Best way to deal with Microsoft Word on your ipad

After trying and spending about $30 in apps, I found out that the best app depends on the complexity of your text format.
I had to work on a native Word  +30 page doc  with footnotes and comments,  no graphics. In this case, CloudOn, a free app, turned out to be the best one.
- Pages does not handle footnotes nor comments.
- Office 2HD does not let you edit or add comments nor footnotes.
- QuickOffice does not handle footnotes but does a good job with comments and the navigation throughout the document is the smoothest of all apps.
- You can edit Google docs with the Drive app, but this only works for native Google Docs document; you will hit a wall trying to edit a native Word document stored on Drive.

Only CloudOn will let you create and edit Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents. The only flaw of CloudOn is the delay between uploading a document and being able to edit it. It took 15 minutes for my +30 pages document before it was made accessible on CloudOn. The layout is almost completely similar to Word on a desktop, so the learning curve is minimal. It would be useful to hear from teachers using also pictures in their document and see how CloudOn responds to the challenge.

Jude

EasyBib tool bar

Profile teachers,

this will be useful to all students writing papers.

EasyBib added a browser extension for Google Chrome. You can download it here.

Once it’s installed, you can cite anything on any website you’re browsing. Just click on the red EasyBib book in your toolbar and you’ll see a drop down menu.

If you click “Cite on EasyBib” you’ll get a pop up window that has all of the citation information formatted and filled out for you. From there you can browse to EasyBib or hit the “View Bibliography” button to see all of your citations.

You can check out the extension in action on YouTube!

Credits go to Emily Gover, M.S. University at Albany

Jude

Ps: EasyBib is a web tool for creating work cited lists using standard formats such as ALA and Chicago style. The main site is here

Hiding the content of your monitor when using Smartboard

When you do not want your audience to see the content of your screen, you have two ways to go:

- If you want to hide it temporarily, use the digital screen in the "other tools". This one can be partially or completely deployed, pretty much like an actual sheet of fabric  hiding a picture. Very convenient to show gradually the content of your screen, too. However, your computer monitor will also show this hiding screen.

- If you need to use your PC and also need to hide your monitor from your audience  (for instance, you are entering grades while the class is taking a quiz), just press "Hide" on your Smart remote control. You'll be able to bring the picture back on your smartboard by pressing "Hide" again.

Jude

Profile Faculty Meeting Sept 12, Tech Moment

It is crucial to update to  Notebook 11. 
The key is in a shared doc that was emailed to you today.
First, uninstall all Smartboard components
No more updates during the year!

Google “Bookmarkslet”
Google alerts: http://www.google.com/alerts
Advanced Search vs operators
Google Search by image
Google Drive  (also app for  ipad)


News from the Media Center:
Book Lexile level on Alexandria and Media Center webpage
Learning and Research form on Media Center website:
The form, the results

ipad battery draining fast

If your Ipad2 or 3 seems to have a battery draining faster and faster, check Apple's battery  recommendations here, and also try this.

If you see no difference and your ipad is under waranty,  then contact Apple' support.

If you are not sure whether your ipad is still covered, just enter its serial number here.

Jude

Back from Google Apps Bootcamp

I participated in a very rich bootcamp on Google Apps for education this summer. Here is the 12-hour schedule we followed. Each activity is linked to tutorials you may find useful. Naturally, I'll be happy to go over these with you:

Google customized search (much more than you would suspect, definitely useful for Common Core)
Google Sites
Google Calendar
Google Docs
More tools...

Jude

10 Excellent Free Social Studies Resources for Teachers and Students

10 Excellent Free Social Studies Resources for Teachers and Students