Thing 3 Utilities

3. Utilities

"There are a lot of utility apps that can turn your phone or tablet into a really useful tool. Your device can be a calculator or clock, or you could use it to print, schedule, or scan QR codes. You may not want to do all of these things, but there are bound to be some utility apps that could help you."  http://23mobilethingsmn.org/the-23-things/3-utilities/

To scan QR codes, I use QR Droid.  I used this frequently when I did a project for one of our HS English classes with 2 sections of reluctant reader.  I created QR code bookmarks for titles that the teacher approved and had students peruse the books using their own QR code scanners to see book summaries of each tiitle.  The teacher shared with me that because of the QR codes and the connected YouTube book summaries, students chose books that never would have appealed to them had they only had to pick them off of the library shelves.  The goal for this project was to get reluctant readers interested in age appropriate content that would upwardly stretch their reading levels.  This project was a big success and the teacher has asked me to add additional titles to the list of pulled books for her class to choose from for their 2nd semester reading project.

I am rather careful about which apps I put on my phone and will usually turn the feature OFF that has them running in the backround.  I guess I value my battery life.

I would not use the iHome Sleep app, but I do use the 'My Fitness Pal' app as if it were a food diary.  I periodically update my food menu blog with the help of My Fitness Pal.  I started a food blog a few years ago to compile the recipes and menu rotation that I use for our family suppers.  I am rather inconsistent in recording our meals, but intend to share my recipe depository with our children who now are married and living on their own.

Wifi finder- My phone settings notify me when there is available wifi and is set to only update applications via available wifi to cut down on my data used.

Browsers- I have not had problems with Chrome crashing on my phone, so I don't have a need to load another browser at this time.