iPad Authoring Advances

I've noticed some increased editing capability with my iOS devices. I can now create and do basic text editing in GoogleDocs (Documents and Spreadsheets) using Safari and the docs.google.com/m website with my iPad. The editing is very basic (no formatting) but it works better than a few months ago. But Google Sites is a different story. Here is a Twitter conversation I had today with @Lenva (Lenva Shearing, deputy principal at BBI in Auckland):

• lenva: Trying to edit a google sites new page made on iPad (os4.2). Cannot edit. Anyone know how or have an app?
• lenva: Does anyone know of an iPad app that let's you edit google sites
• eportfolios (me) @lenva I haven't been able to edit Google Sites text with iPad. Google Docs editing getting better but prefer using Office2HD (not free)
• lenva: @eportfolios I also use Office2HD for G docs. Was hoping there was something similar for G sites. Rolling out ipads next yr, so its a pain.
• eportfolios: @lenva U can create&name Sites pages w iPad...just not edit-yet. Workaround: embed Docs into Sites page w/laptop. Then edit Docs w/iPad?
• eportfolios: @lenva Can now edit WikiSpaces with iPad. Couldn't do that 6 months ago: see example: http://eportfolios.wikispaces.com/Mobiles

It sounds like BBI will be implementing a new iPad pod next year (their new school year starts at the end of January!). I am excited to see how this learner-centered school implements iPads. I spent two weeks visiting their school last March, to observe the creative ways that they implemented e-portfolios. I shared my passion for digital storytelling with the teachers and some of the students. Maybe I'll have to go back for another visit next year, to see how they implement digital storytelling with their iPads.

I've downloaded a couple of iPad/iPod apps for digital storytelling: Storyrobe, Splice (Video Editor for 3GS and iPhone 4 - US$.99). How soon will Splice and iMovie (US$4.99) be available on the iPad? I have them on my 4G iPod Touch! Last summer, some Apple Distinguished Educators put together a great site on implementing digital storytelling with the iPad: https://sites.google.com/site/digitalstorytellingwiththeipad/home. I've received other iPad software recommendations for e-portfolios, including Evernote, which I will include in a future blog entry. I've established a Google Site for exploring mPortfolios (m=Mobile) between now and June: https://sites.google.com/site/mportfolios/

iPhone ePortfolios?

From a listserv post by Trent Batson, founder of AAEEBL, a professional organization supporting electronic portfolios primarily in higher education:

See this URL: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/eportfolio-for-iphone/id361277520?mt=8
From the person, Paul Treuer who was IP owner for the first OSP code set which is now -- a few new code sets later -- part of Sakai.

My response:
The UMN software only uploads pictures to a UMN portfolio, so far, although a comment in iTunes said, "Soon to follow, I've heard a voice recognition-to-text feature will allow you to dictate into your ePortfolio. How cool is that!" I agree. It would be powerful to be able to reflect by voice, and have it go directly into my reflective journal/blog. I can do that using Dragon Dictate in my iPhone and send the text online by email.

There are several other portfolio tools in the iTunes store. PebblePad has an iphone app. Also an app for physicians in U.K. for "Effortless recording of learning and reflection and access to reference materials." Right now, it is only by typing, but these are a start!

There is also a WordPress App. I just can't really edit my GoogleDocs artifacts or my Google Sites portfolio from my iPhone/iPad, and I can only blog by email. But, it's beginning to happen! Anyone have other examples?

Sent from my iPad

EduBloggerCon at ISTE10

I made it back to another EduBloggerCon prior to ISTE 2010 in Denver. It is very important for me to listen to teachers who are working with K-12 students and implementing Web 2.0 tools, although these were very advanced users! Lots of discussion of the iPad, and quite a few of them in the room. I took both my iPad and my laptop to the workshop, because I wasn't sure which one I would want to use. During the Smackdown (showcase of new Web 2.0 tools), I ended up using my laptop. Also, editing my Google Site... not possible with the iPad.

There were several sessions on the iPad: one led by a teacher who was really pro-iPad, another led by Scott McLeod, who brought up some serious questions about the trade-offs between consumption of data vs. production capabilities of the iPad. Lots of great discussion, documented in tweets using #ebc10ipad tag. No conclusions, because it is too soon, but some schools may be ready to replace laptops/netbooks with iPads, perhaps a premature decision. I said to wait until the Android tablets come out, and then compare the capabilities. I can still do more production on a laptop/netbook than my iPad. But there are advantages with battery life and instant on. Some educators are also impressed with the engagement of young students with reading on the iPad.

