Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #17: Favorite iPod touch Apps was recorded live. It was supposed to be a call-in show, but no one called in. Fortunately, there were live listeners in the chat room who asked great questions.

Besides sharing some useful information about the App Store and installing apps, listen for information about the Google Moderator series designed for educators to vote for their favorite apps. You can find the series at tinyurl.com/edapps. Please contribute your own and please vote!

Tune in for all 16 minutes of Episode #17 to hear all about some of the great software the App Store has to offer. Note: This is an edited version of what was recorded using TalkShoe. If you want to listen to the entire live broadcast, go to this page.

Labels: iphone, ipodtouch, learning in hand: ipods

Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #16: iPod touch Tips is online. In this video podcast I share some of my favorite tips and tricks for Safari, text entry, and the Home screen.

In the video I do not attempt to show you the basics of using iPod touch. Mostly because Apple.com has a great iPod touch Guided Tour video and 116-page User Guide. Instead, I share tips that I hope are at least partly new to even experienced iPod touch and iPhone users. Here's a quick list:

Safari

• Tap the time to skip to the top of the page
• Double-tap a column or image to zoom in
• Save an image by tapping and holding
• Tap and hold a link to show its URL
• Add a bookmark icon to the Home screen
• Use bookmarklets to find text on a page, find similar pages, look up words, skip to the end of the page, and more
• Turn iPod touch horizontally before entering a web address or search to get a larger keyboard

Text Entry

• Double-tap Space for a period, space, and capitalization of the next word
• Type "im" and "cant" and let iPod touch autocorrect to "I'm" and "can't"
• Move the cursor by tapping, holding, and dragging
• Enter student names into Contacts to add them to the auto-correct keyboard dictionary
• Reset the keyboard dictionary in Settings > General > Reset > Reset Keyboard Dictionary

Home Screen

• You can have up to 9 pages of apps for a total of 148
• Tap the bottom right or left corners to move between pages
• Tap and hold one icon until they all jiggle to rearrange them
• Push the Home button to go to the first page of icons when on any other Home screen page
• Put commonly used icons on the first page
• Put most accessed icons in the dock
• Download Backgrounds free from the App Store for thousands of images to use for wallpaper

Watch all 18 minutes of Episode #16 to see these tips in action!

Labels: iphone, ipodtouch, learning in hand: ipods

Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #15: Linking to iTunes is the podcast's first video episode and it's is online now. In the video I show different ways to create hyperlinks to items within the iTunes Store, like podcasts and apps.

The episode is particularly relevant for iPod touch and iPhone users, as the same hyperlinks that work with a desktop browser and iTunes also work with mobile Safari, mobile iTunes, and the mobile App Store on the device itself.

I've previously written about linking to items in iTunes, but this video goes into more detail. Watch all 10 minutes of Episode #15 to learn how to link to media and apps in iTunes and see how those links work on an iPod touch.

Transcript

This is Learning in Hand: iPods. I'm Tony Vincent and this is the show where I share tips, how-tos, and ideas for iPods in teaching and learning. Episode 15, "Linking to iTunes" recorded December 2008, happens now!

This is the first of many episodes of Learning in Hand: iPods that is video. More and more of what I will share on this show is visual,especially as the focus changes from click-wheel iPods to iPod touch and iPhone. By the way, I'm wearing these earbuds because they are the kind with a microphone--I tested recording video using a desktop mic and it just didn't sound as good--so I'm using these.

Alright. So, you might have noticed an iTunes icon on webpages. When you click it, your browser redirects you to iTunes and opens on the details page for a podcast, musical album, movie, or software in the App Store. When I click the iTunes button on on the Our City Podcast webpage in my web browser, it opens iTunes right up to the podcast's details page in the iTunes Store.

Now, check this out. I have the Our City Podcast page opened in mobile Safari on my iPod touch. Tapping that same iTunes button on my website launches mobile iTunes on the iPod and opens to the Our City Podcast details page where I can download specific episodes right there on the device itself without the help of a desktop computer.

Let me show you the first of two ways to hyperlink to the iTunes Store. You'll need to go to the iTunes Link Maker atapple.com/itunes/linkmaker or just Google "iTunes" and "link maker" and it will be the first search result.

With iTunes Link Maker, you search for the item in the iTunes Store to which you want to link. I type in Our City and choose Podcast as the Media Type. But as you can see, you can also link to other media types, like Music, Movies, TV Shows, Audio Books, Applications, and iTunes U.

After clicking search, I can see a list of search results. I find the one I'm looking for and click the Arrow next to it. Then iTunes Linkmaker gives me give me HTML code to put into my website, wiki, or blog. Because it's HTML, you most likely can't just copy or paste it into a webpage. You'll need to toggle into HTML mode. I use Dreamweaver for my website, so I toggle to Code view and paste the copied HTML code there. Then I switch back to Design view to see what it looks like. Let's preview this in the browser. I click the button, and now iTunes opens to the details page for the Our City Podcast!

