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Android

Become a PhotoDroid: Image Editing on Android

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“Combinations of brightness and contrast settings can have very dramatic impact to your image, adding extra ‘punch’ or softening the visual impact,” says John Huegel in his piece, Image Editing Skills & Tools for Photographers.  A Catholic school student for most of my life, I developed bad habits when it came to color matching. Dressing in simple white, blues, and/or black during your formative years may do that to you. Who would have thought uniforms might inhibit photo editing skills? Photos taken with my camera are more documentary in nature, resembling pictures of alleged UFOs in the sky. In a word, a “mess.” Manipulating photos today, though, has grown a lot easier. Let’s explore some photo editing tools on the Android platform by becoming PhotoDroids.

Impact of the PhotoDroid

“In June 2017, 53.3 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers were using a Google Android device. Apple was the second most popular mobile OS with a market share of 44.9 percent,” reports Statista via their interactive graph. While some may argue that photo editing is best done on a Windows or Mac device or Chromebook, many of us snap pictures on the go. For at least fifty-three percent of us, that is an Android smartphone (iOS is second most popular with 44.9%).

Some of my favorite photo backup and editing tools appear below. Give them a try, won’t you?

A Few of My Favorite Tools

Google Photos remains one of the top photo apps, and not just because it backs up all your photos from your smartphone to the Google cloud. Google Photos automatically turns your photos into animated slideshows. What’s more, Photos makes it easy for friends to contribute their own pics to a shared album and more. This can be a life saver for journalism students curating images in an online space. Google Photos also incorporates simple editing tools, including crop, light balance, and basic filters. Microsoft’s OneDrive also provides automatic backup of images and photo albums. Try them both out and decide which works best for you.

photodroid

In the picture shown above, you can see a sample of the amazing holiday cookies made for TCEA staff each year by Peggy Reimers. This picture can have a baker’s dozen of special effects applied to them from within Google Photos.

CameraMX serves as a nice replacement to the built-in camera app you have on your Android phone. It allows you to apply a wide variety of effects, some of which are free. Other effects will cost, but just $1.99 per collection. Effect collections include Summer Shore, Iconic Line, Famous Movie Looks, and Fun Mirrors. Each collection provides a host of effects that can enhance your photo. You need not purchase effects, though, to use many of the benefits of CameraMX. Those benefits includes geometric grain, geometric, multi-color vignette, and scratches overlays. A wide array of frames are also available.

For example, in the snapshot below (captured from a television news broadcast with CameraMX), you can see several effects with frame applied. In a short time, you and your students can produce beautiful images for websites and presentations.

photodroid

Source: Snapshot of television screen, SA Live show on KSAT12 broadcast on 01/6/18 featuring West Kings Highways‘ singer, Johnny Carrera

Pictures can be shared to a variety of online spaces or remixed into another app for app-smashing purposes.

Android Screenshot Tip: Did you know you can configure your Android device to take a screenshot of whatever app you are in? Some of the screenshots of my Android device involved running three fingers simultaneously down the phone’s screen. This takes a snapshot that is autosaved to your Google Photos, making it easy to capture and save screenshots of your device. To configure, go to Settings->Additional Settings->Screenshot to enable “slide three fingers to take a screenshot.“

photodroid

PicsArt Photo Studio opening screen on Android Smartphone

PicsArt Photo Studio: Collage Maker and Pic Editor offers several features, including (per their description) “tools, effects, collage maker, camera, free clip art library, millions of user-created stickers, and our drawing tools.” This is one of the most fun apps you can start with. PicsArt Photo Studio delivers with a wealth of effects in a simple interface.

photodroid

But wait, there’s more! With stickers, call-outs, and more, there’s nothing cheesy you can’t do with a picture. In this image below, you can see a call-out (“Love is…”) and a heart sticker that’s been superimposed. What’s neat is you can use the built-in eraser in PicsArt to remove the contents of the heart, revealing your photo beneath the outline of the sticker. That’s simply incredible. You can also add other elements (like alien hands) to the animation.

photodroid

The makers of PicsArt Studio have also created Animator. It allows you to create animated GIFs, blending pictures you may have taken with animations. Per their website, PicsArt Animator includes…”duplicate frames, layers, fully equipped drawing tools, animated stickers, Emoji Me features, and much more!” Here’s a quick animation I made with a picture of the countryside viewable from a car ride. I added the sun and airplane.

photodroid

More Photo Magic Here

photodroidThere are many more photo editors you can take advantage of on the Android platform. Two of my final favorites include PhotoLayers and GifGuru. Here’s a quick overview of these, along with a few others:

  • PhotoLayers: Interested in taking pictures with green screen on Android? You can use PhotoLayers to take any green screen picture and then replace the background. You can learn more about green screen by visiting my website on the topic, as well as read more blog entries here at TCEA TechNotes. Blog entries include the following:
  • GifGuru: Recently, I explored creating digital image slideshows with animated GIFs. While I had identified tools for iOS and your computer, I missed GifGuru on Android. It enables you to convert a video to a sequence of images or organize images you’ve taken with your smartphone. This sequence of images is placed into an animated GIF you can share in a variety of ways, via Twitter, websites, or share them on Giphy.
  • Giphy offers a FREE app available for both Android and/or iOS, so if 100% free animated GIFs are desirable, go with Giphy. Imagine your students creating animated GIFs about their content knowledge or a visual tutorial and then sharing it on Giphy’s website (you may need to review content before sharing it).
  • Quote Editor: This is one of the many tools you can use to combine images with quotes. It enjoys multiple fonts, built-in quotes (in case you find yourself without words), and an easy interface. Although no Typorama, you can have a lot of fun. Less is more, after all. Endless choices can paralyze students. You can see the example shown right.

