Finally: Use iBooks on your Mac!

13 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Finally: interactive iBooks come to Mac from the iPad!
You no longer need an iPad to play with the wonderfully interactive “Multitouch” books like Al Gore’s  “Our Choice“.
When Apple’s new desktop/laptop Operating System (OS) 10.9 “Mavericks” was released on Oct. 22, it included the iBooks application. This was the first time iBooks was available on anything other than an iOS device (iPod Touch, iPad and iPhone).
HOWEVER the application was riddled with bugs and features that made it quite frustrating to use.  Last week Apple provided an update for iBooks (version 1.01) that apparently alleviates these initial problems.
AGE OLD LESSON: Skip version 1 of just about anything; wait a few weeks for the bugs to be ironed out, then embrace with caution.
Mac OS 10.9 Mavericks is a FREE UPDATE from Apple. It requires that you have OS 10.6.8 or later already installed. 
On the hardware side, Mavericks is compatible with all Macs that are capable of running OS X Mountain Lion.
The full list of compatible models:

Stanford University to Collaborate with edX on Development of Non-Profit Open Source edX Platform

05 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

https://www.edx.org/press/stanford-to-work-with-edx

Harvard, MIT and Stanford are teaming up to provide the best features of their respective online learning systems as a free development platform open to the public to use.
I have firsthand experience with the effectiveness of these environments, and am excited at the potential here for meaningful advances in access to high quality content and global collaborative learning.

 

Take a Tour – McGraw-Hill LearnSmart

03 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

McGraw-Hill’s adaptive learning suite is now more flexible for teachers, allowing use with any textbook or open source eBook.

Here is a short video tour of "LearnSmart":
http://www.mhelearnsmart.ca/about/take-a-tour/

Essentially, adaptive learning…
"…makes content dynamic and interactive, placing the student at the center of his or her individual learning experience. The [digital learning] platform monitors how the student interacts with the system and learns, leveraging the enormous quantities of data generated by a student’s online interactions with ordinary (textbook-like) and extraordinary (game- and social-media-like) content, with teachers and peers, and with the system itself. It assesses not only what a student knows now, but also determines what activities and interactions, developed by which providers, delivered in what sequence and medium, most greatly increase the possibility of that student’s academic success."

– from http://www.knewton.com/blog/knewton/adaptive-learning/2010/06/16/what-is-adaptive-learning/

Protecting Your Privacy on the New Facebook – NYTimes.com

07 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

  • Protecting Your Privacy on the New Facebook – NYTimes.com

    Since Facebook added SEARCH, it’s very important to review your privacy settings. This article shows the most important ones. Here are some teaser quotes:

    • Now, with Facebook’s newfangled search tool, it can allow strangers, along with “friends” on Facebook, to discover who you are, what you like and where you go.
    • “It is more important than ever to lock down your Facebook privacy settings now that everything you post will be even easier to find,” she said.
    • Your settings will determine, to a large extent, who can find you when they search for women who buy dresses for toddlers or, more unsettling, women who jog a particular… trail.

Posted from Diigo.

Facebook to Tell Users They Are Being Tracked – NYTimes.com

06 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Facebook to Tell Users They Are Being Tracked – NYTimes.com

Under pressure from the Better Business Bureau, Facebook adds a feature that reveals some of the times it’s helping to track your online behaviour.

It’s good to use this in conjunction with Mozilla’s "Collusion" browser plug-in, to raise awareness among students of how their online life is carefully tracked.

Here are some slaient excerpts form the article:

 

  • The agreement applies to ads that are shown to Facebook users, based on what else they have browsed on the Web

  • When you log on to Facebook, you could be tempted with a dress that you didn’t quite buy; it might even nudge you to make the purchase “for your darling daughter.”

  • Now, if you hover over one of those ads with your mouse, a grey-blue icon will pop up alerting you to the fact that you’re being tracked

  • You can opt out of being tracked, one ad-serving company at a time.

  • You can also choose to hide ads from a particular brand. Facebook has always allowed users to do this; the only change is that it will henceforth nudge you with a new icon.

  • Faced with pressure to gin up profits for its public investors, Facebook has in recent months refined its aimed advertising efforts.

  • The company earned $5 billion in advertising revenue last year.

Posted from Diigo.