Meet Your Macintosh
Objectives
- Learn how to get your work done with your new Macintosh computer.
- Understand a bit about how it works.
- Become aware of how it's different from other computers you may have used.
- Apply the Macintosh and its built-in software to your teaching and learning.
The Out-of-Box Experience
- Essential items: computer, cables, connectors
- System Backup CD's
- Warranty and AppleCare documents
- Identifying your own computer
- Transportation protocols: cables, cases, climate, kleptomaniacs, cleaning
Turn Me On
- The startup sequence
- Sleep vs. Shut Down
- Keeping it juiced up
- Regulation: power, keyboard (command, control), trackpad, brightness,
volume, speakers, microphone, eject key, iSight cameraGet Me Started
- Work through the Recess Recommendations exercise.
- The Finder, Folders, and Spotlight (from Apple)
- View Options: Icon, List, Column, and Cover flow
- Close vs Quit (Red, Yellow, Green buttons)
- Sidebar: Places (easy access to Applications, Desktop, Documents, Music,
- Pictures, Movies and Home folders)
- Sharing (to access any Mac or PC on your local network)
- Spotlight (to find applications, files, emails, etc.)
- The Desktop
- The Menubar
- folder creation, color labels, Go menu, trash, wireless, battery level, etc.
- The Dock (from Apple)
- Applications, adding and removing items, changing dock position
- Applications, Files, and Folders (from Apple)
Put Me to Work
- The Tools in the Box (from Apple)
- Address Book (names, contacts, phone numbers...)
- Dashboard (includes calculator and dictionary)
- Exposé (managing all those windows)
- GarageBand (compose music and make podcasts)
- - Enhanced podcasts
- Record narrative
- Add Jingles
- Fine tune
- Add images- Calendar (calendar, events...)
- Messages (instant messaging, audio and video conferencing)
- iMovie (video editing)
- - PhotoBooth to capture
- iMovie to edit
- Importing images from iPhoto, working with image effects
- Adding titles, transitions
- Adding music from iTunes or sounds
- Recording narration- Publishing
- iPhoto (pictures)
- - Events vs Photos vs Albums
- Creating an Album
- Editing photos
- Naming photos and capturing citations
- Making a slideshow
- Exporting slideshows to QuickTime- iTunes (music, radio, videos, iPod, iPhone)
- - Populating iTunes: rip from CD, download, create in GB
- Podcasts: Audio, Enhanced, Video
- Get vs Subscribe
- Podcast Directory
- iTunesU- Mail (email)
- PhotoBooth (capture images and video)
- QuickTime (media player)
- Safari (web browser)
- TextEdit (word processor)
- Keynote (slide shows)
- - Creating slides
- Importing media
- The Inspector
- Narrate the story
- Add more to tell the story
- Record narration
- Share to iTunes- Pages
- Word processing
Using Templates
Inspector
Adding media- Numbers
- Creating a spreadsheet
Using Templates
Adding media- Use these tools together to make a podcast.
- Design an information literacy learning sequence for your students.
Customize Me
- Customize your Mac (from Apple)
- System Preferences:
- - Changing highlight color
- Desktop and Screensaver
- Displays (set up for projector)
- Keyboard and Mouse: Trackpad, Zoom
- Universal Access, Zoom
- Speech, Text to Speech, Alex’s voice,
- Setting up a key command for reading
- Software Update
- Exposé and SpacesConnect Me
- Networks, peripherals, devices and attachments (from Apple)
Fix Me
Additional Online Tutorials
- Mac 101 (Getting started with the Mac)
- Switch 101 (Migrate to Mac from Windows)
- Quick Assist (How to's for those little things you forgot)
iLife Tutorials
Other Tutorials
Workshop Evaluation
Recess Recommendations
This learning simulation is designed to get you working quickly with the essential functionalities of your Macintosh. Your workshop leader will help you learn what you need to complete the activities. Here's the challenge:
At tonight's board meeting, you are slated to recommend a change of policy on recess:
Should we schedule more time for recess, less time, or leave it as is?
Your task is to use your Macintosh to prepare for this meeting.- Use iCal to schedule the meeting (7:00 - 9:30 PM), and set an alarm to remind you 15 minutes before.
- Use Safari to review the research on the effects of recess on learning, and also the research on time-on-task.
- Copy at least three paragraphs of relevant text from your findings in Safari, and paste them into TextEdit.
- Save at least three illustrative diagrams or images from your findings in Safari, and save them to iPhoto.
- Use Safari and Google Maps to locate your school; zoom in as far as you can; switch to satellite view; take a screen shot (command+shift+4) to show where recess happens.
- Use PhotoBooth to shoot a photo or video of a colleague at recess.
- Use iPhoto to prepare a slide show that you can present to the board.
- Use GarageBand to prepare a podcast that you can present to the board.
- Use TextEdit to prepare a text article that you can present to the board.
- Present your conclusions to your colleagues.
Information Literacy Learning Sequence
Now that you are fmiliar with the Macintosh and its built-in tools, you may design an assignment for your students that takes them through the information literacy cycle of
- Identify
- Access
- Evaluate and
- Create.
...in a way that takes full advantage of online information sources and the software on the Macintosh. Like the ten-step Recess Recommendations project you went through earlier, it should send your students off to the places you want them to go, lead them to use the appropriate tools, and encourage them to think and communicate in new ways. Develop your learning seuence in five stages:
- Write a series of instructions similar in form to the list in Recess Recommendations.
- Follow the instructions yourself on your Macintosh, searching and saving and thinking and creating just as your students would.
- Revise your instructions based on your experience.
- Give your learning sequence to another participant, who will attempt to follow them.
- Revise your learning sequence based on the other participant's experience with it.