With the opening of the new Apple store in Trinity – Leeds, schools form the region are now able to take  students on a Field Trip to the Store for an unforgettable learning experience. On their Field Trip, students can create something amazing right on the spot. Or they can bring in a project they’ve already created and turn the store into a theatre, sharing their achievements with parents, teachers and friends. No matter which option you choose, everyone will have a great time.

Not just for students.

They have also opened up the Field Trip programme to teachers.. They willl show you how Apple products make great tools for teaching and learning, and you’ll have a great time in the process.

Who can take part in a Field Trip?

Field Trips are open to all primary and secondary school students and teachers in the UK. Each event can accommodate up to 25 students.

How long is a Field Trip?

“Creating” Field Trips last up to 90 minutes, and “Showcasing” Field Trips last up to one hour. Apple ask that you arrive 15 minutes prior to your event to allow for setup. To schedule more time, contact a Specialist at the Store.

When can I schedule a Field Trip?

Apple offer Field Trips every autumn and spring. Registration is now open for weekday events at the store up to the  31 May. Details on the year-round youth programmes can be found on the Apple  Youth website.

Click HERE to visit the Apple Field Trip registration page.

Appshed is a on-line publishing tool enabling students to create mobile web apps without having to learn large amounts of coding.

The system provides a number of free resources to help you get started, building an App all in the browser so no software needs to be downloaded.  Students can use drag and drop to create the App progressing on to HTML5 and JavaScript. Don’t worry if you don’t have any devices the system comes with its own onscreen emulator which can be switched to emulate the most common devices around. Apps can be accessed from any device using a simple QR code.

Comprehensive video tutorials cover the basics of creating apps. Step-by-step instructions show you how to create screens, add galleries and maps, and much more.

The AppShed Academy (Chargeable)  is perfect for teachers who want to introduce pupils to the world of app creation. Equip your students with the knowledge to harnass the digital world and help them develop new and  transferable skills. Through the Academy teachers are able to monitor the progress of their students.

The system is suitable from upper KS2 upwards.

To register for a FREE personal account and start creating web apps click  HERE

As schools are now investing a lot in handheld devices  and e-book readers teachers may find this Free e-book manager a very useful tool. Calibre is a free and open source e-book library management application developed by users for users of e-books. It has many features divided into the following main categories:

Library Management

Calibre manages your e-book collection for you. It is designed around the concept of the logical book, i.e., a single entry in your library that may correspond to actual e-book files in several formats.

Calibre can sort the books in your library by: Title, Author, Date added, Date published, Size, Rating, Series, etc.All you need to do is download your e-books  into one folder, in whatever format, eBook, ePub or PDF and with a couple of clicks it will upload the books to your device.

You can easily search your book collection for a particular book. calibre supports searching any and all of the fields mentioned above. You can construct advanced search queries by clicking the helpful “Advanced search” button to the left of the search bar.

You can export arbitrary subsets of your collection to your hard disk arranged in a fully customizable folder structure, maybe by key stage or reading ability.

E-book conversion

Calibre can convert from a huge number and supports all the major e-book formats.

The conversion engine has lots of powerful features. It can rescale all font sizes, ensuring the output e-book is readable no matter what font sizes the input document uses. It can automatically detect/create book structure, like chapters and Table of Contents. It can insert the book metadata into a “Book Jacket” at the start of the book.

Syncing to e-book reader devices

Calibre has a modular device driver design that makes adding support for different e-reader devices easy. At the moment, it has support for a large number of devices. Syncing supports updating metadata on the device from metadata in the library and creation of collections on the device based on the tags defined in the library. If a book has more than one format available, calibre automatically chooses the best format when uploading to the device. If none of the formats is suitable, calibre will automatically convert the e-book to a format suitable for the device before sending it.

Downloading news from the web and converting it into e-book form

Calibre can automatically fetch news from websites or RSS feeds, format the news into a ebook and upload to a connected device. The ebooks include the full versions of the articles, not just the summaries. Examples of supported news sites include:

• The New York Times
• The Wall Street Journal
• The Economist
• Time
• Newsweek
• The Guardian

calibre also has a built-in ebook viewer that can display all the major ebook formats. It has full support for Table of Contents, bookmarks, CSS, a reference mode, printing, searching, copying, customizing the rendering via a user style sheet, embedded fonts, etc.

For users with apple devices we would recomend using it’s built-in content server over your network.

There are many sources of free e-books on the internet and to get you started YHGfL have a selection of FREE e-books available from Rising Stars HERE

To download the software click HERE

Calibre has an on-line manual HERE

For those used to creating web animations in Flash, Adobe has now released their Edge Animate for Free when registering for their Free cloud services Creative Cloud.

The downloadable software use an intuitive interface that’s based on WebKit, so your animations work across modern browsers. You can design  HTML content with an assortment of styling options and integration with font services like Adobe Typekit.

Motion to graphics and HTML can be added using the powerful timeline editor, edit property-based keyframes and use enhanced easing equations for precise animation control, or use the Pin tool to help speed up the animation process. To help you in this it has  a number of built in lessons for you to follow.

