initialpd

====Educators in the 21st century are mobile. They need to stay connected, have access to their existing digital media, create new documents, collaborate, communicate, and plan. Before deploying tablets, it is critical that all educators receive ample professional development well ahead of deployment to students. One consistent request from teachers has been thorough professional development, aimed at their own productivity, allowing them to feel personally comfortable prior to having a room full of devices. In this case, we use an iPad to create sample kickoff professional development for all levels of educators in a district in which a "digital backpack" approach is planned. These devices is a great tool that allows users to have their email, calendar, communication tools, newsfeeds, presentations, teacher/student interaction documentation, and notes all on one small device! The number of apps can be overwhelming, so I always suggest having your main productivity apps on the first screen. Move your secondary, less important, and entertainment apps to a separate screen. Let's create a digital backpack with your iPad.====

__Part Two **- An Educator's iPad Office Suite**__:
====It is not possible to connect a usb thumb drive to an iPad, because there is no need to. Most users simply use cloud storage. For example, create a Dropbox account on a desktop/laptop to store documents (create the account, then install on desktop, laptop, iPad - consider it a portable "My Documents" folder.). If you're just going to __open__ Word/Powerpoint files on your iPad, Dropbox will do that just fine. If you want to edit/create Word/Powerpoint, then you or the district will need to invest in a paid app. Mac users may want to go with Keynote and Pages. Windows users will probably want to explore QuickOffice Pro or Documents to Go.====

Reference apps:

 * ====Merriam Webster Dictionary====
 * ====Howcast====
 * ====Wikipanion====
 * ====WebMD====

News apps:

 * ====CNN====
 * ====USA Today====
 * ====Fox News====
 * ====NPR====

Webinars on iPad:

 * ====Webex====
 * ====Go To Meeting====
 * ====Adobe Connect====