A different view (same conclusion) on iPad vs. Android Tablets

Earlier today, Fraser Speirs tweeted about an article from Mark Cunningham, who has been implementing a 1:1 Android pilot (140 devices) for the Edinburgh Council.

Important lessons on warranty and repair turnaround from a Scottish school trying Android devices: cunniman.net/?p=1352

—
Fraser Speirs (@fraserspeirs) April 06, 2013

Every now and then, I receive feedback (in person, in an e-mail, on a forum) where an Android tablet owner is upset about the continued success of the iPad, particularly in education (and although it is true more and more Android devices are being sold than iOS devices, iOS is still maintaining a huge percentage of web usage, profits in the industry, and available apps).  Mr. Cunningham, after using Android devices for a year, has this to say:

…After much consideration iPad / iOS is the platform which best meets the needs of our secondary learners. There are two fundamental reasons why I believe we need to change from Android tablets to iPads this year: 1.  Availability of rich learning content All too regularly I come across a fantastic app only to discover that it’s available only for iOS and not Android. I don’t have an exact figure, but I would guess that maybe one third of the educational apps are designed for iOS only (some great examples are GarageBand, Explain Everything,Foldify, KeyNote, Puppet Pals, Brushes, Geoboard to name but a few). Of course that might change in the future as Android continues to catch up, but as things stand this is a problem. 2. Device (and company) robustness As I highlighted in my previous 1:1 posts, Toshiba (note: Toshiba and not Android) have let us down. Badly. The project this year has been hampered by a return to base warranty issue which has meant that at times we were without 20% of all devices and the time to repair was on average a completely unacceptable 4-5 weeks. This was down to a manufacturing / build fault, but despite numerous requests for support Toshiba spent 6 months saying there was nothing they could do. Would Apple have sat back if one fifth of their devices rolled out to a school were faulty? I doubt it, and I doubt Apple would allow such build faults to get past their quality control processes. (I should point out that 7 months into the project Toshiba finally visited our school to review all devices, but in my opinion this was too little too late). Would other Android companies such as Asus or Samsung be any different to Toshiba? Possibly, but I don’t know. Just to be absolutely clear, I am neither an Apple or Android promoter, I just want to ensure we are providing the best educational tech tools to meet the needs of our learners. Currently, in my opinion the iPad is the tablet device which best meets our needs. And next year? Well, who knows…

The topic of this blog is (and remains) the use of technology in music education.  Although I do not have the ability to purchase all devices, I make an attempt to buy a few (such as my Android-running HP TouchPad and the Samsung Google Chromebook, which I am actually using to type this blog post) and to get to big box stores to play with other new technology that I can’t buy.  Cunningham’s two issues are true in music education as much as any other field in education; but I would add that nearly every other technology solution–particularly when it comes to computing, other than the iPad–fails miserably in the music classroom, as well in the classroom of other electives.  My firm belief is that in the current era, when a school chooses another platform for computing (Android, Windows Tablets, Windows PCs, Chromebooks, even MacBooks), they are sending a message that the electives are not important in education, and that technology does not matter in those fields.

Yes, I am pro-iPad.  But I am also pro-technology.  A fellow teacher at my school recently gave me a bit of grief for buying a Chromebook, saying, “The biggest Apple Fanboi I know just bought a Chromebook!”  He was joking, but I replied rather seriously, “Don’t confuse my love for Apple and their solutions with my overall interest in technology and its use in education.”

Put another way, there may be a place in your life for a Chromebook, and Android Tablet, a WIndows PC, or a MacBook.  As I have mentioned, I am using a Chromebook at this moment.  But if you are pursuing a 1:1 educational situation with any of those devices instead of an iPad–then that effort is misplaced, particularly if you endorse a well-rounded liberal arts education.  If you don’t support a well-rounded education, then buy everyone a Windows PC or a MacBook, and be honest about your philosophy of education (most decision-makers are afraid to be honest about this, or deny that they have that bias).

