Fun Apps

After the long Easter break it was good to get back to the ipads. First of all we did a brief exercise on the safety concerns you need to take into account when blogging. We used safari to research ways to improve our on-line safety. A lot of it was common sense but it is good to be reminded that not everyone uses the net with the right intentions and little bits of information can be easily misused in the wrong hands.
We then had a try at some of the more fun apps available. The Virtuoso app with its piano keyboard was great in the hands of one class member who is musical but not so impressive in the hands of the rest of the class. It was fun to try it though. The next app we tried was the checkers app. You could play against the ipad or a friend and adjust the level of difficulty to suit you. I had a lot of success on the Easy  0 level and 1 wasn't to bad but on level 2 I was easily beaten. It was great to see some of the fun apps that the ipad has and I look forward to exploring them more.    

Emailing and care of iPads

We had a very busy lesson again today. First we discussed how best to take care of the tablets, what to clean them with, how to get the best battrey life etc. The next exercise was about emailing. We set up a gmail account on the ipad and then sent a few emails to Joy and to other class members about apps and how we were finding the course.
After the emailing we went on safari to research the advantages and disadvantages of using ipads. It was interesting to read about them, some were obvious others not.
As the ipads aren't ours we were also shown how to remove our gmail accounts from the tablets so that they couldn't be accessed by the next users.
It was a interesting lesson that passed very quickly and I look forward to the next one. 

Reviewing blogs and their uses

We had a interesting start to the lesson by swapping  blog spot addresses with a fellow student I was able to read other class members blogs. It was good to see other versions of the blogs and read other peoples opinions and ideas on what we have learned and covered so far. I learnt how to leave a comment on the posts I found interesting and that would then be published on the other persons blog.
We then used the ipads to research through safari why people use blogs. There was lots of different reasons from promoting businesses to educating people.
The last thing we did was use the maps app, we learnt how to search for addresses and then find directions to different locations. We were able to see how far away and how long it would take to travel. 

i clouds and drop box

A drop box is a free program that allows you to easily sync your personal files between computers and devices. It works on all operating systems and requires an Internet connection.
It uses the Amazon S3 system which easily transfers files.

Apple iCloud was introduced last year. Every thing you do on your tablet can now be stored in your iCloud. Download a song it will appear in your iCloud, download a file it will appear in your iCloud. iCloud is only available for Apple devices unlike other popular cloud storage devices. It has a free storage of 5GB with extra available at a cost.       

BBC News App, Contacts and Reminders.

We started with a brief discussion and a look at the interesting photos we all took with the camera app last week. We then had a try of the BBC News app. The app was very informative you could look at the top stories around the world or closer to home. There was also sections for sport, business etc. so most interests were covered. I chose the Wales news and then tapped on the stories I wanted to know more about and made some brief notes to show what I had found.
We then had a try at the contacts app. I entered contacts name, phone etc. and took  photos to use to identify them. I used the search facility to look up their details and the edit to change their  numbers, also to delete a contact completely.
The reminder app was next entering details of appointments and using the calender to scroll the date and time you want reminding of them. 

Exercise 8 Using the Camera

We had a very exciting session today, after a quick briefing in the classroom we went out and about with the ipads. We did some research on local history last week and used this to decide what different places of interest we would like to visit. My class partner and I decided to go to the Horse and Jockey public house with its thatched roof we felt it was an iconic part of Wrexham. We went and spoke to the landlord who was really pleasant and helpful and gave us permission to film. He even showed us a QR code he had that connected to the history of the pub but unfortunately because we werent connected to the internet it wouldnt work. We then took photos and video of the pub. It was really hard to concentrate on focusing the camera on the right area while talking. Also there were a lot of people about and cars reversing that drowned out the voice over and made it difficult to remember what you where trying to say. It was great fun though and we managed to take a few videos and some good photos of the best features of the building. It was also interesting to learn the history of a place that Ive passed probably hundreds of times.        

