Wappwolf - Drag Files to Dropbox and Automatically Convert Them To Multiple Formats

If you're like me and you have multiple devices that you use on a frequent basis, Wappwolf is a Dropbox client that you have to check out. Wappwolf allows you to upload files to your Dropbox account by dragging and dropping from your desktop. Once you have set all of your Wappwolf options you can have specific synchronization and conversion actions applied to the files that you upload.

Some of the automated options that you can apply to your Wappwolf account include syncing to specific folders in you Dropbox account, converting files into various file types (I chose to have all PDFs convert to TXT) syncing files to your Kindle, syncing files to Google Docs (now a part of Google Drive), or automatically convert your files to ePub for viewing on iPads. You can also use Wappwolf to have image files automatically shared to Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

Learn more about Wappwolf in the video below.


Applications for Education
For teachers and students who use multiple devices and need to be able to access their files in a variety of formats, Wappwolf could be a fantastic tool to use in conjunction with Dropbox. Have a series of audio recordings from your students that need to be converted for use in multimedia projects? Upload them through Wappwolf and they'll be automatically converted in the file format of your choice. Have a series of documents that you want students to be able to read on their iPads, but don't have them in ePub format? Upload them through Wappwolf and have them all converted for you.

Two Tools for Reading ePub Files in Your Browser

ePub documents are everywhere now. But if you don't have an ereader, you might feel like you're missing out on something. Fortunately, there are some tools that you can use to read ePub documents on your laptop or desktop. Here are two tools that I have used to read ePub documents on my laptop.

EPUBReader is a Firefox add-on that will allow you to read ePub documents within your browser. EPUBReader downloads ePub files and displays them directly in your browser. The video below offers a short demonstration.



Magic Scroll is a Chrome web app that you can use to read ePub files on your desktop or laptop even if you do not have an internet connection.

If you want to convert webpages into ePub documents, dotEPUB is a good Chrome web app for that. I previously wrote about dotEPUB in October. Here is a video overview of dotEPUB.



Applications for Education
Both of these browser add-ons could be good to have installed on your school's library computers or computer lab computers. If students are conducting research and encounter an ePub document, they will be able to access it without the need to send it to an ereader.

2EPUB - A Free Doc to ePub Converter

One of last month's most popular posts was about a free tool called dotEPUB that you can use to create ePub documents. Shortly after writing that blog post Greg Kulowiec told me about a similar tool called 2EPUB.

2EPUB provides a simple way to convert your text documents into ePub documents for viewing on ereaders. 2EPUB supports the conversion of many file types including Doc, Docx, ODT, PDF, and HTML. To convert your file into an ePub file simply upload your file, set the display parameters, and click convert. When the conversion is complete you can download your file and use it on any device that supports ePub display.

Applications for Education
If you or your students create documents that you would like to make available for viewing on ereaders, 2EPUB could be just the tool you need. Take those study guides you created as Doc or RTF files and make them accessible to students on the go through their ereaders.

dotEPUB - Convert Any Webpage into an ePub Document

dotEPUB is a free service that allows you to convert the content of a webpage into an ePub format to read on your tablet, phone, or other ereader device. dotEPUB can be used as a browser bookmarklet in Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Chrome. In Chrome you can also use the dotEPUB Chrome extension. With the bookmarklet or browser extension installed just click it to activate, convert the webpage, and send it to your ereader device.

For bloggers, dotEPUB offers a widget that you can install to enable visitors to convert your blog posts to ePub format. I looked through the widget documentation and have to say that while the directions are clear, installing the widget might not be easy for those who get nervous opening up the source code of their blogs.

The video below offers an overview of installing and using the dotEPUB bookmarklet.


Applications for Education
dotEPUB could be a great tool for students to take content from your course blog or website and put it on their ereaders for easy access wherever they go. You could also use dotEPUB to create an ePub portfolio of your students' blogging efforts.

Isn't This What Orwell Predicted?

Update: Thanks to Crystal Priest I now have some clarification on this issue. Apparently this filtering setting wasn't entirely intentional on the part of the D.O.E. or anyone else at the state level. The filtering problem arose with way the new image was constructed. You can read the details here. If you read the documentation you'll find this phrase which still reflects the issue I bring up in the post below: "the default behavior is to log all web page requests."

My original post follows:
In the state of Maine, all high school and middle school teachers are issued a MacBook by the state department of education. This morning I was using mine (I alternate between it and another computer in my house) to check Twitter. Someone posted a link to an interesting ebook creation service called ePub Bud. I clicked the link, visited the ePub Bud homepage thought, "I could use this," and clicked the "create" link. Instead of being taken to the creation page on ePub Bud, I got this:












I had seen that message before on other teachers' computers (it was actually a problem at a recent state conference), but it was the first time I had personally experienced it. Now I do have administrative rights to override this restriction, but most teachers in the state do not. What this tells me is the state doesn't trust its teachers to make good choices for themselves. Or am I just being paranoid? What do you think about the state's parental controls on the computers they want teachers to use?