As Cunningham notes (and in fact,so did Fraser Speirs, when originally writing about their adoption of the iPad), “Currently, in my opinion the iPad is the tablet device which best meets our needs. And next year? Well, who knows…”  But here is the thing…you should never buy something for what it might do, but instead buy it for what it currently does.  One of the problems with Android devices is the issue of fragmentation (multiple versions of the OS running on thousands of devices), although the iPad is starting to experience fragmentation, too (The three-year old first generation iPad cannot run iOS 6, and thus a large number of apps).  I know of a number of schools buying Android devices that say, “We expect the app situation on Android to improve.”  And it has–a little.  But Apple’s platform has continued to develop as well, and so has the Apple App Store.  If you are going to spend limited education dollars on technology, you need to have an ear to the ground about what is coming–but also be aware of what the device can do right now.  If you compare Apples to Apples (terrible analogy in this case), then the answer has to be iPad.

Final Note: Fraser Speirs followed with some additional tweets about Mr. Cunningham’s experience with faulty tablets and down time, which he also discusses in his article.  It HAS to be unacceptable to lose 20% of your technology platform at times (as happened in Mr. Cunningham’s situation).  Mr. Speirs noted that he could get a device replaced within a day, versus 4-5 weeks with the Toshiba tablets.  Granted, there are probably better quality Android tablets on the market that would have the operational durability we’ve seen with iPads…but this is a part of the discussion to consider when Android tablets are chosen over iPads.

Post Script: I managed to crash the Google Chromebook while writing this post.

NoteFlight 3.0 is live

A number of my tech blogging friends have already been discussing this on Twitter, but NoteFlight 3.0 is available now. For the record, not all features are working, and quite honestly, that's fine with me. The onscreen keyboard works well with the iPad (although the keys are very small), and I would guess that a touch based interface works more efficiently than a mouse-based interface for this program.

You do, however, need to make sure that Private Browsing is NOT enabled, and that Cookies are tuned on (at least for sites you have visited).

I pulled out my trusty HP TouchPad (running Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich), but NoteFlight isn't working with android yet (there's a message that says Android functionality is coming soon).

This is significant, because as far as I know, there is only one music notation app for the Android platform, Musical Note Pad (free). It's a very basic app, and NoteFlight will instantly pass the functionality of Musical Note Pad the moment it is available.

There will be continuing upgrades to Noteflight's web-based app, and I look forward to importing a MusicXML file I have created in Finale to see what NoteFlight does with it. Additionally, it doesn't look like text can be added to a NoteFlight file…but then again, I'm a novice with this app and it may take a while to learn how to use it. Note entry, from a Finale background, seems to be in line with the “simple note entry” method of entering notes (versus the “speedy note entry” which I use most of the time). I'm definitely much faster at entering notes in Finale…exponentially so.

Right now, I think that Notion for iPad is a better music notation option for the iPad, but the jury is still out as NoteFight is in an active development process with their app. As always, it is wonderful to simply have options.

So…go create an account at NoteFlight (basic services are free) and see what you think!

 

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The Best of 2012

Other websites and blogs are putting out their “Best of 2012″ lists, and that has made me want to write my own best of 2012 list. A word of caution: these are my opinions, and mainly reflect the use of technology in music education. There aren't many surprises in this list, as 2012 was a year of improvement, rather than radical transformation.

Best App: On a daily basis, I am guaranteed to use two apps at school on my iPad: forScore and Keynote. forScore is a PDF music reader, and Keynote is Apple's mobile presentation software. There are other apps that I use for similar purposes (unrealBook, Chromatik, and Explain Everything), but these two apps have been my go-to apps in 2012. Since Keynote continues to lack the ability to (easily) link music and to annotate presentations, the award has to go to forScore.