There were also good discussions on blogging with students, including Blogs as Web-Based Portfolios (PDF) from Jeff Utecht, International School of Bangkok. I also figured out how to organize my apps on my iPhone with iOS4, and touched an iPhone4. I'm trying to figure out when I will be home long enough this summer to buy mine. I want multitasking and iMovie for iPhone! (After updating my iPhone 3G to iOS4, it seems to run slower.) Dinner out with some teachers and more great discussion! Great Day!

ePortfolio on iPad & iWork

This morning, I read the following tweet:

Had a student bring an iPad with his digital portfolio to an interview. Keynote with pictures and video of him teaching. Cool! (@alvintrusty)

Since I bought Keynote for my iPad, I decided to give it a try. This is now the 37th version of my online presentation portfolio, but the first developed using my iPad. I found the 2007 version of my portfolio that I created in PowerPoint, and imported it into Keynote on my Mac (I found out later it was an unnecessary step... Keynote on the iPad will convert PowerPoint files). Then, I connected my iPad to my laptop and through iTunes, imported the file into my iPad. Once transferred to my iPad, I was able to activate iWork.com through my Apple account and upload the keynote file to that website. Once there, I activated public sharing and received the link to share it publically (I was able to update the file the next day, but needed to make the link public again on the iWork website). I noticed that embedded hyperlinks worked on the iPad, but not on the iWork.com website.

In the original Powerpoint, I used the Speakers Notes to record my reflections. When the file was imported into the iPad, the notes were stripped out. Interesting! It really didn't take me long to do this conversion with a few simple edits. The iWork website has a place to add notes, so there is a level of interactivity once it is uploaded. This was the first presentation that I edited on the iPad. It looks pretty easy to use. I would prefer a more interactive environment for a working portfolio, but this format is more appropriate for a presentation portfolio, and iWork.com appears to be free when used with the Mac or iPad version of the iWork software.

I placed weblinks in the original Powerpoint, and they appeared in the iPad version. The links worked in presentation mode, but to get back into my presentation, I needed to open Keynote again... and I was not connected to a projector, so I don't know if the web pages would show through the projector. I did notice that the .mov videos that were stored on my .Mac account did not play in Safari on the iPad. Next time, I will see about embedding videos in my next Keynote presentation, to see how it works. I haven't yet figured out whether videos imported into the iPad through iTunes can be linked to play from within Keynote.

This ePortfolio can be viewed either online or on the iPad without Internet access. The real downside of this process is versioning: if I make changes on my iPad, I need to be careful if I transfer it back to my Mac, to make sure I am saving the most recent version... and I would need to upload the changed version to iWork.com, which replaces the older version (but eliminates the public link, which needs to be reset on the iWork website). This illustrates the value of editing my GoogleDocs Presentation version: the latest version is always stored online. (However, right now I cannot edit GoogleDocs through the iPad's Safari browser.)

I am looking forward to future developments in the software for this platform. I have used Keynote to create a presentation portfolio and shared it using my iPad; there are blogging tools for maintaining a working/reflecting portfolio (WordPress and BlogPress on the iPad); and I can store files in many cloud storage sites, including GoogleDocs, box.net, Apple's iDisk or mydisk.se. These are all three main components of a learner-centered portfolio system: storage of artifacts, reflection/documenting learning over time, and a presentation/showcase medium. We just need a tool to tie them all together. I am anxious to see how this environment matures, and how easily it can be implemented by learners of different ages!

Editing GoogleDocs on iPhone & iPad

I found a 3rd party solution for editing GoogleDocs with both my iPhone and my iPad. There are apps available that make this possible: Office2 (squared) for the iPhone ($5.99 in the iTunes App store) and Office2 Pro for the iPad ($7.99 in the iPad App store). There is a free version for the iPhone/iPod Touch, but it doesn't allow saving. The Doc2 app is $3.99 (saves documents); same price for the Sheet2 app (saves spreadsheets). 

I was able to open GoogleDocs Document and Spreadsheet files, edit them, and save them to the web. All changes were made to GoogleDocs. I also created documents on my iPad and iPhone, and was able to copy and paste text between those documents and my GoogleDocs, so I am able to work off-line. I can also open files stored in Box.net, Mobile Me (iDisk), and myDisk.se.

