Students demonstrating air expansion, contraction, and pressure.

Fall 2012, MSED 252, NMU:
Students demonstrating air expansion, contraction, and pressure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3CWfq5Amls

Video on YouTUBE

Air Pressure Demonstration

 

Rock Identification Lab

Mineral Identification

 

Sample minerals

 

Lab_Correlation

Fall 2012, Fieldtrip

 

 

 

Geology & Geologic Time

Lesson Plans

Relative Age Dating Activity - This exercise will introduce your students to the concept of relative age dating, and allow them to practice their new skills by determining the age sequence of geologic events in a cross section. They will learn the geologic principles that help geologists in their study of the Earth's crust.
Geologic Cross-Section (7-12) - Have your students create a construction paper cross section. The results are beautiful AND instructional.

Lesson Plan Links

GSA is not responsible for content on web sites linked from our site. However, please contact us if you encounter broken links.

Earth’s History – Selected Labs and Activities from Earth to Class.

http://earth2class.org/curr_units/history%20labs.php

Earth Floor Geologic Time Activity - Compare geologic time to the length of a football field, which is 100 yards long.

www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/geo_activity.html

Radiometric Dating Explained - Here are several very good Web site explaining radiometric dating, one specifically about carbon-14 dating:

www.asa3.org/ASA/resources/Wiens.html

www.c14dating.com/

Three Dimensional Geology - Apply geological concepts to a real-life problem-solving situation and give students an appreciation of the three dimensional nature of rock strata using rocks, fossils, and simulated cores

geologyonline.museum.state.il.us/tools/lessons/12.5/lesson.pdf

Blue moon-2012

http://www.brandignity.com/2011/03/building-mobile-iphone-phone-app-onlin/

Currently the iPhone platform seems to be the easiest to build an app online and a handful of services have sprung up in the recent months. Android and Blackberry apps are not far behind so we will also see many more online builders for those two applications as well. Most require a small hosting monthly fee to have the application available but well worth the money. The application can boost your brand a great deal. It is a small expense compared to some of the other forms of marketing out there. Here are some resources to building your own phone app online.

Swebapps: With an unbelievable back end and very user friendly you can build an iPhone application for your business with much less hassle than outsourcing it to a firm or company to build. Swebapps has a variety of choice including how many buttons you want your application to have, what types of features depending on your industry and full customization capabilities. Swebapps makes it very easy even for the novice to execute a company branded mobile phone application to help further brand their business. Although this industry still have a lot of catching up to do in the sense that many businesses are starting to realize that they need to market themselves in the search engines they have positioned themselves really nicely.

App Breeder: App Breeder is another online platform that allows you to build your own iPhone app online by yourself. You don’t need to know any special coding with App Breeder or understand any complicated programming languages you just need to get on their website and start building. It doesn’t cost anything to actually sign up and they will publish your application directly to the iTunes store when you are done. Depending on your business they have a variety of app builder you can start with.

Kanchoo: Another online iPhone app developer that allows you to get going in just a few short minutes. Their process is streamlined and easy so business can get build their web apps and get them into the iTunes store for approval rather quickly. You can even monetize your iPhone application with Admob ads and try to make some extra revenues for your business. By 2013 mobile advertising is rumored to be a $9.2 billion dollar industry so now is a good time to start getting started and at least create a foundation for yourself to get going down the road. Check out Kanchoo and get yourself started.

BuildAnApp : BuildAnApp is still in beta but it offers you to build a mobile phone application across Windows, iPhone and Blackberry. The past part is that it allows you to do this for free. It comes with a 30 day free trial and where you can actually build it and deploy the app to the store. Once that is done you then have charges depending on updates you would like to do to your mobile phone application. BuildAnApp most likely will not be in beta for very much longer so check them out.

Buzztouch: Buzztouch is a free mobile phone builder specifically to the iPhone and offers a completely free service to build your iPhone application. They make it very enticing and user friendly just like most but stamping the word “Free” makes it hard to walk away from. Check out Buzztouch and everything they have to offer.

Mobile Roadie: Mobile Roadie is actually a really cool little niche they got themselves into. Mobile Roadie was initially designed for individuals in the music industry but it looks to have moved past that and now offers do it yourself mobile application for everyone. The great thing is that they offer iPhone and Android building so you can execute both platforms in one single swipe. Plus their site is super user friendly and people shouldn’t have any problems understanding exactly how to use it.

