Month: June 2012

ed tech iPads

Apple iOS 6 and iPads

Trivia: What literary character has had more film and TV portrayals than any other literary character?

This character has been depicted on the big and small screen a total of 254 times.

Clue: It’s not Hamlet. Alas, poor Hamlet has appeared only 206 times!

Find the answer here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2146091/Sherlock-Holmes-portrayed-literary-character-TV-film.html

15 great iPad books

For young readers, judged on exceptional use of animation. The site also links to other app review sites.

http://digitalmediadiet.com/?p=1560

Apple announces iOS 6 (due out around Sept. onwards)

Some interesting new features include enhanced Facebook for the iPad – users will be able to post photos & videos directly into Facebook.

iOS 6 Maps app (beta)

Apple announced that it is creating a 3D map of the world in competition with Google. Did they really need to do this? Google Maps & Google Earth are pretty awesome. Already Apple has a fleet of planes & helicopters flying over major cities – you can run, but you can’t hide…and all that aviation fuel….sigh. You will see 3D maps, standard maps & satellite views.

It will also provide turn by turn navigation for iPhones and use anonymous real time data from iPhone users to get traffic data. We’ll probably get this in Australia a while after the US.

iOS 6 Maps: http://www.youtube.com/watchv=bGJABnoA2Xw&list=UUsvdAmvbn2k_1WtUR6hc2Eg&index=4&feature=plcp

New Siri features in iOS 6

Your voiced personal assistant will now be available on the iPad (new version) when iOS 6 is released. Hold down the Home button & up pops Siri. Speak to Siri and it will launch an app for you. Siri will also give you info – initially it will be just be sports, movies & restaurants but eventually who knows! http://www.apple.com/ios/ios6/siri/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY-MkVK_Cvs&list=UUsvdAmvbn2k_1WtUR6hc2Eg&index=3&feature=plcp

VoiceOver: the read aloud feature for current iPads on iOS 5

Users of iPads running iOS 5 can currently access VoiceOver which reads selected text to you. Hold your finger over any selected text and you will get the options box. One of those options will be the read aloud feature. You must turn the feature on: Settings – General – Accessibility – VoiceOver – On. Some iBooks come “enhanced” with a read aloud feature.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8681610_can-ipad-read-out-loud.html

Teach twice: “publishing stories from around the world in order to create learning and to fund education in the country from which the story came”

Their first story is now available: My precious name – a story from Uganda.

http://teachtwice.org/

http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2012/03/teach-twice-takes-off/

Photo finish (ABC Thurs 8 pm)

Hosted by Andrew G., this looks like an interesting show for photography teachers & students. Each week 3 photographers are given a photographic task to complete and they are then judged on their work.

Mabo and Rachel Perkins

Mabo

If you missed this excellent & powerful film directed by Rachel Perkins, it is available on iView, along with other good Mabo resources. The performances of Jimi Bani and Deborah Mailman were exceptional. It will be a very useful resource for high schools – history, human rights, indigenous perspectives, legal studies, biography…

Watch Mabo film: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/mabo/movie/?WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=Corp_TV-Mabo|Mabo_AdWords_:abc+mabo_b_g_19619852599_

Other Mabo videos: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/mabo/videos/

Timeline of Native Title: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/mabo/timeline/

Rachel Perkins directing episodes of Redfern Now

The 6 part ABC series from Perkins’ Blackfella Films (Mabo, First Australians) has begun filming with 4 directors (Perkins, Wayne Blair, Leah Purcell, Catriona McKenzie). It tells the story of 6 inner city households whose lives are changed by a seemingly insignificant incident. Cast includes Deborah Mailman, Jimi Bani, Miranda Tapsell. The series is co-written by indigenous writers and UK scriptwriter Jimmy McGovern.

If you haven’t yet seen Bran Nue Dae (2010), directed by Rachel Perkins, it’s wonderful – a very entertaining, coming-of-age, road movie, comedy, musical about a young Aboriginal man and his return home. Rated PG and very suitable for high schools. She has also directed a “prequel” to her First Australians series, which only started from 1788. The prequel documents the first contact between Cook and Aboriginal people at Botany Bay, NSW. The film can be seen in the Discovery Centre at Kamay Botany Bay National Park, Kurnell.

Looking forward to seeing The Sapphires (directed by Wayne Blair) when it opens in August!

http://mumbrella.com.au/the-sapphires-to-open-melbourne-international-film-festival-91950

films popular culture TV

Good films and TV

Some good resources for literature & “fiction to film” classes and just good entertainment!

