There are times when you might want to link to an item in the iTunes Store. Maybe you want to bookmark, email, or post a hyperlink to an item. That item might be a song, podcast, video, or category. Just about everything in the iTunes Store has its own web address. Entering that address into a web browser opens iTunes and automatically navigates to the linked item. For example, clicking this link takes you to the Our City podcast in iTunes:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=104141824

How do I know the web address for the podcast in the iTunes Store? Simple. Most everything in the iTunes Store (including podcasts) is right-clickable (or control-clickable for Mac users). When right-clicked, a context menu appears. Select Copy iTunes Store URL to copy the web address. Here are some examples:

Right-click the Education category from the Podcasts section to get the link for this page.	Right-click the podcast cover art to get the link for the podcast's details page.	Right-click the podcast episode title to get a link to the podcast's details page that will have that particular episode selected.

Paste the copied web address into a hyperlink for the item. Users are redirected to the iTunes download page if iTunes is not installed on their computers.

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You have probably seen links to podcasts that look like this:

An easy way to make this kind of link (with the spiffy iTunes icon) is to use iTunes Link Maker. You are three easy steps away from getting HTML code to include in your blog or podcast web page:

1. Enter the podcast, song, or album to which you wish to link. Click "Search".
2. Click the arrow associated with a specific link on the page.
3. Copy and paste the HTML link into your web page or blog posting.

When iTunes Link Maker supplies you with the HTML code, it also explains:

The url in the text box on this page points directly to a deep link within the iTunes Store. When a user clicks on it, iTunes will open and navigate to the correct page. The iTunes graphic is included with the code and resides on Apple's servers; all you have to do is copy and paste. If iTunes is not present, the link will automatically take the user to an iTunes download page.

Linking to items in iTunes is very handy. Once your web visitors are directed to a podcast in the iTunes Store, they are just one click away from subscribing!

Labels: podcast, podcasting

I've added a new tool to Learning in Hand. The new Grazr widget appears on some pages. Grazr is a free service for websites that allows visitors to "graze" selected RSS feeds without the hassle of subscribing. This means you can browse and listen to selected podcasts without leaving Learning in Hand. In the event you'd like to subscribe to a podcast you find in Learning in Hand's Educational Podcasts Grazr, you can follow these directions for subscribing with iTunes.

My goal is not to list every educational podcast under the sun. Instead, I want to list exemplary podcasts so those new to podcasting have a place to start listening. Please help me make this list better by suggesting podcasts to list (or suggestions for podcasts to remove from the list). Leave a comment or email me.

Labels: podcast, podcasting

Clocks will be "springing forward" a few weeks earlier this year thanks to the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Starting in 2007, most of the United States and Canada will observe Daylight Savings Time from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. This poses a problem for computers, as they are expecting to adjust their clocks in April and October. Companies are putting out updates so that their operating systems will move their clocks forward and backward on the correct dates.

Palm has issued a Daylight Saving Time Updater for it's Palm OS and Windows Mobile handhelds and smartphones. In a classroom full of handhelds, I suggest syncing the DSTUpdater.prc file to one handheld. and beaming it around to all of the other handhelds. Once launched, it's a very quick install. Note: If an updated handheld is hard reset, then the DSTUpdater will need to be installed and run again. This will probably need to be done each fall after handhelds are reset for the new school year.

Microsoft has information about updating Pocket PCs with Windows Mobile here. Desktop computers may need to be updated as well. Here is information for Windows users and Macintosh users.

If you don't update your system for the new Daylight Savings Time rules, it's not the end of the world. You can always manually adjust your computer's clock. Unfortunately, that will involve adjusting your clock up to four times a year. You can manually change the time in March and November and your computer may make annoying changes in April and October (following the old rules).

Despite the confusion it causes, Daylight Saving Time is a great topic for students to explore various science and social studies concepts. Investigating Daylight is a great lesson plan from Microsoft and Daylight Savings Time from WebExhibits is a great resource for students.

Labels: palm, pocket pc, windows mobile

It's time again to list many of items that are piling up in my inbox and in my Bloglines feeds. There's a little something for everyone: Palm, Pocket PC, iPod, Mobile Phone, PSP, and podcasting users...

There's a new Google Maps application for Windows Mobile. It's also available for Palm OS. It requires an Internet connection.

Some Australian schools are using the Nova5000 with students. Read about their experiences in the NOVA5000 Australian Trials blog.

Some U.K. schools are using PSP (PlayStation Portables) in classrooms. Read about their experiences in the PSPTeachers blog. They are using the PSP's WiFi connection to deliver RSS feeds to the students. Be sure to check out their cool charging and storage cart. Click on over to this article from Popular Science to learn how to read eBooks and watch videos on a PSP.

Doug Hyde is a library-media specialist at a Wisconsin middle school. His blog, Classroom in Your Pocket, has a useful post about showing video from an iPod on a television or projector.

Karen Fasimpaur wrote about PocketPicture, a great paint program for Windows Mobile. It's free!