Motherapp: Motherapp is really cool that they have a system that can create across all platforms, iPhone, Android and Blackberry plus they have a set up where they will build it and you share the ad revenue if you don't really have the budget to build a custom app.

My App Creator: My App Creator seems to be like a really nice online app builder as well. They got some good name drops on the home page and have been featured by some impressive news sources so it might be a home run with these guys. Check them out.

http://www.stuartburt.com/

Burt Stuart lists of apps (with App Store links) that teachers and students can use to enhance learning. Their are tons of apps out there, and I think the ones below are some of the better ones. These apps can be used in the classroom for specific goals and help the teacher teach concepts.
If you find an app that you like, email me at stuarteburt(at)gmail.com. Special thanks to @ipadsammy for helping me build the list below. If you aren’t following him on Twitter, you should because he is an incredible resource and would be an excellent addition to your PLN.

Teacher Tools

ShowMe – Personal Interactive Whiteboard – Record lessons, student work, and other interactions complete with audio!
Educreations – Similar to ShowMe
History: Maps of the World – High Resolution Historical Maps
Genius Scan – Turn you iOS device into a pocket scanner. Perfect for scanning documents, whiteboards, or student work.
Dropbox – If your not on Dropbox by now, you need to sign up now! Use this link to sign up. Save your stuff to the cloud and share with others.
Splashtop Whiteboard – Turn your iPad into an interactive whiteboard. Install this app and the companion app on your PC/Mac.

PK-2 Apps

Sight Words List – Simple, but customizable sight words. Teachers can create their own list and record with their voice.
Scribblepress – Story Creation and Sharing – Similar to Madlibs
Hungry Fish – Feed your fish and play with numbers
My Word Wall – Help children develop early reading skills
Duck Duck Moose Apps – They sell ten award winning apps for children that are perfect for teachers. Too many to list!
Tinkerbox – If you can imagine it, you can build it! This app teaches physics concepts in a fun way. Also available for iPhone/Touch.

3-6 Apps

Tinkerbox - If you can imagine it, you can build it! This app teaches physics concepts in a fun way. Also available for iPhone/Touch.
Flip It! – Create a flip book style animation. Great for fostering creativity in students.
What Was There – Similar to History Pin. Portable portal into the past.
Toontastic - Teach students about the story telling process and make a cartoon in the process
VidRhythm - A fun and fast way to create a music video. Teachers and students make the sounds.
MeeGenius - Kids Books that will read it to you and highlight the words as it reads. The student can also choose to read it themselves.

7-12 Apps

EasyBib – Get bibliography info on any book, magazine, or periodical. Users can scan the barcode and build a workscited. They also have a companion website.
Wolfram Alpha - Perform calculations, view graphs, generate reports. This app is a computation engine. Companion Website
Go Sky Watch - Planetarium and Sky gazing app. It will give extensive information about stars and other objects in space
Space Images – Stunning images of video of planets, stars, and other things that NASA has recorded
Stuck on Earth – The best places in the world to visit, photograph, and experience. Awesome images of the greatest places on the planet.
Khan Academy – Learn math and science concepts

Welcome to the ISTE 2011 iPad Workshops

We are excited that you are joining us in one of our iPad workshops at ISTE 2011.  We hope that you will learn about the use of iPad in education and will leave with new ideas to implement mobile devices in your educational environment.  You will find resources, lessons and curriculum ideas in the fields on the left. Enjoy! Camilla Gagliolo, Charlene Chausis, Craig Nansen, Kathy Hobbs, Angela Foreman, Heather Blake, Bill Donovan, Julene Reed, Lori Roe

https://sites.google.com/site/ilearniste2011workshops/articles

Bad haiku

On Sabbatical
Leaving Marquette after death
Coming back home, Healed

The Higher Chronicle

http://chronicle.com/article/Unlocking-Student-Data-Could/131551/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Mobile Apps for Education Evolving

