When I first saw that companies were selling styluses for iPhone and iPod touch, I laughed. After all, these tiny computers are designed to be used with a finger, not a stick. But, as I download more and more drawing applications, I'm finding I don't draw very well with my finger. I actually want a stylus for my iPod. The problem is that a regular stylus does not work on the iPod touch's screen--a special kind of stylus is required. I found three styluses that could be used and ordered one. I wasn't incredibly happy with it, so I ordered the other two.

I made a video (TeacherTube / YouTube) in which I share my thoughts on the three styluses I purchased. Not only because I think the information might be helpful, but because I wanted to experiment with making videos about iPod touch. I used ScreenFlow to simultaneously record my iPod touch and me. Then the software allowed me to integrate the video and add graphics. Despite the few times I misspoke, I'm pretty pleased with the final product. I'm hoping to make videos like this one about some of my favorite educational applications for iPod touch.

Stylus ordering info: Soft-Touch Stylus, Japanese Touch Pen Stylus, and Pogo iPhone Stylus.

Labels: ipodtouch

Learning in Hand began in 2001 as part of my fifth grade classroom website as a way to share what my students and I were doing with Palm handhelds. In 2004, Learning in Hand became its own website and added information about Pocket PCs. Learning in Hand's focus on student-centered technology continued through the years by adding resources for podcasting and iPods. At long last I've taken the time to reorganize the site so it is easier to browse for the information you're interested in.

The site's main pages are now Blog, Podcasts, PDAs, iPods, Netbooks, Mobile Web, About, and Search.

Podcasts contains a link to Learning in Hand's popular Podcasting section. It also links to the three podcasts hosted here at learninginhand.com: Learning in Hand: iPods, Our City Podcast, and Soft Reset.

PDAs is the section all about Palm handhelds and Pocket PCs. I've always been against calling handhelds PDAs (an initialism for Personal Digital Assistants). But, I needed a word to describe handhelds that run Palm or Windows Mobile and are not phones. I couldn't just use the word "handheld" because nowadays that term encompasses so many different kinds of devices. PDAs seems to be the best way to describe these so that's what the section is labeled. The PDAs section contains links to Palm and Pocket PC/Windows Mobile software, lesson plans, classroom management advice, eBooks, and lots more.

The iPods portion of Learning in Hand has great information for users of iPods with Click Wheels. Most iPod users who visit can find things they never knew an iPod could do. In particular, the Gallery of Educational Image Sets has some cool educational photos sets to load on students' iPods. A brand new addition to Learning in Hand is Do So Much with an iPod touch. I'm finding the iPod touch (the iPod that's just like an iPhone--minus the the phone functions, camera, microphone, and speaker). iPod touch users can surf the web using the iPod's Safari browser. There are also web sites that are designed for the iPhone/iPod touch screen called Web Apps. Then, there are also real software applications that can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store. Of course, an iPod touch is an iPod, so it plays audio and video and displays photos. Furthermore, this new section shares loads of tips and tricks for using an iPod touch.

Another new section is Netbooks and it discusses tiny, affordable computers. These computers don't have much memory or storage space, but that's ok. They can connect to the Web through Wi-Fi and access thousands of web applications. To help teachers out, the page has a list of web applications that I've recently bookmarked. You can see all of the ones I've bookmarked here. I suspect the Netbooks pages will be updated quite a bit in the coming year as they become more and more popular.

The Mobile Web section is all about using the Internet on devices with small screens, like mobile phones, PDAs, and iPod touch. There are sample sites, advice for finding mobile sites, tips for use in a classroom, and information about creating your own mobile site.

Clicking About will bring up information about me, along with links to my other websites and Twitter page. This is also the page where you can email me and where you can check out my Presentation and Speaking Information.

Search uses Google to search Learning in Hand and is a good way to find something when you're not sure which section it is in. If after searching you can't find something you know is on the site, email me and I'd be happy to point you in the right direction. Note that during the reorganization I did not change any URLs, so all pages you have bookmarked are still there. Also note that the discussion forums have been removed as they were very rarely used. One more note: clicking the site's name or logo at the top of each page will take you to Learning in Hand's home page.

While I was busy reorganizing and adding content, I also gave the site a little facelift. I hope you like the changes!

Labels: announcements

Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #13: Batteries & Charging is online and is full of ways to extend battery life, care for batteries, and advice for charging.

You know how important a battery is to an iPod. If an iPod's battery is completely drained, you can’t use the device until you plug it into a power source. And, after a couple years of use, a battery’s capacity to hold a charge diminishes. What you actually do with an iPod greatly affects how long one charge will last. This episode discusses some of the things that drain the battery the most. Additionally, listen for ways you can keep iPod batteries from premature aging. Listen to all 12 minutes of Episode #13 for the full scoop.

Labels: learning in hand: 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!

Labels: handhelds, iphone, ipodtouch, mobile internet, mobile phone, mobile web, palm, pocket pc