Animoto Revamps iPhone App

Animoto, the company that made watching slideshows bearable, has revamped their iPhone app for even more amazing videos on-the-go! New features include the ability to select from multiple video styles & add text; preview and edit video before it's produced; more ways to share, including sending videos via text message; easily upgrade to Animoto Plus within the app; and the ability for users to see all their Animoto videos from Animoto.com on the app and vice versa.

So long, iWeb, RIP

I'm saddened by Apple's decision to discontinue iWeb, Apple's website development application. When Apple introduced iWeb in 2006 as part of its iLife suite of applications, I was looking for a simple platform to create and host a website of my own for a video production company I was starting called Action Touch Media. Earlier, I had experimented with Dreamweaver, a more professional website creation software applicaiton, but it was complicated and I didn't have time to master HTML. In contrast, Apple's drag and drop UI, beautiful templates and seamless publishing to MobileMe proved to be the ideal solution for me. In June, 2011, when I released my Stick Pick app, I had built my support website entirely using Apple's iWeb (not realizing iWeb's days were already numbered).

Although Apple plans to continue supporting iWeb and MobileMe through the end of June, 2012, I decided to cut my ties a little early. I have enjoyed iWeb for the better part of half a decade, but this week, I chose Blogger, a product and service of Google. Stick Pick's new support website is live, and the links have been updated in Stick Pick version 1.02.

I hope Apple decides to revive iWeb. Perhaps they will merge it with iCloud. Regardless, I chose Blogger for my new support website for several reasons: 1) Google seems committed to supporting the platform; 2) having used Blogger in the past, I'm familiar with the user interface; 3) Blogger's service is free; 4) You can now have multiple and easily navigatable pages with tabbed menus; and 5) it can be updated from the cloud! RIP iWeb.

What iWeb did well:
-iWeb offered a WYSIWYG UI; no knowledge of HTML required. You control it all: design and content.
-The Ecosystem: Integration with iLife applications
-One button publish to iDisk
-Ability to embed: YouTube and Paypal buttons
-Blog with comments
-Beautiful templates that made it look like you are a design expert.
-Ability to Customize

Of course, iWeb did have its limitations:
-You couldn't publish or update from the cloud; always had to be tied to your machine to publish updates!
-The problem with cool templates was that everyone began to use them and they all started to look the same.

Will you miss iWeb?

Weekly Email To Parent Challenge

Rachel Elliott, @TechmoRachel, a teacher specializing in assistive technology for exceptional learners in Calgary, Canada, is the inspiration for this blog post with her great idea.

Yesterday, I happened to notice her tweet. She said:

"Today's weekly email to parents suggested teaching students the spectrum keyboarding skills with Dance Mat Typing."

It wasn't really the suggestion she gave to her parents that caught my eye and imagination, it was the fact that she writes a weekly email to her parents. That got me thinking... Within a few minutes, I had drafted and sent an email to my entire staff of over 40 teachers, with the subject line: Weekly Email To Parent Challenge. Here's what I wrote:

I came across a tweet by a teacher I follow who writes a weekly email to her students' parents. I thought it was a great idea so I thought I'd share it. It doesn't have to be long-- even if it's just a homework tip, reminder about an upcoming event, or a couple sentence summary of the topics you taught during the week -- maybe a part of the social contract you're focusing on...

I guess now I need to send a note home and ask my parents for an email address...

I'm gonna write my first one to my students' parents next Friday. Who's with me? *chirp*chirp* Nothing long winded or fancy... Just a quick little burst. Maybe short and frequent is better...? -- it'll be more than I currently do :)

Respectfully yours,

-Buzz Garwood

Earlier today, my principal had this to say:

What a great idea.  I have been talking about getting release time for teachers to call parents about progress Reports; how sweet would it be if the majority of that could be done electronically?  For those parents with Internet access... it would be a great way to communicate.

How do you communicate with parents? Comment below and share your great ideas.

It's a Great Time to Be in Ed Tech!

I've been busy -- just wanted to take a few minutes to share with you what's been going on since I said, "Have a nice summer!" to my sixth graders June 2. I went to ISTE 2011 in Philadelphia late June and produced blog and video content for Ed Tech Magazine which can be enjoyed here: Blogs -- Video. You'll discover some of the amazing conversations and products helping to shape educational technology. 

My first article for BYTE went live in the first week of its relaunch. If you're into 3D printers, you might enjoy the story and a few of the photos I snapped at ISTE -- check it out here. Read some of the best news, deepest How Tos, tips and reviews. I'm proud and humbled to be among the founding senior contributors for the new BYTE. Welcome back, BYTE!

Stick Pick, my new educational app, launched June 2. Within the first couple weeks, it climbed to the #22 spot in the Education section of the iTunes app store. It was also featured in the "What's Hot" and currently in the "Instructional Tools" category. Here's the link to my app in iTunes. Can't wait to share it with my colleagues around the world! Thank you to my fellow EduBloggers and members of my PLN who blogged and tweeted about my app during the initial days of my launch! I'm indebted!

Got a Minute, Literally? Watch the Stick Pick Demo Video

This one-minute video succinctly demonstrates the core features of Stick Pick: the first app of its kind to let teachers (or students) tie Bloom's-style or ESL-style questions to each individual learner's cognitive or linguistic level.

Teachers: if you're hoping to use your summer to gear up for the next school year, take one minute to familiarize yourself with Stick Pick. Watch how easy it is to ask the right student the right question at the right time.

Stick Pick is available in the iTunes app store for $2.99 (iTunes Link)