iPods Episode #7: iQuiz

Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #7: iQuiz is online and it's all about iQuiz.

iQuiz is a game for iPods with fun game show sounds and slick graphics. iQuiz comes with sample quizzes, but the real power comes from teachers and students making their own quizzes. iQuizMaker is software for Mac and Windows computers that makes it easy to create quizzes and sync them to iPods. iQuizShare.com is a site for downloading and sharing quizzes. Like iQuizShare, iQuizr.com is a place for downloading and sharing quizzes with the added feature of being able to create quizzes online.

iQuiz comes pre-installed on all iPod classics and iPod nanos that play video. It's available for older full-sized iPods that can play video for 99 cents from the iTunes Store.

Listen to all 13 minutes of Episode #7 for how-to and a few valuable tips. Also, check out learninginhand's Quizzes page.

Meet the Mobile Web

Believe it or not, more people have access to mobile devices than desktop computers. Many handhelds can access the Internet, including cell phones, Palm handhelds, Pocket PCs, Nintendo DS's, and Sony PSPs.

The problem is most websites are not convenient to use on a handheld's small screen. So, many sites provide a mobile version of their content. For example, USA Today provides their current news stories in a simplified format at m.usatoday.com.

In 2006, mobile websites got their own top-level domain name: .mobi. When visiting sites like google.mobi on a mobile device, you know you're receiving content formatted for a handheld. Over half a million sites have been registered as .mobi and many more are on the way. Unfortunately, there remains a variety of ways that a website may format its mobile web address, making it difficult to locate a mobile site (if there is one). Once you find a useful mobile site, be sure to bookmark it!

I've added a section to Learning in Hand to help educators use the Mobile Web. I provide plenty of sample sites and tips for classroom use. Educators might be interested in making their own mobile site, so I've included a page with information about ways to create your own mobile homepage. Many web publishers are creating mobile versions of their sites because more and more people are accessing with web with a handheld.

Syncing Multiple iPods

When you're dealing with multiple iPods in a classroom there are some things you should know. First, it's certainly possible to connect multiple iPods to one computer. When connected, iPods not only sync, but they charge their batteries as well. You can see in the screenshot to the right that I have connected all six of my iPods (including my iPhone). The iPods are listed alphabetically and with tiny icon representations under the Devices panel in iTunes. I can click the name of an iPod to view and edit its contents and sync settings.

Here are some other things to know about syncing multiple iPods:

• iPods can be be the same model or a mixture of models. You see six different iPods connected in the image to the right.
• Technically, 127 USB devices can be connected to a computer at one time. Realistically, you'd never connect that many devices to one machine.
• Syncing many iPods at once can slow down your computer and the syncing process.
• Most computers have four or fewer USB ports. If connecting more iPods, use self-powered USB 2.0 hubs. Self-powered hubs have to be plugged into a power outlet.
• iPods connected to a self-powered USB hub continue to charge even when the computer is powered off.
• You can sync items purchased from the iTunes Store (music, videos, audiobooks, and games) to all iPods connected to that computer. You can authorize and copy that purchased content onto up to five computers.
• You can authorize more than one computer to work with purchased items from more than one iTunes account. Simply log out of one account by clicking on the account name in the iTunes Store window and clicking the Sign Out button. Log into the other account, and then they will both be authorized. (Notice that you are not deauthorizing the computer, just logging out). This can be valuable if you have a combination of content purchase through a school account and your personal account.
• Most schools aren't using content purchased from the iTunes Store, so you probably don't have to worry about the five computer limit. Since podcasts are free, they are not considered purchased content.
• You may want a consistent naming structure to keep each iPod clearly identified in iTunes. It might be easiest to name iPods by numbers. For example: "01 Vincent" "02 Vincent" etc.
• You can only make changes to an iPod's settings when it is connected. When disconnected, the iPod's name and icon disappear from the Devices panel.
• Sync settings (playlists, podcasts, calendars, contacts, photos) must be set up for each iPod individually. Think carefully about these preferences the first time you set them so that you don't have to make changes later. For example, choose Sync All Songs and Playlists if the iPod have enough storage space. Otherwise, each time you make a new playlist, you'll have to update each iPod's settings.
• When using more than one computer for syncing, designate which iPods are synced to which computers. If an iPod has been synced with Computer A and then is connected to Computer B, the iPod will ask if you'd like to replace all items from Computer A with those from Computer B. That's probably not a big deal, but it will take time to copy those files. Also, you'll need to input the sync settings again. It's just easier to have each iPod sync to one computer. Using color-coded stickers is a simple way to indicate that iPods with green stickers sync to the computer with the green sticker.
• If a student brings an iPod from home to school and syncs to a school computer, you'll run into some issues. The data from home will have to be erased and replaced with data from the school computer. When the student syncs at home, the data from school will be replaced. Sorry, there is no way to merge the content from school and home together.
• An exception to the above: Files placed in an iPod's Hard Disk Mode are not replaced when syncing. This includes Notes.
• iTunes syncs the time code where you stop audiobooks, videos, and podcasts from one iPod and copies that information to all iPods. This means that students who watch videos and listen to podcasts may have their audio or video begin in the middle of an episode (nothing the iPod's Previous button can't fix immediately by rewinding to the beginning).