Best Tablet: As 2012 draws to a close, all of the hype of competing products to the iPad seem to have faded away. The Microsoft Surface has failed to gain traction, and it seems the the Google Nexus, Kindle Fire HD, and Barnes and Noble Nook HD are competing for a distant second place in the tablet market. I truly believe that all of these tablets are wonderful devices, and would be world-changing if we lived in an iPad-less world. But we don't. The iPad still offers a better user experience, a wider variety of quality apps, and a user base that encourages further development. I know the home-brew fans like to tinker with their operating system, and that the Apple tax (in other words, making a profit) is distasteful to some–but at the same time, Apple's continued profit results in continued development–and even the return of some more jobs here in the USA. On a personal note, I think the iPad mini is having a profound effect on the market place (I bought one for my wife for Christmas, and finding anything but a 64 GB iPad mini was nearly impossible). But I don't think the iPad mini is ideal for schools–particularly when it comes to secondary music education. The real winner is the 4th Generation iPad, which is twice as fast as the 3rd Generation device, with generally the same specifications. I bought a 4th Generation iPad, and I've been very happy with it.

Best Accessory: The accessory market has been greatly impacted by the new lightning cable that comes with every 4th Generation iPad, iPad Mini, iPhone 5, and 5th Generation iPod Touch. Manufacturers are just beginning to make accessories with the lightning adapter, so any accessory I recommend will not be a “wired” accessory. The AirTurn seems to continue its dominance as the foot pedal to use with an iPad, although I certainly like my PageFlip Cicada. The Justand is a great accessory for use in the classroom, turning an iPad into an overhead projector or document camera, but most music teachers will not find it as a necessary accessory. So I'll vote for my favorite stylus of 2012, the Maglus. In full disclaimer, my first Maglus broke on me, in a number of ways. The rubber tip cracked, and one of the rubber sides unglued from the stylus, letting the magnets go free (I'm still not sure where they are!). I ordered a second Maglus, which now offers a replaceable tip. So far, my new Maglus is holding up. I also very much like our Vers 1Q speaker. Look for a review of the Vers 2Q soon!

Most Exciting Music Ed Tech Product of 2012: Without a doubt, Chromatik is the most exciting product to hit the market in 2012. Chromatik is a way for musicians to share music with each other, and there are a few other features with more to come. Chromatik made a splash via American Idol and several rounds of funding (including one from Bruno Mars), putting it on the map long before it emerged as a product the public could use. A very good iPad app is available, or you can use your computer/Flash to read music. You can also make a recording of yourself and send it to others. The service is free, and they've even had a campaign where they will give an iPad to a school if they get 100 students to sign up for the service (yes, my school did this). It's going to be exciting to watch the features that are added to Chromatik in the coming months.

Most Improved App: Sneaking “under the wire” is Notion for iPad, which is the best music notation app for the iPad. It's main competitor, Symphony Pro, has simply disappeared from the App Store as well as from the web (there is a note that Symphony Pro 3 is coming soon, with no other news). Notion has made it clear that the iPad app is going to be greatly improved in the coming months, and they've started by adding some of the most requested features to the app at the end of December.

Most Shocking News: Also from Notion. They released their 4th Version of their PC/Mac program, and priced it at $100.

Best Free Program: MuseScore, a free music notation software program, is becoming more functional with every update, and is a real contender to Finale and Sibelius. It can't do everything Finale and Sibelius can do, and there is very limited technical support (unlike Finale's free tech support). But it is free and it works.

Most Anticipated App for 2013: SmartMusic for iPad. It is coming in the spring of 2013 to an iPad near you. SmartMusic can revolutionize how students prepare music, as well as how they are assessed–and this will be even more true when the SmartMusic is available on school and personal iPads. Expect many music programs to request iPads in place of “traditional” computers in the coming months.

Most Useful Blog: I keep track of several hundred blogs, and the blog that always seems to bring the most insight is The Loop by Jim Dalrymple. Jim is used by Apple to unofficially verify or deny specific Apple rumors at launch time. He is gregarious, and seldom writes more than a paragraph at a time. However, he links to full articles of all kinds. A word of warning: he's not afraid to use foul language online, which can be abrasive and not-safe-for-work or children (although he almost always uses it for humor–particularly on Twitter). I also enjoy reading every article by the Macalope. The best tech tips have been on OS X Daily.

Worst Update: I really liked Skitch, an annotation app, before it was bought by Evernote and “updated.” Skitch 1.0 was so easy to use; Skitch 2.0 is not as easy to use, and Skitch 1.0 drawings are stored in an unusual way.