Were you looking for a selfie app? Here are two you will want to explore,  Microsoft Selfie and Cymera. These are two apps you will want to check out. While I’ve mentioned Microsoft Selfie before in my iPhoneography blog entry, I hope you will check out Cymera. It comes with “thousands of filters effects, collage, frames, selfie stickers and the best features for your photodroidface and body.” That’s no joke. You will want to view all the free effects and options Cymera comes with. While Microsoft Selfie limits the choices (much easier), Cymera works hard to put effects at your fingertips, such as Face Pop (example shown right), Meme, Text and stickers.

Say “Cheese!”

Helping students explore image editing and effects in an academic setting may seem like too much fun. However, the conversations about file types (e.g. JPG, PNG, GIF, animated GIF), how to share online, and how to insert images into documents meant for web or print are priceless. While students take a hit or miss approach to graphic image manipulation, direct instruction with an academic purpose can help you address those Technology Applications TEKS. These approaches range from K-3 with appropriate use of digital images to high school.

 

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AndroidTechnical Support

Android Security for Communications

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“Did you know 15.2 million text messages are sent every minute?” I asked my wife at evening meal. “That’s almost as many emails as our dear daughter sent the weekend after she got a smartphone!” As we laughed to ourselves, the niggling question of who sees those communications tugged at me. How easy is it to hack SMS/text messages? I often worry someone will grab my smartphone and send text messages/emails that are inappropriate. In a previous blog entry, Safeguard Your Android, I shared how to rely on a virtual private network (VPN) to protect communications. Increasingly, you must secure your communications (e.g. email, text messages, voice calls, and where you go online). In this blog entry, we will explore how to better achieve security.

Did You Know?
At the bottom of this blog entry, you’ll find a nifty infographic showing what sorts of data 3.7 million people put online every minute. To give you an idea, 103 million spam emails are sent every minute and 527,000 photos are shared via Snapchat.

Use this online service to see how your email has been compromised and tied to other data:

Why Do I need to Secure My Communications?

“If you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to fear,” goes the saying. That isn’t exactly true. Consider this scenario:

You send an accidental text or email announcing that you will be at the beach this weekend. You go to the beach and post pictures on social media. When you return to your home, you realize you’ve been robbed.

Tracking your movements need not result in theft. Instead, you may be the target of advertising.

There are numerous ways you can be tracked on the internet. Whenever you browse the net, you are being tracked by the use of browser cookies.

Cookies are the reason why, after you check out a new iPhone case on Amazon, you are repeatedly hit with website ads for phone cases wherever you go. Ad networks save cookies to your computer’s hard drive and then display ads based on the items you have browsed in online stores or searched for on Google. (Source: Pixel Privacy)

Whether you wish to or not, securing your communications is critical to digital citizenship. More importantly, protecting your sensitive data (and that of your students) can prevent problems before they arise. Most of us don’t realize how bad it is.

Tip #1 – Two-Factor Authentication

secure

When I first began using two-factor authentication, it was a pain. I just couldn’t pick up my phone and login to Facebook or Gmail on my computer. Instead, I had to start up my Authentication app. Now, two years later, I am grateful for the added security. About six months ago, someone tried to break into my Gmail account.

Without two-factor authentication, I fear I would have been hacked. If you use Google Suites,  Twitter, Facebook, or Dropbox, you may find it worthwhile to protect yourself with the Google Authenticator app.

Did You Know?
You can use a site like Have I Been Pwnd? to find out if a login (your email address) has been hacked. Get a visual representation to see how your breaches forms an identity picture of your breached data. You can also double-check to see if a password you use is up to a brute force attack with the How Secure is Your Password? website.

You may also want to take an extra step. What if your phone is stolen or lost? If someone is able to make it past your fingerprint authentication, they can then use the Authenticator app to log in to your various services. Google Authenticator now backs itself up to your Google Drive, too.

On Android, it’s possible to assign a pass code to apps you choose. Even if someone has your phone unlocked in their hand, they will have to work hard to get past your pass code for individual apps.

People often ask to look at my Android phone. Before, I was a little nervous about letting them look at it. Now, I can hand it over and know people will be unable to get into sensitive apps by accident. You can use BitDefender Mobile’s App Lock to assign a pass code to each app (shown above).

Apps:

Tip #2 – Minimize Your Internet Tracks

Everything we do online is tracked. Forget that at your peril. While it’s one thing to have the government looking over your shoulder (not really), a more immediate threat includes hackers and vendors trying to seize your information. Use a virtual private network (VPN), and one of the browsers below to achieve some measure of anonymity (it may foil online retailers and hackers, but not necessarily the FBI):

Apps:

  • Browsers:
    • Mullvad Browser: This is a customized for security Firefox browser that you can use on desktop and mobile devices.
    • Firefox Focus: This app works well to block cookies and advertisements. You aren’t anonymous while using it, but it works great to block ads and keep your mobile browser light. Use it with a VPN.
    • Orbot: This app has a built in The Onion Router (TOR) browser, and will work to keep your internet travels anonymous as possible. Use it with a VPN to achieve higher level of protection.
  • VPN Solutions:
    • Mullvad VPN: This VPN is available for approximately $4.99 a month and is pay as you go. Great for those who need a VPN without an annual subscription. It works hand-in-hand with Mullvad Browser, listed above.
    • Private Internet Access (Annual cost varies): This is my go-to VPN app on multiple devices and I have relied on it for years.

Tip #3 – Protect Your Text Messages

“What’s the username and password to Netflix?” asked my daughter a few weeks ago. Since my text messages enjoy end-to-end encryption, I have no problem sharing confidential, sensitive information via text message. However, I would never dream of doing this using the standard SMS/text message app on any device. Instead, take advantage of one of the apps below. The best one right now is  Signal. On Android, you can use Signal for both encrypted and unsecured text messaging. Your friends who use Signal will connect securely with you, while others who are not using it will not.

