The BlueStacks emulator opens in landscape mode every time, and can only be switched to portrait after an app is running. The sample Smart Skills apps provided at the Download link for each project have therefore been updated to set the Screen1 property ScreenOrientation to Portrait. This automatically switches BlueStacks to portrait mode when the app is launched.
This change also forces the Nox emulator to switch to portrait mode when the app is launched, however with Nox it is possible to configure the initial screen size and orientation in the Advanced Settings, which should be set to Phone and 480x800 for optimum compatibility with the apps.
This change has no effect on ARC Welder orientation, which must be set when an app is first loaded in each session, as described in the previous post.
Friday, 30 September 2016
Thursday, 22 September 2016
ARC Welder: Invisible Dropdowns
Those of you using ARC Welder to test apps may have noticed a problem with "invisible dropdowns" when trying to set the recommended Orientation (Portrait) and Form Factor (Phone) on first use. As shown below, the triangle points upward when the selector is clicked, but the dropdown is not visible.
This appears to be intermittent and is a recent problem, possibly introduced with the current version of ARC Welder in early August. The dropdowns are in fact still active, but are invisible: it is therefore still possible to select the desired Orientation and Form Factor by clicking once to open the dropdown (triangle points upwards), and then clicking where the desired option should appear, by reference to the images below. Typically the desired settings are Portrait for Orientation, and Phone for Form Factor.
While not ideal, and potentially difficult to have students do successfully, this at least allows the orientation and form factor of ARC Welder to be set to match the apps created by App Inventor. On the positive side, it only needs to be done once per session, provided ARC Welder is not closed.
The images with the dropdowns visible as expected were taken from the version of Chrome Portable and ARC Welder provided on a USB during the Smart Skills Training sessions. This may be a viable alternative, at the cost of needing to manually copy Chrome Portable onto every student PC, and ensuring that students open Chrome Portable and not the normal Chrome installation when using App Inventor and ARC Welder.
This appears to be intermittent and is a recent problem, possibly introduced with the current version of ARC Welder in early August. The dropdowns are in fact still active, but are invisible: it is therefore still possible to select the desired Orientation and Form Factor by clicking once to open the dropdown (triangle points upwards), and then clicking where the desired option should appear, by reference to the images below. Typically the desired settings are Portrait for Orientation, and Phone for Form Factor.
While not ideal, and potentially difficult to have students do successfully, this at least allows the orientation and form factor of ARC Welder to be set to match the apps created by App Inventor. On the positive side, it only needs to be done once per session, provided ARC Welder is not closed.
The images with the dropdowns visible as expected were taken from the version of Chrome Portable and ARC Welder provided on a USB during the Smart Skills Training sessions. This may be a viable alternative, at the cost of needing to manually copy Chrome Portable onto every student PC, and ensuring that students open Chrome Portable and not the normal Chrome installation when using App Inventor and ARC Welder.
Wednesday, 21 September 2016
DCU / CompuB Apple Professional Development
Below is a link to the Apple Professional Development training which will take place in DCU on Monday 10th October 2016.
The workshop will take place from 9.30 to 12.30 (3 hours in duration) and is aimed at beginners and intermediate users of iPads in the Classroom.
Priority will be given to teachers delivering the UniTY modules, however it is available to any teachers in your school who may benefit from this type of training. Max 2 teachers from each school.
The training is free of charge and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Should places fill in the morning session, I will investigate a second session if the demand is there.
http://doodle.com/poll/6kgmv2ck4k4yaf7r
Please fill in your name AND school (in the same box) when signing up on the Poll below.
Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Multimedia Video Themes
This year for the very first time, we have 5 different themes in the competition. This is to encourage as much diversity as possible in your TY Class groups. They are:
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Inspire Me
This can include topics like People who inspire me / Places that inspire me / Inspiration in my Community / Role Models to mention a few!
Education
Where can education lead you? The Importance of Education / Getting to College / Differences in Education in other Countries to name but a few ideas.
Social Media
Importance of it, Benefits, Affects / Impact on Society / Teenagers, How we use it, Downside etc
The Work of Charities
Marie Keating will be involved in this category, however we encourage students to find a charity that means something to them or who works in an area they want to know more about / Promote their work.