Once upon a time TV series (7.30 Tuesdays, Prime)

This fantasy drama series is a great reworking of the Snow White tale – full of intrigue, sorcery, love, suspense and the usual battles between good and evil, with great visual effects & good performances. A woman who works as a bail bonds officer is taken by a young boy to the town of Storybooke, where uncanny parallels exist between the townsfolk and the world of fairy tales. Could the fairytale characters be trapped in time in Storybrooke? The backstories are intriguing and mostly non-linear (from the creators of Lost!) – the characters’ traits and motivations could all be compared with characters from the traditional book versions of the tales.

The first series was 22 episodes – probably a few too many to show at school, but definitely worth watching a few from the start. Stars Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White (and her alter-ego schoolteacher in Storybrooke) and Robert Carlyle as the malevolent Rumplestiltskin/Mr Gold….well, anything with Robert Carlyle is going to be good! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time_(TV_series) and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1843230/reviews

Snow White and the huntsman (opens 21 June) http://www.snowwhiteandthehuntsman.com/

Stars Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron (Queen) & Chris Hemsworth (huntsman). In this reimagining / Disney deconstruction of the Snow White tale, the huntsman who is forced to take Snow White into the woods to kill her becomes her mentor and protector, training her in the art of war as they try to vanquish the evil Queen. Visually spectacular, an awesome mirror, medieval battles and – for a while – 8 dwarves! Review:http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120530/REVIEWS/120539992 Trailer: http://www.metacritic.com/movie/snow-white-and-the-huntsman/trailers

Maleficent (release date March 2014)

Another revisionist version of a fairy tale – this time Sleeping Beauty. Told from the point of view of the evil fairy godmother Maleficent, it is the backstory of why she cursed Aurora to a permanent sleep on her 16th birthday. Stars Elle Fanning as Princess Aurora and Angelina Jolie as Maleficent. http://www.movies.ie/movie20news/Imelda_Staunton_Miranda_Richardson_Juno_Temple_Sam_Riley__More_Join_MALEFICENT

10 other upcoming fairy tale movies

Seems like a renaissance for the fairy tale genre. Includes: Hansel & Gretel: witch-hunters (Will Ferrell); Pan (Sean Bean); The little mermaid (director Joe Wright); Jack the giant killer (director Bryan Singer); Enchanted 2; Arabian Nights (Liam Hemsworth); Pinocchio (director Guillermo del Toro). Stories and themes that have stood the test of time! http://www.nextmovie.com/blog/fairy-tale-movies-in-development/

Prometheus (now screening)

Directed by Ridley Scott (Alien; Blade Runner). Stars Noomi Rapace (Dragon Tattoo) & Michael Fassbender. Sci fi / action / horror film set in the late 21st century. The crew of the spaceship Prometheus follow an ancient map to a distant world where they seek the origins of humanity – but find instead a threat that could wipe out the human race. Precedes the story of Alien, but is not directly connected to the series. The film has its own mythology and ideas.

http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=137119

And the most anticipated movie of the year?

The Dark Knight rises (in cinemas 19 July)

Directed by Christopher Nolan – the last in his Batman trilogy. Sequel to Batman begins & The Dark Knight. Stars Christian Bale & Anne Hathaway. Nolan sees the film as an epic war movie or historical epic rather than another superhero blockbuster. Set 8 years after the last film, a new terrorist leader comes to Gotham and the Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Knight_Rises

mobile phones Wikipedia YouTube

The truth about mobile phone use on airplanes

Post author By kelgator
Post date June 6, 2012
No Comments on The truth about mobile phone use on airplanes

Confused by why you can’t use your mobile phone on a plane? Especially when some airlines insist that it stay turned off whilst others allow use as soon as the plane has landed. If it is so dangerous then why are airlines now offering this facility (for a fee) during flights. Many reasons have been offered for this but all lack substance as noted in this Wikipedia article.

Below is an interesting YouTube clip that debunks the myths one by one then presents the real reason.

books iPads

Top 15 iPad Book Apps

Top whatever lists often leave you scratching your head about the selections and the omissions. This list however comes with a bit of authority, created as a result of fairly extensive research of the genre and has some interesting inclusions. “Here you will find the fifteen apps we consider to be simply exceptional for both the quality and contextual use of animation for storytelling in an iPad book app for children.” The top book “Flip” is unknown to me but must be good to knock “The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore” into second place, certainly a list worth investigating. Read the full list here.

libraries

Would I build a Library?

“If I had a green fields school, would I build a library? The answer is absolutely YES, but what would it look like and function like? Well, to answer that question I would look at the characteristics of the students I teach.”

The beginning of a post by Andrew Churches on his Educational Origami blog. Read the full article here

Also, a related post on the same site – “Some Libraries still have got it wrong“

ed tech TEDTalks websites

TED-Ed Website Tour

The TED-Ed team provides an in depth look at the powerful features of the newly-launched TED-ED Beta website. You’ll learn how TED-Ed videos are created, how they are arranged, about the learning materials that surround each video, and how you can create customized or “flipped” lessons based on any TED-Ed video or any video on YouTube.