No matter what tool you use for text encryption, consider using the Secure Space Encryptor (SSE) app or website to encrypt text messages (and email). This will protect your messages with AES-256 level of encryption.

Apps:

  1. End-to-end text and audio encryption with Signal, WhatsApp, or Voxer
  2. Encrypt your text messages using SSE or web encryption

Tip #4 – Guard Your Email

“With over 200 billion emails sent and received by almost 3 billion people throughout the world each day, accessible anywhere at any time by almost anyone, email inboxes present a big target,” says JJ Rosen. You should be encrypting your email whenever possible, whether you are on your computer or your Android device. You don’t have to be a professional cryptographer to use tools like SecureGmail  (Watch video), Virtru Email Encryption (Watch video) or the Paranoia Text Encryptor website. Another approach you can take is to rely on a tool like Proton (based in Switzerland) or Tutanota (based in Germany). Both offer secure apps that allow you to send encrypted emails to others.

For example, Proton comes with a pass code login. This protects strangers from accessing your email app. When composing an email, you can set a password to encrypt messages for non-Proton users. You can then share the encryption password with the email recipient through a phone call or text message (not email though). When they receive the email, they use the password to decrypt your email message. What a relief to know your confidential emails are encrypted while sitting in a friend’s inbox. Another neat feature is you can set message expiration to a number of hours or days. That’s pretty amazing!

Apps:

Conclusion

Some may see these efforts to secure communications as so much cloak-and-dagger games for grownups. Let’s not forget that identity theft costs $16 billion dollars a year and affects 15.4 million people. I urge you to take every precaution possible. Only after taking proper precautions will you truly have nothing to fear.

Source: Data Never Sleeps

Update: This blog entry was updated with fresh links and tools on 5/23/2023.

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Android

How to Share Android Files Easily

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

The Android phone is a powerful computing device that is showing up more and more in the hands of many of your students. For some of them, it may be their only computing device. Two challenges of any mobile device are “How do I share files to or from it and how can I share the screen of my Android phone?” There are many options available. In this blog entry, we’ll discuss screen sharing  and tips for Android file sharing made easy.

#1 – Share Your Screen

Need to share your screen? How about capture a students’ Android screen for a presentation? You could spend $15 for Air Squirrels’ Reflector. But you can save some money if you have Windows 10. You can make a free solution that will work well. Follow the steps in this blog entry to enable Miracast on your Windows 10 computer. If you want to project from your Android device to a television, you will need to use a Chromecast-friendly device.

What is Miracast?
Users can wirelessly mirror the display of their Miracast-certified device to any Miracast-capable receiver like a TV, projector, or PC monitor.  (Source).

An overview of the five steps to setting this up appears below for quick reference:

  1. Make sure both devices are on the same WiFi network. If your computer is plugged into a network port in the wall, you will need to switch it to WiFi.
  2. Go to Cortana search box in bottom left and type in Projecting to this PC. Open your System Settings when offered.
  3. Modify the settings for Projecting to this PC to match the image (e.g. “Available anywhere”, “First time only”, OFF, ON) as shown below:
  4. Start the Screen Mirroring app on your Android device and choose your Windows 10 computer as the target.
  5. Show things on the Android device and they will be shown on the Windows 10 computer screen, which can be hooked to a projector.

Once the steps are complete, your Windows computer will be able to receive the broadcast from the Screen Mirroring app on your Android device.  Want to do this with your iOS device? Read this TCEA Technotes blog entry.

Here is what my Android device screen looks like:

If you encounter difficulties projecting from your Android to Windows 10 computer, remember that your school district may have other WiFi protections in place. You will want to share the step-by-step with them if it does not work.

#2 – Share Your Files

Wow, this has to be one of the easiest solutions to use! WiFi File Transfer app turns your Android device into a server. You can access the Android device from another mobile device or a computer (e.g. Chromebook, laptop) on the same WiFi network. Ready to turn on file sharing? Click the “Start Service” button at the bottom of the screen.

Looking at the contents of an Android device via your computer’s browser, you will see a list of folders/files (as shown below):

 

This view-only approach allows you to quickly get content from the device. To put (and/or remove) content on the device, you will need to take a different approach. On Windows 10, open File Explorer (type “File Explorer” in your Cortana search window if you don’t have an icon). Paste the ftp://192.168.0.14:2121 (it has to be the address from your Android WiFi File Transfer app screen) into the appropriate box:

 

This will open the Android device and display a screen similar to the one shown below. In the example, I’ve navigated to the DCIM folder (represents the Camera folder) and I’m getting ready to place an image in the Camera folder. This will make it a simple matter for me to open the picture on my Android device. In the File Explorer window below, I am able to put, get, or delete files.

This is what that image looks like displayed on my Android device’s Gallery.

 

Isn’t that incredible? There’s one more tip I have to share with you that can make your life easier when using an Android smartphone.

Did You Know?
You can take a screenshot on an Android device? Press the Power & Volume Down button simultaneously until you hear a “click” sound.

#3 – Copying Files Between Cloud Storage

In addition to the free apps shared already, you will want to explore Astro File Manager. This app makes it easy to connect, copy, and move files between Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and other cloud storage locations. Need to copy a video to make a backup from Dropbox to your Android phone? Use Astro to do that.

 

Here’s a better shot displaying the multiple cloud storage locations:

Copying files, such as MS Office, Adobe PDF, MP4 video, MP3 audio, from one cloud storage to another can come in handy when you’re without a computer. Want a walkthrough? Watch this seven minute video.

