iTalk Recorder is super easy to use. Unlike when you record with click-wheel iPods, you can name the recording and type in notes to go along with it. I like that you can pause a recording, listen to what you have, and then continue that recording. There are three quality settings: Good, Better, and Best. Here's what iTalk Recorder's support page says about the file sizes associated with these settings:

1. The length of your recordings are only limited by two things: Your disk space and your recording quality.
2. An hour-long recording will take up 75MB if you're set to Good recording quality, 150MB when set to Better quality, and 300MB when set to Best quality.
3. Or, to look at it another way, a gigabyte will store 800 minutes if you have your recording quality set to Good, 400 minutes when set to Better, and 200 minutes when set to Best.

Even if iTalk Recorder is set on the best quality, you should have plenty of space on an 8GB iPod touch. Now, what happens when you want to copy the recordings to your computer? First, you should know that iPod touch only syncs some of Apple's built-in app to iTunes. Additional apps you install have to figure out how to get their information and files from the iPod to your desktop without syncing with iTunes. You might recall that for Comic Touch, you can email your comics to yourself or you can send the comic to the Photos app. Since Photos is an original Apple app, it does sync with the desktop. As for iTalk Recorder, to transfer recordings, you must download and install iTalk Sync, free software for Windows and Macintosh.

Despite its name, you do not actually sync to use iTalk Sync. Instead, the iPod touch and computer need to be on the same Wi-Fi network. iTalk Sync must be running on the desktop and iTalk Recorder must be launched on the iPod touch. iTalk Sync will display a list of iPod touches and iPhones on the network that have iTalk Recorder running. Choose a device and once Yes is tapped on the iPod touch, iTalk Sync will display all of the iPod's recordings. You can drag and drop the recordings or click the iTunes button to copy them to your iTunes Music Library. If any notes have been input with the recording, they are copied to the desktop as a text file.

The audio file itself is in AIFF format. Most audio editing software can import AIFF. AIFF audio files are quite large compared to MP3, so you'll want to use iTunes or Audacity to export the audio as MP3. But first, you can certainly edit the audio with software like GarageBand or Audacity.

iTalk Recorder works really well and is free. But, the free app will display small banner ads along the bottom of the screen. If you want to remove the ads, you can pay $4.99 for iTalk Recorder Premium. The only different between the free app and the $4.99 app is that the premium app does not display advertisements.

There are so many ways to use a mobile voice recorder in the classroom. Apple has some interesting lesson plans listed on their iPod in the Classroom page. A use I have for a voice recorder is for making podcasts. Have a listen to the first half of Learning in Hand: iPods #14: Voice Recording for voice recording examples and ideas.

There are other apps besides voice recorders that you can use with an attachable iPod touch microphone. For example, check out the interesting Agile Lie Detector, a Heart Monitor that really works, a virtual recorder instrument, and a musical note tuner.

12 Days of iPod touch continues tomorrow when I share some games that are fit for a classroom.

iPod touch and Podcasts

Like other iPods, the iPod touch is perfect for podcasts. Just like click-wheel iPods, the podcasts you have subscribed to in iTunes on your Windows or Macintosh computer are automatically transferred to the touch when synced. If a podcast has artwork, it is displayed on the large screen. Video podcasts look awesome on an iPod touch because of that large screen.

Something that I don't like is that all audio synced from iTunes is found in the Music app--even if the audio is not actually music. That means you have to tap the Music icon to access podcasts. By the way, video podcasts are found in both the Music and Videos apps.

Unlike click-wheel iPods, you can download podcast episodes on an iPod touch without syncing. You'll just need a Wi-Fi internet connection. When in the Music app under Podcasts, tap a podcast to see its episode listing. At the bottom of the screen you'll notice Get More Episodes. Tap that and the mobile iTunes app on the touch will launch and take you to the complete episode listing for that podcast. In iTunes, tapping the Free button downloads that episode onto your iPod. Once the download is complete, the episode appears in the Music app, listed with the other episodes of the podcast. Unfortunately, if a podcast is not listed publicly in the online iTunes Store directory, then its episodes will not appear in mobile iTunes either.