The content created works reliably on mobile devices running iOS and Android™ operating systems, as well as modern  browsers like Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer 9.  You can also define a fallback state so your content will be displayed on older browsers.

Adding the content to your blog,website or Learning Platform is by a simple Copy/Paste of the code from Edge Animate.

A great tool for animated web design from KS3 upwards.

For further information and to register for the software click HERE

App Inventor lets you develop applications for Android phones using a web browser and either a connected phone or an on screen  emulator. The App Inventor servers store your work and help you keep track of your projects.

Your app appears on the phone step-by-step as you add pieces to it, so you can test your work as you build. When you’re done, you can package your app and produce a stand-alone application to install.

If you don’t have an Android phone, you can build your apps using the Android emulator, software that runs on your computer and behaves just like the phone.

The App Inventor development environment is supported for Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, and Windows operating systems, and several popular Android phone models. Applications created with App Inventor can be installed on any Android phone.

The software has a simple view designer

control is programmed in using connectable blocks not unlike scratch.

This simple design makes it suitable for schools wanting to look at App design and control from Y6 upwards with many examples and downloadable samples to choose from to get you started.

Students will need a free Google account to use the system.

Look out for our on-line CPD session introducing the app inventor during the summer term.

You can login to  App Inventor HERE

Yorkshire & Humber Grid for Learning invite you to a FREE day of Mobile App Development using the Weejot Mobile App Publishing Network.

Mobile applications or ‘Apps’ are applications that run on smartphones and other mobile devices. Weejot is a cloud based mobile apps publishing service that allows users to publish mobile apps in real-time with no appstore required. This service provides FREE individual student accounts to all schools. Attendees will be shown how to use the Weejot App Studio which provides all the tools required to develop, manage and test mobile apps. Apps can also be developed in a favorite editor, uploaded to Weejot and previewed before been made live. You can even make changes in real time with the web-based code editor. The platform enables schools to teach programming techniques that enable students to develop mobile apps that can easily be deployed through HTML5, JavaScript and CSS technologies

The day itself will be a buzz of brainstorming, screen staring and intense focus. A number of developers from weejot will be available on the day to help staff and students develop their app.

Venue Wakefield Council, Chesneys Centre, Featherstone.

Friday 11th January 2012 – 10.00am to 3.00pm

To register

http://www.yhgfl.net/CPD/CPD-programme/Mobile-Hack-Day

Weejot is a mobile publishing service that provides tools that enable real-time publishing of mobile apps using the web. By using mobile optimized web pages instead of native phone apps (like the apps you download from app stores), you can reach far more people, far faster and with no time wasted in any approvals process.

Non-technical users can use ‘AppTemplates’ to create and publish apps to any device and developers can use the Weejot API to develop AppTemplates using HTML and Javascript.

Weejot is also a great way to learn the languages of the modern web. HTML5, CSS and Javascript are the main technologies and because we do not limit your ability to create whatever you want – the possibilities are endless!

Weejot are invested in making a real difference in the learning environment for students, and have made a commitment to ensuring that all schools, universities (and students) are able to benefit from the innovation that Weejot will bring the ICT learning process. Essentially, the platform enables schools to teach programming techniques that enable students to develop apps that can easily be deployed through HTML5, JavaScript and CSS technologies.

If you work in education, perhaps either within ICT in a school or for an Education Authority looking for a teaching tool for all your schools then Weejot are committed to providing free accounts for students in schools, universities and authorities who use Weejot to assist in the teaching of programming skills.

For further information click HERE

YHGfL are looking to support schools using the site, for more information email contact(at)yhgfl.net

As schools strive to be innovative with technology but budgets are squeezed, allowing staff and students to use their own technology in the classroom is becoming more popular. Opinion however is divided, will BYOD save money and have a positive impact on learning or is it a security and safety nightmare waiting to happen?

Recognising this, NEN the Education Network is beginning a major piece of work in partnership with industry and other interested groups.  They want to hear your voice and thoughts on the use of personal devices in the classroom. Please contribute by following this link:

http://www.nen.gov.uk/news/258/boyd-what-do-you-think.html

Microsoft’s Imagine Cup is the world’s most prestigious student technology competition, bringing together student innovators from all over the world. If you have a great idea for a new app, bring it to life through Imagine Cup. With Microsoft resources and support, you can make a great app and win travel and cash prizes!

This year, Imagine Cup opens the door wide with three big competitions:

World Citizenship: Make an app that could change someone’s life. Pick your cause: the environment, education, health, you name it. Use technology as an agent of change.

Games: Put a smile on the face of the world. Make the next great game and see people playing it all around you on console, PC, phone, slate – wherever people play games.

Innovation: Reinvent social networks. Transform online shopping. Experience music in a new way. Do something amazing with GPS. It’s time to take that crazy idea of yours and ship it!

There is no required theme this year. There’s just you – you and your dreams. Because whether you want to save the planet, make the next great game, or just do something cool with technology, the door is open wide for you at Imagine Cup: all dreams are now welcome.

Every finalist team and their mentor will also get a free trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, to compete in the Worldwide Finals  in July, 2013. Participants must be at least 16 years of age as of August 30 2012.

To register and for more information click HERE