A Quick Review

There you have it, three different FREE apps you can use to project your Android device screen to your Miracast-friendly device (e.g. Windows 10 computer), put or get files to your Android phone, or to cloud storage. Let’s review what app does what again, OK?

This is pretty amazing!

 

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AndroidCybersecurity

Safeguard Your Android Device

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Did this holiday season leave you with an Android device in your hands? If so, you’re not the only one. “Between them, Android and iOS accounted for 99.6 percent of all smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2016,” says James Vincent (Gartner as cited in The Verge). “Of the 432 million smartphones sold in the last quarter [2016], 352 million ran Android (81.7 percent) and 77 million ran iOS (17.9 percent).”According to Google, as cited by MacRumors, over two billion Android devices are in use around the world.

Unfortunately, more Android devices means more opportunities for malware and hacking. Join me as we explore some of the apps that can protect you from malware, hackers, and intrusion. Don’t be afraid to pass these tips to your children/students as they begin to explore the wild, wild world of Android. After all, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD/BYOT) initiatives are ever-increasing in schools.

Note: One handy app that I used to get a list of all the apps on my Android phone is List My Apps. This app makes it simple to get your Android app list emailed to you with links.

#1- Anti-Malware Tool

While there are many anti-malware tools in the Google Play store, not all are safe. For example, some anti-malware tools may masquerade as helpful tools to capture your sensitive data. With an Android device, just like the Windows operating system, you may put yourself at risk without anti-malware tools. Tom’s Guide provides a list of tools.

My favorite one, though, is BitDefender Mobile Security for $15 a year. The app offers a host of features, making sure you don’t let malware install itself or hitch a ride on existing apps. You can lock individual apps to prevent others from opening them; useful if you lose your phone while it is unlocked. This is quite important, especially if you decide to take foolish advantage of third party apps (e.g. GetJar) not approved in the Google Play store.

Did You Know?
If you lose your phone, you can use Android’s Find My Device feature to locate it via GPS or remotely wipe the information on it. Wow! To turn that on, go to your phone’s Settings, then Google then Security. If you have not done so already, make sure to get the Find My Device app. Setup is a snap.

#2- Protecting Your Camera and Microphone Access

Did you know that the camera and microphone on your device can be activated remotely? Worse, once activated, you can be spied upon.

Researchers have discovered a design flaw in Android that can be used to remotely capture screenshots or record audio… without the user’s knowledge or consent. (Source)

Two apps that I use on my Android phone to protect against this include Camera Blocker and Microphone Block Free. Each offers a free version that will allow you to flip the ON/OFF switch on your camera or microphone. You can turn these off when you need to snap a picture or answer your phone.

#3- Prevent Robo Spam Calls

Finding yourself receiving an unending stream of robocalls and spam? Give Hiya a try. It features “spam detection and call blocking capabilities.” These help you “avoid unwanted and dangerous calls.” This app has blocked countless calls to my mobile phone. On Android, Hiya pops up with caller ID to let me know who is calling. This allows me to decide if I want to waste my time responding. For phone numbers not in the Hiya database, I have the option of adding new numbers.

Hiya Call Block Security identifies the calls you want to take and blocks the numbers and texts you want to avoid. Hiya is free (no ads!), and is incredibly easy to use. It offers the ability to block calls, blacklist unwanted phone numbers and SMS text messages, reverse phone search incoming call information, and receive spam alerts.

The best way to win an argument with a telemarketer or spammer is to avoid it. Younger phone users may not know how to say “no.” Get them Hiya so they can avoid a data-compromising conversation.

#4 – Virtual Private Network (VPN)

If you are using public WiFi, make sure to get a virtual private network (VPN) solution. You can find a great overview of why you should use a VPN over at Pixel Privacy. Here’s why a VPN is such a great idea:

A laptop and mobile device user visits her favorite coffee shop, connecting to the free Wi-Fi hotspot to access the internet. She uses the unprotected hotspot to pay bills, do her banking and shop on Amazon. Meanwhile, a quiet young man sits in the corner, sipping his latte and monitoring her internet connection, stealing valuable personal and business information.

Packet sniffing happens all the time. Use a free solution like Opera VPN or a subscription service like Private Internet Access (PIA).

#5- Password Manager

Keeping track of a million passwords can be quite a hassle. Two tools I have found helpful include Secure Space Encryptor (SSE) and/or KeePassDroid. Both work on your mobile phone. You can keep track of your usernames and generate more complex passwords than “password” or “dragon.”

In future Android-related blog entries, we’ll take a look at additional tools you can use to safeguard your data.

 

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androidify
AndroidChromebooks

Androidify Learning

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“Ninety-two percent of students say that it is easier to use their mobile device to improve their access to information,” says Daniel Adeboye, citing university research. “Not every classroom can get a laptop every day, so [devices like smartphones], even if you have to pair up, become something useful for teachers,” says Ken Halla, a classroom teacher. In this blog entry, let’s explore a few, effective ways to “androidify” learning in your classroom.

Research Insights

Do BYOD devices enhance learning or distract learners? Let’s take a look at one meta-analysis of 110 studies, The effects of integrating mobile devices with teaching and learning on students’ learning performance: A meta-analysis and research synthesis.

androidify

Use the Android app PicsArt Photo Studio to create infographics like this one

Mobile devices…

  • Support various teaching styles, including lecture-style teaching, convenient information gathering, information sharing, cooperative learning, exploratory learning outside the classroom, and game-based learning.
  • Facilitate the development of communication, problem-solving, creativity, and other high-level skills among students.
  • Feature individualized interfaces, real-time access to information, context sensitivity, instant communication, and feedback.

In-Classroom Strategies

While the debate rages on the effectiveness of smartphones in the classroom, many educators and students have already taken the plunge. Consider the slide show, Thirty-three ways to use mobile phones in the classroom (PDF) as a starting point.

