10 Best Apps for Teachers

Posted: August 13, 2012 in Uncategorized

Most of what we do is for the students. The focus of this and many other blogs and websites is about learning, and rightly so, but there are also apps that will make our jobs easier too. I am talking about that catergory of apps that are designed specifically for the classroom teacher. Those apps that will assist us in the everyday little jobs that need to be done, often on the run and often while 10 other things are also happening in the room. There are plenty and I am sure as more and more teachers gain the confidence to design their own apps, there will be more suitable one to come. Here is a list of apps that you can use to make your job easier. This is just my list, but I would be happy for other to contribute the apps that help them – help others by leaving your selection in the comments.

Keynote: $9.99

Keynote for iPad is almost as powerful as the desktop application. This is a powerful presentation tool that has animations, slide transition and all the features to make professional slides. It allows you to open templates with graphics already inserted. This is purposely built to work seemlessly on the iPad and to allow the user to incorporate other aspects of the iWork suite. Perfect addition to any homepage.


Educate: Free


Since one of the first jobs you have to do each morning is to take the role Attendance is a great solution for the iPad. This app has some great features which make it attractive to teachers; photos for each student, recording lateness or emailing absent students. It asks if you would like to import your address book or you can import student info from external files. It also syncs between different devices. For the price this is a very functional app.


Teacher Tool: Free

 

TeacherTool saves grades and makes suggestions for grades. TeacherTool saves your remarks about students and presents them to you in the upcoming lesson. It remembers the date of any grade and lets you store comments along with it. TeacherTool keeps track of your students‘ absences. It is much safer than your traditional mark-book, as with every synchronization on your Mac, you save an up-to-date backup copy of all your data.


iAnnotate: $12.99

iAnnotate is a PDF reader and annotation tool for the iPad. It opens documents from emails, fills out forms, you can sign and send out contracts, enter notes for edits, sketch diagrams, copy text, and add highlights or underline with the drag of a finger. iAnnotate fully integrates its annotations directly into the PDF. This is a great tool for teachers to mark student’s work.

 

GradePad: $2.99

The GradePad application allows you to grade your students’ performance directly from your mobile device. The documentation from the application’s website explains that with this app you can Manage Groups, Create GradePads, Do Assessments, Track Performance, and Share Data. Manage Groups, Create GradePads, Do Assessments, Track Performance, Share Data


Dropbox: Free

Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere. After you install Dropbox on your computer, any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, your iPhone and iPad and even the Dropbox website! With the Dropbox app, you can take everything that matters to you on the go.

Attendance: $5.99

Attendance is a universal iOS touchscreen application. It allows you to take and keep attendance records. Its main intended use is for teachers to keep track of records for their classes, but it can also be used for meetings and group gatherings. Features include; unlimited courses, move students from one class to another , photo recognition, customisable attendance statuses.


Teacher Pal: Free

TeacherPal is a personal organizer for the teacher. It enables the teacher to organize classes, and students. Its simple and intuitive interface enables teachers to track the attendance, grades and behavior of their students. Features include; simple tap attendance, grade books, enter grade with an intuitive touchpad, import, export data files from and to CSV files.

 


Flipboard: Free

This is a great app for the iPad. Flipboard allows you to set your twitter feeds straight back to your iPad. Flipboard then re-presents it in a magazine format. The tweets are laid out with images in the same format as an online mag. This is great for making online textbooks for specific classes or even further reading lists. Only the classes that you have given the specific twitter address have access. I think this makes tweets much more user friendly, especially to younger students who may not be as familiar with twitter.


PowerPresenter: $1.99

PowerPresenter is an app that lets you display local PDFs, websites or even draw on the screen as a white board. Through the Web, you can display not just HTML but PDFs, PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, RTF files and iWork files. This all requires Internet connection, but if you know you do not have a connection save them as local files.

 
 
And how could I forget…thanks Leoni65

Evernote: FREE
 

Evernote allows you to capture information in any environment using any device, and makes everything accessible and searchable, from anywhere. Evernote is always synchronized, so any information added in one place is instantly available everywhere else. Use Evernote to capture your ideas, snapshots, voice memos, things you see online, and just about anything else that you want to remember.  Evernote recently reached their have 10 millionth user.

