One of the great things about blogs is that you can subscribe to them. Instead of visiting the blog page to check for new posts, many use a feed reader like Google Reader or Bloglines. However, if you don't check your feed reader regularly, it does not help you to keep up on the blogs you are subscribed to.

Some blogs offer subscriptions by email since email is something that people regularly check. I'm happy to say that Learning in Hand is now one of those blogs. Simply complete an Email Subscription Request. On days when there are new posts to this blog, you will receive an email with any new updates. Don't worry, if there aren't new posts, you won't be emailed, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

If you have your own blog there are a variety of ways to enable email subscriptions. I use the free Feedburner service.

Labels: announcements

Like I said in my last post, there hasn't been much to report in the world of PDAs as manufactures place their emphasis on smartphones instead. Although there's not much new hardware, software continues to be developed for handhelds. Here are some recently released applications (mostly games) for Pocket PCs running Windows Mobile:

• Arikone - Game where you connect the numbers with a line that cannot cross itself.
• Color Lines - Classic game where you place five like-colored balls in a row to make them disappear and score points.
• Delicious Plug In - Quickly bookmark and tag sites for Delcious.com from inside of Internet Explorer Mobile.
• CapSure - Take photos of what's on the handheld's screen. Great for make how-to slideshows and handouts.
• Dice - Simple random number generator 1-6.
• Loan Assist - See how interest rates affect the cost of a loan. Note: Works on WM 3 and might not work on other versions.
• Miner - A version of Minesweeper for Windows Mobile.
• Music Trainer - Improve musical score reading and accuracy. Read more about the application.
• MyEnglishFAQ - Quick reference for the English language, including commonly confused words and irregular verbs.
• Pocket Uno - Pocket PC version of the card game.
• Shift - Puzzle game where you move tiles around a board.
• Skinz Sudoku - Friendly-looking Sudoku number game.
• Sale Calculator - Figures the final price for percentage-off sales. Students could easily make their own calculator using Excel Mobile.
• SimpTimer - Display up to six timers on the screen at once.
• Skype - Free voice calls using Wi-Fi.
• Taiyoukei - Database for information about the solar system. Includes images.
• TildeTech Hangman - Simple Hangman game. You can make your own dictionaries of words.
• Vexed - Puzzle game where you move tiles to make them disappear. Try to make the goal in as few moves as possible. This is one of my favorite puzzle games!
• WM Screenshot - Another free screenshot program.
• Word Seeker - Game of concentration with nine words that need to be matched. Words that match can be the same word, a synonym, antonym, or homonym.
• And if you want to run lots more free software, buy StyleTap to run most all Palm programs, including the ones I mentioned in my previous post.

Labels: pocket pc, windows mobile

There really hasn't been much new to report in the world of Palm handhelds. Palm has been focusing on smartphones and hasn't released a new PDA since 2005. While we aren't seeing new hardware, software continues to be developed for the Palm OS. I thought I'd share some of the newer Palm freeware applications:

• AtroInfo - Plots the planets, sun, moon, and stars in the night sky. Note: Huge 15MB file. You'll want to install this on an SD card.
• Bombel - Virtual bubble wrap for you to pop. Not that educational, I know, but a great stress reliever.
• Dolch Sight Words - Simple program to quiz students over sight words. If a student says the word correctly, tap OK. If incorrect or slow, tap Again and the word will appear again later in the session.
• InflationMaster - With all of the recent talk about inflation, this application is handy for comparing dollars in different years. It has been updated for 2008.
• JazzyDraw - Advanced drawing program that lets you save your work to an SD card.
• Jury - Silly application that lets you tap one of two buttons. One button plays applause sounds and the other is for boos. Teachers might like to use this when asking the class true and false questions.
• Latin Endings Program - For all you Latin teachers out there--here's a database of declension and verb endings. (I took four years of Latin in high school and we had a song and/or dance for Latin words endings, but a reference like this would have been super handy.)
• Outcast - Puzzle game where you tidy up the screen by moving pieces into a minimum number of groups.
• Tangram - Solve tangram puzzles by moving the pieces to match the silhouette.
• Word Maniac - Word game where you build words from the letters displayed on the screen.
• World Population Clock - Display an estimate of the current global human population or select a date to see that date's population.
• Want more about Palm freeware? Check out Chris Cuppett's book Handheld Applications for the Classroom and the sequel, More Handheld Applications for the Classroom. The books offer ideas and lessons for using Palm freeware. A CD-ROM is included so you don't even have to hunt for the software online.