The podcasts section of mobile iTunes is no where near as extensive as that of desktop iTunes, but you can drill down to specific categories. For example, you can get to my favorite category: Education > K-12. The mobile directory is certainly not a complete listing, however doing a search for podcast titles will reveal the podcasts you're looking for. The search seems pretty limited and does not search for individual episode topics--only podcast titles and keywords.

As an alternative to downloading an episode (which is saved in the Music app), you can stream episodes in the iTunes app. Streaming does not display an episode's artwork and you cannot access an episodes lyrics/notes, but streaming can be handy if you don't want to wait for the episode to download completely. Besides not showing artwork, a problem with streaming is that the audio or video may have to pause for buffering and if you exit the iTunes app, then the playback stops and what's been streamed is not saved.

As much as I'm glad mobile iTunes has podcast download and stream capabilities, there are some limitations to note:

• You cannot subscribe to podcasts, only download individual episodes.
• You cannot input a podcast's RSS feed--a podcast must be submitted to the iTunes Store and approved for it to be listed.
• iPhones using the cellular network cannot download episode files larger than 10MB. Almost all episodes are larger than 10MB.
• Oftentimes movie files listed in mobile iTunes cannot be played on the iPod touch and you're given the warning, "This movie could not be downloaded."
• All that great content in iTunes U is not listed.
• The whole process of downloading an episode in mobile iTunes seems clunky. I'm guessing Apple will improve this feature in future software updates.

Having the ability to download podcast episodes right there on the iPod touch is a useful feature. Busy educators often don't have time to sync their iPods. With a classroom set of iPods, syncing often is logistically be difficult. When students bring their personal iPods to school, it's not a good idea for them to sync with school computers. So, it was a smart move for Apple to include podcasts in mobile iTunes as a way to get educational content on an iPod touch without the hassle of syncing with a desktop computer.

Tomorrow's 12 Days of iPod touch is about voice recording--recordings that could be used for a podcast.

iPod touch and Animations

If you're a long-time reader of my blog, you certainly know that Sketchy is my favorite Palm and Pocket PC software. Sketchy lets you draw an animation frame-by-frame--think digital flip book. Once I saw Sketchy in 2001, I was hooked. I loved that my students could create something fun and meaningful right on their handhelds. I often said that if the Palm handhelds could do only Sketchy, the $300 we spent on them would still be totally worth it.

Creating your own cartoon animation takes time, but it's time well spent. Not only is the learner interacting with content in a creative way, but he or she enjoys sharing the final creation with others. Students will watch their own and each other's animations over and over again. Trust me, whatever students put into an animation, they will remember forever.

Here are some Sketchy examples by teachers and students:

Vocabulary Word: Gush by a 4th Grader	Sun & Earth by Tony Vincent
Water Cycle by a Teacher	Long Division by a 5th Grader

You can see several more animations in the Sketchy Animation Gallery. GoKnow, the company behind Sketchy, sponsors an annual animation contest. Check out the winning entries from all around the world in six different subject areas.

Sketchy is not currently available for iPod touch or iPhone--but Flipbook is! Flipbook is $9.99 from the App Store. It has almost all of the features found in Sketchy and then some. Here's a Flipbook animation I made explaining how to take a screenshot on an iPod touch:

How to Take a Screenshot on an iPod touch by Tony Vincent
press Play

Unlike Sketchy, Flipbook does not have a text tool so I handwrote the words. I find it hard to write with my finger, so I purchased a stylus for my iPod (watch my video about stylus options). Even with the stylus, I am not happy with how my handwriting turned out. Did you notice I was able to bring in images and use them in my animation? Well, now that I think about, I could have used another app like Comic Touch to type the text, export it to Saved Photos and then imported it into Flipbook. I'll give that a try next time.

Flipbook does have quite a few features, including layers and onion skinning. Luckily, the creator of Flipbook has produced a series of short video tutorials about organizing, drawing, layering, sharing, and other topics you may need help with. Unluckily, those videos won't show up when you visit the page in mobile Safari because they are in Flash. You'll have to view the video tutorials on your desktop.

