IFTTT – automating your digital life

We tend to spend a lot of time online – learning, reading, posting, sharing.  Fortunately, there are ways to gain efficiencies by leveraging tools such as IFTTT.

What is IFTTT

IFTTT is a web-based tool that leverages APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) from other online services and performs actions based on them.  If a trigger happens, then the service performs another action. 

IFTTT leverages channels (sites or information) that have either triggers (something that makes them start an action on that channel) or actions (things that are done on that channel).  Channels include readily available information such as weather and stock prices as well as social media sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn.  Depending on the channel selected, a variety of actions can be performed.

Your IFTTT commands are called recipes.  They can be as simple as (and really not much more complex than):

If (the current weather changes to rain) then (e-mail me)

Fortunately, there are many publicly available, shared recipes that you can leverage or use as the basis for your own (if you don’t want to start from scratch).

How do I use IFTTT

I am, by no means, an expert user of IFTTT.  However, I have found it to be extremely helpful in simplifying some tasks for me.  I find it comparable to the way that online bill pay works through my bank.  Is it difficult to write a check and put it in the mail?  No.  However, if a service will automatically do it for me, why would I spend my time on that task?

My two primary recipes are related to blogs.  The first helps me with this blog by tweeting on my behalf when I make a new blog post.  When a new item is detected in the RSS feed for my site, a new tweet is composed that of the following text and field information: My new blog post: [post title] at [url].

The RSS feed channel allows you to grab information such as the title, url, author, image used, dates, etc as ingredients of the action – in this case, the tweet.

The second recipe I use takes information I star in Google Reader and adds it to my ‘read later’ section on Instapaper.  Essentially, this allows me to identify posts in my RSS reader (whether I’m on my phone, tablet, or computer) and download them to Instapaper to allow me to read them offline (or at my convenience) without needing to go back into Google Reader.  This recipe was based on one I found in the recipes section that I modified to include the ingredients I wanted to show up in Instapaper. 

Once you get a handle on viewing and editing other’s recipes, it is easy to create your own.  The only thing to remember is that you need to give IFTTT your credentials to access your accounts it needs to leverage.

IFTTT is a simple service that makes working in an online environment a bit more efficient and therefore more enjoyable. 

Google Maps in the Classroom

Unless you refuse to get every penny out of your AAA membership, you’ve probably used Google Maps to help you find something.  However, did you know that these same maps can be used to share information with students in a format that can be easily explored on a computer or tablet?  Because of its relatively simple learning curve, you can also have students create and share their own maps rather than view those created by you.

Creating a map: Research

Using Google Maps to create a map for your students to access is incredibly simple.  The majority of your time will be spent in the preparation stage, gathering the individual points of interest that will go on your map.  Whether your map is a showcase of the various battles in a war or the points of interest in your town, you’ll want to place your markers as close to the actual locations as possible as Google will allow your students to zoom in very tightly.

Creating a map: Google (Screenr video: http://screenr.com/n3p7)

1. Log in to Google using your gmail or other Google credentials.
2. Click the Maps link at the top of the page (or go to maps.google.com).
3. On the left side, click the My Places button.
4. Click the orange, Create Map button.
5. Enter a title and description.  Assuming the information is public knowledge, keep the map set to Public – either way, you can send a URL to your map to your students.
6. Use search (as you normally would) on the map to locate a particular place.
7. In the upper left corner of the map, click the Add a Placemark blue marker to add a point of interest.
8. Enter a title and description for your point.  The more interesting you make the description, the more enticing it will be for your students.  You can give them information or the beginnings of clues to have them further explore the map for points you didn’t indicate with a placemark.
9. Click OK to save your placemark.
10. Repeat for all of your placemarks.
11. Click the Save button on the left box (it also auto-saves)
12. Above the Save button, you’ll see a link button.  Click that button to view (and copy) the URL to your map.  You can click the checkmark to generate a short URL that can be more easily shared (or written on the board).  Example URL: http://goo.gl/maps/IHxB7
13. You can log back in at any time to add or delete points on your map as well as the entire map.

Viewing Maps

Your students can view maps through a laptop, mobile device, or tablet.  Even without a Google Maps (or Google Earth) app on the phone, the map will open in the default browser and be very easy to work with.  This will provide a simple, intuitive interface for non-linear exploration that can engage your students with its interactivity while conveying the information you deem most relevant to them.

Happy Mapping!

Digital Bedtime Stories

One of the joys of parenting is the time you get to spend with your child.  For many parents, this quality time centers around reading books at bedtime.  However, there are times when you can’t be with your child because of obligations such as meetings or travel.  A Story Before Bed is a wonderful application of audio and video recoding technology that allows you to make that time easier for the child as it allows you to prerecord a storybook for them to watch on a computer or iOS device. 

