The Capability Project

Archive for Learning

never too late to learn

6 December, 2011 Featured, Learning, Technology No comments

My iPad for Seniors course was featured last week in the Herald Sun, with a headline that is SO apt – “never too late to learn”. What I’m constantly amazed by in the Seniors courses I lead is that the attendees consistently continue to amaze me with their great attitudes towards learning, and have even more enthusiasm than many younger people I train.

Sharon Pakir's ipad for seniors course at centre for adult education featured in herald sun

Featured in Herald Sun Wednesday 30 Nov 2011

I asked one particularly energetic older lady about this once, and her answer was simple. She said, “you see, we have been there and done that, and we know that without effort, there is no learning, and we also know that without learning, there is no magic formula to success in life.”

So simple, so true, and something to remember.

Update iTunes for iOS5

12 October, 2011 Learning, Technology One comment

As a PART 2 to the earlier tutorial today about updating your iPad/iPhone apps for iOS5 readiness, I thought I’d also do a quick runthrough of how to make sure your iTunes software on your computer is also updated and ready to go for iOS5.

Because your iOS5 update will be done by connecting and syncing your iPad/iPhone to your computer with iTunes, it’s important to make sure your iTunes is ready to go too. The iTunes update is super easy, and will take only a few minutes.

Note: The following tutorial is on a MAC laptop but it shouldn’t be too different on a PC.

1. This morning, when I woke up and opened iTunes, this message came up on my screen:

Click on DOWNLOAD, of course!

2. If you don’t see this message, you can also manually get it by clicking on iTunes, and Check for Updates as shown below.

(On a PC, you’d click on File and Check for Updates).

And you’d get the same message as before:

3. Click on Download iTunes. On a MAC, the following window appears:

new software updates available on macbookpro

here you can see the software update details

Click on install.

4. You then watch the update download – which shouldn’t take very long at all (mine took 2 minutes.)

watch the update happen!

The window where the update happens changed to this because I still had iTunes open:

I simply clicked on Close Applications and Install.

And the update kept going.

I kept watching until it changed to this:

SUCCESS IS SWEET!

SUCCESS, as you can see above!

The next time you open iTunes, you’ll see this message:

Simply click AGREE.

Congratulations, your iTunes has now been updated, and you can now go on to get iOS5 as soon as it becomes available!

(PS, if you missed the tutorial on updating your apps on your iPad/iPhone, please check it out too!)

Update your iPad/iPhone apps for iOS5

12 October, 2011 Learning, Technology One comment

Hello my lovelies,

Well I woke up in a flurry of excitement this morning because it is iOS5 day, meaning tonight or tomorrow, you’ll be updating your iPads/iPhones to have the latest software update by Apple, also giving you access to a bunch of cool, new features.

In preparation and anticipation, I’m updating all my apps today because many app developers are adding on iOS5 functionality to keep up with Apple’s software update. Many of my students aren’t aware of how to do this, so I’ve outlined this quickly here.

(Just a note – this App Update process is a useful thing to do every few weeks with or without Apple software updates happening – so your apps can continue to function well and make sure you have the latest version. App updates are free and easy to do – and take all of 5 minutes!)

1. Make sure you are connected to WI-FI (so your app updates download smoothly and faster).

2. Tap on your App store icon on your home screen. You can see from the picture of my App store icon below, that there are 19 updates available (by the red number in the corner).

3. Once the App Store opens, in the bottom right hand corner, tap on Updates.

4. A list of available updates will show. You can see what the updates are for – you’ll see in this case many of them are to provide iOS5 compatibility but they can also be for bug fixes, upgrades, or more.

Tap on UPDATES in the bottom right hand corner, then UPDATE ALL in the top right hand corner.

5. Tap on Update All in the top right hand corner of the screen.

6. Enter your iTunes password.

enter your itunes password for app updates

enter your password, and tap OK.

7. My iPad then asked me to accept the new iTunes store terms and conditions, so I went ahead and did that. (You may not have to do it, but I find it’s pretty consistent with most people’s iPads from time to time).