Screen Shots: How to capture your iPad/iPhone Screen with the touch of a button (or two)

Screen Shots:  You can snap a quick ‘picture’ of your iPad/iPhone screen by pressing the home button (big round button on the case) and the on/off switch at the same time. The screen will flash and the photo you snapped will appear in your PHOTOS, usually in the album called CAMERA ROLL.   

This is a useful trick for capturing a quick screen shot of something your student was working on in the lesson.  For example: make a quick screen shot of the ‘high score’ screen in an app like PianoMaestro, FlashNoteDerby, etc.  

My students like to get a screen shot of their completed worksheet from the SproutBeat app, which is a cool app with lots of neat music theory worksheets.  I snap a Screen Shot and then email it to the student or their parent.  (Note: I can also print directly from that app if I have my AirPrint printer ‘on’ at that moment.) 

Quick tip: Using iPhone CAMERA to 'read the fine print'

Quick Tip:  Can’t see the ‘fine print’ at the bottom of a page, a footnote, or an ingredient list on a food label?  Use your ‘camera’ on your mobile device to ‘zoom in’ on the fine print to view it larger on the screen.  You don’t even need to snap a photo.  Just zoom in and view through the mobile screen.  (I use this a lot in grocery stores to read labels!)

AirDrop: How to quickly transfer a large video from your iPad/iPhone to your student's iPad/iPhone

AirDrop: 

Need a quick and easy way to transfer a large video to a student after a lesson?  Instead of emailing (which isn’t possible for videos over about 54 seconds long), dropping it into DropBox or GoogleDrive,  or uploading to YouTube as an unlisted video, why not use AirDrop!?    AirDrop allows to you drop virtually anything from your iPad or iPhone onto someone else’s iPad or iPhone, as long as they are within about 20 feet of you.  

How?  On your iPhone or iPad, swipe up from the bottom center to open the controls (opaque grey screen).  Turn on the bluetooth connection (squiggly thing) on the top row in the middle.  It will turn WHITE when it’s on.  Then tap on AirDrop near the bottom.  Another window will open asking if you'd like to make yourself discoverable.  You can choose CONTACTS ONLY or EVERYONE.  If the person you’re planning to share the video with is in your CONTACTS, then choose CONTACTS.  Otherwise, choose EVERYONE.   Have the other person go through the same procedure.   Then go to your PHOTOS and choose the video you’d like to share with your student, select it from the video album and click on the little box with the up arrow shooting out of it (found in the lower left corner).  That’s the universal sign for ‘share’ on an apple device.  From there, click on AirDrop (which will now be in the center of the screen) and it will light up in blue.  You will see a list of all of the people within approx. 20 feet who also have AirDrop “on” within their device.  Choose the person with whom you’d like to share your file.  That person will receive a notice on their screen saying that you’d like to share a file with them.  They can decline or accept.  If they accept, the file goes into their device.  A copy is still on YOUR DEVICE, so you can either keep it or delete it if you no longer need it.   

When you’re finished AirDropping a file, be sure to swipe up from the center of the bottom and turn off AirDrop and then turn off your BlueTooth.

I have found that this is a convenient way to transfer a video to the parents of a young student after a lesson.  Then I don't have to share the video through DropBox or GoogleDrive.   When I have uploaded unlisted videos to YouTube, the students don't always use them, but they will use them if the video is on their mobile device or on mom/dad's mobile device!

Facebook Tech Tip!

Tech tip of the day... Did you know you have an 'OTHER' inbox on Facebook?   That's where facebook sends all of the messages that come from people who are NOT your facebook friends.  To check the 'other' inbox, from a computer browser (or browser on mobile device, but NOT THE FACEBOOK APP on a mobile device), click on the messages button on the top of the screen and then click on OTHER when the box opens.  You'll be amazed at what's there ;)  (photos attached for examples!)

The middle thing is your INBOX! 

Notice here on the left that you have an INBOX and OTHER INBOX.