I have been using IPEVO products since they became commercially available and have always been amazed by the quality and the price. Sometimes I wonder how they do it. When I demonstrate the IPEVO document cameras to my students they always comment just how great the images look and when I mention the price, they are astounded! With this as a backdrop, I was happy to receive theZiggi-HD Plus to review
which recently became available. The Ziggi-HD Plus is a 8.0 Megapixel camera and an up to 12x continuous digital zoom that is powered via the USB cable. The Ziggi-HD Plus is the same dimensions as their previous model but when you use it with the updated IPEVO Presenter software the image quality of the Ziggi-HD Plus is spectacular. Ziggi-HD Plus's 8.0 Megapixel camera delivers a resolution up to 3264 x 2448 pixels when used with Mac or PC.
In my testing the image quality is fantastic even under low light conditions. Teachers will really enjoy the faster refresh rate on the Ziggi-HD Plus which is ideal when you are moving objects or writing under the lens. Under all conditions the Ziggi-HD Plus was much faster at focusing objects under the lens and was very responsive. When looking at the image it is hard to believe that a $99 document camera can produce such a high quality image. The Ziggi-HD Plus includes a built-in microphone that when paired with the Presenter software allows you to use it for creating videos or for video conferencing. The Ziggi-HD Plus is ideal for creating videos (MP4 format) for the Flipped Classroom. Ziggi-HD Plus and IPEVO Presenter are now compatible with Chromebooks and the Google Chrome browser (PC and Mac) through the Chrome IPEVO Presenter app. To round out the experience you may want to consider
purchasing the following accessories: Carrying Case, Height Extension Stand, Scan Kit and the Magnifying Lens. In any case if you considering a purchase of a document camera for your classroom you have to check out the Ziggi-HD Plus - it is great value for the price! Bring your classroom lessons to life with the Ziggi-HD Plus!
What can be better than marrying to of my favorite gadgets the iPhone 6 and the Boogie Board? If you haven't guessed, it is the Tegware Bagel 6 for the iPhone 6 & 6S. How many times are you on the phone and need to jot something down and you can't find a piece of paper or a pen? I'm sure if you are like me you find yourself in the situation quite often. If that is the case ( no pun intended :-) ) then you should take a look at the Tegware Bagel 6 for the iPhone 6. The Tegware Bagel 6 case marries a very handy case for your iPhone 6 alongside a Boogie Board with a stylus. Now you can pull out the stylus or just use your finger to jot down that name, phone number or a reminder and when you are done you can click on the button to quickly erase the contents. No need to worry about the battery life of the Boogie Board it has been rated for over 50,000 erasures! The Tegware Bagel 6 has been designed with all the right cutouts so that you can access the camera on the iPhone 6 easily. The Tegware Bagel 6 case has been designed to securely let you store a credit card, which is great for those of you who are on the go. The natural writing experience on the Boogie Board is exceptional and if you need to permanently capture what you wrote simply pop out you iPhone and take a picture of the Boogie Board contents. The Boogie Board is detachable which makes it easy to carry in your pocket for
those times when you just want the freedom to write. For those of you who are looking for a different design style that includes the Boogie Board, take a look at the Tegware Bagel 360 a flip phone case design. The Tegware 360 covers and protects your iPhone 6 and lets you quickly flip over the screen to display a Boogie Board, to jot down your ideas. The Tegware 360 includes a stylus and quick way to pop off the Boogie Board for writing down ideas. Tegware cases add innovation to the case, that is just not found anywhere else. Now is a good time to get these as gifts for family and friends who enjoy using their iPhone 6! For more information head on over to Tegware.
With the holiday season upon us there is good chance that you will be spending more time out of your home or office and be on your phone more, as you make plans to meet up with friends and family. It is during these times that you begin to realize just how long your battery will take you before your phone shuts off. As great as your smart phone is and all of the apps are, they are of no use if your phone totally discharges. It is times like these that you had wished you were carrying an external battery. When I know that I am going to be out all day and on the go with my iPhone 6, I always carry an external battery. I would like to thank Jackery with providing me with these batteries to review for this blog post. I have used many external batteries over the years and when I came across the Jackery Air 6 for the iPhone I had to take it for a spin. The Jackery Air 6 is beautifully crafted 3000mAh battery with an orange fluorescent aluminum casing that is thin and stylish, weighing in at 3.36 ounces. I found that the Jackery Air 6 charged quickly and gave me the ability to fully recharge my iPhone 6 to a full charge. There is a micro USB port for charging the battery and and full USB port for the Lightning cable to your iPhone. The Jackery Air 6 has a 3 color (Red, Green, & Blue) LED indicator that lets you quickly check on the battery level and comes with a mini lightning cable as well as a USB to mini USB cable for charging the battery. The Jackery Air 6 outputs 5V/1A and is ideal for charging your iPhone 6 or 6S. For those of you on the road and always want to ensure that you have a lightning cable with you check out the Kero Lightning Nomad Cablethat fits on your key ring. One of the issues I have had with external batteries is that they tend to weigh too much and are rather bulky but the Jackery Air 6 dispels this, and easily fits in your pocket- at times you don't even realize you are carrying it! This makes for an excellent practical and stylish gift for the holidays. For the times you will be on the road with more then one device you may want to consider the Jackery Giant +. The Jackery Giant + is a 12,000mAh battery with a flashlight
Jackery Giant +
which is ideal if you need to charge two devices at the same time. The Jackery Giant + supports 5V/1A and 5V/2.1A which is ideal for charging more demanding devices. While the 5V/1A port is great for charging my iPhone 6 the 5V/2.1A port is ideal for charging my Surface 3 which is rated for the 5V/ 2.1A output. The Jackery Giant + is a much bigger battery and weighs in at 10.4 ounces and is one I would most likely throw into my backpack when I am on the road with my Surface 3 or iPad Air.