Effective Mobile Device Use

Daniel Adeboye makes the point that use of technology in classrooms often enhances efficiency, rather than improves learning effectiveness. He suggests several approaches, among them these three:

  • Audio recording
  • Live polling tools
  • Video creation

Some would also add tools that facilitate staying in touch with students, such as Remind.com for “real-time messaging for your school, group, or just a single person.” However, while educators like Ken Halla have compiled excellent lists of educational apps for BYOD, in this blog entry I’d like to make some of my own recommendations.

1- Audio Recording

As a veteran audiophile, my go-to set of recording tools includes the following:

  • Voxer.com: While many educators use Voxer to participate in audio-only communities and audio chats, only a few take advantage of it as a recording tool. You can record interviews with others using “My Notes.” Add an iRig Mic to enhance audio quality. You can save the audio as an MP3 file to the cloud. If you prefer to tweet the audio as a link, that option is available. Maximum record time is fifteen minutes.
  • HiQ MP3 Recorder: A drop-dead simple audio recorder, HiQ MP3 Recorder (free version) can save to MP3 audio format. You can get the audio off the device quickly, saving to Dropbox, Google Drive, or taking advantage of an app’s built-in WiFi Drive. WiFi Drive allows you to connect via a web browser on a computer (or another mobile device). Once connected, you save a copy of the audio file. This is a real time saver. Unlike Voxer, an account is not required to use HiQ MP3 Recorder. Maximum record time is 10 minutes in the free version.

Audio recordings can be used to monitor and/or assess students’ grasp of a subject or target language.

2- Live Polling Tools

Mobile devices facilitate “instant-feedback functions.” These functions “solve the difficulty of efficiently executing…formative assessment in a class with many students,” say the authors of the meta-analysis cited earlier. Many choices are available.

  • Poll Everywhere: Available for several years, this is often the go-to choice for conducting polls.
  • VoxVote: This app provides five events for free and allows for unlimited audience voting.

Some other tools include iClicker, Sli.do, and Quick Tap Survey. Add interactivity with tools like Kahoot! and Quizizz.

3- Video Creation

“By 2017, video is predicted to be two-thirds of the world’s mobile data traffic,” point out the authors of this article. Anyone can create a video with a smartphone. However, editing the video to good effect can be challenging on the small device. Just as iOS users enjoy a few tools like iMovie (free), Videocraft ($2.99),  Pinnacle Studio ($12.99), or Filmic Pro ($14.99), so do Android users.

Note: Remember that you need to be logged in with a personal Google account, not a G Suite EDU, to access links to apps in the Google Play store. Otherwise you will get an error.

Before jumping into a list of Android video creation and editing tools, it wouldn’t hurt to review the article, Six tips for successful mobile video assignments. Video creation and editing expectations need to be lower than desktop editing. Most “free” tools include watermarks that can only be removed with a monthly or annual subscription. If you need to record your Android screen, use XRecorder. The tools below focus on video editing.

  • YouCut – Video Editor & Video Maker, No Watermark: An easy to use video editor that will have you combining pictures, videos, and music (free titles available).
  • Filmora Video Editor: From their website, app creators describe it as “A pretty powerful video editor application, which will not stamp a watermark or place a time limit on your clip.” With FilmoraGo, you can make video with music and effects and then share to social media.
  • VideoShow Video Editor: This editor with in-app purchases offers simple editing, subtitles, and over a thousand music clips. A companion app, GIFGuru, makes animated GIFs possible. VideoShow allows conversion of the video to MP3 audio. Creating a video for class assignments shouldn’t be too difficult.
  • Action Director Video Editor: Action Director offers a variety of options, including editing video, adding music, and more.

Android Authority has a few more choices listed. Try these three first. Kinemaster, ALIVE MovieMaker, and PowerDirector were objectionable for various reasons. Provided video editing is not a class assignment, students can use the Seesaw app to capture student video summaries. The real challenge for video on Android is video rendering time. Not all Android devices are created equal.

Green Screen Tip

On iOS, the DoINK Green Screen app reigns supreme. Green screen can also be done on Android. For video editing, try the paid version of Media Studio. For a one-time charge ($14.95), additional features can be purchased. These features include the green screen effect and audio recording/editing tools. For photos, use PhotoLayers (features in-app ads).

Androidify Learning in Your Classroom

As you work to “androidify” your classroom, remember to have fun. One complaint I often hear about BYOD involves teachers’ lack of familiarity with the right apps. They often do not know how to match apps to an instructional purpose. Consider these apps as a starting point.

Update: This blog entry was updated on 04/01/2020 with new information.

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MS Office
AndroidChromebooksMicrosoft

MS Office Goes Chrome, er, Android

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Like many Chromebook educators, I often find myself interacting with Microsoft Office documents in a less than satisfactory way. Fortunately, that experience is about to undergo an upgrade.

Mission Possible: Android Apps on Chromebooks

As Dr. Bruce Ellis reported in his March 2017 blog entry, Running Android Apps on Chromebook, future Chromebooks will run Android apps.

According to the Chromium Projects, starting this year, all Chromebooks that become available are supposed to work with Android. Even if you don’t see your Chromebook on the list, it will still receive updates until its Google-determined end-of-life, which should be about five years after it debuted.

The ability to load Android apps on your Chromebook enables access to a host of Android apps for education. These apps expand the Chromebook’s viability for younger grades and students (source). Teachers will also have access to many Android apps, as well as specially-designed cloud apps. These include Adobe Creative Cloud apps (such as Photoshop Mix, Lightroom Mobile, Illustrator Draw, Photoshop Sketch, Adobe Comp CC, and Creative Cloud Mobile).