Most Promising Feature: The text editing in WriteUp, a typing app for iPad. It allows you to quickly scroll through text, and a lot of people think Apple should buy this feature and integrate it.

The App Recommended By My Students: Notability. My iPad-using students have searched for apps that make their life better. Notability allows them to import a worksheet as a PDF, write directly on it, and send it back to a teacher. Workflow always seems to be a challenge on the iPad, and it is great to see when students can figure out a better way around. I still like Noteshelf for notetaking, but it is taking Noteshelf too long to add PDF import.

Most Useful Utility: Dropbox. I have two accounts: a school account and a personal account. I can share the entire school account with my students, and can share particular folders with that account, without having to open my own account to students. So many apps take advantage of Dropbox. I can only hope that iCloud starts to offer some of these features in the future. Deep Dish Designs GigBook (a PDF Music Reader) recently added Dropbox integration.

Best Android App for Music: EZ PDF Reader, although far from being forScore or unrealBook, seems to be the best option for PDF music reading on the iPad, at least until Chromatik comes out with a native app (or HTML 5 app) for Android. Mobile Sheets added annotation, but I found that feature to be hard to use.

In closing, most of my “Best of 2012″ items are not new to the marketplace. It was a year of refinement, and a good one at that. As schools are on the precipice of going all-digital, we need to keep several things in mind. First, not all courses are “core classes” with a desk. Although notebooks and Chromebooks are enticing–particularly on price–we have to ask if those devices fit in all classrooms. Second, music publishers need to find a way to push music out digitally at a lower cost than printed music, as well as to convert existing libraries or allow teachers to legally convert existing libraries for a very small fee. Third, notation software companies should be researching the ideal formatting on a tablet (both iPad and wide-screen Android), and should be offering that formatting as a template to music publishers (and anyone that “prints” music). Realistically, you should be able to buy or print a score that is ideally formatted for your device, whether you sing in a choir or play in band, orchestra, or a garage band. The iPad wouldn't be “too small for music” if the music was formatted for the iPad's screen. Finally, it is time for all software companies to get on the bandwagon of iOS, if not Android as well. It was prudent for companies to wait it out…but that time has passed. Nothing should be programmed solely with Adobe's Flash. Every major piece of software should have an iOS version–if only a reader–as part of the “package.” Just one example: shouldn't a marching band field show be available both on the PC/Mac and the iPad? Why is there no iPad version? Wouldn't you want that entire show with you on the field, with the ability to make edits? And shouldn't you be able to distribute that entire show to your student's iPads (along with their music)?

2013 promises to be an exciting year in technology and in technology in music education. I'm looking forward to it and talking about it as it develops!

 

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Another reason why notebook computers and widescreen tablets are not the answer in 1:1 implementation (in music)

I just arrived home from school (10:40pm) after the latest performance of our school’s musical.  I’ve been working on moving our current literature to Chromatik so my students can have access to those resources–if they wish–via Chromatik at home.  Overall, the process is easy, and there have been some small glitches (some PDFs just do not want to upload).   But for the most part, it works.

I opened Chromatik on my MacBook today, and set the view to full screen mode.  To my surprise, the choral music I’ve uploaded is nearly illegible.  As a matter of full disclosure, I need to get my eyes checked, as I am far sighted and my forty-year-old eyes just can’t focus on close objects like they once did.  But I can see a MacBook screen just fine.  Here’s a screen shot from my MacBook–you’ll see what I mean:

I have a thirteen-inch MacBook, so perhaps a fifteen-inch MacBook would do a better job of rendering these pages.  But to be honest, I’m skeptical if any widescreen notebook computer can do Chromatik justice.  I do think that a twenty-one or twenty-seven inch iMac would be up to the task…but my MacBook (and I think the thirteen-inch is the most common size) just doesn’t show Chromatik’s resources very well.