Signing Up

Signing up is as simple as visiting the A Story Before Bed website and entering your name and e-mail address.  You then enter a password and confirm your e-mail.  At that point, you can browse the books to determine which you would like to record.  There are a variety of free books available – typically songs or nursery rhymes – and many pay books.  The price structure is difficult (either paying by the book or for a monthly period), but working with a couple of free books can be a joy for the recorder and the viewer.

Recording

Recording a book is as simple as selecting the book you wish to record and reading it.  The site works with Flash, so it must be installed in your browser.  You also need to give it permission to utilize your webcam and microphone.  Once you confirm the webcam is working and the audio levels are where you want them, you begin recording. 

While recording, you can pause and return.  However, there is not the ability to re-record individual pages which might leave you re-recording an entire book (or settling for a few missed words – or added words in my case).  Much like reading a story to a child, as long as you are invested in the recording and connecting with them, the precision of the recording isn’t crucial. 

At the conclusion of the recording, you can review the recording, re-do the recording, or save (and possibly pay for) the recording.  Once you have saved the recording, it will open in the window and you will have the URL available to copy and send.

Playback

You can view your books from the Recordings bookshelf from your account.  Additionally, you can send a URL to a book you’ve recorded to share it with friends and family – much the same way you would send a YouTube URL.  However, the most enjoyable way to access the recordings is by downloading the free iOS app.  Once you’ve downloaded the app, you can log in with your credentials from the site.  You then have the ability to download (great for offline viewing) the different books you’ve recorded to enjoy on that device.

Overall, A Story Before Bed is a very enjoyable experience to both record and view storybooks.  The fee structure is expensive, but a couple of free recordings should suffice for times when you are away from your children, but want to continue the tradition of sharing a story.

My sample book - enjoy!

Screenr As Your Spotter

You have probably heard a great deal about the flipped classroom, where instruction on new material occurs as homework and the in-class time is spent with the teacher acting as a mentor, ensuring students understand the material and can apply it.  Screenr is a fantastic web-based application that can help make this a reality for your classroom.  Even if you aren’t a teacher, you can easily create and distribute short (maximum recording time of five minutes) instructional videos.

Requirements

Screenr requires you to have Java installed on your computer and you need a free account.  Other than that, there is nothing to install.  It all runs off of the www.screenr.com website.

To play Screenr files on a computer, you need the Flash player.  However, you can also play Screenr videos on iPhones and iPads, even though Flash isn’t an option there, with nothing to install.  When you are finished creating a video, you will get a link to that screencast that looks similar to this: http://www.screenr.com/1234, where 1234 is the code representing your video.

How to use Screenr

Once you have installed Java (it will prompt you if you don’t have it) and created an account, you click the large ‘Launch screen recorder now!’ button on the website.  You will then be prompted with the following dashed line rectangle representing the recording size. 

You can test your microphone levels or select an alternate recording method with the mic link and bars at the bottom.  You can adjust your capture size by dragging the handles or selecting the ‘Capture Size’ button at the bottom.  Clicking on that button, you can also select Full Screen to capture the entire monitor.  You can move your recording window by dragging the instructions in the middle of the window.  Once you have everything set up, you click the red record button.

Tips and Tricks

Screenr is simple to use.  Its power and speed are in that simplicity.  Do you want to include transitions, text, background music?  You can’t.  Well, actually you could turn on the boom box in the room where you are doing recording, but that would just be annoying.  The simplicity of not having the ability to do these things makes Screenr as quick to record as it is to watch. 

Here are a few tricks that might help you along the way:

• Plan and practice what you want to do and say.  While you don’t need to get everything perfect, a little practice and organization will go a long way.
• If you are capturing full screen, you can’t see the timer.  As such, it is important to use another timer to keep track of how much time you have left.  You can cram a lot of information in five minutes, but you don’t want it to cut you off with one sentence to go.
• Your laptop has a microphone built in, but you should use an external one for better quality. However, you don’t need to purchase an expensive microphone.  If you have a pair of iPhone headphones with a built in mic, and you are recording in a reasonably quiet room, that should suffice. 
• If you are using a Mac, Screenr has difficulties running out of Safari when the browser is run in full screen mode.  The simple fix here is to click the arrow in the upper right corner to exit full screen mode while working with Screenr.
• If you need a moment to think about what to say next, or you don’t want to waste time with a screen load, you can press Alt-D or Option-D to pause the recording.  This will allow you time to get ready and continue the recording. 
• While the simplicity of a web-based tool is wonderful, you might be in an environment where Java is out of the question.  If that is the case, you might also want to take a look at Jing.  Jing is a downloadable software application that is very similar to Screenr.  From TechSmith (as opposed to Screenr from Articulate), if you are looking to break the 5 minute barrier and add additional complex features, you can also take a look at SnagIt (not free).