Furthermore, one more inducement for some educators and students exists. That is the ability of Chromebooks to run the MS Office Android apps.

MS Office Goes Chrome via Android

Research (via Chrome Unboxed) revealed in November 2017 that MS Office Android apps are working on the following Chromebooks:

Microsoft reports that they “…are partnering with Google to deliver the best experience for Chromebook users and plan to make the apps available on all compatible devices by general availability” (source).

Windows Programs on Chromebooks

If Android isn’t enough for you on your Chromebook, you may want to give another product a try. In my early days as a veteran GNU/Linux and Macintosh user, I often found myself trying to run Windows programs. Those experiments involved WINE (Wine is NOT an Emulator), as well as tools like Codeweavers’ Crossover product. Not familiar with Crossover? Here is a quick overview from their website:

Don’t let dual-booting or a virtual machine slow you down. CrossOver will open your Windows software. Launch Windows productivity software, utility programs and games natively. CrossOver doesn’t have the overhead of the Windows operating system like a virtual machine, which means that Windows programs run at native speed, games play at full fps and you don’t need to purchase a Windows license.

After trying Crossover in various situations, I can say it worked…barely. Now, Crossover is available for Chrome OS:

The CrossOver Chrome OS beta will let you run Windows software on Intel-based Chromebooks and Android tablets. Seamlessly run full-featured Windows software that is not available in the Google Play store alongside mobile apps. Run Windows utility software like Quicken and Microsoft Office, or DirectX games, like Wizard101. Games from your steam library will run with CrossOver Android at native speeds. Get rid of remote sessions and multiple devices! With CrossOver Android you’ll only need one device to run your Windows programs and mobile apps. Watch the video.

In most situations, running Crossover for the lone district administrator or campus staff member was not worth the trouble. You just have to spend the money on a computer that is not under-powered.

Ready to Try?

If you’re ready to give it a try, you have two options for exploring Microsoft Office 365 on your compatible Chromebook. For the occasional user, a Chromebook running Android versions of MS Office may be the solution.

 

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AndroidBYODChromebooksiOS Tips and Tricks

Six BYOD Tools for the Classroom

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

Making use of Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) in the classroom can enhance your teaching if you are comfortable with students using various apps to complete their tasks. Many teachers, though, find that it may be more stressful when students use a different OS than what the teacher is familiar with. For educators who encourage the students to use the app of their choice, we recommend that teachers create a Padlet (shelf layout) as a place for students to easily share. If you don’t want to start from scratch, you can always use our template and make a copy of it for your own use to adapt with your students.

If you find that you prefer all your students to have the same app on their device regardless of the operating system, here are some great ones I recommend for iOS and Android.

 OverDrive

OneDrive icon imageIf you like listening to audiobooks, you’ll enjoy using OverDrive. If your district doesn’t subscribe to it, check and see if your local public library does. If so, you can check out audiobooks from them, as well as through their network of other contributing libraries!

Web, iOS, Android, Microsoft

PicCollage

PicCollage App IconWhile grandparents love this app for making collages of their grandkids, students of all ages will find this app easy to use when they have an assignment where they can create collages, annotate over photos, etc.

Web, iOS, Android, Microsoft

 Office Lens

Office Lens app iconThough many of us remember copying down notes in class to study for tests, current students seem to prefer to take photos of the board to capture their notes. This app is so handy for that. Point and aim it at the board, projector, paper, etc.. Once it detects the area, you just snap the photo; it will crop it so only the board is in the photo and deskew the image so it looks like you had prime seating in front of the board when you took the picture. Save as an image on your device or as a PDF or Office format if you have an Office 365 account.

iOS, Android, Microsoft

 Adobe Express

Adobe Spark Video app iconSometimes you want your students to record a video to capture their learning. But many devices have a default video recording app that is bare bones. You’ll find Adobe Express to be an easy go-to tool that will help students make great videos without getting bogged down in the technical aspects of videography. Though it is only for iOS currently, it is worth the wait for other operating systems.

Web, iOS, Android and Microsoft coming soon

 Pushbullet

Pushbullet app iconPushbullet is great if your students find that they need to “push” files or photos from their phone or tablet to their laptop/computer (and vice versa). Pushbullet makes it easy without having to move your file/photo to Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, or DropBox first. And, since it is in the cloud, you can access your account from any device to retrieve previously pushed files. This is great if you have students taking photos or videos on their phones, but then need to add them to documents that they are editing on a computer.

Web, iOS, Android

 Flipgrid

Flipgrid app iconIf you want an easy app that allows all of your students to share, then this has to be the best app for that. It’s perfect for having students summarize their content or reflect on their learning. If they are using a phone or tablet, they’ll need to download the app; otherwise, they can use the webcam on their laptop to participate. Though I don’t recommend the paid version of many apps (I remember what it was like when my teacher budget was whatever I had in my pocket), this is definitely one app that is worth the price; consider getting others to join with you and you all can enjoy a discounted price. Even without the additional features in the paid version, this is a super app!

Web, iOS, Android

This only scratched the surface of great tools that can enhance your BYOD classroom, school, and district. If you would like more assistance, contact me at bellis@tcea.org to discuss scheduling TCEA to come to your site to provide either a half-day, full-day, or two days of training. You’ll find our training is very customized, research-based, definitely hands-on, and reasonably priced.

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AndroidEducational TrendsiOS Tips and Tricks

Go Green Screen, Have Fun

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“You know, that shade of green is perfect for green screen in your classroom,” I remarked to my wife, a second grade teacher. We had just finished setting up one of her bulletin boards. I opened up the Green Screen by Do Ink app and aimed it at the bulletin board featuring her class rules. Sure enough, the rules appeared to float on a sea of black (evidence that the shade in green butcher paper was perfect). Have you considered that an inexpensive green screen is only a sheet of butcher paper away?

