Monthly Archives: August 2010
New Website Theme (version 3.0)
Today’s rendition of stephenwoicik.com marks version 3.0. This version isn’t completely done but I wanted to launch it live to see how it worked with some of the content I already had on here. I’ll be making minor changes throughout the rest of the week and should have everything finalized by the end of the weekend. If you find any problems on your own don’t hesitate to leave a comment or grab my attention on twitter.
This new theme is a lot cleaner visually (no more splash page) and coding wise. Many of the new functions of WordPress 3.0 are utilized, including feature images, custom menus, and custom post types. I will be using the custom post types for quotes and phots in the future, hopefully bringing better organization to the site. There is also a more dynamic sidebar. All together, it achieves a more custom feel to each page without doing multiple page templates. Simple is better.
I’ve given some thought about releasing the theme as a generic WordPress 3.0 theme. I’ll have to test it, make sure I didn’t leave any custom links in the template files. But if you are interested I can send you what I have for the theme, just shoot me a message.
App Review: Frog Dissection
This app is graphically appealing and pretty rich in information. This would be a great “follow along with the teacher” application. I remember being in middle school and high school when we dissected things in class. We didn’t have the resources for everyone to have something to dissect. It ended up being the teacher doing it at the front of the class, and everyone just watching.
This would be a great place for the Frog Dissection App. The teacher can still only do the real dissection at the front of the class, but now all the students can follow on their iPad. They can graphically see and get information on everything the teacher is doing. Much more informative and interactive way of doing this traditional class lesson (and a lot less messy than giving a frog to every student/group).
Like with all the Apps I review, the app alone isn’t enough to justify iPads in the classroom, but each one adds a little more value, convenience, and reason for having them in your classroom.
Frog Dissection is available in the App Store for $4.99