For this PR, I have chosen to take a look at Numbers in comparison with Excel. As an accountant currently, my job revolves around enormous spreadsheets with endless rows and columns filled with lots of data. I would consider myself an advanced excel user when it comes to many aspects including formulas. However, I say all of that to say that I will not let that sway my judgement. It will only give me a baseline to consider when looking at Numbers. I believe that Excel is very user friendly in many ways and with a little practice, you can do many advanced things within the program. When using the Numbers App on the iPad, it took me more than a few seconds to get the memorized layout of Excel out of my head. Once I did that, I began to find similarities between the two, as well as preferential differences. Before we take a look at the similarities (the good) let's check out some of the differences (the bad). The one thing I noticed between the two is ease of use. Personally, I believe that you can accomplish the same task on either software. However, for more complex calculations and formulas, excel is the better equipped. Another difference I see is that as soon as you open Numbers, it prompts you to choose a template. I really like this feature of Numbers. This can expedite the process of creating something from the ground up. There are templates available in Excel as well, but for me, most of the time I have it created myself before I even think about them. One similarity between the 2 programs is the function ability. Setting up these functions automates the computation of the selected numbers. These calculations are time savers for anyone who uses them. Another similarity is the basics of both. To me, this includes common tools and entries. On the surface, they do look a lot alike. I say all of this to come to this conclusion: I believe that for anything more than simple math equations, Excel is the program to use. Now that Excel is available for iPad, this would be my program of choice. Not only do I have prior knowledge, but I also think it is much more user friendly. I believe Excel lays out its options in a much better way and does a good job of leading the learner in the right direction. I do like to see my spreadsheets on a monitor as opposed to a small tablet screen. However, being able to update and format the spreadsheets on the fly in a tablet is huge inside the classroom.
Since I have used Box.net before as a type of storage, I did not have any complications moving things to this type of storage. I think that this program makes it very easy to view, sort, and move items from a device into storage. It also has the collaboration piece which makes it appealing for sharing files.
iThought: What an awesome application. Until class on Monday, I had never heard of it. When I opened it up and began sorting through it, I was amazed. This is such as simple process that I have done for so long on notebook paper. It always turned out all scratchy looking and there was never enough room to adequately map all of your thoughts. Then once you did and looked back over it, you always wanted to move items to appropriate categories...again messy. This app makes mind mapping clean, easy and limitless. You can also configure this in many ways (shape of bubbles, colors, icons, and more). I can see this used in a number of ways in the classroom. One way in particular is in an English or writing class. This can help students connect ideas and prepare for writing any sort of paper. Another way is for history. With a central theme in the middle, students can branch out and connected different parts throughout history. This gives them a chance for creation and innovation and the ability to stretch their thinking outside of a few facts.
When looking at Safari and Rover, I do not have much initial knowledge of either. I know that Safari is what I use when I am on the iPad. I have never opened Rover until recently. One difference between the 2 is that Rover allows you to play Flash content in a filtered browser. Now this Flash content is mainly focused on education sites that utilize Flash. Another difference is the lag time. I have never really noticed much lag time with Safari. With Rover, lag time is an issue. This is due to it using remote connections to browse. This lag could become quite annoying. As Dr. Krug pointed out in class, 10 seconds is the average amount of time people have patients for computers. Also, this could show some synchronization issues if audio is to be played (ie: the moving mouth I see does not match the words I am hearing). However, both of these apps are safe and secure and works well with most websites. Also, they are both free and downloadable onto the iPad for use. Of these 2 options, I prefer Safari. There is nothing more annoying to me then wanting something to work or needing something to work and it not being able to.
Good assessments across the board!
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