In this blog entry, we’ll explore a variety of ideas for using green screen in the classroom. These are ideas curated from various Twitter feeds and blog entries available on the web. Let’s start with the basics. You may also want to read my previous blog entry, Four Tips for Green Screen in the Classroom.

The Basics

A green screen allows you to display video or images of far-away places. At the same time, you can have students in your classroom speak to what is displayed in those images or videos. Think of the local television news weather personality.

green screen

The weatherman spends his time in front of the screen using a large television screen monitor off to the side as a reference point (see the above example from a Facebook Live broadcast from KENS 5 Television in San Antonio, Texas during an early August 2017 thunderstorm).

green screenTo get started, you will need a screen solution (e.g. the right shade of butcher paper, a $.99 green tablecloth from Dollar Tree, or green cloth) and one of the apps below. If you have an iOS device, the best app on the market is Green Screen by Do Ink, although you can accomplish even more with Touchcast (but some find it a little difficult to understand at first).

Green Screen Apps

Let’s take a look at a few activities to get going with green screen.

Activity #1 – Make Your Wall Green

Ready to paint your wall green? Try green screen paint from Home Depot (e.g. Sparkling Apple).

Some more tips (source):

  • Get inexpensive green tablecloths from Dollar Tree and hang those up, using tape to smooth out wrinkles.
  • If you are shooting with two different green sources such as a painted platform and a cloth/tablecloth backdrop, it’s best to match the color as close as possible between the two.
  • You can also build your own portable green screen out of PVC pipe.
  • You can also pick up green paper plates and more to create a porthole in a ship or cockpit in an airplane or spaceship.

Activity #2 – Set Up Your Own Mini Screens

green screen

Use a wall-based green screen, green tablecloth, or mini green screens using a green file folder. Get the green three-tab file folder from Staples. Pizza boxes spray painted green will also work well. Affix student creations, LEGO people, and other props to green craft sticks  or green straws or suspend them with all-purpose green thread as you would puppets in front of a green screen. The green craft sticks and thread become invisible due to their color, allowing them to be suspended in mid-air. If you want to manipulate objects with your hands, why not wear green gloves? Green gloves can make your hands invisible. You can get disposable, green latex, powder-free gloves at a low cost.

Activity #3 – PBL with Green Screen

There are many ways to use PBL in a green screen-equipped classroom. For example, students in @MsTranClass get focused on the PBL activity:

green screen

Students can easily create non-fiction, fiction, or informational presentations featuring green screened solutions. Here are some fantastic ideas for PBL, How To Integrate Green Screens into Any Classroom. Some more ideas:

Activity #4 – Green Screen Dioramas

green screen

Why not create a video diorama using a green screen pizza box or box? Students can populate their creation with action figures that they move around with green rulers or straws (or suspend with green string). This adds another level of excitement and animation to the dioramas once created out of shoe boxes.

Students can also recreate scenes from their favorite movies, using action figures against a real life backdrop. Consider dinosaurs, Star Wars, or Star Trek as ways to create engaging plots and stories that explain academic topics. Can your students retell a favorite fairy tale or myth using Star Wars characters?

Looking for More?

Curious about more activities? Find more of my curated resources online. Also, follow @doinktweets and Tricia Fuglestone (@fuglefun) Twitter accounts to see fresh ideas about green screen use.

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AndroidiOS Tips and Tricks

Four Tools for iOS Screen Sharing

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“How are you sharing your iPad’s screen?” asked a session participant. The question comes up every time I present and need to show off my iOS device’s screen. Whether it’s an iPad or iPhone, the ability to share my iOS screen with the audience is critical. Before we explore various solutions available, let’s revisit why screen sharing remains important.

Why Share Your Screen?

“Most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasion,s this coded information serves as a guide for action,” says Albert Bandura, social learning theorist. Screen sharing facilitates teacher modeling. Research, as pointed out in various studies, has shown that “modeling is an effective instructional strategy in that it allows students to observe the teacher’s thought processes” (source).

When showing others how to use technology in the classroom, whether for PreK-12 or adult learners, the learning facilitator (a.k.a. teacher) engages in task or performance modeling. The purpose of this is to allow students to first observe what is expected of them. The goal is to increase their level of comfort when it is time for them to engage in a new task or performance.

When modeling how to use an app, such as Seesaw, Nearpod, Voxer, Shadow Puppet EDU, or Doodle Buddy, the teacher makes actual steps taken to operate an app visible for the students. Modeling also serves as a way to scaffold students’ own efforts. When they master their own approach to a technique or use of technology (e.g. green screen weather forecast or lesson), then they can engage in student-centered modeling.

Tools You Can Use

In each of these approaches, including task or performance modeling, student-centered modeling, and/or modeling as a scaffolding technique, being able to share the screen of your mobile device remains important. An important consideration for each of these is that both your laptop and iOS/Android device must be on the same wireless (a.k.a. WiFi) network. Keep in mind that the speed of that WiFi network will affect your ability to connect.

Aside from having the $49 Apple dongle (e.g. lightning to VGA or HDMI) for your iOS device as a backup, let’s take a look at three solutions that make screen sharing possible. The process for each of these tools is the same:

  1. Purchase the screen sharing solution of choice for your Mac or Windows laptop.
  2. Start the screen sharing program on your laptop (which is connected to the digital projector or large screen television monitor).
  3. Turn AirPlay on your iOS device and look for your laptop’s name (you can also set the name in the preferences for each program).
  4. Select your laptop via Airplay Mirroring (swipe up from the bottom of your screen).
  5. Screen sharing is now enabled and available with the mobile device screen shared.