Finishing Exercise Five Notes App

We started the lesson with an online survey on the computers about our views on the course and the college. Joy showed us how to open a new tab on the screen so that it didn't disturb the page we already had up and how to close the tab when we had finished .
When we had completed  the survey we returned to an exercise we started in a previous lesson about the notes app. We entered incorrectly spelt words into the notes and learnt that if the correct spelling appeared underneath you hit the space bar and it replaces it. We then entered other mispelt words held them down and realised them. We then were given a choice we clicked select then suggest and chose the correct spelt word we required.
We also had a try of copy and pasting things in the notes. We practised opening and closing the virtual keyboard and app and then deleting some of the notes we had typed.
In preparation for next weeks lesson we had a practice at using the camera and video app.

Costs of an Ipad mini

A smaller version of its big brother the Ipad mini is still a great tablet with its 7.9 inch screen, thousands of apps and ultra fast wireless. Its available in two colours black/white or white/silver and has 10 hours of battery when fully charged.
The basic version that connects to wifi is available at
16GB for £269
32GB for £349
64GB for £429

The more advanced version that connects to wifi or the fast mobile networks is available at
16GB for £369
32GB for £449
64GB for £529
For further information and help deciding what to buy go to the Apple store. 

Week 4 itranslate, speak it and safari.

We had a very interesting start to the lesson with exercise 13 which was about itranslate. We found out how to select the languages we required and how to clear the page before we entered the words we wanted translating. We translated from Welsh to English then reversed it to the other way round. It was great to have instant translations and to find out more about the keyboards.

We then had fun with the Speak it! app, I made a brief description of how to travel to my house from college and then experimented with selecting the different voices and listening to the instructions spoke out loud.

Our last exercise seven was using the Safari app. I used the Google search page to find out information about the Olympic Games in 2012. There was plenty of information available through Google about dates and medal tables which I used to complete the exercise. We also learned how to bookmark pages for future visits.

It was good week again with lots of fun using the different apps and I look forward to next week.      

week 3 QR codes and notes app

Another busy session. First of all we went on our blogs and edited our profiles this involved adding a suitable photo and a few bits of information about ourselves. I was really impressed that I managed to download the photo I had chosen and it looked good. We then printed out a copy of the profiles for our files.
For tablets exercise six we then were introduced to QR codes. I have seen these codes many times and didn't really understand what they could be used for. We scanned the code given to us using the QRCode app on the ipad. This took us to a wikipedia page on Jane Austen. We then scanned codes we had brought in and my code took me to the DFS website. I was really impressed with this as many times Ive seen websites I would like to go on but have forgotten the web address by the time I got home.
For tablet exercise 4 we used the notes app. We had a try at the different keyboards also splitting them then merging them back. We then typed notes. We found out how to get a new page and how to delete pages we didn't want anymore. We then typed in a list that involved a lot of different characters like percentage signs and brackets. This gave us a good idea where to look for all the different symbols. 
We covered alot in the session and I really enjoyed it.       

Using ipads for the first time

Today we got to use the ipads for the first time. We had a run down of all parts and then for exercise one used this information to label images. We learnt how to switch the ipad off and on, alter the volume and where the home button, status bar, recharging port, camera, battery status, time, wireless connection, app icons and multi touch screen are.

Then for blogging exercise two we went on the internet to the bbc website and read blogs. We then picked one and wrote about the presentation and language used.

For ipad exercise two we then used the mousefish app. By swiping parts of the screen we created unusual animals which we then sent to photos. We closed this app with a five finger pinch and then opened the photos app from the dock. We then used edit to delete photos we didn't want and then created a slideshow  by choosing a transition and starting a slideshow.

After all this we went on our blogs and updated what we had done in today's lesson.

setting up my first blog

Introduced ourselves to the group. Joy then went through the course content. Each outcome was explained and then we decided how competent from level 1 to 4 we felt we were and circled the appropriate number.

We then went on to Google and opened a gmail account. Through our gmail accounts we all created our own blogs. These blogs will be used as our individual learning plans and will be updated by us every week. It was interesting learning how to set up the blog and how easy it is for any-one with access to a computer or tablet to do so.

Cant wait to start using the ipads next week.