Apple Macs in Education

I am always on the look out for useful applications for my mac and want to share these two as ideal ones to consider adding to your macs. The first one is called iShowU which allows you to capture and record anything you can see on your screen, along with audio from a compatible source (like a microphone) as well as any audio from the mac itself. It is produced by a company called shineywhitebox.com and wait for it ….. the cost is only £10.41 – a real bargain. There is a 30 day demo version but it does put a watermark on the tutorial that you produce. This tutorial on jjakes.edublogs.org was produced using this software and although these copies were not produced to the highest spec for the blog they look great running on the mac.

The second piece of software is specifically for those people like me who are beginning to create websites with iWeb. One difficulty was managing a number of websites and this small application enables you to manage your sites and removes some of the confusion. I love iWeb and am really looking forward to the new release that is promised. This is how Chris Greg describes iWebsites:

iWeb normally stores a user’s websites in one folder (or package) called “Domains.sites,” in the user’s home library located at “~/Application Support/iWeb/”. It expects this package to be present, but if it isn’t, it will create it when launching iWeb. iWebSites manipulates “Domains.sites” to create more than one website package (a “.sites” file) in the Application Support/iWeb folder. Simply, iWeb opens up “Domains.sites” when it launches, and whatever website happens to be in that package is the website that iWeb uses while running. iWebSites renames “Domains.sites” when creating a new site, and it leaves the newly named “.sites” file in the Application Support/iWeb folder. iWebSites enables the user to switch between sites (by creating the appropriate “Domains.sites” package), delete sites, create new sites, and duplicate sites.

The software appears to be free but Chris is asking for donation/sponsorship for running the Boston Marathon. If you are into using iWeb this is a must.. try it out here.

One of the Transformation Teachers participants will soon be leaving to live in Australia, Perth to be exact. No prizes for guessing who ….. She has fallen in love with her Mac and is quickly working her way through the creative tools. I know that she is determined to complete the course and will be emailing and communicating with us through the MLE and possibly even SKYPE so I decided to search to see if I could find links with enthusiastic mac educators over the water. Well you’re in luck click here and see for yourself. Well Ruth we expect you to take Aus by storm and I certainly expect to read about the work that you do within other peoples blogs before the Summer is out… The challenge is set. How long will it take before they get to know about you.

I love my Mac!!! I remember using Macs in secondary school, and finding it a bit odd when I first changed to PCs. However, I soon got used to PCs, and for the next seven years or so I was completely PC based. This changed when my husband got a PowerBook … wow! It’s so easy to use, and I fell in love with its sleek, silver casing. We eventually got rid of the big, clunky desktop PC and have only used his Mac for the past couple of years. I’ve never enjoyed using my school laptop. And now to have my own MacBook … wonderful! One of the things I have been realising as I have discovered new software is that my Mac is so instinctive. That’s the word I have been using lots recently. It’s so straightforward and clear to use. I tried to begin using a PC piece of software last week, and I gave up, thinking that it would be so much clearer on a Mac! Of course, I still have to use a PC at school, but I agree that once you get used to both you can switch easily between them both. But for me, Macs rule!

http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/hardware/soa/Apple-sweet-for-WA-s-Education-Dept/0,130061702,339273832,00.htm

I am ambidextorus in terms of computers, by that I mean that I can and will use both PC and Apple Mac with equal competence.   When planning the Transformation Teachers Programme we thought that it would be essential to provide the participants with a core set of kit comprising of a computer, microphone, headphones, digital camera, capable of taking quality photos and video, and a tripod.  The next decision was to identify the software that we wanted staff to use and when we brainstormed the elements it included iLife and Microsoft products.  The ideal situation would therefore incorporate both Mac and PC. In the past I have worked with a Mac using a PC emulator but it was clunky and not the sort of environment that I would wish on a ‘new to mac’ participant.  The new Intel structure provides the best of both worlds – although a lot of PC users feel that they have won and Apple has sold out – the partitioning of the drive and the ability to walk around with 2 computers in one in very useful.  Hardly any of the participants in the course were Mac users so this was going to be a major experiment.  I have taught in Haringey for over 29 years and well remember in 1979 buying a Commodore Pet, 1 computer to 25 CSE students.

In 1987 I was lucky to be part of an project using 5 Mac Classics, a scanner and a Laser Printer.  I was hooked.  Dos or Mac OS – no choice to be made.  My students wanted to know why we used the DOS machines (RM Nimbus NT stations) when the Macs were around.

Haringey was a Mac authority and reaminded that way for a number of years, however a shift to PC’s occurred, mostly under the misunderstanding that students were not using “industry standard computers” and therefore would be disadvantaged when they went to work.  In my experience, this has never happened.  All the competent Mac students who went out into work experience were fine and adapted quickly, it was the PC students who had to adapt to the MAc environment who struggled.

I have always been a fan and since 1985 always used Macs in one way or another.  My role at the Haringey CLC has allowed my to use the Macs more extensively and develop a number of skills relating to manipulating media.  Since March 20th 2007, the exciting element has been watchine new staff use the macs and begin to consider their application within their own teaching environments.  There have been frustrations, expected when learning something new, but also surprise, excitement, a sense of achievement and a release of creativity due to the ease in which the software enables such good outcomes with a small learning curve.

The journey begins here.  What are your thoughts? Please add to this blog your comments about using Macs in education.