Mobile Apps for Education Evolving: But perhaps not as many as you might think
By Ian Quillen
If more than 300,000 mobile applications—or apps—are available from the Apple App Store alone, with hundreds of those focused on education and hundreds more on educational gaming, how many are useful for the classroom?
Perhaps not as many as you might think.
While the world of mobile applications—tabbed as the new Wild West by developers and consumers alike—continues to explode with everything from games to online books to interactive tutorials, there isn’t a lot of content designed to fit the face-to-face classroom, say analysts of the educational app industry.
Most apps—which basically are software programs designed to run on smartphones, cellphones, and other hand-held devices— don’t allow teachers to monitor student progress or garner student data in the same way that’s typically possible with educational programs operated through a laptop or desktop computer. Apps are often developed narrowly, and by themselves may meet no more than one or two specific standards within a given course. And with the intuitive nature of the iPhone, the iPad, and other mobile devices, app developers are gearing more of their educational content toward the parent-child dynamic than the teacher-student construct.
“There aren’t nearly as many apps that fit in both arenas,” says Scott Meech, the founder of the online I Education Apps Review, or IEAR, and a school district technology facilitator at District No. 38 in Kenilworth, Ill. The site features reviews of educational apps on its blog, provides how-to tips on app usage, and offers a weekly podcast, all with the goal of educating teachers about the world of apps.
Teachers “want to be able to control the content, if it is a drill-and-skill type of activity,” Meech adds. “They would like to see more apps where you can pull out the data and see how well kids are doing.”
Developing Teacher Controls
Because apps don’t allow teachers to use their own computers to access a student device while it is in use, a teacher who wants students to use apps on mobile devices in class must, in most cases, trust that either the app is engaging enough to keep students on task, or that the teacher will be able to halt any misuse of the devices by monitoring the classroom.

App Makers For the Ed. Market
Even though few software applications for iPhones, iPads, Android-compatible devices made by companies like HTC, Motorola, Samsung, or Sony, and other mobile devices are designed specifically for classroom use, some app makers are gaining the respect and trust of tech-savvy educators.
But the technology might be evolving to give teachers more oversight. LanSchool Technologies, a classroom-management-systems maker based in Orem, Utah, has developed its EdApp Certification that lets app makers embed code to give teachers, via their own computers, classroom-management control of a student’s mobile device while he or she uses the apps. Since unveiling the feature in June of last year, LanSchool has given only five apps the certification, with four coming from the same designer, PalaSoftware.
As far as rating an app’s engagement level, groups like Common Sense Media, a San Francisco-based online-safety advocate, offer online reviews of educational apps.
By December, Common Sense Media had reviewed more than 600 apps since starting the reviews in May 2010. But like much of the educational app world, many of the reviews focus on applications designed for consumption by parents and small children, rather than students and their teachers.
Still, that doesn’t mean teachers can’t gain value from the resources, says Jinny Gudmundsen, Common Sense Media’s executive editor of apps, Web, and video games.
“Teachers, of course, are always held accountable for making sure they are fitting within standards,” says Gudmundsen, who adds that apps that appeal to a more specific hobby or other interests—like those that teach guitar lessons, navigation, or astronomy—are often of better quality than apps focusing on core high school subjects.
“I think that’s where you start,” she says. “So I bet if you’re looking at constellations, you can find something tremendously interactive relating to constellations.”
But how do teachers more fully integrate apps across a course curriculum?
Even the most respected app designers say they’re not entirely sure how to answer that question. As the field grows, experts hope the industry will become more organized, with some companies gaining industrywide respect and others merging to create the possibility of app suites, or a series of apps designed to give reinforcement to key concepts throughout the school year.
“Just like any teaching tool, [apps] are there to provide an example that helps reinforce what is being done in the classroom,” says Benjamin L. Grimley, the senior director of game and app publishing at PBS Kids, an arm of the Public Broadcasting Service that focuses on educating preschool and early-elementary children.
“Where we see that being more useful to educators,” he says, “is being able to line up a series of apps that fits together in a larger picture that doesn’t just say, ‘Hey, it’s math,’ but goes through a specific skill sequence. … We can get more granular, and it can map the standards.”
What’s a Good App?
And while the app landscape can look daunting for an unfamiliar newcomer, app makers who are gaining the trust of IEAR and Common Sense Media are actually in favor of a more organized environment that fosters discussion and collaboration between educators and designers.
IEAR hosts a Ning social-media site aimed at encouraging those discussions, says Meech, who adds that correspondence between those groups is growing. And because most designers come from a software background, Rick Richter, the chief executive officer of Norwalk, Conn.-based Ruckus Media, says it’s in the best interest of good app developers to allow for more oversight.
“What I crave is people steeped in child literature to start talking about what constitutes a good app,” says Richter, whose company specializes in apps that are virtual interactive books for young readers. “What we need in this space are better curators.
“Over time, I think brands will emerge that are trusted brands,” he says. “But the challenge, of course, for parents and educators is to make that leap, and try to figure out who is to be trusted.”
Vol. 04, Issue 02, Pages 16-17
Published Online: February 4, 2011
Published in Print: February 9, 2011, as Apps for Ed. Evolving

