iOS 8 Tips and Tricks

     iOS 8 has some pretty nifty tricks in it!  You now have more options when using Safari in iOS 8.  You can now save articles and items you like directly into your Evernote account, your Pocket account, and more.  Just tap on the sharing icon (the box with the arrow up) and choose where you would like to put the article.  You can Tweet a link to it, post it on Facebook, etc.  If you do not see Evernote or Pocket as options, but you have those apps installed on your device, go to the More icon and tap on it.  Then, allow access to the apps you want by swiping to green.  Now you can save to Evernote, Pocket, etc. straight from Safari!

     Students can now have an entire screen read to them in Safari or other native iOS apps such as Pages without having to highlight the sections they want read.  To enable this function, go to Settings.  Tap on General.  Tap on Accessibility.  Then tap on Speech.  Swipe to turn on Speak Screen.  Now, when students want an entire screen read, they simply swipe downward from the top of the screen with two fingers.  Options will also come up to allow students to speed up or slow down the reading.  

     Safari is just one of many upgrades in iOS 8!The camera has gotten some great updates, too.   Now, users can do a time-lapse video and a panoramic photo!  There is also a timer for photos that can be set to either 3 seconds or 10 seconds.  In addition to the camera updates, another nice feature is the notification when an app is using your location information in the background.  Users can even disallow the app from doing so within the notification itself.  This will help users know which apps could be potentially draining their battery life by running location services in the background.

     For parents, a nice feature that has been added is in Guided Access.  Parents now have the ability to select how long the iPad can be used before shutting off, thus allowing parents to limit their child's time on the device.

     Finally, if you update your MacBook to Yosemite, you will then be able to air drop from your MacBook to your iPad and vice versa.  This will be a very handy tool in the classroom!

Blogging Basics

    Blogging is a great way to share your thoughts, ideas, and interests with an authentic, real-world audience!  When a blog becomes popular, there are endless possibilities for the author.  Many employers are now looking at the online presence of its prospective employees.  That means they want to view a person's Twitter, Facebook, Instagram account, and maintaining an effective and professional looking blog is one way to create a positive digital presence.

     The term blogging originated from the words "web" and "log".  So essentially, a blog is a web-log or journal.  But it can be so much more!  A blog is a way to communicate not only with text, but with audio and visuals as well.  It is a place to share your knowledge and expertise!

     Some popular blogging sites are Blogger (which is where this blog is hosted), Word Press, Weebly, and Tumblr.  For the purposes of blogging from the iPad, I would suggest using Blogger or Word Press, as they both have apps for iOS devices.  That means you can blog right from your iPad or iPhone.  If you have typed something in Pages and want to use that on your blog, just copy the text and paste it into a new post!

      Before getting started with your blog, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Read other blogs!  Identify what works, and learn from the experts.
2. Don't share personal information on a blog.  Protect yourself, your identify, and privacy.
3. Take care to write professionally.  Proofread and consider your audience!  
4. Blog frequently.  Stay relevant.  A blog that goes untouched for days or weeks will lose the audience it has built.
5. Comment on other blogs, but be sure to remain professional.  There is a difference between criticizing and commenting.  Bullying and bashing others is no way to create a positive online presence and it is a poor display of digital citizenship.
6. Market your blog!  You won't have a big audience to begin with, so you will need to take it upon yourself to build your audience.  Share your blog address with others on Twitter and other social media outlets.  Ask people you know to read your blog and comment on it.
7. Be sure to enable comments on your blog in order to get valuable feedback from your audience!