Like using Palm handhelds and Pocket PCs, there are all sorts of technical and management issues when using class sets of iPods. If you have worked with multiple iPods in a classroom and have insights, please share them with us in a comment.

Attend Handheld Learning 2007

I want to encourage you to attend Handheld Learning 2007. The conference and exhibition is October 10-12, 2007 at Central Hall Westminster, London. As part of the steering group, I'd like to invite educators from all over the globe to attend.

I blogged about Day One and Day Two of Handheld Learning 2006 last year. I learned a lot in those two days and I look forward to learning much more this year.

I'll be presenting about innovative uses for iPods in learning. The preliminary program is online. A detailed program will be published shortly. Here are some other great sessions, workshops, and seminars:

• Learning While Gaming
• Technologies for Learning 2012
• Reflections on Pedagogy
• Creating Content for Mobile
• Science, Math, and Mobile
• Mobile Application Showcase

I've set up a Twitter group for the conference. If you are attending, please follow these directions to join in. If you would like to read Twitter updates from those attending the conference, this is the page for you.

If you are planning to register, please contact me and I'll provide you a code to save £70 ($140). Last year the conference filled to capacity--early registration is a must. I know, I know: It won't be easy to convince the-powers-that-be to fund your trip to the U.K., but it will really be worth it!

New iPods

Apple has updated every single device in their iPod lineup.

iPod touch
iPod touch is a lot like an iPhone without the phone and camera. It has a large touchscreen. Of course it plays audio, video, and podcasts. It is equipped with Wi-Fi and the Safari web browser. Like iPhone, it has an onscreen keyboard that appears when you need it. While I'm disappointed there is no email application, users can use web-based email in Safari. iPod touch is also missing a notes application. One look at the iPod touch home screen, you notice there is a lot of room for more icons. I'm hopeful that Apple will be adding features through software updates in the future. Additionally, there have been so many great websites designed for iPhone. Now that iPod touch can also access the Web,we'll see even more web sites and services will be optimized for the mobile Safari browser in iPod touch.

iPod nano
iPod nano has a new shape to accommodate a larger display. iPod nano now has all of the same features as the full-sized iPod, including video playback and games. In fact, all iPod nanos come with iQuiz, the game with fun graphics and the ability to make your very own quizzes using the free iQuizMaker for Mac or Windows. iPod nano also has been updated with an enhanced interface with slick transitions and a focus on album artwork.

iPod classic
iPod classic is the new name for the full-sized iPod. It's the only iPod with a miniaturized hard drive; all other models use flash-based memory. Hard drive sizes are now 80 and 160GB. That's probably too much storage space for most users. Like the new iPod nano, iPod classic comes with iQuiz and an enhanced interface.

iPod shuffle
iPod shuffle now comes in new colors. It's the only iPod without a screen and has the smallest storage capacity at only 1GB.

With so many iPod choices, which does your school choose? It will probably depend on how much money a school has to spend and if they have a Wi-Fi network. If iPods will be used for listening to select audio and podcasts, a shuffle or nano may be the way to go. If interacting with the Web is important, then iPod touch is a good choice. Apple makes it easy to compare iPod models and prices with their Which iPod Are You? chart.

