Photos from @sarahrothberg’s interactive presentation at the 5th Avenue Apple store last night… #ArtEdTech #MakerEd #STEAM

Ian Klapper (@ian32one) invited me to join him for an evening at the Apple Store on 5th Avenue to hear from artist Sarah Rothberg (@sarahrothberg on Twitter and @rothbergrothberg on Instagram). Explore some of Sarah’s work on her website: https://sarahrothberg.com/

Ian has explored AR (augmented reality) on his own and with students. While I embraced Aurasma years ago, Google Cardboard left me underwhelmed. Why hold an irradiated device in a cardboard box up to your eyeballs when you can more safely hold an iPad at arm’s length? I tried to appreciate CoSpaces, and maybe I didn’t give it enough of a chance. I’ve heard awesome things about Unity, and I’ve seen really lovely and impressive student projects — I just imagine it would require a time commitment for the learning curve and a set of really good goggles (Oculus) and haptic gloves. I believe AR and VR (virtual reality) can increase empathy or change perceptions by offering the user an enhanced or immersive experience. I just worry a lot of classroom AR/VR use is gimmicky. Ian’s words and Sarah’s presentation reminded me AR can also simply be fun and that there is value to bringing surprise, joy, and beauty with a user.

More info about the event, [AR]T Lab: AR Experiences Co-created with Sarah Rothberg here:

What happens when a lemon and a traffic cone collide? Using artist Sarah Rothberg’s creative approach and art, you’ll learn to code an augmented reality experience. Whether it’s happy, wacky, or weird, you’ll combine AR elements in Swift Playgrounds on iPad. Our Apple Creatives will take you through creative and coding exercises. Recommended for beginners ages 12 and up. Devices will be provided.

More info about other AR integrative art via collaborations with other artists and Apple: https://www.apple.com/today/collection/ar-experiences

My Pinterest board of MacBook Air 11″ cases

Last year, I thought the CaseCrown Book Cover Clip On Case was the perfect always-on case for our current 6th graders to use with their brand new MacBook Air 11″ laptops. Our students use the same machine for their 3 years of middle school, and then the school sells them back to Apple. This CaseCrown faux-leather cover is only $20 on Amazon. There are also other brands marketing the same case (Acase, SmackTom).

The CaseCrown cases have held up remarkably well! I totally though the elastic straps at the top would have snapped by now, yet somehow they are all intact. However, my two reservations have to do with the fact that the top corners of the laptop are exposed and some of the laptops are developing dinged/curling edges (as kids are clearly occasionally dropping their machines). Also, I don’t know if I love the snap at the front. I see fidgety kids snapping/unsnapping this closure during class discussions when their laptops are shut. It’s a super annoying sound when you notice it.

So, I have a begun a search for the perfect (or at least) better case. I’m going to be purchasing a few test models this week. Gina Marcel (K-2 Ed Tech here at The School) suggested I gather interesting models in a Pinterest board (see below). I’d love suggestions if you know of other great cases to consider…

Trying out cases for the MacBook Air 11″ with @donbuckley

Next year, we’re buying MacBook Air 11″ laptops for the 3rd grade and 6th graders. Kids keep the same machine for three year until they graduate to a new model in 6th grade (or simply graduate from the school after 8th grade). The kids in K-2 have an iPad assigned to them. Up until now, we’ve provided MacBooks and Always-on Cases from InfoCase for the students. In preparation for next year, Don Buckley and I ordered a bunch of different cases from Amazon.

My favorites:

CaseCrown faux leather book cover clip on case for $18.18 (it’s an always on case with a snap closure)

Belkin MacBook Air vertical sleeve with shoulder strap for $14.99 (slim profile and cross-body carry strap)

Flort shoulder bag for $9.99 (I’ve always been intrigued by this IKEA bag…)

The others:

Acase faux leather book cover clip on case for $14.95 (same exact design as the CaseCrown but it doesn’t have a snap closure)

Hard Candy Cases convertible case for $36.99 is ok but pricey [RETURNED]

Gumdrop cases surf convertible case for $37.35 is the same as the Hard Candy design but pricier [RETURNED]

InCase perforated hardshell for $45 looks cool, is super expensive, and the bottom didn’t stay attached [RETURNED]

Red mCover hard shell cover case for $19.99 is overpriced considering the next item is…

Slim Crystal hard cover case for $12.99 is totally reasonable

** update 7/1/14 — Prices have been reduced significantly on many of the cases. Click the links for more current and more reasonable pricing. **

Notes from yesterday’s #BabyNYCIST app share. #edchat #isedchat

Yesterday we had an App Share at our BabyNYCIST meeting hosted by the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. K-5 technologists from a variety of NYC indepedent schools gathered to demo some of their favorite iPad apps. (These BabyNYICST meetings are a spinoff from the more techie/geeky NYCIST meetings.)

Here are some of the apps that were shared:
WordFoto – “turns your photos and words into stunning works of art” – shared by Lan Heng from Ethical. Lan also showed great examples of iPad ePub books that her students have published. They designed their books using Pages, these incorporated word processing, Keynote presentations that were exported at videos, and images. The Pages files were exported using the simple ePub feature. Lan said that next year, she is going to use InDesign to make a yearbook and then ePub for iPads. Lan also demo’d Book Creator.

Voicethread  – “create and share dynamic conversations around documents, snapshots, diagrams and videos…Anyone can join the discussion from their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC” – shared by Ellen Baru from The Cathedral School. Ellen likes the iPad version of Voicethread more than the web version. She also uses little microphones from Chill Pill (I’m pretty sure she was talking about the Rap Cap which are ridiculously inexpensive).

Explain Everything – “easy-to-use design tool that lets you annotate, animate, and narrate explanations and presentations” – shared by Marina Benasuli from Horace Mann. Explain everything is described by its co-creator, Reshan Richards, as ShowMe on steroids.

ShowMe – “turn your iPad into your personal interactive whiteboard…allows you to record voice-over whiteboard tutorials and share them online.”

FlipBoom Draw – “Create cartoons that come to life on your iPad” – shared by Wendy Semsel at The Churchill School.

Paint With Time – “explore how the world is changing by controlling the flow of time with your fingers in this new app” – also shared by Wendy Semsel.

PuppetPals – “create your own unique shows with animation and audio in real time…simply pick out your actors and backdrops, drag them on to the stage, and tap record…” – shared by Judith Seidel of Friends Seminary. Judith said that her K teachers chose PuppetPals over Toontastic, but she likes Toontastic for the older kids since it incorporates a story arc.

Pages – Judith also shared how 3rd graders make Alphabet books in Pages for their K buddies. Next year she may use BookCreator because of how well it integrates with Lion.

Book Creator – “the simple way to create your own beautiful iBooks, right on the iPad” – shared by Ellen Nickels and Scott Lerner from The Dalton School. They like Book Creator’s simple interface for integrating text, pictures, drawings. They find it easier than Pages for the smaller kids. They plan to do projects with SonicPics and ShowMe soon.

Other things shared:

• Chris Jung from The Little Red Schoolhouse showed WebDAV and iAnnotate
• Naomi Ickovitz from The Ramaz School spoke about Evernote
• Jim Anderson from The Packer Collegiate Institute showed off his ZAGG keyboard for iPad
• I shared one of my favortie standby apps, Audionote
• I met Lizabeth Arum who does Education Outreach for Makerbot. She directed me to http://curriculum.makerbot.com/ to see lesson plans!