Unfortunately websites for freeware suffer from link rot--that means that the hyperlinks may not work because the original page or file has been moved or deleted. If you find link rot, do a Google search for the exact name of the application. You may need to add extra keywords like Palm, download, or freeware.

Labels: palm

Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #14: Voice Recording is available and is all about using iPods to record audio.

A popular student and teacher use of iPods is voice recording. While you can use a computer for recording, it’s handy to have a portable recording device for lectures, class discussions, announcements, interviews, and notes. In this episode, I share two really cool examples of voice recording. One example is "Word of the Week" from Sean Porter's fourth graders and their podcast, Club 4Cast.

Additionally, I share how to do the recording on iPods with click wheels. To record, you're going to need a microphone attachment, but the software is already installed on all iPod nanos and classics. Listen for tips for indicating where the recording needs to be edited and for importing the audio. Also listen for how the newest generation of iPods record differently from older ones.

Tune in for all 13 minutes of Episode #14 for just about everything you need to know about iPod voice recording.

And as a special request: If you enjoy this podcast, please click here and leave a rating and comment in iTunes. Thank you!

Labels: learning in hand: ipods

Apple has updated the iPod nano for the fourth time. The new "4th generation" iPod nano has more similarities than differences from the 3rd generation iPod it is replacing. The most noticeable difference is that the screen is taller and skinnier. However, the screen is the same one from the 3rd generation nano, only turned 90 degrees.

Apple doubled the storage capacity at the same price points as the previous nano. That means for $150 you can now get an 8GB nano. For most everyone, that's plenty of memory. Eight gigabytes will hold hours of video and days of audio. Like all iPods with click wheels, you can enable disk use for transporting, storing, and backing up computer files to that 8GB of memory.

There are two new accessibility features added to the new nano. First, in the settings menu, users can increase the font size from Standard to Large. The Large settings appears to be about 150% larger. However, only the menu font is changed. The text displayed while playing audio and Notes fonts are not affected by this setting. That's a shame because the font used for Notes is quite small. Another accessibility feature allows listeners to hear the names of menus, settings, titles, podcast episodes, and almost everything that appears in the menus. Unfortunately, the Spoken Menus option will not speak anything in the Notes section. That would have been way cool. (By the way, if you ever do want spoken text on your iPod, check out SpokenText.)

The nano knows which way it is being held and will sometimes change what's on the screen to match how you're holding the it. That's because Apple added an accelerometer to iPod nano. But it only works in certain functions like playing videos, browsing audio, and viewing photos. Some games require that you hold the nano sideways in order to play. And speaking of games, I'm really sad that the iQuiz game no longer comes preinstalled on the 4th generation nano. While you can purchase iQuiz for 99 cents, it will not run on the 4th generation nano. I really hope iQuiz is updated to work on the new nano because it is a great quizzing game and makes the iPod a more useful study tool.

The new nano supports recording with an external microphone. It can use microphones that connect to the headphone jack (like the microphones that come with iPhones). It can also record using external microphones that connect to the dock connector like the Belkin TuneTalk. The Voice Recorder function is updated and Apple added the ability to add chapters while recording. This is super handy when recordings are long. Another change is that the iPod no longer records in the WAV format. Now it uses Apple Lossless format. While it is similar to WAV, it is not nearly as compatible. You might have to use iTunes to convert recordings to more compatible formats like WAV or MP3 if you're importing into other programs like Audacity. Apple software like GarageBand can certainly use the Apple Lossless format with no problems.

Other than the lack of iQuiz, I really like the new nano. In fact, I would recommend the 8GB nano over the 120GB iPod classic. The only major differences are the storage capacity and screen size. The classic has a slightly larger screen, though that screen has the same resolution as the nano's. Unless you need to carry around an enormous number of videos or need lots of space for disk use, the nano is going to meet your needs for $100 less than the classic.

Labels: ipod

Josh Mika is working on the iPodject at Beebe Elementary School in Illinois. Besides having a cool name, there are other cool things from the project. There's a website, blog, and wiki. These resources are all about using iPod classics in classrooms.

The wiki has a page devoted to listing schools that are using iPods. The list can be a good thing to show school administrators that your idea to bring iPods into the classroom isn't a crazy one.

The wiki also has several videos about iPods. Josh recently made his own iPods in Education presentation video. The video gives a thorough introduction to what iPod classics can do. I like the point made at the end: Would you like to learn, purchase, carry, move, and store a television, CD player, tape recorder, CDs, documents, and file folders or a single iPod.

 

Labels: ipod