Podcasting Bits & Pieces

It's time for some podcasting tidbits.

• Dave Jobbings at the Podcasts for Educators Weblog writes about sustainability of educational podcasts. After looking at 80 podcasts listed in the Podcast Directory for Educators, Schools, and Colleges, Dave has noticed some interesting trends. The most common reason for a podcast no longer updating is that the teacher or staff member responsible for the podcast left the classroom or school for another post. Dave writes, "This would seem to underline the importance of a policy for succession planning. Whatever podcasting expertise there is within a school, some action to share this expertise more widely would seem a sensible option." Dave notes that providing professional development for other teachers and developing expertise in the students are two ways that schools can be ready for succession of podcasting educators. I would like to note that Radio WillowWeb continues to "broadcast" and it's been over a year since I left Willowdale Elementary. The school is dedicated to podcasting and Radio WillowWeb did not depend solely on my expertise.
• I am teaching one-day workshops for the Nebraska Business Development Center in Omaha. Business-types and educators are encouraged to sign-up. Check out the dates, course description, and outline for Podcasting: Communicating Your Message. You can listen to a four-minute audio recording of me talking about podcasting and about the workshop. Also, I wrote "Podcasts Deliver Free Audio & Video: Listen, Learn, and Publish Your Own" that appears on page two of the Nebraska Business Development Center's fall catalog. If you're not in Omaha, remember I make a living delivering workshops. Perhaps we can arrange something for your school district, business, or organization?
• Apple has filed to trademark their popular podcasting symbol, which you can see to the right. The purple figure surrounded by concentric circles is used by many podcasters. Because it's a trademarked image, webmasters who use the graphic may someday receive a cease and desist letter. So far Apple has not indicated that they will ask podcasters to remove images of their symbol.
• There are many options when it comes to publishing a podcast. My preferred way is to use a service like Slapcast or Libsyn. These services host the episode files, create a blog, and maintain the RSS feed. Slapcast gives you three free episodes. Libsyn has no free trial. Both cost $5 per month. An educator at a recent conference clued me in on SolidCasts.com. SolidCasts will host up to 100MB worth of episodes for free. Depending on how long your episodes are and how much compression you use, 100MB is enough for about a dozen audio files. SolidCasts says that the 100MB is free for life. However, if you have more than 100MB, you have to either delete previous episodes or pay at least $12.95 per month for one gigabyte (or more) of storage.
• Another option for podcast-publishing is GoDaddy.com. Plans start at $2.39 a month for 300MB of space. Like Slapcast and LibSyn, GoDaddy hosts the episode files, creates a blog, and maintains the RSS feed.
• Check out the free How to Podcast tutorial. There are videos about using Audacity.

That's your podcasting news for now. Stay tuned for future updates.

iPods Episode #6: Notes

Another episode of the Learning in Hand: iPods podcast has been published. Episode #6: Notes is all about viewing text on iPods.

When you think of iPods, you think of those white earbuds. While iPods are designed for audio (and some for video, too), iPods with screens can also display text. In the Extras menu, you’ll see the Notes option. That's were you can view text files that have been placed on the iPod. Learn how to copy notes to iPod along with the limitations and workarounds.

Listen to all 7 minutes of Episode #6 for how-to and a few valuable tips. Also, check out learninginhand's iPod Notes page.

Automatic Suspension

Michigan School District Cracks Down on Cellphones, iPods appears in USA Today. Rather than having electronic devices confiscated or serving a detention, Plymouth-Canton Community Schools have begun automatic suspensions. Students are slapped with a one-day suspension for the first violation. Students could be suspended for up to five days for more than three violations.

The main reason for such harsh consequences? You guessed it: they might be used for cheating. Forget that handheld devices have potentially great educational value. Forget that assessment should be more than memorizing facts that can easily be looked up. Forget that outside of school, looking up information on your mobile device is not cheating, it's being resourceful (and becoming a necessary life skill). Forget about teaching ethics. Just ban utensils that could enable cheating. Perhaps this should include paper and pens, which are much more commonly used for cheating. Heck, ban the air supply so students can't possibly whisper answers to one another!