The Podcasts for Educators Weblog has a post titled evaluating podcasts. It links to a PDF file for evaluating podcasts for teaching and learning. In the future, the blog will be publishing an evaluation for students and young people to use. Also at the weblog, learn about podcasting through their Online Learning Studio.

Leonard Low posted his Top 10 Freeware Apps for M-Learning on his Mobile Learning blog. His suggestions focus on mobile phones and Windows Mobile devices.

Rolly Maiquez has a couple of blog posts you might want to check out: Useful Palm Handhelds and Language Arts Curriculum Integration Links and Funding Links.

Lynn Lary points to curriculum resources for a interesting lessons using MIT's free participatory simulations for Palm handhelds. Included are materials and handouts for a unit called "Future CSI" and a unit about the Big Fish-Little Fish simulation.

Those of you who are Windows, Palm, and iPod users may be interested in Palm2iPod that sends your contacts and calendar from Palm Desktop to your iPod.

Here are several new freeware applications for the Palm OS:

• SequenceM: Sequencing application for elementary classrooms.
• ClipExtend: Bypass the 1000 character clipboard limit so you can copy and paste larger amounts of text.
• HealthCalc: Calculate BMI, body fat, heart rate zones, and more.
• Pepe Palm Chat: Send text back and forth through infrared.
• Checklist by Paper Trail Software: Create and manipulate checklists.
• Dekses: Puzzle game where you follow the right number order and move the digits to their correct places.
• Target: Game where you make words out of a 3x3 grid of nine letters.
• tejpWriter: Word processor with a surprising number of features. I like that it can export to HTML. The applications is a little buggy, though.
• SimpleChart: Plot up to three columns of data.
• Subscribe to Palm Freeware's RSS feed.
• Dale Ehrhart has produced many free educational applications. Read about them on his Pre-Service Teacher blog.

And here are some freeware applications for Windows Mobile:

• Hubdog: Read news feeds and subscribe to podcasts on your Pocket PC.
• Free PDA Keyboard: Full screen keyboard for easier text entry.
• Pocket Notes: Notebook program with different pen sizes and colors.
• Subscribe to Pocket PC Freeware's RSS feed.

Labels: ipod, mobile phone, palm, pocket pc, podcasting

A student at Clay High School in Oregon, Ohio is accused of hacking into school personnel and student files and transferring private information to his iPod. According to the Toledo Blade, the high school junior was charged with unauthorized use of a computer. He was also charged with possessing a criminal tool, his iPod, since it was used in the crime.

An iPod can do more than play music. One of an iPod's many functions is that it can be used like an external hard drive or flash drive by putting it into Disk Mode. A computer doesn't even need iTunes on it for the iPod to show up on the desktop (Mac) or in MyComputer (Windows). Furthermore, you don't even need iTunes to enable Disk Mode. Here are instructions on how to force your iPod into Disk Mode without activating it through iTunes.

Clay High School's student connected his iPod (with Disk Mode enabled) to the USB port of the school's computer. He could then copy or save files into his iPod's memory. Those same files could then be copied to another computer. Fortunately, the iPod with sensitive data was confiscated the same day it was used in Oregon, Ohio's crime.

Labels: ipod

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is becoming more and more popular. Why? RSS allows you to subscribe to content, like news, blogs, and podcasts. As you might already know, my preferred method of reading my RSS feeds is the free Bloglines web service. I can check on updated feeds on any computer with a web browser, including my handheld and mobile phone. Bloglines senses which web browser I am using and formats itself accordingly. Check out my public subscriptions if you want to see the RSS feeds I subscribe to.

RSS is an important part of what's called Web 2.0. What's Web 2.0 all about? The amazing video, Web 2.0...The Machine is Us/ing Us, by Michael Wesch at Kansas State University, does a great job explaining the new ways the web is being used. RSS is dubbed as a way to "describe the content, not the form. So the data can be exported, free of formatting constraints." Content without form is perfect for small screens as information can be formatted in ways that work best for the tiny computer you're using.

Here's proof of RSS's significance in mobile devices: Samsung's new WiBro SPH-M8100 Smartphone (running Windows Mobile) sports a dedicated RSS button (here are some photos). The button launches an RSS reader application. I wonder if you could remap that button to launch Explorer Mobile and go to Bloglines. I also wonder if this is the first of many phones to have an RSS button.

Labels: blogging, mobile internet, palm, pocket pc, rss

Despite its lack of display screen, Apple's $79 iPod shuffle can be more useful than you might think. I recently grew my iPod collection to include a 1GB shuffle. The iPod shuffle's memory can store more than 12 hours of audio, which means the battery will need to be recharged before I've listened to all of the audio. Since I'm always near a computer for syncing and charging, the 1GB of memory (compared to my 60GB iPod) isn't as limiting as I thought it would be.

To sort an iTunes playlist by date, right-click the Name column header and select Date Added. Then click the newly displayed Date Added header to sort newest-to-oldest. Click again to sort oldest-to-newest.