You can watch the finished animations online at Flipbook.tv in mobile Safari since they are in QuickTime format (just like my example above). It's simple to share animations online with a free Flipbook.tv account. Here's the link to my shared animations: flipbook.tv/profile/vincent.

If you are logged into Flipbook.tv, you can click Edit to slow down or speed up any of your own animations. Also on the Edit page, you can download your QuickTime video to your desktop. In a classroom where many students are creating Flipbook animations, I suggest inputting the same Flipbook.tv account settings into every iPod touch. That way when students publish their work, it's under one account and easy to find. You'll just want to make sure students include their names in the titles of their Flipbooks.

$9.99 is the priciest of the educational app I've bought. Flipbook is certainly worth the price, especially considering that Sketchy costs something like $20 per handheld--which adds up quickly. As I wrote yesterday, a $9.99 iPod touch app can be transferred to unlimited number of iPods and iPhones.

If you want to give Flipbook a try, there is a free version: Flipbook Lite. It has all of the features of the $9.99 app but it does limit you to two animations and each animation can only have up to 10 frames. Another limitation: Flipbook Lite allow only one animation to be published on Flipbook.tv. If you want an app with lower price tag and fewer features, you might want to try Kineo for $4.99. If you want students to share their learning and to express themselves in a novel way, use whatever animation app you can find and let their creativity flow!

12 Days of iPod touch continues tomorrow when I tell you all about podcasts on an iPod touch.

Installing iPod touch Apps

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Apple now requires educational institutions to purchase paid apps through the App Store Volume Purchase Program. Read more about how this changes how paid apps are purchased and synced.

Installing software on iPod touch or iPhone is ridiculously easy. All software applications (known as "apps") can be found in the App Store section of the iTunes Store. Most people know this by now, but I should mention that iTunes works on Windows computers just as well as it works on Macintoshes. The App Store is organized much like the Music Store. Top apps are listed along the side. What's nice is that the App Store sorts out paid apps from free apps so you can limit yourself to just looking at the free stuff. Another nice thing: the App Store is also on the iPod touch itself! This means you don't even need to go through your desktop computer to install software!

App Store in iTunes		App Store on iPod touch

I find it easier to browse for software in iTunes than on the iPod's App Store. If you download software in iTunes, it goes into the Applications section of your iTunes Library. The next time you sync an iPod touch or iPhone, the software will be installed. To download software, you do need an iTunes account, which requires a credit card to be on file. About 25% of the software in the App Store is free of charge, but you still need a credit card on file to download free apps. A lot of good apps are indeed free, but I've found I like many of the paid apps better, particularly in the Education category. The good news is that apps tend to be priced between $0.99 and $2.99. That's a pretty good deal, especially considering that paid applications for Palm and Pocket PC are often in the $15 range.

Unlike installing paid software on Palm and Pocket PC, you don't enter a device I.D. or serial number to register an app. Instead, Apple uses a system of Digital Rights Management (DRM) called FairPlay. FairPlay is the same DRM iTunes uses to impose copyright restrictions on purchased music and videos. FairPlay limits you to installing an app from up to five authorized computers simultaneously. You get to decide which computers' iTunes you authorize: your personal laptop, home Mac, school computer, Windows netbook, etc. iTunes can be authorized to use multiple accounts, by the way. So I can authorize my MacBook to not only use my account, but my mom's and sister's at the same time. But, I only get to authorize my own account on up to five machines at a time.

What about authorizing an iPod? You don't! FairPlay's DRM allows you to copy the apps you've downloaded to an unlimited number of iPods. This is great for a classroom set of iPod touches because you can purchase an app for $1.99 and install it onto an entire class set of iPods. With Palm and Pocket PCs, you'd have to purchase a separate serial number for each and every device. Not with FairPlay. This is why I mentioned so many paid apps for math practice yesterday--a few bucks is a small price to pay when you can install the app onto so many iPods.

iTunes will let you sync an unlimited number of iPods to one computer. But, there might not be time to cycle through a class set of iPods with just one computer. That's when it's handy to have more than one computer authorized to install apps. Here's how to get apps installed on multiple iPods quickly:

1. Download the app or apps on one classroom computer and sync with one iPod touch.
2. Connect that iPod touch to another classroom computer. Don't sync the iPod as that will erase what you synced from the first computer. Instead, choose Transfer Purchases from iPod from the File menu.
3. All apps from the iPod are copied to the computer and ready to sync to more iPods.
4. Disconnect the iPod and connect to up to 3 more authorized computers to Transfer Purchases from iPod to those machines.
5. Sync the rest of the iPods to the computers you just transferred to apps to. Note that in classrooms where syncing happens on more than one computer, it is important to have each individual iPod touch sync to the same computer every time. I suggest sticking a different colored dot on each computer. Stick dots on the iPods that match the computers they sync with to make it clear which device syncs with what computer.

You can forgo syncing to install an app if you want to install it directly on the iPod itself. Just find the app in the App Store on the iPod and tap its Free or Buy button. If you have previously downloaded the app on another iPod or in iTunes, you'll get a message, "You have already purchased this item. To download it again for free, select OK." To install directly from the iPod's App Store, you need to input your iTunes account's password each time. That will get old if you have lots of iPods to install and I don't suggest sharing the password with students. In this case, installing by syncing with iTunes is your best bet.

So far I've addressed syncing iPod that are part of a class set. This set cannot easily be used in another classroom with a different set of computers. If this set if used school wide, I suggest syncing/installing apps from a central location, like the Media Center. Otherwise you're dealing with deauthorzing iTunes in the first classroom so you can authorize more computers in the second. Note that deauthorzing does not delete the apps from the computer, it just prevents you from installing the apps on iPods and iPhones.

Also, since iTunes requires a credit card for purchases, you'll have to decide whose card number will be used. I would have no problem using my personal credit card as the apps are fairly cheap. Then I don't have to figure out how to use a school credit card and keep all that separate with my personal iTunes purchases. The apps are cheap, so it won't amount to much--though I can see myself going overboard and having a dollar here and there add up quickly. Something to think about: if you ever leave the school, then you probably don't want your iTunes account associated with the school computers anymore, which would leave those iPods without software.

What if you aren't dealing with a class set? What if you are inviting students to bring their own iPod touches and iPhones? In short, it's messy. If they sync with a classroom computer to install apps, it will erase the apps they already have from their home computers. In this case, I suggest sticking with free software. If there's an app you'll use in class, have students install it from the App Store right their own devices. Student will need their iTunes' account password to install any app, even free ones.

So, Apple's FairPlay DRM does put some significant (and complicated) restrictions how you install and manage iPod touch software. But, it's very significant that you can install paid apps to any number of iPods and iPhones. That's definitely a plus for class sets of iPods!

12 Days of iPod touch continues tomorrow with animation apps.

iPod touch and Math Practice

The App Store for iPod touch and iPhone is quickly becoming filled with software for math drill and practice. Many of the applications are free or just 99 cents. Unlike Palm and Windows Mobile software, Apple actually approves each and every app before it is included in the App Store. While this is comforting in that you won't install something that doesn't work, many of the math drill and practice applications leave a lot to be desired. For math facts practice, I really wanted something like Palm's MathAce. Some apps come close to allowing control over what problems are presented. Unfortunately, the apps that are currently available usually give a multiple choice selection when I'd prefer students to input the number themselves.

Anyhow, there are a few dozen programs in the App Store for math practice. Here are some I like:

miTables Lite Straight-forward flash card game. Tap the i to set a variety of options. (Free)	Math Tables Math flash card game where you find the problem instead of the answer. ($1.99)
EDU Blaster Tap the numbers that fit the equation in the top-left corner. You can set the difficulty on the options screen. ($0.99)	FlowMath Build a problem that matches the given answer. ($0.99)
Math Tricks Read quick lessons on mental math tricks and then complete short quizzes. ($0.99)	Number Crunch Use the given numbers to create an expression that is as close to the target number as you can get. ($0.99)
Math Trainer Improve mental math skills by completing one of three kinds of exercises. ($1.99)	AddNumber Choose one or more numbers to add up to the goal. Includes negative numbers. ($0.99)