Ok, maybe you want to use just a text hyperlink or use your own image for linking. On that iTunes Link Maker page, you can right-click the image next to Link Test and copy the link. Now I can type text and select it to hyperlink with the copied link. I'm going to paste what I copied from the Link Maker just so you can see what the URL looks like. It's pretty long, but you can see that it links to the store and includes a unique Podcast ID so that iTunes can open to that podcast.

If you don't need that iTunes button or you want more control over what you're linking to, then you can use the second method of linking to items in the iTunes Store. Here's how it works.

Go to the details page for what you'd like to link to. Right-click the Artwork and then choose Copy iTunes Store URL. Then you have that same URL you could have gotten from iTunes Link Maker. But, you can also use it to link to specific episodes. I can right-click a specific episode and copy the iTunes Store URL. Now, let me paste that URL into a Google Doc document just for demonstration purposes. Now when I click that link, not only does it open to the podcast page, but the specific episode I link to is highlighted.

You can use this right-click and copy method in the App Store as well. I can right-click on the icon for Word Warp and Copy iTunes Store URL. Like I would with a podcast episode, I can paste that URL into a webpage or document.

If you read my blog at learninginhand.com, you have probably noticed that I use this method to link to iPod touch and iPhone apps I write about. Here's something cool. So I'm on mobile Safari on an iPod touch. I can tap the link for an app that's I've put on my blog. The mobile App Store on my iPod touch launches and takes me to the details page for that app where I can download it. This is super useful when teachers want students to download a specific app. Instead of the student taking the time to find the app, they can tap its link to have it instantly available to them!

Ok, a couple more tips on linking to the iTunes Store. You can actually copy the link to just about anything you can click on in the iTunes Store. I can go to the Podcasts section of iTunes, select Education, and then right-click K-12 to link to that specific category of the iTunes Store, Podcasts - Education - K-12 . When clicked in a desktop browser or on an iPod touch or iPhone, the user to taken to the K-12 Podcasts category.

You can also link to search results. Let me show you how to do this for "math". On the results page, right-click See All in the Applications results and Copy the iTunes URL. When someone follows that URL, they are instantly taken to the iTunes search results that include Math and are in the App Store. Unfortunately, links to search results only works on desktop browsers and won't work on an iPod touch or iPhone. Also, links to iTunes U won't work on an iPod touch or iPhone because iTunes U does not yet appear in the mobile iTunes Store.

On the desktop side, if someone clicks a link to something in the iTunes store, but they don't have iTunes installed, the link will take them to a page where they can download iTunes, which, as you know, is a free download for Windows and Macintosh.

If you're a teacher with a class website, linking to items within the iTunes Store can help your students and parents subscribe to podcasts and watch or listen to specific media in the iTunes Store. If you're a teacher with iPod touches, it's really convenient to use iTunes Store links to direct students to podcasts and apps to download.

That's a wrap for Episode 15. Thank so much for watching. For more about podcasting and iPods, head on over to learninginhand.com. Stay super everyone!

Labels: iphone, ipod, ipodtouch, itunes, learning in hand: ipods

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

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

Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #12: Podcasting Booklet is online and gives an overview of the free 34-page booklet I recently made available.

The PDF is titled Podcasting for Teachers & Students and in it, I focus on free and cross-platform software so that both Windows and Macintosh users feel included. First, learn what a podcast is and then learn to find, subscribe, and listen to them. You probably already know how to do that, so most of the booklet tells about creating a podcast using Audacity, Levelator, and iTunes. Also, three methods of posting the podcast online are included in Podcasting for Teachers & Students. I tried to make the directions clear and simple so teachers and students can focus on communicating their messages.

Listen to all 9 minutes of Episode #12 for an overview of Podcasting for Teachers & Students.

Labels: learning in hand: ipods, podcast, podcasting

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.

Labels: iphone, ipod, ipodtouch, itunes, learning in hand: ipods, podcasting

Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #10: Photos Part 2 is available and focuses on various kinds of educational image sets.

First, learn about commercial sources of image sets, like iPREPpress and Raybook. Explore many different kinds of image sets, including visual books, study aids, flash cards, matching games, math manipulatives, converters, response cards, and more. In fact, you can visit learninginhand's Gallery of Educational Image Sets and download lots of great learning tools and resources for the Photos section of an iPod.

Although teachers and students can download pre made image sets, the real value is using software like PowerPoint or Keynote to make your own image sets. Creating your own study aids really aids your study of a topic!

Listen to all 18 minutes of Episode #10 for great tips for using and making educational image sets. Refer to Photos Part 1 for basic information about Photos on iPods.

Labels: ipod, learning in hand: ipods, mobile phone

Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #9: Photos Part 1 is online and gives information about getting images and slide shows on an iPod.

You probably know that you can sync photos to an iPod. After all, it’s an option in iPod’s Main Menu. Photos of your children, pets, and vacations are fun to show off on iPod’s screen. Episode 9 covers the basics of putting photos on an iPod and then tells you about viewing PowerPoint and Keynote slide shows on an iPod.

Listen to all 9 minutes of Episode #9 for a how-to, valuable tips, and useful information. Part 2 will feature surprising and innovative educational uses for iPod's Photos.

Labels: ipod, ipodtouch, learning in hand: ipods

Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #8: Manage Manually is online and offers help with using one iPod with multiple computers.