In classrooms where students are listening to a limited number of podcasts, the shuffle could be useful. Students could check out the shuffle (perhaps for a center activity). They can even clip the shuffle to their clothing so they don't drop the device. Now that the iPod shuffle comes in five different colors, they make handy additions to classrooms; content on the iPods could be color-coded. For example, the orange iPod is loaded with history podcasts while the the green one has episodes about volcanoes.

With a name like shuffle, you might think that the player would only be good for listening to music in a random order. But, the iPod shuffle has a switch to toggle between random order and going in the order synced from iTunes. While you can't navigate playlists on the iPod shuffle, in iTunes you can create a playlist for the shuffle and move the audio around in any order you want before syncing. You can even create a Smart Playlist in iTunes that automatically places certain podcasts on the iPod. Another tip for listening to podcasts on an iPod shuffle is to organize your iTunes playlist by Date Added. That way the newest (or oldest--your pick) episodes are played first.

And a note for podcasters: Without a screen, it's important for audio to be immediately recognizable. It's always nice when podcasts identify themselves within the first 10 seconds so you know which podcast and which episode you're listening to.

Labels: ipod, podcasting

There's more evidence that handhelds improve student learning. Wolverhampton's Learning 2 Go partnership in the United Kingdom released a report at the end of 2006. The 46-page End of Phase 2 Report is full of notable facts, figures, charts, and recommendations:

• The number of schools in the Learning 2 Go project expanded dramatically in Phase 2, the academic year 2005-2006, from approximately ninety handheld devices in use to over a thousand.
• Handhelds are not the not 'magic answer' but effective use is conditional on other aspects of effective teaching, class management, as well as school culture.
• In general progress is not so good [in secondary schools] and baseline achievement has not yet been established by all schools.
• There is almost no evidence of distraction from established learning approaches caused by devices as feared by some teachers.
• Attendance at school appears to be significantly improved, certainly in Primary schools, which was notable against the general trend across the Authority [school district]. Attendance for boys was shown to be more improved than for girls.
• There was evidence that a school's ability to manage innovation and change at the highest levels was critical to success.
• Year 6 students achieved 5 percentage point increase in science, 3.5 increase in math, and -1 point increase in English. No explanation is available for the English outcomes, but the report offers further insights.
• Mini-Computers Bring Test Boost was published by BBC News and briefly shares some of the report's results. Dave Whyley from the project is quoted, "Attendance figures have gone up. We're also seeing boys switched on to reading. They like e-books. One boy read his e-book until his battery went flat on his PDA at night."
• The report includes lots more information, including examples of what students and teachers are doing with their handhelds, parent reactions, technical issues, and much data analysis.
• The key message for all audiences remains that unless current PDAs and software are implemented with a well prepared and structured support framework; then the successes seen in the Wolverhampton project will not be realised.

With the success of the partnership, we can look forward to more reports and resources from Learning 2 Go. Something we do know from research is that achievement gains do not come until a teacher's second year of handheld implementation. For more sources of research and studies, visit the Research Web Links page.

Labels: pocket pc, research

I spent today at Wisconsin's CESA #4 with about 30 school administrators in a workshop called Making Technology Work for You, the Administrative Leader. Here's the description:

As a classroom teacher and technology specialist, Tony Vincent propelled his school, Willowdale Elementary, to a leadership role in educational technology. Tony has valuable tips and advice for administrators for encouraging the use of technology for teaching and learning. Experience the latest technologies like handheld computing, blogging, podcasting, and RSS. Find out how administrators can use these new tools to do their jobs and to set an example for teachers and students. Discover practical, doable, and engaging ways these new technologies and method of communication are being used in classrooms. You'll leave with solid examples to inspire teachers! Bring your laptop and Palm handheld if you got one because there will be hands-on activities!

It was a pleasure to sharing my favorite tools: handheld computers, iPods, blogs, RSS, social bookmarks, and podcasting. If you would like to see more of what I covered in the workshop, check out the links we used today and/or download the handout. I like to make my handouts so that workshop participants have room to take their own notes, although I've already filled in some notes, specifically web addresses.

One look at the agenda and you can see that it was a fast-paced day. The 30 administrators have a lot to digest. In fact, as a reflection activity, participants are writing comments to this post to share what they have learned and what they plan to do about it.

Labels: presentations

Here's a new freeware math game for Palm and Windows Mobile users: ArithmeTick. The game helps student become faster at addition, subtract, multiplication, and division. Players can choose which operations will be used and the skill level. Once the game begins, it's a race to get as many problems correct as possible. Players are awarded up to 10 points for each problem depending on how quickly the problem was answered. Also, players are awarded extra time for each problem solved correctly. Challenge problems worth 50 points are offered at the end of each level. Since there is no erase button, you should know that if you enter a wrong number by mistake you can clear your current guess by tapping on the problem.

Let's see how high those scores can go! Offer this game to students and post their high scores in a comment to this post.

Download the Palm version.
Download the Windows Mobile version.

Labels: palm, pocket pc