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 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.

12 Days of iPod touch/iPhone: Palm vs. iPod touch

For years I've touted the wonderfulness of Palm handhelds. My fifth graders and I had a blast earlier in the decade using Palms and the gobs of available freeware. But now, near the end of the decade, I've lost my excitement for Palms in education. Palm hasn't updated its line of PDAs in over three years and has discontinued its educational purchase program. I've always liked that the Palm OS was easy to use and student-friendly, but they just haven't kept up with the times and the Palm Corporation is obviously no longer interested in the education market.

My excitement has transferred from Palm to iPod touch. It's even easier to use than a Palm handheld, especially when it comes to loading it with audio and video. And Palm users will appreciate that syncing actually works every time. Like a Palm handheld, an iPod touch's battery tends to last through a whole school day.

Right now there are currently three times as many applications for Palm as there are for iPod touch and iPhone. That is changing quickly. The Palm OS has been around for over 10 years and PalmGear.com lists 32,000 software applications for Palms. In contrast, Apple only opened up iPod touch and iPhone to software developers in the last year and the iTunes App Store has now surpassed 10,000 applications. I'm guessing that by the end of 2009, there will be more software for iPod touch/iPhone than for Palm. Currently 24% of the iPod touch/iPhone apps are games. Nearly 8% are categorized in Education. About one-fourth of all iPod touch apps are free and about of third of them cost only 99 cents. To me it seems that iPod touch and iPhone applications are cheaper than their Palm counterparts.

Note: Apple's App Store is part of the iTunes Store and can be accessed through iTunes for Windows or Mac or directly on an iPod touch or iPhone. Most all iPod touch and iPhone apps work on either kind of device.

Browsing the web on a Palm is tolerable. But its browser is very outdated. The iPod touch's Safari browser is modern and like all those commercials, allows you to view full-sized web pages. But there are also websites designed just for the iPod touch screen called web apps.

Palm.com continues to list the 128MB Palm TX for $299--the same price it has had for over three years. The 8GB touch retails for $229. The iPod touch offers 64 times the memory for less money.

The iPod touch's big disadvantage over Palms is that there are no attachable keyboards for iPod touch or iPhone. If students are writing more than a few sentences, a real keyboard is necessary. I'm hoping a real keyboard will come out soon. If the iPod touch had an attachable or wireless keyboard option, the choice between Palm and iPod touch would be a no-brainer. If the device is being used for lots of writing, then I suggest looking into a netbook instead of a Palm handheld.

Another disadvantage for iPod touch: since Palm handhelds have been used in classrooms for so many years, you'll find tons of Palm resources, including lesson plans, online. Resources for iPod touch in education are scarce, but that is sure to change. (Have you checked out Learning in Hand's Do So Much with an iPod touch section?)

You can look forward to 11 more days of posts here at Learning in Hand devoted to the iPod touch and iPhone. We'll compare them to netbooks, check out some useful features, and showcase educational software from the App Store. On the 12th day, this blog's gift to you is a video where I'll show you my favorite tips and tricks.

Simulate Sites for Mobile Phones and iPods

Nowadays there seems to be three kinds of websites. There are the full websites that you are used to viewing on your desktop or laptop. Then there are mobile versions of sites for cell phones. Mobile sites are created with a minimum amount of graphics, don't require much bandwidth, and can be navigated with a keypad. Additionally, there are sites formatted for the Safari browser on iPhones and iPod touches. These sites are sometimes called web apps and are designed to be used by touching the screen with fingers. Below you can see that CBS News formats its site according to what kind of device you are using to view it.

Not all sites are programmed to format themselves into these three types of sites. Chances are that the your website is static and does not change no matter what size of screen it is being viewed on. If you'd like to see what a site looks like on a cell phone, you can use the dotMobi Emulator. The emulator is useful for not only checking your own site, but for pages that you might want students to visit on a mobile device.

If you'd like to see what a site or web app looks like on an iPhone or iPod touch, you can use iPhone Tester. iPhone Tester gives you a preview of what the page will look like on a simulated iPhone.

If you'd like a make a site that will function well on a mobile phone, handheld, or iPhone, you should check out Wirenode. It's a free service that allows you to easily create a compact webpage or site that will format itself for the device that's used to access it. Here's a site I made with Wirenode for the 2008 NECC conference. As you can see, Wirenode support text, images, news feeds, and hyperlinks.

Why would you care what your site looks like on a mobile device? Research firm IDC says that 1.3 billion people will connect to the Internet using a mobile phone in 2008. According to the March 2008 Tween & Teen Lifestyle Report, 73% of teens and 26% of tweens own mobile phones. Besides mobile phones, youngsters also often have access to the Web on other portable platforms like Palm handhelds, Sony PSPs and Nintendo DSs. The bottom line is that the Internet isn't just for desktop computers anymore!

iPods Episode #11: Artwork & Lyrics

Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #11: Artwork & Lyrics is online and is all about giving audio files cover art and accompanying text.

Artwork and lyrics are two things you can easily add to an audio file to make it more useful on iPods. While most all references you'll find to artwork and lyrics on iPods deal with music, the audio files do not have to be songs. They can be recordings from a voice recorder, ripped from a CD, podcasts, files from Audacity or GarageBand, or downloaded from the Internet. Wherever you got the audio, we'll explore adding customized artwork and accompanying text to these files.

Listen to all 11 minutes of Episode #11 for tips, how-tos, and ideas for using artwork and lyrics on click wheel and touch iPods.

Directory of Web Apps for iPod touch & iPhone

Apple has launched its official directory of Web apps for iPod touch and iPhone. Web apps are websites that are designed to "extend the functionality of iPhone and iPod touch." Apple does not allow software applications to be loaded on iPod touch and iPhone, forcing developers to use Web apps instead. Note: You can hack an iPhone to run native applications, but I do not recommend hacking. Although Web apps follow the latest web programming guidelines, I've found that many Web apps designed for iPod touch and iPhone often do not render properly on other devices like Palm handhelds and Pocket PCs. A definite disadvantage to Web apps is that they require a wireless Internet connection. No connection = no access to the Web app site.

Over 200 Web apps are currently listed in the directory. Categories include Calculate, Entertainment, Games, News, Productivity, Search Tools, Social Networking, Sports, Travel, Utilities, and Weather. About half of the Web apps are in the Games category. Perhaps we'll see an Education category in the future.

If you don't have an iPod touch or iPhone but want to give these apps a try, many will load right in your current browser. Mac users can download the free iPhoney application. iPhoney shows you exactly what a site will look like on a iPod touch/iPhone, matching the devices' 320 x 480 resolution. All desktop Web users can go to iphonetester.com and to see how a site will look on an iPod touch or iPhone.

There are other directories of Web apps. Two places to find them are everythingiPhone and iLounge. But, Apple's directory is my favorite.

Feeling really geeky or have advanced Web programming students? Apple has resources for developing your own Web apps.

Update: Apple has announced they will allow developers to make software programs for iPod touch and iPhone. This is great news as native software applications are far better than web applications. We'll have to wait a while as the kit for software developers won't be ready until February 2008. With useful software applications, iPod touch will turn out to be a very useful handheld computer.

Update #2: Kathy Schrock has posted a nice list of educational web apps she has tried out.