An iPod is easy to sync with one computer. In fact, it’s really easy to sync multiple iPods to one computer. But, when you want to sync the same iPod to two or more computers, things get tricky.

You can enable "manually manage music and videos" so you can connect an iPod with more than one computer without having those computers erase the iPod’s content from the other computers. But, it also means that you'll have to hand-pick the audio and video when you want to update the iPod.

Listen to all 8 minutes of Episode #8 for a how-to, valuable tips, and useful information about manually managing iPod content. Listeners may be interested in clicking floola.com to transfer media files from their iPods.

Labels: ipod, learning in hand: ipods

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.

Labels: ipod, learning in hand: ipods

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.

Labels: ipod, learning in hand: ipods

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.

Labels: ipod, learning in hand: ipods

The fourth episode of the Learning in Hand: iPods podcast is online. Episode #4: iPod shuffle Tips is full of worthwhile advice for using Apple's $79 audio player.

Despite its lack of display screen, iPod shuffle can be more useful than you might think. The iPod shuffle's 1 GB of memory can store more than 12 hours of audio (240 songs), which means the battery will need to be recharged before the shuffle has played all of its audio. In classrooms where a computer for syncing new content is usually available, 12 hours of audio is not really all that limiting.

Listen to all 11 minutes 37 seconds of Episode #4 to learn about using the power of Smart Playlists to automatically sync podcasts and music to iPod shuffles. You will probably want to view these instructions.

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

Labels: ipod, learning in hand: ipods

The third episode of the Learning in Hand: iPods podcast is online. Episode #3: Main Menu is all about customizing what appears in an iPod's Main menu.

If you're an avid iPod user, you've scrolled through your share of layers of menus. Of course, the first menu you start with is the Main menu. From there you can access music, videos, photos, and settings. But did you know you can customize the items listed in the main menu? I always add Playlists and Podcasts to the menu for quick access.

Customizing the Main menu items can save you time scrolling to your most-used iPod items. Also, if you're managing a set of iPods for student use, it's nice to place the items students will use in the Main menu so they can easily find what they are supposed to be doing on the iPod.

Listen to all 5 minutes 6 seconds of Episode #3 to learn how to change what's listed on your iPod's Main menu.

Labels: ipod, learning in hand: ipods

The second episode of the Learning in Hand: iPods podcast has been posted. Episode #2: Downloading Videos is all about getting videos from websites to play on iPods.

Full sized iPods can play movies and videos! If you aren't sure if your iPod can play videos, simply turn on your iPod and go to the Main menu. If Video is listed, probably just below Music and Photos, then your iPod is video-capable. Currently, iPod nanos cannot play video. Their screens are so tiny, it probably wouldn't be enjoyable. And, of course, iPod shuffles don't have screens—not very conducive to viewing video.

You probably know that the iTunes Store would love to sell you music videos, television, shows, and full-length movies for between $1.99 and $14.99. But those are certainly not the only videos you can download, sync to, and play on an iPod. There are free video podcasts available from the iTunes Store as well, but we're not going to cover those in this episode.

We're going to talk about videos that you might already have on your computer that you'd love to put on an iPod for student-viewing. Additionally, you might have several favorites tagged in United Streaming, YouTube, or TeacherTube. Let me tell you about getting these videos ready for viewing on a video-capable iPod.

You need to know that iPods will only play videos that are in the MPEG-4. That means the video will end with the extension .mp4. In fact, iPods are somewhat picky in what kinds of MPEG-4 videos they will play. I'll share ways to get your videos into the iPod specific format. But please don't think that just by renaming a video with the ending .mp4 that that magically turns the video into the right format. Videos have to be transcoded from their original format, which might be .mov, .mpeg, .avi, to MPEG-4. Transcoding takes a lot of processing power, so when a video is being converted, you'll have to wait a while. Listen to all 11 minutes 45 seconds of Episode #2 to learn more. You can read more about videos and iPods here.

Labels: ipod, learning in hand: ipods, video

Want to learn more about that iPod you carry around? Want to know how iPods can be used for teaching and learning? Then subscribe to my newest podcast, Learning in Hand: iPods. The podcast features short episodes to help teachers use iPods. Topics to be covered include: downloading video, viewing slide shows, iQuiz, voice recorders, podcasting, classroom management, and more. Hard Disk Mode is Episode #1 of the Learning in Hand: iPods podcast.

Full sized iPods have huge hard drives. Current iPods have hard drives that are between 30 and 80 gigabytes in size; that might be more capacity than the hard drive in your laptop! That's enough space to store over 50 days of audio or 100 hours (4 days) of video. Chances are your collection in iTunes that you sync to your iPod is not nearly that large, leaving you with gobs of unused disk space. You can put extra space on any iPod to good use by enabling disk use. Using your iPod for portable data storage is perfect for accessing files between school and home computers. And it's always a good idea to make extra copies of those documents you've spent hours and hours on. Listen to all 5 minutes 45 seconds of Episode #1 to learn more (and you can look forward to many more episodes of Learning in Hand: iPods).

Labels: ipod, learning in hand: ipods, podcast