Technical Note: In most cases, both devices (teacher’s computer and student iOS device) must be on the same WiFi subnet. Also, in Bonjour and mDNS multicast must be allowed on your network.

Here’s a quick listing of the tools available:

Tool #1 – Air Squirrels’ Reflector

Air Squirrels’ Reflector  ($14.99 with education pricing available) serves as a low-cost alternative to the $49 cable. Most of us, when we present, treat our mobile device as a special guest star, on for a few minutes and then turned off after the explanation is over. With Reflector Teacher, I have had several students simultaneously display their iPads on the big screen that is projected. Reflector  also features screen recording, and shares the sound from your device via your laptop’s sound system. This is ideal when screen-casting. Supported mobile devices include iOS and Android. Newer versions of Reflector are available in various modes, such as:

  • Reflector Teacher ($14.99): Use your computer to mirror student devices to a connected digital projector
  • Reflector Director($6.99): Control Reflector Teacher from a mobile device. Reflector Director enables you to remotely manage your Reflector Teacher program on your computer, making it easy for you to be away from your computer.
  • Reflector Student(Free): Connects student mobile devices to Reflector Teacher on protected networks. This app on the students’ device works as a signal enhancer. It makes finding the teacher’s Reflector Teacher computer easier in a multiple wireless access point (WAP) environment.

Tool #2 – Splashtop’s Mirroring 360

This robust solution offers many features. You can use Mirroring360 to “wirelessly mirror & record your Chromebook, iPad, iPhone, Android, Windows, and Mac screens to your PC or Mac without the need for hardware or cables” (Source). You are also able to broadcast your computer screen to up to forty recipients’ devices via a shared web link. Mirroring360 also comes with a product, Mirroring Assist, that you can use to lock in the signal on a protected network. This is the equivalent feature to Reflector Student. It is quite a rich solution provider with a variety of custom features and costs.

Let’s take a look at some simpler tools you may want to also consider.

Tool #3 – X-Mirage

Another tool that works well for iOS devices is X-Mirage ($16). Although sporting fewer features than Reflector 2, it does a great job with a simple interface.

airplay

X-Mirage recently added a feature to record the microphone to enable voice-overs for tutorial videos.

 

Tool #4 – LonelyScreen

At the Elementary Technology Conference in Galveston recently, Matt Montez made me aware of this no-cost tool, LonelyScreen. Like the other solutions, it offers these features:

  • Cast AirPlay to PC/MAC.
  • Share on the big screen.
  • Capture and save.

LonelyScreen does work, if not quite as elegantly as the other AirPlay receivers on this list. Of course, that makes it a free alternative for schools to use in lieu of Reflectors 2 or X-Mirage.

Modeling Made Simple

Are you ready to model the use of mobile devices for instructional purposes in your classroom? Then take a look at the three solutions for sharing your iOS screen mentioned above and let me know which one is your favorite in the Comments below.

 

Update: This blog was updated with new content on 04/12/2018.

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AndroidCTO/CIOiOS Tips and TricksMicrosoftTechnical Support

TCEA Responds: Digital Fax Solutions

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Welcome to TCEA Responds #8.  Submit your own question(s) online. Today’s topic is digital fax solutions for your school or district.

Dear TCEA Responds:

Do you know of a reliable cloud fax service that I can use in my school district? I’m a technology director and need to know who you use and what your experiences have been. Also, how does it work with people sending and receiving faxes? Thanks, Charles

Dear Charles:

Thanks for your question. When I worked as an instructional technology director in a large urban school district, one of the challenges was finding a fax machine to get faxes sent. While most have shifted to using a document copier (or mobile app) to scan documents to PDF and then email them to the recipient, there remains a need for faxing documents. The main benefits of digital faxing include the following:

  • Send a fax (single or multi-page) from your computer, smart device, or integrated Multi Function Products without print-to-scan
  • Eliminate on-site fax telephone lines or costly fax telephone service
  • Receive faxes by email
  • No computer or server software to install
  • No telephone system integration required

There are several ways to accomplish this goal of digital faxing. Here are a few possible solutions for your consideration:

Solution #1 – Digitize Paper with Inexpensive Tools

Using mobile device apps like Microsoft Office Lens (free for Android, iOS, Win10) and Readdle’s Scanner Pro (alternate iOS/Android app: Fast Scanner: PDF Doc Scan), you can quickly scan and save to cloud storage. Or use a solution like a Fujitsu scanner to capture information to PDF quickly. These inexpensive devices make scanning documents via your desktop a snap. Their low price point meant every secretary in my school district had one handy to digitize content. You can archive these files in traditional file folders on your computer, in the cloud, or a note-keeper program like Microsoft OneNote (free).

Solution #2 – Setup Your Network Copier as a Scanning and Fax Machine

Most copiers in schools today are connected to the network. Make sure that when you purchase a network copier, you get the fax module. This lets you set up a phone extension for each user mailbox, which allows incoming faxes that support extension dialing to reach your users.

Solution #3 – Use a Cloud Fax Solution

When I think of a digital fax solution, cloud fax solutions like eGoldfax, eFax, or hellofax come to mind. Depending on the service, you can receive faxes sent to phone numbers and these will be auto-delivered to an assigned email address or email group. Faxes can also be sent via email, allowing you to send documents straight to your digital fax solution. The digital fax then securely delivers it on your behalf.

Making the Right Choice

The right choice involves shifting from analog/print to digital. How you get there will depend on the size of your organization, the level of support your end users need to make the transition, and the budget available. For the low-budget, once-in-a-while fax, consider digitizing content with a copier/scanner and then emailing it to the recipient. Or use Hellofax. If you need industrial strength faxing for multiple phone numbers, then eGoldfax or eFax may do the job for you.

Other Solution?

Have another solution your district uses? Please share in the comments!

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