Check out Adobe Photoshop Express! (Free photo editing App for iPhone and Android)

Yes, take Adobe Photoshop Express with you on your iPhone or Android phone for free!


This is a very handy app that lets you do basic Photoshop editing of your images stored on your phone. 


Simple features include:

• Cropping
• Rotating
• Editing Colors
• Add Filters
• Add Effects
• Borders

Once you are finished, you can save the image and upload to Twitter if you choose. I have this app for my iPhone and I use it quite often.


(For iPhone users, app is compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.2 or later).


For iPhone users, here is the link from Apple with more information:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adobe-photoshop-express/id331975235?mt=8


For Android users, here is the video link on how to use the app and share photos:
http://www.photoshop.com/products/mobile/express/android

Accessibility Basics (Part Two)

In the first article in our Accessibility Basics series, we defined four essential steps in planning for online course accessibility:

1. Choosing file formats
   
2. Chunking content
   
3. Providing options
   
4. Having backup plans

Commonly Used Formats

In this article, the focus is on step one, choosing file formats.  The file formats that faculty include in an online class vary widely based on a number of factors:

1. Faculty technical skills – only a minority of faculty create html pages.
2. Faculty field of expertise/subject area – some fields need special file types for special purposes.
3. Faculty workload – a busy person will do what they are most familiar with

File Format Pros and Cons

Html pages are the most flexible, and can be made the most accessible.  This is the format the ITRC uses when building a course, because it can include other media and provide for accessibility. However, if you are a faculty member working on your own, this may be intimidating. The HTML Creator tool inside WVU eCampus, however, can allow easy, simple creation. While some subject areas use or require files in a specialized format, these are generally best used as specific demonstration pieces or elements of a homework assignment.

Facebook for class? You might want to check out Edmodo

You want to use Facebook for your online course. Social networking is hot, and tapping into your students lives in familiar ways can be highly effective for sparking interest and conversation.

The problem is the same as the draw: Facebook is a social network, and one with ever-changing privacy options. The conversation you intend to spark is not one about a student's weekend party photos...

To avoid problems of exposing your students, or yourself, to a breach of privacy (Whose business is it that the student is even in your class? FERPA may want to know) why not set up your class on Edmodo instead of Facebook?

Edmodo works very much like Facebook, only the instructor has a great deal more control over who sees what. Ideas and files can be shared on a communal wall, assignments can be posted (and graded, if you want to use the integrated grade book), and while students and teachers can communicate privately, students cannot communicate privately with other students. Classes can even be archived.




Have you tried Edmodo? Tell us about your experiences in the comments!

Do you think it's safe, or wise, to keep student grades in this type of third-party online service? Share your thoughts below.