Begin forwarded message:
From: Daniel <dethier@gradekeeper.com>
Date: April 21, 2011 2:56:55 PM PDT
To: gradekeeper@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [gradekeeper] Gradekeeper for iPad
Reply-To: gradekeeper@yahoogroups.com
Gradekeeper for iPad is now available in the app store:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gradekeeper-for-ipad/id432436569?mt=8&ls=\
1
Download it, try it out, and of course give it a nice review and a high
rating!
I was able to do this fairly quickly thanks to the DragonFire SDK. They
created an SDK that makes it possible to write apps using only standard
C, which is what I know and use for the desktop applications. DragonFire
SDK is intended for games, so it has some limitations, and that placed
some limits on what I could include in this app. But I think it includes
the main features that belong in a Gradekeeper iPad app.
A few tips on using the app:
To get existing Gradekeeper classes onto the iPad, you need to use
iTunes file sharing. Once the app is on your iPad, click the apps tab
across the top and scroll to the bottom to see the list of apps that
have file sharing enabled. Select Gradekeeper. Then click Add and choose
the files you want on your iPad.
You will need to follow a similar process to copy the changed files back
to your desktop computer. One very important detail is that whenever you
are copying files to or from the iPad, make sure that Gradekeeper is in
the file list view. If a file is open in Gradekeeper on the iPad and you
move a file in or out using file sharing, you will not get the latest
changes. The program only saves when you go back to the file view, or
the app is forced to quit. Pressing the home button does not quit the
app. It just suspends it.
When you are viewing students, assignments, or attendance, swipe slowly
across the screen to see other students, assignments, or dates. You can
see them updating as you swipe across the screen. You should be able to
get to the exact one you want pretty easily.
To edit anything, tap on it. When you tap on the header, it bring slide
down to show the editing panel, where you can edit the student name and
ID, or the assignment date, name, category, and points. When you're done
editing, tap the header to close that. Tap a row to edit a score.
In the seating chart, tap the header to assign seats. You can enter the
number of rows and columns, then tap the button to assign seats. To move
an individual student, tap the student you want to move, then tap the
seat where you want to move them. Tap an empty seat to make it
unavailable. Tap it again to hide it. Tap it again to make it visible
and available. I really like the natural wood seats!
I think most of the user interface is pretty straight forward. Tap the ?
button to see some contextual help at any point.
The app includes scores by student, scores by assignment, attendance,
and a seating chart. You can set up some of the options (mainly school
year, categories, and letter grades) in the app. When you viewing the
categories, you can tap the header to choose a grade computation method.
When you are viewing the school year, tap the header to set up the
subject name and number of terms.
Those are the options where many teachers do not just use the defaults.
Since most teachers do just use the default attendance codes and special
scores, you cannot directly edit those in the app. You can still add new
attendance codes, special scores, and footnotes. You do that by just
typing them in when editing scores or attendance. The app will ask if
you want to add them, and show a popover to let you specify what they
mean. And of course you can always set them up or change them in the
desktop application.
There is no multiple class report. Printing is not supported. Email
reports are not supported. Use the desktop application to do these
things. It seems more appropriate to leave these power functions there.
You currently cannot add student or global comments. DragonFire SDK does
not currently support multi-line edit fields. And the single line edit
fields are limited to 100 characters. So there just isn't a reasonable
way to do that. Hopefully they will add support for that in a future
version. When they do I will probably add those things. For now, you
will have to use the desktop application for your comments.
All in all, I really like the app. And I hope you do too. As always, let
me know if you have any problems and if you have any suggestions. I
don't know when the first update will happen. I would like to wait until
the next update of DragonFire SDK so I can do some of those things they
just don't allow now.
Daniel Ethier
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
__._,_.___
.
__,_._,___
No comments:
Post a Comment