Pocket Universe HD

Posted: August 13, 2012 in Uncategorized

The universe is fascinating. There’s no other word for it. We don’t know how big it is, how long it is has been is existence for, whether there is intelligent life or not … and every time we do answer a question, we end up asking at least ten more. It’s a mesmerizing experience – looking up at the night sky and seeing history (light takes time to travel to earth, meaning what you’re seeing is the past rather than the present). But the problem with looking up is that there’s so much to look at. Stars, planets, nebulae, clusters and even galaxies: they’re all visible, but do you know what you’re looking at?

With Pocket Universe HD, you do. The great thing about the universe is that its motion patterns are predictable: we know to a relatively high degree of accuracy where planets and stars are going to be in hundreds of years time. And Pocket Universe HD takes advantage of this predictable universe pattern, allowing you to hold your iPad up to the night sky and figure out exactly what that object you’re seeing is. Looking for something in particular? Search has you covered. The experience is both humbling and exciting.

The virtual sky reveals the shapes and names of constellations, planets, stars, deep sky objects – you can name it all just by holding your iPad up in the direction of where you’re looking. An in-built magnitude feature allows you to accurately conclude that what you’re seeing in the sky is what you’re actually looking at on the iPad, given the object’s brightness. You can even play God by fast forwarding time, seeing where all these objects are going to be at a certain moment in the future.

The ‘Information’ section within Pocket Universe HD makes for equally impressive viewing. View a gallery, see the latest news and read information on Saturn’s moons, Jupter’s moons, the lunar phase (moon brightness) and even see a map of the moon. But by far the most impressive feature is Tonight’s Sky. This gem colludes information to provide a daily Sky Report with all the need to know astronomy info: hours of daylight and darkness; current moon phase; objects visible with the naked eye (eg. Jupiter, The Moon); meteor showers; ephemeris; satellite information and a planet guide. The latter feature provides hourly information on where you can spot certain planets, and remember, if you still can’t find them, the Virtual Sky and Search will have you covered.

It’s hard to find fault with Pocket Universe HD – its only disappointment was the solar system view that feels relatively bare in comparison to its rivals such as Solar Walk, which offers a much more visually appealing view of the solar system and its known information.

Pocket Universe HD is a ‘wow’ application. You don’t just have the whole earth in your hands, but the known universe. And with more information you have even more awe and appreciation of the universe we live in.

For those with a Jailbroken Apple TV you have probably realized there is no substitute for Cydia for installing unofficial software like XBMC or NitoTV. To install this software on your Apple TV you are required to use SSH or Terminal commands. The folks over at JailbreakAppleTV however, have finally developed an application for Jailbroken Apple TV users that will make installing 3rd party software a breeze.

This application is called Nito Installer and in a few clicks you will be able to easily install NitoTV, XBMC and popular XBMC addons like Transfer Popular and Transfer Custom. For advanced users there is also an area to enter option SSH commands.

 

Download Nito Installer [Mac OS X]

We will have a how to guide on using Nito Installer in the near future, but until that time please leave any further questions or thoughts in the comments section below. Also, on a side note, only a Mac OS X version is available

 

source:ijailbreak.com

Unlock 4.11.08 iPhone 4 Gevey SIM? Well, we have good news for iPhone 4 users who stuck on 4.11.08 baseband after updating to iOS 5 / 5.0.1 accedently and lost effectiveness of Gevey SIM. As most of you know that Gevey SIM is perfect solution for iPhone 4 unlock on basebands 2.10.04 / 3.10.01 / 4.10.01. But unlock 04.11.08 baseband iPhone 4 still the big challenge for developers.

Unlock 4.11.08 iPhone 4 Gevey SIM is Being Tested:

The folks at AppleNBerry who are behind Gevey SIM invention are announcing about some good news for iPhone 4 users who stuck on 4.11.08. They confirmed that they are performing tests on new version of Gevey SIM to unlock 4.11.08 iPhone 4.

For who don’t know, iPhone Dev-team is working on the same task. They are trying to update ultrasn0w to unlock iPhone 4 on 4.11.08 baseband. But unfortunately there is no significant progress since long ago, as ultrasn0w can only unlock iPhone 4 on 1.59.00 baseband

What AppleNBerry said Regarding Unlock 4.11.08 iPhone 4 with Gevey SIM

updates..updates…
I thought I made it clear, but I guess there are some miscommunications.
Good news, we are in the testing stage.
Bad news, I don’t want to promise anyone and get flame.
It is very difficult to not offend anyone.

