It is quite possible that you could tell us all about your love and use of Animoto, which I hope you will do in the comments area of this blog post! In a nutshell , Animoto allows you to create video-based lessons and presentations for the classroom. And, the Animoto site claims it is easy as pie! We know that teachers in some districts regularly use this tool, but we’ve also heard that media specialists and librarians alike are creating cool book trailers using it too! Care to share a link to your book trailers in the comments area?
Tag Archives: App
Recommended App: GoodNotes
GoodNotes is an app that comes highly recommended by many — especially those in the education field. GoodNotes allows users to take handwritten notes, draw/diagram,
mark-up PDFs, and then save it all on a nicely organized “bookshelf”. In addition, GoodNotes allows for easy sharing, page turning, and highlighting. It also automatically saves your work and provides full backup to prevent data loss.
GoodNotes is compatible with iPad and requires iOS 5.0 or later, and is priced at $4.99. Find out more about GoodNotes on its iTunes Preview or at www.goodnotesapp.com
Recommended App: Browzine
Recently released by Minnesota-based company, Third Iron, Browzine is an app created by librarian, John Seguin. According to the Browzine press release “With BrowZine, users can easily find journals made available by their library, browse titles of interest, and read individual articles or the complete journal.” It also syncs with Dropbox and box.com for easy distribution 
and citation of articles.
There are two different versions of the app; one version gives the user access to open-access journals, and another requires a sync to occur between their library (whether public, school, or academic) and the app — authentication gains them access to most of their library’s online database collection. In other words, the library needs to have subscribed to the Browzine service for the sync to occur. If a library is interested in subscribing to Browzine they should consider reviewing this video, and visiting the Browzine website for additional information.
The app is free to the user, and is currently specific to the iPad (though plans are in the works for an Android app). It requires iOS 5.1 or later.
Recommended App: Zite
Do you ever find it difficult to find all the news of the day that interests you? Enter Zite!
Zite is a free personalized magazine for your device that automatically learns what you like and gets smarter every time you use it. Zite delivers all the great news, articles, blogs, and videos you want – and helps you discover new stuff that you’ll love. With Zite, you can select your unique interests, and the more you interact with the app, the better it’s able to highlight items that may be of interest to you.
Zite is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It was just updated December 4, and the newer version requires iOS 6.0. It is also compatible with Android and requires 2.1 and newer.
Paying for “Free” Cloud Services
Like many, I have to admit that I’m often attracted to “free” cloud services, programs, and software. Who wouldn’t want to save money where they can – especially when the service offered seems virtually the same as what others are paying their hard earned money for. Well, like everything in this world, there always seems to be a trade-off, doesn’t there?
The Journal’s 12/4/12 article The Price of Free Cloud Resources, highlights the positives and negatives of free cloud resources. There are so many cloud-based resources that either are entirely free, or are free but offer a less-robust version of a for-fee resource. Either way, free resources are tempting, both to the average user as well as to libraries, media centers, and schools. Who wouldn’t want to save money where they can, especially now, when many budgets are so dramatically reduced? Additionally, many cloud-based resources are cutting-edge, new, exciting, and flexible! It’s hard not to be attracted and drawn to that.
But with free, comes a catch… For cloud-based resources the catch or the “payment” for the service is often privacy and personal data. According to Jim Siegl, Chair of the Consortium of School Networking, “Data is the most common (yet invisible) fee extracted from users by companies that make search engines, e-mail, and other cloud computing resources accessible to schools.” As schools (or individuals) enter into agreements with a cloud-based resource, they may be required to sign and agree to a contract. It is crucial that the person reading and signing that contract understands the language and the agreement they’re entering into — and what it means to their school and their students (or patrons in the case of a library). However, because cloud computing is fairly new, Siegl believes that federal regulations are about twelve years behind in responding to cloud computing and related privacy concerns. 
So what are schools and individuals to do? Read! And read carefully! Understand what you’re reading, ask questions if need be. Research it! (This could be a natural fit for librarians….). In schools and at libraries, individuals responsible for technology services need to carefully analyze the agreements they’re entering into. Additionally, technology specialists (or those that sign the agreements) should consider providing opportunities to inform other parties at their school or library about the privacy issues, and about the data that is being collected. For students, it’s important to remind them that what they do on the internet is not private. And that everything they do leaves a digital footprint, and can be tracked back to them.
Additionally, it’s important to know that even some for-fee resources gather data… Again, contracts must be carefully reviewed and privacy should always be of utmost concern. There will always be trade-offs, but we have to be certain the trade-off is truly worth it, and that the cloud-based service meets our basic privacy requirements (whatever they may be depending upon your library, your school, or your personal wishes).
Interested in reading more on this important topic? Checkout the following links to get started…
Cyber Security for the Digital District from the Consortium for School Networking: Tools and Resources
Privacy Technical Assistance Center: Frequently Asked Questions – Cloud Computing
Scholastic Article: Demystifying Cloud