http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2011/02/09/02apps.h04.html

About Apps In Education, Development and Implementation

About Apps In Education, Development and Implementation

Apps in Education has caused a large shift in education and in the publishing industry. Everyone is taking notice of this benchmark in education technology, teachers, administrators, business personnel, and publishers.  With so many apps in the App Stores, (Android and iPad) it has become a chore and hardship app buyers and  app developers. Teachers were surveyed about which types of Apps they would find useful in teaching. After analysis, researches found many parallels with past technology innovations.

http://www.appsineducation.com/index.php?/item/about-apps-in-education.html

10 of the best apps for education

As iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches become more integrated in classrooms, educators and students are looking for new ways to apply them to the learning process. Applications on all of these devices can help automate current classroom processes or present new ways to learn that previously had been unexplored.

In this special feature, we’ve assembled a list of education “apps” for Apple devices that we think are noteworthy. Five are free, and the other five range in price from $0.99 to $9.99. What do you think of these apps? And, which apps for Apple devices are you using now that aren’t on our list? Share your thoughts in the comments section of this story.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/01/07/10-of-the-best-apps-for-education

22 Best Apps for Education;  May 24, 2011. Posted by Lorie Vela

I recently knew that some schools and high-schools are encouraging students to use iPads and iPhones in and out of the classroom. There is no doubt that they are perfect tools to engage students: kids and teenagers find it very easy to use and love gadgets, plus it is much easier to get students doing homework when they feel comfortable with the tool. We already have plenty of tools, platforms and apps that can help students and teachers collaborating and working together, real time even, but when it comes to assignments, most of them find it hard to get related to those activities, and here is where PCs, tablets and mobile phones simplified the job and even make it more attractive to the youngsters. So, if you want your students to get more involved in their learning process, you can suggest them one of these 22 best Apps

http://www.collaborationideas.com/2011/05/22-best-apps-for-education/

Texas Computer Education Association

The Texas Computer Education Association is the largest state organization devoted to the use of technology in education. Founded in 1980, the organization has been very active throughout supporting instructional technology. Our primary focus is on integrating technology into the PreK-12 environment and providing our members with state-of-the-art information through conferences, workshops, newsletters, the Internet, and collaborations with higher education and business. TCEA is affiliated with the International Society for Technology in Education, which provides a two-way channel of information throughout the world.
TCEA is divided into twenty areas across Texas so that the needs of our members can be more easily met. These twenty areas are defined by the Regional Education Service Centers. We encourage our members to stay in touch with the area directors so that everyone will be an active member. There are numerous area conferences and activities in which educators and students can participate, as well as our large annual state conference. The conferences and contests will link you with other professionals in your geographic area as well as across the state.

 http://www.tcea.org/

Building Apps for iPhone and iPad

Training Session'

Topic: Building Apps for iPhone and iPad
Host: Ryan Hope
February 2, 2012, 2:00 pm ET/11:00 am Pacific
Event number: 751 484 794
Event password: maas360

To join the event, click here OR copy and paste the following link into your browser: https://fiberlinkcorp.webex.com/fiberlinkcorp/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=751484794

Copy and paste this URL to share this event with others at your organization: http://bit.ly/shareAppBuilding

If you need assistance, please contact John Harrington at jharrington@fiberlink.com

Technology in Education and the Concept of Cultural Momentum

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07380569.2011.553150

Every educator knows that the field is subject to fad and fashion. Although  many of us would prefer to think that trends and issues in education are determined primarily by research, program evaluation, and expert opinion, it is obvious that such is not always the case (Maddux, 2003). More than 30 years ago, Benjamin Bloom (1981) alluded to the problem of fads in education. More recently, Masters (2002) has suggested that education today seems to “lurch from one fad to the next” (p. 1), and Haswell (1992) identifies fads as the primary reason for the lack of systematic progress in education.