Unlock 4.11.08 iPhone 4 Gevey SIM Relese Date:

When 4.11.08 baseband unlock with Gevey SIM will be released? this is really important question, the developers of the new Gevey SIM didn’t announce any specific date. But we expect that 4.11.08 unlock with Gevey SIM won’t take long time, stay tuned.

source:limera1n

Apple released a new version of the iPhone 4S 5.0.1 firmware yesterday. Surprisingly, the ramdisks are not encrypted in that release. That’s why it is now possible to write a simple script to extract all the necessary Siri files from the 5.0.1 ipsw. And because the ipsw is publicly available, obtaining the Siri files is completely legal.

musclenerd

“Huh…today’s 4S 5.0.1 bump (9A406) has wide open main fsmusclenerd.com/4s406.txt

 

musclenerd

“@AndrewKeezer it’s the first public 4S ipsw where the main filesystem keys are obtainable (due to non-encrypted ramdisks)”

musclenerd

“(to clarify: wide open for inspection from a Mac/PC…not wide open security wise :) Can get Siri files and such without piracy)”

While this is great news regarding Siri ports, we have to keep in mind that we still need to find a way to generate or obtain the iPhone 4S authentication keys. Luckily, it looks like@chpwn and @stroughtonsmith, the hackers who first ported Siri to the iPhone 4, already have a tool ready that will be released after the iPhone 4S jailbreak.

iH8sn0w chpwn Siri Port

“I just realized… anyone who installed those “Siri Ports” might have replaced the dyld_cache which probably conflict with future untethers.”

“@iH8sn0w Yeah. I’d wait for my (upcoming) tool here.”

stroughtronsmith

“To people asking: Can’t do a non-server Siri port before there’s a 4S jailbreak. Filesystem access isn’t helpful in this respect”

Let’s hope @pod2g’s untether also works for the iPhone 4S so we can finally enjoy Siri on our older iOS devices.

[IMG]

The other day pod2g, the developer that’s working on the untethered Jailbreak for iOS 5 and 5.0.1, announced that he had completed his Jailbreak for all iOS 5-based devices besides the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2.

Pod2g is now reporting that he has successfully tested his Jailbreak on all iOS 5-based devices besides the following: the fourth generation iPod Touch, the CDMA iPhone 4, the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2.

But, the good news is that thanks to everybody who donated, he can now afford to buy and iPhone 4S and an iPad 2 – testing on the devices should begin soon. Additionally, it will take pod2g a few days to finalize the Jailbreak for older devices and a working utility should be released shortly after he has completed testing the two A5-based devices.

How to downgrade iPad 2 3G (GSM / CDMA) from 5.0.1 / 5.0 / 4.3.5 to 4.3.3 for untethered jailbreak ? Well, Notcom, the talented and well-known iPhone developers has just created a new tool called TinyCFW that helps iPad 2 3G (GSM / CDMA) and iPhone 4 users to downgrade their devices to iOS 4.3.3 for untethered jailbreak.

Why to downgrade iPad 2 from 5.0.1 / 5.0 to 4.3.3 ?

As most of you know that the only jailbreakable firmware on iPad 2 is iOS 4.3.3 which has been jailbroken with untethered jailbreak JailbreakMe 3.0 few months ago. Many of iPad 2 users have accidentally upgraded their devices to 4.3.5 / 5.0 or 5.0.1 which broke the untethered jailbreak. Notcom, has successfully found a trick that able to make the iPad 2 3G can be downgraded via a custom 4.3.3 firmware to re-enjoy the untethered iPad 2 jailbreak on iOS 4.3.3

What TinyCFW is:

  • It will modify an existing ipsw for an ipad2 gsm/cdma or iphone4 gsm/cdma
  • It WILL modify the ipsw TO UPDATE YOUR BASEBAND TO THE LATEST!
  • It will create an ipsw that you can use with TinyUmbrella AND iTunes to restore to a version of iOS that you have SHSHs for.
  • It is primarily for iPad2 with a baseband OR iPhone 4.

What TinyCFW is NOT:

  • A jailbreak
  • An unlock
  • A tool to protect your baseband.
  • A tool that will restore your device to any firmware
  • A tool for use with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, iPad, or iPhone 4S

Requirement :

  • You MUST have iOS 4.3.3 SHSH blobs.
  • Download iOS 4.3.3 for iPad 2 (GSM / CDMA)
  • Download iTunes (Windows / Mac)
  • Download TinyUmbrella (Windows / Mac)
  • Download TinyCFW (Windows – Jar)

How to downgrade 5.0.1 / 5.0 to 4.3.3 on iPad 2 3G (GSM / CDMA) :

Step 1: Start TinyCFW application (double click on the jar or run the .exe file). You must have java and at least 2.5gb ram.

