Alberto is an Apple Distinguished Educator from Monterrey, Mexico who focuses on technology integration. His app library includes lots of photography, video, and productivity apps that he finds useful in the classroom.
Tell us about yourself – where you live, your job, things you like to do.
I´m an Apple Distinguished Educator (Class of 2011, México) from Monterrey, México and during the mornings I work at Euroamerican School of Monterrey as an ICT Coach (former math teacher who likes to integrate technology in each of his classes).
During the evenings, I teach at Universidad Regiomontana for the Bachelors in Education program and the Masters in Higher Education program. I teach some classes such as “Technology Integration Class”, “Educational Problems and Perspectives” to teachers and I’m coordinating a Student Program called “P1000”, where students have to get 1000 hours of work experience within the field of study before they graduate – in this case, teaching.
Teaching is my passion and everything I do is done with the purpose of changing people´s lives, whether with technology or not. I love movies as well, and I think one of the best ways to teach is to make students create their own movies, projects that reflect each students’ knowledge.
Which iOS device or devices do you own? Why did you choose iPhone or iPad?
I own an iPod Touch 4G, iPad, and a MacBook Pro. I chose the iPod and iPad because of the flexibility they give me. The mobility of information makes our lives a bit easier. I don´t have to take folders full of papers from one place to another, since I´m using Dropbox for the managing of all my files. The iPad is a great tool for being in contact with all of my students in case they need some extra help (no need to get my MacBook Pro just to chat.)
Is there a particular category of apps that interests you the most?
Photography (most of the movie apps for capturing images, still and dynamic are here) and productivity.
What are your top apps?
Documents to Go Premium is a really helpful way to get your documents “to go”, so if I have to get some files to work at home, Docs To Go really comes in handy.
Blackboard Mobile Learn helps me to be in contact in an easy way with my college students (future colleagues), since we are using this platform for our courses.
iMovie, ToySLR, iTimeLapse, Pro HDR, all of these I use a lot on my classes, and you can use them to create some effects that you could get from an expensive professional camera.
On my downtime, I love to play with Angry Birds (who doesn´t?), Unblock Me, or just edit some family/friends pictures with Photoshop Express or Color Splash and Color Effects.
What apps are popular among your colleagues and friends?
Appolicious, of course, so we can check what the other members are using. Transfer, LogMeIn Ignition, Twitter, Facebook.
Give an example of a time an app was truly useful to you.
I remember a time when my laptop crashed, I needed some files for my work. I used LogMeIn Ignition so I could work on them at a distance and then send them to my principal.
What other Appolicious member do you admire the most and why?
I admire Alline Sada (@alline), Wesley Fryer (@wfryer), lydia2 and Camila Gagliolo (@cgagliolo), since I have learned a lot from their app reviews.
Do you have a blog, Twitter, Facebook, app etc. URL’s you’d like to share?
You can follow me on twitter @javaldez or via email: [email protected], [email protected]
Anything else you’d like to share with the Appolicious audience?
Learning has never been individual at all — it´s social, and there are many members that are sharing (thank you guys!) what they have learned. I hope to contribute more to the community and keep up with your success!
Check out Alberto’s Appolicious App Library.