In the past, we have written about the problem of fads in education and the destructive cycle they often initiate. That cycle begins with early, unrealistic optimism directed at some innovation. A vocal advocacy forms around the innovation followed by practitioner adoption before the development has been subjected to a body of research to help establish its efficacy.

When the innovation fails to live up to the premature and unrealistic expectations fostered by advocates, the innovation is then dropped before it has been given a real chance to succeed. The field then moves on to the next innovation and the cycle begins anew (Maddux & Cummings, 2004).

Discuss the issues, content authoring, usage, workload, and pedagogical consequences

http://www.igi-global.com/viewtitlesample.aspx?id=44465
Abstract
Hand-held technologies such as Apple’s iPod/iTouch/iPhone devices are now capable of being used for educational purposes as well as for entertainment. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the issues, content authoring, usage, workload, and pedagogical consequences of creating an iClassroom for mobile learning based on these devices. Use of podcasts and vodcasts by students, and their rate of success are varied as shown by studies reviewed from the literature and carried out by the author for this chapter.Several strategies for reducing workload at an individual and institutional level are proposed for adoption by educators. Key recommendations from this chapter are an increased emphasis on evaluation, usage of models for developing content, and an inclusion of iPod/iTouch/iPhone devices as part of an overall architecture for m-learning

Second App

I just finished my second app. The first can be found at https://market.android.com/search?q=UCAR+Globe&c=apps  or at Choose whatever is more convenient for you:

1. Copy the app URL into your mobile web browser
   URL: http://ibuildapp.com/web-GLOBE
2. Use Barcode scanner app:
   
    

Southeast Regional T-STEM Center

http://www.utmb.edu/tstem/conference/reception.asp

Getting Started with iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch
Teachers are just getting to know iPad, iPhone, or iPod touches. This hands-on workshop is for you. Learn how to create and navigate through your Home screen. Explore Maps and find out how your device knows exactly where you are—even if you don't. Manage your apps for classrooom use and find where to get apps.

Advanced  iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch

Go beyond the basics with your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch in this hands-on workshop. Learn about multitasking, push notifications, copy/paste, and how to pair Bluetooth devices. Discover some great apps for teaching using apps like word, whiteboard, educreate, and  specialized applications. 

Amazon Kindle Fire: More Profitable Than Expected?

Findings from the survey:

• The two most frequent users for the Fire were e-book reading, at 71%, and browsing the Web, at 39%. Playing game was cited by 29%, and using apps, 20%. Only 13% named streaming video as a most frequent activity.
• The most important reason given for buying a Fire? 47% said it was a gift. 27% cited features. 20% cited the price. “We were somewhat surprised that features outweighed price, which contrasts some of the early reviews by the Technorati,” he writes.
• Over 80% of Fire owners have purchased an e-book, and 58% had purchased more than three e-books within 15-60 days of buying the Fire. He estimates that customers will by 5 e-books per quarter. At a $10 ASP for the books, he says, that would mean $15 in e-book revenue per quarter.
• 66% of the survey group had purchased at least one app; 41% have purchased three or more. He assumes 3 apps per purchase per quarter, suggesting $9 in paid app revenue per Kindle Fire unit per quarter at above-company average operating margin.
• 72% of the sample had not used the Fire to buy physical goods on Amazon.com. Of the 26% who had, a third said the purchases were incremental to what they would have purchased on the site otherwise. 51% increased their physical purchases on Amazon “slightly to significantly” because of owning the Kindle Fire.

The good, bad, and ugly....Kindle Fire

This is about the much talked about Amazon Kindle Fire tablet. With this Amazon Kindle Fire Review, we talk about NOT just its shiny-flashy details, but also about its apparent ‘shortcomings’ and how they can affect you, as a Kindle Fire user. Everybody knew that a tablet computer was coming from Amazon. Some even went on to predict that it might well be that iPad killer everybody thought every other tablet was going to be, but never was.