I'm Mac, and so am I..

Running out of room on your hard drive?

I've been contacted twice recently by teachers running out of hard drive space on their Mac.  The teachers are being good stewards of public resources and have used their laptops to their fullest potential!  Unfortunately, when the hard drive is under ten gigabytes of space left, it's time to archive content off, as performance will take a hit in many applications with this little space left.

External hard disks are great in this circumstance.  First, they can be used to back up data.  This can be as simple a process as connecting via USB or FireWire and dragging and dropping the Documents folder, Music Folder, Movies Folder, etc onto a dated folder on the external drive.  I suggest a dated folder because it's a visual reminder of when you last backed up (in the initial rollout training for teacher laptops, we suggested doing this with a burn folder).  It can be as complicated as using a program such as Carbon Copy Cloner to completely clone your internal hard drive to an external device.  (The software is easy to use and is free for educators.)

Another use for an external drive besides archiving and backup is for an alternate iTunes or iPhoto library.  Here's a link to information on how to set up a move of your iTunes library:  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449

It's possible to have more than one iTunes library:  http://lifehacker.com/software/itunes/multiple-libraries-in-itunes-7-202302.php

I am very hesitant to recommend either of these procedures, as I believe it would corrupt your iTunes library if the hard drive it's located on were accidentally disconnected.

I'm happy to help if you want to consider anything mentioned here!

Apple released iTunes 8

Apple released iTunes 8 today. I suggest holding off on letting any updates run for at least a few days, if not a week. I'd rather someone else be on that "bleeding edge", especially if iTunes working is critical to your lesson.

MIDI Files

Here's a link to a database of MIDI files. It would be helpful to hear from some of you music folks about how they can be used via comment!

http://www.mididb.com/

iLife '08 Progress

We're working our way through creating new materials for iLife '08. MO & I have completed the update for GarageBand and it is posted on the site. Please check back as we update more materials.

http://www.cobb.k12.ga.us/instructionaltechnology/mac/iTools_08.html

Also, we have tentative dates and locations for summer courses and will release them as soon as we have approval!

Finally, you might want to keep an eye on Apple today. The Apple store is down, with a "We'll be back soon message." My guess? Updates to MacBook Pro's at least, but maybe something more fun.....

GarageBand for Music Teachers- Resources & Links

GarageBand is a terrific tool for Music Education! Here are some links and documents to help you:

CCSD Mac Support Page: http://www.cobb.k12.ga.us/instructionaltechnology/mac/iTools_06.html
There are several links on documents to help you with GarageBand. The documents there were written by us and are in the form of downloadable PDF's that you are free to use in any way you'd like.

Here's some links to how other educators are using GarageBand in their classroom:
Musical Patterns for Elementary School: http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=233
Creating an Educational Rap: http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/item.php?itemID=10580
Instruments of the Orchestra: http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=9646

Here's what some of our Cobb teachers have created: http://TeacherWeb.com/GA/CheathamHillElementary/MrsGrayburn/links2.stm

http://stilllearning.typepad.com/terri_talley/

http://dowell.typepad.com/podcasts_by_the_crew_of_t/2007/11/the-night-befor.html

We are always happy to support you!

Laying down Music Notes on GarageBand

It is possible to place music notes on a track in garageband. If you click on the notes you can select them. They will turn from black to green. It is possible to add notes by clicking on the note icon and apple clicking on the line and the note will be added.
1 below opens the view required. 2 displays the notes. 3 displays the staff. 4 Allows you to change the type of note.

Audio Source

Rogue Amoeba is providing some very useful software if you need to be able to quickly change the audio input or output of your computer. Changing audio quickly on the fly is very helpful if you are podcasting or working with MIDI devices.

The software is not approved at this time, so you can't install it on your teacher laptop or other school computers, but I will submit it for approval. Check the software approval list or watch this blog for announcements.

http://level4.cobbk12.org/~software/

http://rogueamoeba.com/freebies/

PICASSO Overview

As we enter the world of PICASSO, we will investigate the Instruction and Curriculum tabs.  One main emphasis is the addition of the High Priority Technology Standards that are being woven into the curriculum.  For some of the content areas there are  PDFs available with a quick reference guides to technology resources. One of those available is the Resources for High Priority Technology Standards for K-5 LA and Math.

Download picasso_information_handout.doc

Download ResourcesHPTechStdsK5LAandMath.pdf

This summer ISTE, International Society for Technology in Education, is reviewing the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS).  As PICASSO develops, more resources will be added, so keep an eye out as more information is being added.

Using GeorgiaStandards.org

The Georgia Department of Education has created a resource for teachers to access and share units that correlate with the Georgia Performance Standards. The information below is for all users. However, if you would like to submit to the website, you will need to have access to the portal. Just sign up and they will verify your work location (teachers are rather easy to get setup, county office personnel, that are not assigned to a "school" may encounter issues, but Kathy Politis the director for GSO will help you.

Download gso_quick_guide.pdf

www.georgiastandards.org

Apple Learning Interchange

Here's a link to a terrific resource- The Apple Learning Interchange!

http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/