Music App for iTouch, iPad

here's a great iTouch/iPad app I found:

"Slow Down Music Player"
(Web site here)












Here are some of the specs

1. Change tuning or musical key 
2. Loop phrases or entire song 
3. Easy to define and save phrases 
4. 4 beat count in gives you time to move your hands back to your instrument 
5. Displays elapsed and remaining time 
6. Quickly cue song to play any where you want 
7. Seamless integration with your devices built in iPod Music player allows you to access your entire music library! 

 The app is "free", but if you want to listen to more than 2 or 3 songs, then it costs $2.99 to upgrade. Could be a real boon to music teachers and music students. A great tool for learning a part or for analyzing a particular passage of music.

iPods as a language tool

One of the blogs I like to read is "TechToolsForSchools". A recent post talks about how you might take advantage of the powerful technology that walks into your classroom everyday: the iTouch! Using an inexpensive external mic (the contact info is all available in the post), you can have your students record their voice and work on their accent. The post also mentions a promising app, Audioboo, and a related site, audioboo.fm.

(The mic is listed for $3.50 on the Suntekstore site, but for even less on Amazon.com)

Edmodo: microblogging for the classroom

Happy New Year, everyone.

There are so many great Web 2.0 apps, it's almost overwhelming! Here's another one I think might be useful, especially with the explosion of the iTouch devices: edmodo. 

"A private social platform for teachers and students to share ideas, files, events and assignments."

What I like about edmodo is that is is a great solution for teachers wanting to create an online community  with a bit more security. And, students don't need an email address to sign up; the teacher creates the group, generates a login code and students can quickly register themselves. The teacher can then change the code to prevent "unauthorized" kids from joining. The other bonus is that you can access edmodo via an iTouch.

eBooks on the iTouch

Recently, I went out and picked up an iPod Touch. Despite all the fun tools and crazy apps you can acquire, the real reason I bought my device was to read. (At least that's what I'm telling everyone!) We went away for our regular "holiday week by the lake" , and I usually bring a box of books with me. (Usually 20 or 30 titles.) This time, I went the ebook route. Using Stanza for the Mac, I first opened a number of titles on my laptop which then I transferred to my iTouch. The Stanza app on my iPod allows me to view the book in either portrait or landscape, change the font size, and even read at night with the handy "reverse" colour setting. The desktop Stanza will open just about any format: txt, pdf, .lit, epub, etc, and allows you to resave, along with any cover art you might add, into the standard epub form. (I reviewed Stanza in Oct 08, but really like the version that runs on my iTouch!)

What about titles? All the major bookstores sell e-versions of their titles, but I find the prices are still too high for a product that I can't share with friends or read on multiple devices. There are lots of "classics" for free, and I have friends that search the torrents for "epub novels" in order to get their fix. But a great source is "Fictionwise". This e-vendor offers monthly specials on great titles for just a few dollars per title. I subscribe to their e-bulletin.