Now, here’s the ironic part: the iPad does an unbelievable job with Chromatik’s same resources.  Here’s an image from my iPad of the same song:

 

The iPad app from Chromatik seems to take some the white space out of the sides of the original document, and the image is 100% clear and legible.  My iPad is a 4th Generation with Retina screen, and both MacBooks that I use (home and school) are non-Retina, but I’m pretty sure I would have the same issues trying to read this music on a Retina screen, too…here’s why:

Simply put, the iPad gains nearly 2″ of diagonal space over the MacBook.  In other words, the MacBook has nearly the same height of display as an iPad Mini.  So if you are viewing music two pages at a time on Chromatik, the image is going to be significantly smaller and hard to read than on a full-sized iPad; and the iPad Mini may even make a better option, as the images on the Chromatik iPad app might be tweaked for that application.

Don’t get me wrong here…I’m not complaining about Chromatik (in fact, I’m praising their iPad app and its use of screen space), but I’m making a statement about widescreen versus 4:3 devices.

It comes down to this: Rueben Puentedura’s SAMR model, where the first step of technology integration is SUBSTITUTION.  I stand convinced–even more so at this moment than a week ago, and I was already convinced–that the primary way to get technology into music education is as a substitute for music.  The AMR of SAMR will follow.  If your school adopts widescreen computers (MacBook, Windows, or Chrome), you simply will not be able to easily integrate those devices into your middle school and high school programs, which are heavily skewed towards BCO (Band, Choir, Orchestra).  If you integrate, you have to enter at the M or R phases of SAMR (Modification, Redefinition), and that’s an unnatural jump.

It’s an interesting point, because there are companies that have made good use of widescreen formatting, such as MakeMusic with SmartMusic.  But the truth is that MakeMusic can modify SmartMusic to a 4:3 format without too much hassle because they have already been working with making music visible on a reduced-height screen.  Some of the menus that exist in SmartMusic can always be moved to a drop-down format on an iPad app.  So in other words, it isn’t a “stretch” to take a widescreen resource and modify it for 4:3.

The reverse, however, isn’t true.  Putting 4:3 on a widescreen device isn’t very nice.  Think about it: we’re used to word processing on 16:9 or 16:10 widescreen monitors because we have to.  But the truth is that it isn’t natural, and you have to do a lot of scrolling.  I’m having to do so as I type this post on WordPress!  Even Finale, my music notation software of choice, is something that we get used to using in widescreen, but in reality, most of the material exported out of the program is in a 4:3 format of some kind.  So even that isn’t natural, but we accept it because we always have done so.  Let’s be honest: widescreen is for the benefit of the video industry.  And it is great for movies.  But for the rest of life, it stinks.

So if you want 4:3, what are your options?  I know of 3, and only three, at this time: the iPad, a Coby 4:3 tablet, and the Kuno tablet.  All desktop and notebook computers feature widescreen monitors, and nearly all the other Android and Windows 8 tablets are widescreen.

The push for widescreen devices come from subjects or IT personnel that either a) have resources that require a specific platform (1), or b) hate Apple.  Meanwhile, music and a huge number of other subject areas could benefit from a 4:3 device integrated into their curriculum.  This includes family and consumer science, visual art/graphic design, physical education, and any subject that deals with 4:3 original resources (including digital photography!).

So, this entire blog entry, basically a rant against widescreen devices in 1:1 situations, is due because of my experience with Chromatik today as I looked at a score in full screen view on my MacBook, and compared it to my iPad.  Here’s my suggestion: go register for Chromatik, and then download the free app on your iPad.  Compare the program on your computer to your iPad, and see if you come to the same conclusion.  Friends don’t let friends adopt widescreen devices in 1:1 settings.

Notes

(1) Ironically, a school adopting a device like an iPad or even the Kuno (another 4:3 device) could save so much money versus outfitting a school with MacBooks or another computer that the money saved could provide sets of mobile computer labs for those specific subjects needing specific hardware, such as PLTW biomedical studies or PLTW engineering.