Plymouth-Canton's director for student services is quoted in the article, "This was not done capriciously. ...We want to teach people responsible use." What? First, I had to look up the word capriciously. Knowing what that means didn't clear up my confusion. Automatic suspension is not teaching students responsible use. Suspending a student for bringing an iPod to school is in no way guiding learners in how to use technology responsibly. I'm not opposed to suspensions for cheating, but for simply bringing a potential learning device into school? No way.

I enjoyed reading the comments on Michigan School District Cracks Down on Cellphones, iPods:

• genxer65 wrote: "Kids do need to learn when to use these devices and when not to."
• o050441 wrote: "Humans survived thousands of years without a cellphone. There is no NEED for this technology to live day to day. It's a luxury, a privilege or even a crippling disease."
• Eldiablo wrote: "Don't use them during school hours, how hard is that to follow?"
• mistamilla wrote: "There's another issue being overlooked: the damage / theft of iPods and cellphones. I know this firsthand...as a teacher, you'd be STUNNED at the number of calls our school gets.....get this now....the number of parents that want us, the school, to REPAIR or REPLACE Johnnie's or Susie's damaged property."
• commonpurposecon wrote: "Suspension just allows them to use the devices all day long and not in school. Have the library confiscate the devices with no guarantee that they will see it again."
• RD72987 wrote: "Its not just iPods and cell phones, get rid of all of the elements of cheating....People copy other peoples homework in study hall, heck that's what study hall was for."

I realize cheating is an important issue. I know phones and iPods can be distractions. But, schools should integrate students' miniature computing and communication devices into learning. Banning and suspension is cheating students of access to valuable tools.

Soundsnap: Free Audio for Podcasters

Soundsnap is a new place to find sound effects and musical loops. It's like YouTube for sounds because users can download sounds and upload their own--all for free. Everything uploaded to Soundsnap is copyright-friendly for podcasters to use. Here's how Soundsnap describes itself:

Soundsnap is the best platform to find and share free sound effects and loops- legally. It is a collection of original sounds made or recorded by its users, and not songs or sound FX found on commercial libraries or sample CD's.

It was originally started by a small group of sound people from all over the world. Our common belief is that sounds and samples should be free for everyone to use in their projects, commercial or not.

Our users are a diverse mix of sound designers, sound artists, web game developers, filmmakers and music producers. Hobbyists and home video makers are welcome too.

Soundsnap is fully searchable and sounds are also categorized and tagged for browsing.

You can download an MP3 or WAV version for most files from Soundsnap. I recommend downloading WAV files to import into your podcasting projects. WAV files are usually higher quality. You'll be compressing the audio later, but it's nice to start with the best sounding audio available.

Soundsnap started with 30,000 audio files and is growing. Check it out!

Update: Soundsnap is very much like YouTube, where not all uploads are appropriate for school. It's probably not a good idea to let students loose on Soundsnap (and it's likely to be blocked at school). I suggest that educators download a whole bunch of useful audio files from Soundsnap to their hard drives and organize them into folders. Burn those folders on a CD or place them on a flash drive that is always available for when sounds are needed.

My iPod Session at NECC

I Didn't Know You Could Do That with an iPod was the name of a session I presented at last month's National Educational Computing Conference in Atlanta. The room was pretty much full when I entered to set up. By the time the session started, people were crammed in every square foot of space. In fact, blogger David Jakes gave his Most Ironic award to the fact that there was "so much interest in the educational application of a tool that is banned in most schools."

Kyle Stevens took great notes during the session. You can read his notes and listen to a recording on his Final Curve blog.

I used an iPod as a fun way to give away a prize. One of the possible prizes was an iPod Key Chain Connector. Lots of attendees wanted more information on the connector, so I wrote about it here.

