Safari Browser

Johnny Evans offers tips on using the Safari web browser on an iOS device like a smartphone or iPad.

-DD

iOS Upgrade Hides Airplane Mode Features

Lucas Mearian warns that Apple iPhones may not fully go into airplane mode after the recent iOS upgrade .

-DD

iOS Tips

Johnny Evans shares over 50 tips for using an iPhone or iPad .

-DD

Curriculum Prompts New Concerns in L.A. iPad Plan

Benjamin Herald reports that an unfinished curriculum "Prompts New Concerns in Los Angeles iPad Plan ." At least one school board member is upset that the curriculum for a school-district-wide iPad deployment has still not been fully written by Pearson, and that cost projections for the three year contract are fuzzy.

It is suggested in the comments to the article that the best deployments of new technology usually are "phased-in" over time, as just "pulling a switch" to transition an organization to new software does not allow time for best practices to be developed and distributed.

-DD

LinkedIn iPhone App

Colin Nagle reports "How LinkedIn Snuck Intro Info Into Emails on iOS ." The article describes how the LinkedIn technology team bypassed security on iPhones and iPads to to allow email senders to include a links to the sender's LinkedIn profile with each outgoing email. The technology is described in more detail on LinkedIn's Engineering Blog.

LinkedIn addresses the privacy concerns of routing a person's email through the LinkedIn proxy server. There are a couple of additional concerns about the proxy technology being employed. First of all, having all of a person's mobile-generated email routed through the LinkedIn proxy server creates a new point of failure in email transmission. If the LinkedIn server is overtaxed or fails, then there is a potential for email to be delayed or undelivered.

Second, as this service was developed without Apple's approval and counter's Apple's security provisions, the possibility exists that that Apple will block the usage of the technology in a future iOS update, resulting in the inability to transmit new email from an iPhone or iPad until the LinkedIn technology is deleted.

In summary, I think the LinkedIn engineering team was very creative, but I would not opt-in for the service if I used an iPhone for critical emails.

-DD

Technology Initiative Planning

Tom Kaneshige reports that software initiatives often stall in the pilot phase, tying up equipment and staff time. He provides tips to avoid pitfalls, tips specifically geared to an iPad roll-out but applicable to other technology initiatives.

-DD

iPad Office Tools

The Best Office Apps for your iPad was the title of a Network World article by Galen Gruman. The options for presentation and document creation are approaching those available for desktop computers as long as one has a physical keyboard.

-DD

Tech and Learning Top Ten Lists

Tech and Learning magazine contributer David Kapuler has provided a number of top-ten lists that would be of interest to a librarian or educator in a K-12 environment:

• Alternatives to YouTube


• Creating Word Clouds


• Educational Games


• Educational Resources


• Images and Clip Art


• iPad Tips and Tricks


• Self Help Sites for Technology


• Social Networks for Education


• Video Editing


• Web 2.0 Sites for Education

If you enjoyed these, you might also enjoy Digital Storytelling Tools and Web Tools that Every Educator Should Have In The Bag by Özge Karaoglu, The Ultimate Web2.0 Smackdown at Tech Forum, Boston (April, 2011) by Lisa Thumann, A Catalog of iPad Apps for Teachers and Students and Back to School [iPad] Apps for Teachers by Vicki Windman or 25 Free Resources from Discovery Education by David Andrade.
-DD

MegaReader

The new MegaReader APP offers access to almost two million public domain books, and puts the iPhone4's camera to good use for walkers.
-DD