(2) Although I don’t reference this in the blog, I’m still wary of the Chromebook, as I don’t see how it can ever find a “S” in the SAMR model for music and many other subjects.  Most of the raving Chromebook reviews I see by teachers and students are focused on the “core areas” where computers are basically used for web searching, citations, calendars, blogs, and writing papers.  Technology integration and 1:1 is supposed to be more than simply substituting a device in place of taking your class to your media center’s computer lab.  Simply using a 1:1 technology for glorified word processing isn’t integration…it’s something else.

 

 

The Kuno Tablet

While I was at the IMEA Professional Development Conference, two teachers asked me about the Kuno tablet and how it could be used in music education.

I didn't know anything about the Kuno, and between having a number of other things going on in my life (our musical opens on Friday night), I haven't had a chance to look at the Kuno tablet. I've now had the opportunity to see what the Kuno is about, and I can give you some early opinions, which are not based on actually using a Kuno. I have written Kuno, asking if they would consider letting me try a demo unit (the first time I've made such a request)–and since I included this website, I would assume that they will read this article before making a decision on the matter. Regardless, here are my first thoughts…

• The Kuno is a 4×3 tablet. This makes more sense in a paper-centered world (which is the very definition of education as we know it in 2012).
• The Kuno runs Android 4.0. It's unclear if it will be upgradeable to 4.1 or other upcoming Android versions.
• I cannot tell if these devices can be “centrally controlled.” That has been a negative of other Android tablets, including the UnoBook.
• Likewise, I am not certain if you install apps through the Google Play Store, the Amazon Android Store, or another method (or all of the above).
• The Kuno has some nice features, including front and rear camera (lower resolution than the iPad), a MicroSD card slot, and HDMI out (see their website for the full list).
• I have a preference on the type of tablet I would buy, but I certainly would never begrudge someone else for choosing a different tablet. The limitations of the Kuno–in my opinion–ultimately are related to the limitations of Android.

1. There is currently no way to mirror an Android tablet to a screen wirelessly, as with AirPlay on iOS. This is pretty important in the current model of technology integration.
2. The apps available for Android in music education are really limited–many are “just” phone apps–unlike the rich offerings on iOS. Certainly, there are some crossovers (ClearTune, SmartMusic Inbox), but in general, your most basic “substitution” apps (PDF sheet music readers) just aren't in the same category.

• I need to make this exceptionally clear: these two main issues are NOT the fault of Kuno but of the Android OS itself. The 4×3 screen in and of itself makes the Kuno worth checking out.
• Battery life seems adequate. It isn't iPad 4 efficient, but seven hours of video should be enough to get you through the day, and Kuno sells a number of accessories including an “emergency charger” should a student forget to charge their device.
• My guess is that schools with anti-Apple IT directors will be more likely to go with an Android tablet than an iPad. I was anti-Apple at one point in my life, too, so I understand that. I'd give those IT directors a pat on the back for at least being open to changing platforms (moving from Windows or Linux to Android isn't a fluid process, either).
• My guess is for most subjects that require the ability to do research, write papers, and create presentations, the Kuno will be completely in its element. Where it will likely struggle is in the electives where specialized software is needed. Again, this isn't a Kuno problem, it is an Android issue.

At any rate, I'd love to play with a Kuno to see what it could do over my “hacked” HP TouchPad (I would expexct a device created to run Android to be better at running Android). I'd also be interested to see pricing on each unit. In March, the UnoBook (the closest competitor to the Kuno, although featuring an 8″ screen and not the 9.7″ screen of the Kuno) was $297. Obviously, the pricing of the Kuno has to make sense against a $399 iPad 2.

If your school district bought the Kuno, or another Android tablet, what are the answers for music education? Truthfully, I don't have a long list of answers. You could try either EZ PDF Reader or Mobile Sheets for sheet music. You can purchase ClearTune. You can use SmartMusic Inbox. There are various pianos and other music games. But I'm not sure what other answers exist. MuseScore just released a MuseScore reader for Android, too. Some of the Android tablets have a “locked” set of apps (such as the UnoBook), making the installation of these additional apps a challenge. And central management is really important, particularly from the onset of a 1:1 program (or even classroom sets).

I'll certainly report back if I hear from the folks at Kuno (I don't expect or demand an answer).

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