Step 2: Once the window comes up, click the top button and choose iOS 4.3.3 ipsw.

Step 3: Click the second button. The app will scan it and tell you the firmware and baseband versions in the ipsw you selected (iOS 4.3.3) and the firmware and baseband versions that will be in the target ipsw

Step 4: Click ‘Save Target IPSW’. This will take a minute or two and when it is finished, you will have a file named:

<your original ipsw name> .bbupdate.ipsw.

Step 5: Now we will start restoring iPad 2 to the new custom firmware created above, we will use iTunes and TinyUmbrella to do this. Now open Tinyumbrella and make iTunes look at Cydia’s Server in the “Advanced” options.

Step 6: Plug your iPad 2 and switch it off

Step 7: Put your iPad 2 in DFU mode (If you don’t know how to put your device in DFU mode – Click Here)

Step 8: Select the custom firmware you created above manually to restore your iPad 2. (Shift on Windows, and option on a Mac)

iTunes will till you that it will talk to Apple servers but actually it will talk to Cydia servers.

Now you have successfully downgrade iOS 5.0.1 / 5.0 to 4.3.3 iPad 2 3G

source:limera1n

Installing Siri on iPhone 4 has a significant progress. One of the bigger pieces of news coming today from the key-person of iPhone Dev-team, MuscleNerd. As most of you know that Apple released today a tweaked version of iOS 5.0.1 for iPhone 4S only, with minor updates. But from hackers’ vision, iOS 5.0.1 new build has opened the horizon for porting Siri to iPhone 4 legally, let’s see what MuscleNerd said after the jump.

MuscleNerd (1st tweet):

Huh…today’s 4S 5.0.1 bump (9A406) has wide open main fs

MuscleNerd (2nd tweet replying to someone) :

it’s the first public 4S ipsw where the main filesystem keys are obtainable (due to non-encrypted ramdisks)

MuscleNerd (3rd tweet to clarify) :

(to clarify: wide open for inspection from a Mac/PC…not wide open security wise 🙂 Can get Siri files and such without piracy)

MuscleNerd is announcing that the new decrypted ramdisks in iOS 5.0.1 new build will allow them to write simple script to legally extract the needed files to port Siri to iPhone 4, 3GS, iPod touch 4G, 3G without the need of suchjailbreak apps like H1siri that may violate your privacy.

It may be a techy words, so we can say in simple words that porting Siri to iDevices became very promising.

source:limera1n

Back in June, iPhone Dev team had revealed in a blog post titled “Blob Monster” that Apple has made it difficult to downgrade to an older firmware using SHSH blobs in iOS 5.

However, earlier in the week – iH8sn0w – developer of jailbreak tool Sn0wbreezereleased an updated version of iFaith to add support for dumping iOS 5 SHSH blobs, which unlike TinyUmbrella allow users to downgrade to an older version of iOS if they had dumped SHSH blobs with the apticket using iFaith.

It looks like it is going to be soon possible to downgrade using SHSH blobs saved using TinyUmbrella, according to a series of tweets by MuscleNerd of the iPhone Dev team.

Upcoming redsn0w release makes both TinyUmbrella and Cydia blob saves useful for 5.0+ (1st verifies, then stitches)

For time being, please just use most recent TU to save 5.0.1 blobs+APTicket…redsn0w will do the rest, should you need to restore.

MuscleNerd hasn’t provided any details of how it will work nor has he provided an ETA on when the new version of Redsn0w will be released, but as he has recommended it is a good idea to take SHSH blobs using TinyUmbrella, which is available for both Mac and Windows or iFaith.

This guide will show you how to downgrade your iDevice from iOS 5.0.1 to 5.0 using iFaith.

Restrictions: This will not work for iPhone 4S and iPad 2, this will not work on a Mac, and you must have previously saved your blobs and AP ticket for the version you wish to downgrade to.

Step 1. Download iFaith 1.4

Step 2. Open and select Build *signed* IPSW w/Blobs”

Step 3. Browse and find your blobs for your current device firmware followed by the ipsw for the version you wish to downgrade to.

Step 4. Click “Build IPSW” and once it’s done click “Proceed”

Step 5. Put your device into DFU mode as shown

Step 6. Open iTunes and hold shift while clicking restore to open up a selection window, find the customfirmware and restore.

Your Done!

source:JBN