Gifting an App

How to gift an app from your master iPad account.

As a individual consumer with an iTunes account you would normally buy one app and load it onto all of your iOS devices. As a school you need to ensure that you buy one app per device to ensure that you  do not break the iTunes licensing agreement. The situation is even more complicated if you are using the device with multiple users, but that's another story. There are three or four viable ways you can do this, each of them have their advantages and pitfalls. The main ways of distributing apps include;

• Volume Licensing
• iTunes Cards
• Student Managed
• Gifting Apps

Gifting apps is one method I had not thought to use in an educational setting. This method does have pitfalls, as it can take the final say of which apps to purchase for the classroom away from the actual teacher. Many teachers that I speak to, manage their own devices and want the control of locating apps that work well with the way they teach and the way that their individual students learn.

Having said that many teacher don't want the hassle of managing the devices. A colleague of mine Michele Walters who is an Innovation and Learning Advisor has put this set instructions together for those people interested in gifting apps.

A simple how-to for gifting apps.

Your master account is simply the account you nominate as the MAIN account for the school. This may typically be iPad 1. 

On your iPad tap the App Store app and select Purchased apps from the list of icons at the bottom of the screen.

Select the app you wish to gift then, on the top right hand corner, tap “Gift this App”


iTunes Store credit cannot be used to purchase gifts. The gift will only be redeemable in the country of origin.


Make sure you check the item's rating and requirements because the recipient may not be able to redeem the gift if their hardware or iOS is incompatible

Complete the information as requested – your name, recipient’s email address (separate email addresses with a comma).


The recipient/s will be sent an email with an alert that the app has been gifted.

You must pay for the app/s with a credit card. The iPad you are gifting from does not have to have a credit card linked to it – you can use any credit card.

When you have completed all previous steps, review the details and price then tap on “Buy Gift.”

The email received by the recipient will look like this.

Click redeem now and the app will begin to download onto the device.

You can also gift an app directly from the App Store. Simply tap on the app required (not the price) and proceed as above, beginning with ‘Gift This App’ in the top right corner.

NB: If you wish to gift an app from an iPhone or iPod touch, the ‘Gift This App’ button can be found by scrolling to the bottom of the screen.

Leaders Leading iPad Programs

I can across this article today from EmergingEdTech and it immediately resonated with me. We have been struggling with this exact situation in schools in our own region. Whenever you talk to teachers, especially those that have some first hand experience of iPad use in the classroom, this is one of the first things they say to you. Real change in schools needs to come from the top. This is a great article where Principal David Mahaley discusses their approach to iPad implementation. Make sure you check out the rest of the EmergingEdTech site for some interesting articles on eLearning and Educational Technology.

  

http://www.emergingedtech.com/2012/04/school-administrators-as-leaders-of-ipad-implementation-programs/

Synth Apps Review:

A colleague recently sent us an email with a couple of recommendations for some great music synth apps. Mark Moriarty is an Education Officer in Wagga Wagga and has been a long time supporter of Apps in Education. He's been doing some fantastic Professional Development around implementing and integrating iPads in the classroom. Today we get the wisdom of that experience. Thanks Mark!

The Apps:

Sunrizer: $5.49 AU
Sunrizer synth is a virtual analog synthesizer that takes the definition of iOS synthesizer to the next level. Thanks to carefully designed architecture and heavy usage of co-processor it blurs the boundaries between iOs and hardware synthesisers. Sunrizer was built to perform and works perfectly with any MIDI keyboard or sequencer.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/sunrizer-synth/id443663267?mt=8

Animoog: $31.99 AU

Animoog captures the vast sonic vocabulary of Moog synthesizers and applies it to the modern touch surface paradigm, enabling you to quickly sculpt incredibly fluid and dynamic sounds. Animoog’s unique user interface gives you the power to easily create a visually vibrant and sonically rich universe. It is the ultimate tool for total creative expression!

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/animoog/id471638724?mt=8

NLog Pro: $15.99 AU

An iOS synth with professional grade virtual analogue low latency sound engine. Play it from on-screen keyboard or use MIDI keyboards. Connect to your digital audio workstation via MIDI interfaces and play NLogSynth from other iOS apps like SoundPrism, polychord or Genome Sequencer via virtual Core MIDI. 

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/nlogsynth-pro/id393879841?mt=8

"These apps also have support for Core USB Midi which allows the connection of a USB Midi keyboard through the USB Camera Connection Kit adapter so that the synth can be played from the keyboard. External speakers can be attached through bluetooth or the headphone out on the iPad.

I have a Yamaha PSR S500 keyboard with USB Midi and have successfully connected to the iPad to use the apps. There are some expensive adapters for connection of keyboards to the iPad, such as iRig, V-Midi etc. but if you want a simple connection, the Camera Connection Kit works fine. Obviously it is going to run the battery down a bit, but for casual use it 'just works'.

Another new app is Fruity Loops, FL Studio HD for music creation via the sequencer method."

FL Studio Mobile HD: $19.99 AU

FL Studio Mobile HD allows you to create and save complete multi-track music projects on your iPad. You can even load the FL Studio Mobile projects into the 'FL Studio Desktop PC' version* and take them to the next level. If it’s a beat on the step sequencer, a melody on the piano roll or a full song on the playlist, FL Studio Mobile has you covered.


http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/fl-studio-mobile-hd/id432850619?mt=8

iMovie Trailer Storyboards - T.I.M.

I love iMovie Trailers. They are a useful way to get students to think about the main concepts and ideas of a particular topic. We have used iMovie to get students to create Trailers for novels, historical events or figures and even contemporary social issues. They are a great way to present part of a research project on scientists, mathematicians, explorers, artists or architects.

Timothy Jefferson has put together a couple of fantastic storyboards for creating Trailers in iMovie. These are great for students who get stuck getting started. These storyboards actually give you a guide to the type of footage you need and how much you will require - there is nothing worse than getting to the end and then realising that you do to have enough film to complete your Trailer. Make sure you check out Timothy Jefferson's blog, he has some really interesting resources that he is sharing. Thanks Tim.

http://timothyjefferson.com/blog/2012/06/imovie-for-ipad-storyboard-help-sheets-for-trailers/

Accessing Students Work on the iPad - Digital Roadtrip

I saw this link on Twitter this morning via @jnxyz @digitalroadtrip. This is the sort of workflow that will make things easy for teachers. It is one of the concerns the new or reluctant teachers are concerned about.  To be honest moving students work samples is something that, until you try it, you do not realise how time consuming it can be. I have included an image as a link back to the original site. Make sure that you have a look at the rest of the site for some good resources. Digital Roadtrip - Another great catch from the PLN of twitter.

http://digitalroadtrip.tumblr.com/post/25602693682