I got many questions for more information about the camera I was using to show the iPod's screen. Unlike Palm handhelds and Pocket PCs, there is no software that allows iPod's screen to be transmitted directly to a computer. So, the only solution to show an iPod to a group of people is to point a camera at it. Often I've used a document camera. This time I used my iSight camera on top of a flexible stand. The stand is available from MacMice, but you must already have an iSight camera (Apple no longer sells them). Any USB camera can be used, but you'll want it to have a flexible stand so that you can position it over an iPod (or whatever you happen to be showing). USB cameras can be as inexpensive as $30, making them much cheaper than document cameras.

The camera does me no good if I can't show it on a computer screen. I use Monitor Mode, a free Mac program that takes any video source and displays it in full screen mode. With my Mac connected to a projector, I can show what's under the camera to a whole room. I've searched for a Windows alternative to Monitor Mode but haven't yet found one.

The NECC conference was a great event, with thousands of educators everywhere. Many of them blogged from the conference. I was tickled that Diana Laufenberg wrote the she was star-struck to see "the beloved Tony Vincent." Can you see me blushing, 'cuz I am! Furthermore, I got to meet the very sweet Midge Frazel and the brilliant Wesley Fryer, both of whom blogged about meeting me.

While it was a busy conference, the best part was meeting so many great educators. I didn't catch her name, but one technology teacher said she didn't retire this year because of me. She learned about podcasting from me and her students absolutely love it. She enjoys doing it so much, that she's staying on for another year. This is exactly why I share everything I do online!

Next year's National Educational Computing Conference is in San Antonio. Perhaps I'll meet you there!

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PoducateMe Podcasting Guide

Micah Ovadia from Ohio has spent more than a year working on his PoducateMe Podcasting Guide. His time was well spent, as the guide is gushing with 186+ pages of information for podcasting in education. One look at the comprehensive Table of Contents and you can see why it took a year to create.

I'm always on the look out for how people define podcasting. Here's PoducateMe's definition:

A podcast is simply a collection of individual audio episodes typically recorded and edited on a computer, encoded in the MP3 file format, then uploaded to a Web server. Users of "podcatcher" software, such as Apple's iTunes, are then able to download episodes from the server to their computer and listen to the recordings on their computers or transfer them to a media player such as an iPod. Because episodes may be listened to at any time and anywhere, a popular analogy is to think of podcasts as TiVo for radio.

I noticed that video is not addressed in the definition. PoducateMe's guide includes some references to enhanced podcasts but none for video podcasts. After reading through more of the guide, you'll understand that audio podcasting can be complicated, simply because of all of the options in hardware, software, and publishing. PoducateMe often suggests alternative solutions to what I generally recommend.

I'll share one new thing I learned from browsing through PoducateMe. I've mentioned SyncTunes before, but it's worth revisiting after reading through Micah's guide. SyncTunes is free software for Macintosh that allows you to automatically sync podcasts (and other audio files) from iTunes to devices other than iPods. What about Windows users? There's BadApple, a free plug-in for the Windows version of iTunes. It's not as slick as SyncTunes, but BadApple allows Windows users to sync iTunes content to any device that mounts as a USB storage device, like Pocket PCs and memory cards.

Another way to automatically sync podcasts to non-iPod players is to skip the use of iTunes all together. myPodder is an alternative "podcatcher" that works with the online Podcast Ready service to automatically deliver podcasts to your desktop computer and portable device. There's even a version of myPodder that runs on Windows Mobile. That means your internet-enabled Pocket PC can subscribe to and receive podcasts without ever syncing to a desktop computer!

There are plenty of other useful bits of podcasting goodness in the guide. While the entire PoducateMe Podcasting Guide can be read online free of charge, it is available as a fully printable 29 MB PDF file for an educational price of $17.95. (The online version cannot be printed and the text cannot be copied.)

iPods Episode #5: Troubleshooting

The fifth episode of the Learning in Hand: iPods podcast has been published. Episode #5: Troubleshooting gives advice on solving problems.

iPods are great little devices and almost all of the time, they work just fine. However, use an iPod long enough, and you’re bound to have a problem or two. After checking to make sure the Hold switch is in the off position and the battery has a charge, it’s time for the Five Rs of iPod troubleshooting: reset, retry, restart, reinstall, and restore.

Listen to all 8 minutes 20 seconds of Episode #5 for several iPod troubleshooting tips. Also, check out learninginhand's iPod Troubleshooting page.