Friendship
This is probably the most general topic - the importance of Friendship / People who have been Friends for many years / How to make Friends - the list is endless here!
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The Challenge:
To create a video that will be engaging and that you think your friends or others in your age group would be likely to share on social media. This video is a tool to communicate your message to the world.
You can include whatever you think is appropriate in the video to tell your story or communicate your message.
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Deadline:
Thursday 27th April 2017 @ 5pm
Length of video:
Your video must be a minimum of 90 seconds and a maximum of 3.5 minutes.
Requirements:
1. Every video entry must be accompanied by an Artist's Statement (available to download from www.unitydcu.ie) which outlines information on the project group, their role in the video and why this topic was chosen.
2. Work must be filmed and edited by the students. Extracts from other sources must be acknowledged at the end of the video in the Credits.
3. All videos must have a Title / Name and Credits at the end.
5. Music must be royalty free as we will be uploading the videos to YouTube and sharing it with the wider DCU Community.
6. ‘This video was made as part of the Unity DCU Programme’ should be included in the credits of your video.
7. Students must work in Project Groups of no more than 4 Students (there can be exceptions, but please make me aware in advance!)
8. All work must be the work of the students.
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Judging Categories in each Theme
Best Documentary
Best Production
Best Smart Device Video (Video filmed completely on a Smartphone / Device
Most Inspiring Story
Most Creative Idea
Viewers Choice Award (Video that receives the most views on the UniTY YouTube Channel)
Any further questions, please email me - darran.heaney@dcu.ie
Best of Luck to Everyone!
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Inspire Me
This can include topics like People who inspire me / Places that inspire me / Inspiration in my Community / Role Models to mention a few!
Education
Where can education lead you? The Importance of Education / Getting to College / Differences in Education in other Countries to name but a few ideas.
Social Media
Importance of it, Benefits, Affects / Impact on Society / Teenagers, How we use it, Downside etc
The Work of Charities
Marie Keating will be involved in this category, however we encourage students to find a charity that means something to them or who works in an area they want to know more about / Promote their work.
Friendship
This is probably the most general topic - the importance of Friendship / People who have been Friends for many years / How to make Friends - the list is endless here!
*************************
The Challenge:
To create a video that will be engaging and that you think your friends or others in your age group would be likely to share on social media. This video is a tool to communicate your message to the world.
You can include whatever you think is appropriate in the video to tell your story or communicate your message.
·
Deadline:
Thursday 27th April 2017 @ 5pm
Length of video:
Your video must be a minimum of 90 seconds and a maximum of 3.5 minutes.
Requirements:
1. Every video entry must be accompanied by an Artist's Statement (available to download from www.unitydcu.ie) which outlines information on the project group, their role in the video and why this topic was chosen.
2. Work must be filmed and edited by the students. Extracts from other sources must be acknowledged at the end of the video in the Credits.
3. All videos must have a Title / Name and Credits at the end.
5. Music must be royalty free as we will be uploading the videos to YouTube and sharing it with the wider DCU Community.
6. ‘This video was made as part of the Unity DCU Programme’ should be included in the credits of your video.
7. Students must work in Project Groups of no more than 4 Students (there can be exceptions, but please make me aware in advance!)
8. All work must be the work of the students.
*********************************
Judging Categories in each Theme
Best Documentary
Best Production
Best Smart Device Video (Video filmed completely on a Smartphone / Device
Most Inspiring Story
Most Creative Idea
Viewers Choice Award (Video that receives the most views on the UniTY YouTube Channel)
Any further questions, please email me - darran.heaney@dcu.ie
Best of Luck to Everyone!
Thursday, 8 September 2016
BlueStacks Update
Note: The Google account is not logged out when BlueStacks is closed, so users should consider manually disconnecting their Google account when using BlueStacks on a shared machine: go to Settings - Accounts - Google and select Remove account from the dropdown menu in the top right. Alternatively, a school may choose to create a dedicated Google account for use with BlueStacks, and leave that account logged into all instances of BlueStacks. Students would still use their individual Google accounts with App Inventor.
For more information about Bluestacks, refer to this earlier post.