Azu Ike

TheBrain 7 Augments Dynamic Knowledge Connections to Increase Focus and Data Accessibility on Users’ Desktops and in the Cloud. Marina del Rey, CA – April 23, 2012 – TheBrain Technologies , the leading provider of dynamic visualization and knowledge management software, announced its newest release, TheBrain 7. The software enables people to connect information into infinite mind maps, modeling thinking and relationships in the real world. TheBrain software, formerly known as PersonalBrain, has been downloaded by over a million users who seek to organize, visualize and share information more intelligently. Over half of the Fortune 100 organizations use TheBrain for digital brainstorming, research, project management, and as a complete knowledgebase to find and connect all their stuff. “TheBrain 7 builds on our company’s guiding principle of flexible and fluid information access by offering even more ways to connect and link information,” said Harlan Hugh, TheBrain’s CEO and Chief Tec...

Snap&Read Reading Interface I have had a chance this week to test out Snap&Read from Don Johnston, Inc which is a clever reading utility for Windows and Mac users. Snap&Read floats on top of your existing applications and when you need it to read some text you simply click on and drag a rectangular region around the text that you want to read and voila the text is instantly read, complete with highlighting. Snap&Read uses the high quality Acapela speech engine and by going into the Settings you can easily slow down or increase the reading speed. Users can select from Ryan or Heather to read the text. The beauty of Snap&Read is that it can read text in Microsoft Word, PDF's, as well as Flash based websites which gives the user a simple and elegant way to read text. Snap&Read is available for $79 dollars and is available for Windows and Macintosh. Snap&Read can also be run directly from a USB drive giving students access to accessible text wherever they ...

I have been having a lot of fun using my Boogie Board RIP over the last couple of weeks just doodling and drawing. However, I wanted to see if I could integrate it into my teaching and blogging and came up with a way to do both. Using the Virtual Desktop Companion software which is now available for Windows on the website, I was able to connect my Boogie Board RIP and everything that I write could be seen on my computer in real time with the software installed. Pairing up the Boogie Board RIP and ScreenR, I was able to create a short video with audio to show you what is possible. Using both tools together I was able to quickly create a video and place it on my blog. Using the Boogie Board RIP   Virtual Desktop Companion  software application extends the usefulness of this product and opens up doors for creating more interactive and engaging content. I would be interested in your thoughts.

Tonight, I was teaching my graduate course and we covered different strategies that can be employed for students note taking. We spoke about outlining, mind mapping, and giving students partially filled in materials to help them with note taking skills. This lead me into a demonstration of marrying the Cornell Note Taking Method with the Livescribe Smartpen. I divided the page in my Livescribe notebook into the necessary columns and explained to my students how this could be used in the classroom to help students record the main ideas of the lecture. With the Livescribe Pulse pen I was able to demonstrate how a student could easily review the material that was recorded and how teachers could use the pen to embed the notes in a Learning Management System. At the college we are presently using Moodle as our Learning Management System and wanted to show my students how we could deliver the notes on the web using the Livescribe technology. To get started I had my student take some short ...

One of the frustrating tasks for many iPad users is figuring out how to print directly from your iPad. Some schools have resorted to purchasing Hp Printers with ePrint technology that lets iPad users print directly to these printers over the Wifi network. Once these Hp printers are put on the Wifi network all   you need to do is go to the app , and if printing is supported, it will find the printer and print your document. Other schools have looked for software solutions which usually means that you have to install a printing app on the iPad and then use your Macintosh or Windows computer as a vehicle to route your docuuments before they hit the printer. Realizing the need for schools to have access to their network printers, Lantronix has recently released the Lantronix xPrint Server which when plugged into the network will automatically recognize and detect all of the printers on your network. With the Lantronix  xPrint Server you are now ready to print from your iP...

Using screen sharing software for a webinar is always a leap of faith. What do I mean by that? If you have ever attempted to host a webinar with one tool or another then you probably have experienced just how frustrating it can be to connect. Many of the screen sharing applications ask you to download plug-ins which can make the experience even more frustrating for those users who may be less technically inclined. That is why I was so glad to learn about a new screen sharing tool called Screenleap which I started to use last week. First off, the screen sharing service is free , and if you are joining a session there is no software to install. It doesn't get any easier that this. I demonstrated  Screenleap this week in my graduate class and within a minute all 20 of my students were viewing my screen. Great way to publish the teachers screen to your students in a classroom. All my students had to do was go to Screenleap and enter a 9 digit number that I posted- to beg...