I bought the Bluetooth keyboard and the VGA cable. I also downloaded Keynote for the iPad, and my daughter has challenged me to do my next presentation with my iPad. I have three weeks to prepare! It looks like I can't plug the iPad into power while using the VGA cable. But I am getting more than 10 hours on the battery! Just need to start with a fully charged iPad.
Next I will explore online storage from the iPad/iPhone!

ePortfolio Apps Needed?

Today, I received the following email message from a graduate student in the UK:

I am very interested in the mobile application development we have discussed and intend to make it the focus of my research.
I will be developing for the iPad, iPod, iPhone platform initially.

Just a thought, do you think the greatest need currently is for apps which connect to an ePortfolio such as: Wordpress, Blogger, Google Docs or similar, to enable uploading, editing and reflection of digital content? 
Or, is there also a need for a standalone mobile ePortfolio app?

Here is my response:

There are many purposes for ePortfolios, that require different types of tools (learning/reflection, showcase/employment, assessment/accountability). There are also many portfolio processes to be supported by different tools: creating/authoring digital content, collecting my work, reflecting on that work, selecting (hyperlinking or embedding) that work into my presentation portfolio, writing goals, presenting my work, getting feedback, etc.

With Web 2.0, an ePortfolio is really an aggregator of my work that is stored at many places online: video in video sharing sites like YouTube, Vimeo, blip.tv, etc.; images in Flickr, Picasa; documents in GoogleDocs, scribd.com, or lots of other locations; audio in Myna, etc. What we lack is an aggregator. We need a database to keep track of our online content, sort of like a database that we can use to organize our personal content, wherever it resides on the web. If you look at the report that was written by Ian Fox in NZ, a database of personal/academic content, that can be meta-tagged, is the missing link.

I imagine something that acts like my Macintosh in Garage Band or iMovie or Keynote, where I pull up Media, and it shows me my photos in iPhoto, my movies, my iTunes files, etc. I can select that piece of content and insert it into my document. We need a Web 2.0 equivalent, so that I can get to my content wherever it is stored online. What I need is not to insert the actual content, but to be presented with a choice of a hyperlink or an embed code that I can copy and paste into whatever presentation portfolio I am using. Right now, I have to do this task manually, link by link. For me, that is the need: a content management system for Cloud content, that is accessible on a website using any browser or mobile app. We can upload all kinds of data to the Web from our mobile devices... how do we organize all of this content?

Above is a diagram of eportfolio components as described in BECTA and JISC reports, and you will see where there is a need to organize the Digital Repository: online space to store resources and an archive of evidence.  I have also defined the Two Faces of ePortfolios, which are the workspace (reflection + archive/collection) and showcase (presentation+feedback). Most of the commercial tools organize the showcase... no one independently organizes the workspace right now (except what I do on my own in my blog or in a spreadsheet/matrix). And it needs to be easy enough for a 3rd grader to use! Maybe I'm thinking about a version of the MyLifeBits research that Microsoft conducted around "life store" of data.

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So, we'd love some input: what type of apps are needed to support ePortfolio development using mobile devices with access to the Internet?

Learning my new iPad

Yes, I waited in line yesterday to pick up the 16GB iPad I reserved. Daughter posted some Twitpix last night. Spent the afternoon exploring capabilities of my new iPad. I sent a long email and learned to type on the screen with my finger pads, trying to avoid my fingernails (not easy). I bought a Bluetooth keyboard, but am trying to get used to the keyboard.

I have been exploring the apps. I responded to a blog post using Safari, but couldn't scroll through the comment field beyond what I could see on the screen (no scroll bars or arrow keys on the keyboard). I created a blog post with the WordPress App (after figuring out how to publish) and am sending this entry to Blogger as an eMail. Tweetdeck works great. I am using the old Facebook app (not ready to pay for one). I am finding that the games I like on the iPhone are different on the iPad. Easier on the eyes, but harder on the arms (reaching with arms, not fingers). I am trying to limit the games, anyways.

So far, the major deficiency is Google Docs. I can read documents, but not edit them. In my long spreadsheets, I can't scroll to data that is off the screen (I can scroll and do minor editing on my iPhone). Haven't tried Google Sites yet. As a media consumption tool, it looks like a dream. But in education, that is not the model we want to perpetuate. Yes, I can see the potential for textbooks in this format, but I want to be able to use cloud computing tools for content development, not having to buy iWork for this iPad. I know this is just the first day, but if it is going to be more than a print/paper replacement, we need to be able to use online content development tools. Of course, I want to see how it can be used to develop and maintain e-portfolios! Since I will be attending the ADE Institute this summer, where we will focus on Mobile Technologies, I hope to explore these issues further.

Sent from my iPad