http://www.rhodes.edu/news/20096.asp

Here’s also a new video:

I have been a big fan of their Audio Dropboxes, so I’m excited to see this new project!

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/oct/09/metropolis/

sometimes I wish during a conference presentation that I could draw over my images. During the last SOCALLT conference, for example, I showed blueprints of the new language center. It would have been nice to draw on these images and interact with them.

Air Sketch

Just a few weeks ago a fantastic new iPad app was released: Air Sketch.

It provides a blank surface on which you can write. Other computers on the same network can display that iPad image in an HTML5  -compatible browser (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, …). I can also put an image on top of that blank canvas and doodle over that. Fantastic. No installation on the computer is required, just a browser. You can, and may want to, password protect it. Otherwise everyone on your network could see your air sketches.

It tried it out on my home network and at my institution, and it worked like a charm. Actually, it worked on my laptop, a classroom computer, and even my iPhone! If you don’t have a network available (think conference hotel…), you can establish an ad-hoc network with your laptop.

Missing Functionality

It’s of course not completely a smartboard. You can’t type anything, only draw and highlight. You can’t interact with it on the screen, only on the iPad. (Which is actually great, as I can walk around the room with it, write and annotate anywhere while teaching or presenting. I can even give it to a student.) It only accepts images so far, so you have to take screenshots or export your ppt into individual jpgs. (That may be a good thing. At least it will keep you from using too many slides in your ppts…). But it’s a fairly new app, and the first updates added some nice functionality. So it’s somewhat limited, but it’s fairly inexpensive (if you have an iPad…), mobile, and simple to use.

See for yourself, here’s a little video I just made to show how it works:

Teaching a film class and a first semester German course, I can see many uses already. First thing that I will do is buy an iPhone/iPad stylus, like this one. Then writing will be faster and more natural than using my fingers. For the film class I think using stills and being able to annotate then, draw, doodle, mark, and write will be great. I can even make screenshots right on the iPad and upload the images onto moodle. Well, I’ll give it some more thought. It will certainly be cool during upcoming workshops and presentations.

Test Version

Before you pay for the full version, I recommend testing your networks with the free, very basic version. Please share your ideas and comments with me. Do you think this might be useful for your classes or presentations?

Air Sketch

Note

As I write for my own blog, http://www.languagetechnologybootcamp.org/, and collaboratively for http://www.languagelabunleashed.org, I will publish some posts on both blogs. I you subscribe to both, I apologize for any duplicates!

• Find ways to make scheduling meetings with students, faculty, and staff easier.

I’ve been using timebridge for about two years now, and have been very happy. It is fantastic, and it saved me countless hours, and possibly my sanity. But one problem is that I have to be the one to initiate the meeting and suggest times. But what if a student wants to met with me? So far I’ve told them to send me an e-mail. Of course then I have to at least check my calendar and send an answer back, if all goes well. If not, a back-and-forth of e-mails ensues.

In comes tungle. After feeding the system my calendar dates and preferences, anyone who wishes to meet with me can “grab” some time slots and the system alerts me. In theory this should work great, and I’ve tested it with friends, so hopefully this will save me some more minutes during the hectic weeks of the upcoming semester. First test: scheduling sessions with my advisees. I’ll keep you posted.

And if you wish to see how this works, here’s a preview on my faculty page.

http://www.rhodes.edu/academics/6214_16103.asp

http://www.rhodes.edu/academics/16284.asp