Jackery Bar
If you are looking for a lighter weight battery that can support 5V/2.1A you should take a look at the Jackery Bar which weighs in 5.5 ounces. The Jackery Bar has a simple 3 bar LED light to instantly let you know just how charged the battery is and includes a flashlight which could come in really handy when the power goes out. The Jackery Bar is a 6000mAh battery which is ideal for charging your iPhone 6 but could easily fully charge your iPad up when it is 50% discharged. Having the convenience of the Jackery Bar being able to meet multiple needs is ideal and one that gives you the flexibility to use it with smart phones or or more demanding tablets. You will find the Jackery batteries are well designed and will give you the confidence that your iPhone and tablets will keep on ticking as you move through the holiday season. As you can see there are lots of options whether you are using an iPhone or carrying with you an iPad, Surface 3 or tablet. For more information about the Jackery batteries click here.
If you have been reading my blog you may have come across the review that I did of the Cleanstylus for Surface Pro 3 last year that enables you to securely affix your stylus to the Surface Pro 3. Cleanint is at it again with a neat little device to help you organize your power cord for your Surface Pro 3. The Cleancable is a handy plastic attachment that permanently affixes to your power brick on your Surface Pro 3 which makes organizing your cords a snap. Once you affix the Cleancable to your power brick you can release the cleats and wrap the cord around it, making transporting the power cord a whole lot easier. Give it a try!
This past week I had the honor of interviewing Mark Oronzio, CEO and Co-founder of Ideaphora a new company that specializes in new ways to use concept mapping to help students better understand ideas and concepts. For the last year, Ideaphora has been embeded within BrainPop as Make-a-Map, but now Ideaphora is beta testing a stand alone version which is open for testing. For more information about the company and product offering listen to the interview.
Growing up one of my favorite toys to get for my birthday was an Erector set. Every year I would look forward to my parents purchasing for me a new kit. I can remember opening the kit looking at all the various parts and imagining everything that I could build with it. For many students who have grown up in the age of digital electronics many of them had not have the first-hand experience making things or creating things using blocks and toys that spark their imagination. One of the latest movements that we have seen in the schools is the concept of Maker Spaces. It is within these environments the teachers are able to provide students with opportunities to work with a range of different materials to solve a unique engineering or design problems. It is in within the Maker Space environment that students learn about the Design Process and how it can lead to innovative solutions to their unique problem. Students not only learn how to solve problems but they also learn how to work together in a collaborative mode to reach the final solution. In this respect, having students learn about the design process is key for them to becoming innovative and lifelong problem solvers. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Design Process it includes the following steps: defining the problem, collecting information, brainstorming and analyzing ideas, developing solutions and building a prototype, getting feedback, and continual improvement of the design. It is within the Design Process methodology that teachers can begin to explore and give students various opportunities to work with different kinds of materials to solve problems. in this context I recently learned about a new construction toy called Qubits which I thought would be of interest to you and would be ideal when working on the design process with students. Qubits Is it easy to use construction toy that is made of modular geometric shapes which are ideal for students of any age. Since there are no small parts this is an ideal tool for elementary aged students when there is concern about putting pieces in their mouth. Qubits was kind enough to send me the Qubits Rainbow Kit which comes with 84
colorful geometric shaped pieces. The bulk of the 84 pieces pieces are 6.5 inch trapezoid shaped pieces, the remainder of the pieces are 4 inch rectangular pieces that can be used for connecting the Qubits geometric shaped parts. The basic kit cost $54.95. You will find using the Qubits that it's easy to make geometric shapes as well as bridges and towers but primarily it's up to your imagination. Each Qubit have two, three pronged connectors on each geometric shape that makes it easy to connect the various parts together. I found that it it did not take much force to connect the Qubit parts together which makes it ideal for young students. In the box you will find a handy QuickStart guide with the various ways that you can put the Qubits together. I found it helpful when learning how to connect the Qubits to make a couple of the patterns that were illustrated. Once you have played around with Qubits you will find it really easy to connect the various parts and begin to get creative and build your own designs. Within 5 to 10 minutes you will become really comfortable using the Qubits to design your own models. It is within this context the teacher should find Qubits very easy to integrate into their Maker Spaces. Qubits would be an ideal tool in the classroom when working on the Design Process and giving students challenging problems to solve using these materials that are found in the Qubits kit. Working in groups I could see where teachers could give
Built Using Qubits
interesting problems and challenges to students. Using Qubits students can go ahead and solve those problems. I know that one of the common problems that is often entertained in classrooms are building bridges that can sustain a certain amount of weight. I know that using Qubits this could be easily accomplished in a fun and creative way. Giving students hands on activities is an ideal way to bring in the Design Process and allow students to work with a variety of materials. Having access to Qubits would go along way in the classroom to helping students better understand the Design Process and to give students the opportunity to problem solve using creative and imaginative methods and materials. Qubits Is a reasonably priced solution for the classroom that will engage students in the Design Process. For more information about Qubits click here.
which recently became available. The Ziggi-HD Plus is a 8.0 Megapixel camera and an up to 12x continuous digital zoom that is powered via the USB cable. The Ziggi-HD Plus is the same dimensions as their previous model but when you use it with the updated IPEVO Presenter software the image quality of the Ziggi-HD Plus is spectacular. Ziggi-HD Plus's 8.0 Megapixel camera delivers a resolution up to 3264 x 2448 pixels when used with Mac or PC.
purchasing the following accessories: Carrying Case, Height Extension Stand, Scan Kit and the Magnifying Lens. In any case if you considering a purchase of a document camera for your classroom you have to check out the Ziggi-HD Plus - it is great value for the price! Bring your classroom lessons to life with the Ziggi-HD Plus!