You probably noticed that most of the apps I chose to share above are not free. Most of the free apps are not exactly what teachers are looking for. Undoubtedly there will be more and more math practice applications and better free apps are bound to appear. You can keep up by searching the iTunes Store for math apps. Or, I prefer to search the AppShopper website. AppShopper lists your search result's icons, short descriptions, average ratings, and dates updated. I find AppShopper a little more useful when searching for a specific kind of software than browsing the iTunes Store. Once you find something you want to download, click the Buy Now button on the AppShopper page. The details page for that specific app will open in iTunes where you can download or buy the app.

Found a favorite math app? Tell us about it in a comment to this post!

12 Days of iPod touch continues tomorrow when we explore putting apps on multiple iPods and/or iPhones.

iPod touch and Comics

Comics are a powerful medium. The combination of visuals and text can really get an idea across--just ask Google. To announce their new Chrome web browser in September, Google issued a comic book to explain why they were making their own browser and how Chrome is different from the others.

There are a variety of ways to read comics on an iPod touch. iPREPpress sells Graphic Biographies and Histories for iPods. These "eBooks" are actually simply a folder full of images you can load onto an iPod. Each panel of a comic is its own image so each eBook consists of over 50 images. You view the eBook like you would your other photos in the Photos application.

You can certainly use iPod touch's Safari web browser to visit websites that have comics. Because comics are usually large images, you'll have to zoom in and scroll around the screen to read them. Be aware that if a site uses Flash to display the comic, it won't show up on the iPod. To help you out, Stripr is a site formatted for the iPod touch and iPhone screen (a.k.a. a web app) that lists a variety of comic strips. Stripr also presents the comics so you don't have to load the actual site it came from. You'll still have to zoom and scroll to read them, though.

Another way to view comics is to use software from the App Store. Some apps are designed be a single graphic novels like Nancy Drew Volume 3 Issue 2. Comic Envi, however, uses the Internet to download a variety of the latest comic strips and political cartoons. It displays them as a slide show on your iPod touch.

Reading comics is great, but creating your own comic is even better. For desktop computers, there's software like Comic Life and websites like Comiqs.com that allow you to create your own cartoon story. For iPod touch and iPhone, there's Comic Touch ($4.99) and iToony ($2.99) from the App Store.

Behold some educational comics I made using Comic Touch:

Photo from Pics4Learning.com	Creative Commons Licensed photo from flickr.com/photos/15066227@N00/90017858/
	Creative Commons Licensed photo from flickr.com/photos/justastranger

iPhone users can use their phone's camera to take a picture and instantly bring it into Comic Touch or iToony. Since iPod touch doesn't have a camera, touch users can import images from the Photo Library. There are several ways to get photos into the Photo Library:

• Place the photos you want to sync in a folder or album on your desktop computer. Use iTunes to sync the photos onto the iPod.
• Drawing software from the App Store (like iDoodle2 Lite) allows you to save images created in the program to the Photo Library.
• Photos can be sent as email attachments and that email can be opened on the iPod touch. Tapping the photo in Mail produces a menu where you can save the image to the Photo Library.
• You can save an image while browsing the web in Safari. Tap and hold the image you wish to save. The image you are about to save is highlighted. Tap the Save Image button that appears.

As you undoubtedly noticed in my comics above, Comic Touch has warping effects that are a lot like PhotoBooth on the Macintosh. Although iToony doesn't have warping effects, it does have a wider variety of speech bubbles and lets you draw, sketch, and decorate in many colors.

After creating a comic in Comic Touch or iToony, you can save the cartoon to the Photo Library. From there you can sync the image onto a desktop computer or send it through email. Once on a desktop computer, the image can be used wherever you use JPEGS: documents, slide shows, webpages, blogs, wikis, etc. Or, since you can email the photo right from the iPod touch or iPhone, you could email the image directly to a blog for posting (most blog services allow you to post via email). Wherever the images happen to appear, students and teachers will have a blast creating, sharing, and learning from their comics!

12 Days of iPod touch continues tomorrow with math apps.