Pinterest

You might have already heard of Pinterest, a social media platform which is becoming more and more popular. Pinterest is a virtual pinboard, where you can share images that you like. These can be from websites you like, or from your own collection, and link back to the website where they came from. You can create boards on any subject or theme you choose, or search through other people's boards which could be on subjects relevant and interesting to you. You can also re-pin other people's favourites to your own boards.

One of the most attractive things about Pinterest is that it's purely visual - you can't save text-only content, only material with images attached. The picture you 'pin' then acts as a link back to the main page that it came from. This means it's perfect for gathering items together like a scrapbook.

Some of the most popular collections are in themes like historical fashion and home design. There's also lots and lots of recipes on there too!

But if you spend a little more time (once you tear yourself away from the yummy looking food) and dig a little deeper you'll soon find some great teaching materials and activities (search in the Education category or look up your particular topic). You'll be able to find everything from historic photos of Victorian London or World War 1, to images of historical shoes or fashions, or wildlife and botanical drawings. You'll also find that Pinterest is a great image repository, link sharing community and an easy-to-use site for students or classes to quickly gather and assemble project materials on a huge range of topics.

DVD Recommendation : Catfish

I got the chance to watch Catfish a couple of weeks ago and I absolutely loved it. I went into it not knowing much about the movie/documentary and I thought that was the best thing I could have done, so I'll try not to give too much away here. I got it for the school as I thought it would be a great DVD to show the students about Facebook and how not everyone on it, and online, are not always what they seem or what they tell you. A great lesson in cyber safety to be learnt here and overall a very interesting, entertaining and thrilling DVD to watch.

Blurb: 'Film makers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost sense a story unfolding as they begin to film the life of Ariel's brother, Nev. They have no idea that their project will lead to the most exhilerating and unsettling months of their lives as they unravel an intriguing Facebook mystery. A reality thriller that is a shocking product of our times, Catfish is a riveting story of love, deception and grace within a labyrinth of online intrigue.

Top Apps

I had a chat yesterday with a staff member who showed me a few of the apps he has on his iPad. I was really impressed with some of them so I thought I'd share them with you. These are all available for download through iTunes.
Life:
(Free)
Life Magazines photography collection is now available through your iPad/iPhone. Through this app you will be able to explore Life's archives as well as view their most recent photos. The photos are of excellent quality, and would be great not only for photography or art students, but to use in English and Humanities classes.

Qwiki:
(Free)
Qwiki is a great little app that I was very impressed with. You can search for information about any place, person or thing that you can think of, and Qwiki gives you an interactive summary about your chosen topic. You can even explore the area that you are currently in, to find out more about it. We did a search on Rupertswood, as the app could tell where we were, and it opened up a little video with pictures and information about Rupertswood. This would be great for those needing information on different countries or places they plan on visiting, or just if you need basic information on the fly. Qwiki contains information on over 3,000,000 topics!

Wikipanion:
(Free)
Wikipanion is a great, fast and easy way to access Wikipedia through your iPad. It allows you to bookmark your favourite topics, view your history so you can go back to a certain topic, save images to your photo library and more.

Planetary:
(Free)
This app is more for fun than for any educational purpose. But I really like the idea. Through Planetary you are able to explore through your music collection which has been presented in a 3D universe. Suns represent bands/singers, Planets represent albums, and moons represent songs in this very cute app available only through your iPad.

Aweditorium:
(Free)
Another music based app, however this is directed at those who want to find some new music to add to their collection or to find out more about a particular artist. Aweditorium brings together photography, lyrics, videos and interviews related to an artist, all in the one place. This could be another fun app, but would also be great for music students needing to find information on a particular artist, or to be able to experience various types of music.

Garage Band:
($5.49)
Garage Band turns your iPad into a full recording studio, giving you access to a collection of touch instruments and allowing you to make your own music. The instruments available at the moment are pianos, organs, guitars, drums and basses. A great app for music students (or teachers) or any artists in the making!