Tool #1, 2012-13: iPads
Most of you have had the opportunity to spend the summer with one of the iPads from Park Center's iPad cart. We hope you've enjoyed it and have gotten a lot out of it. Now it is time to share what you have discovered with your peers so that we have the opportunity to learn from the experiences of one another. Towards that end, tool #1 requires you to share at least one use you have found for the iPads in education. To help you in this endeavor and get your juices flowing, please watch the following video and comment on it in the comment box at the bottom of this blog entry. You may want to have your iPad in hand when you view the video.Tool #1 2012-13 Requirements:
1. Select at least one application that you might use with students and share it on http://d279.us/ipadapps Here is a list of favorite teacher apps, if you want some ideas.2. After a while, go back and look at the list of recommendations created by the people in this group. It can be found at: http://d279.us/iPadappslist
3. Try out one of the apps recommended by another participant.
4. Watch the video posted above and make a comment on it, at the bottom of these instructions. You may also want to comment on the apps you have discovered.
5. For members of the Summer iPad User's Group, turn your iPad in to the Media Center by Friday, September 28. We will wipe it and re-image it for student use.
Optional Challenge Activities:
1. We expect the iPads to be back in the cart about a week into October. Check the cart out and use an app with your class.There are 20 iPads in the cart plus one for the teacher. Here's a link to the Booking Calendar.2. Use the Remote View app to project the image shown on the teacher iPad that goes with the cart. This is a 3rd generation iPad, so it has photo & video capability as well as mirroring (the capability to hook it up to your projector), but the student iPads are first generation, without those capabilities.
3. Create a Google Form for a pre-assessment, assessment, or survey and have students complete the form on the iPads. Show the results on the projected iPad.
4. Use the Socratic app to turn the iPads into a student response system.
I feel like iPads could be a good resource for some classes, but unless the students (and teachers) have an iPad in their hands all the time, it's really just a fun toy. I didn't really find anything that I couldn't do on a laptop. The only app that I would maybe use in Chemistry is the NOVA Elements app.
ReplyDeleteAndrea, I do love that Elements app...but is it worth the $200+ it would take to load it onto all 20 student devices?
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting to see how the different teachers used the apps in their content areas. I think that socrative could be a GREAT tool for Language B, however it sounds like it would require a lot of work for just one lesson.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Andrea that unless all students and teachers have an iPad accessible to them every day, it wouldn't be an effective use of time in the classroom.
This weekend, I was at a conference and discovered the free app called "Chirp." It allows an audio signal to play from one device that can then be heard and interpreted by any other device with the app open. The sound is an audio signature for a digital file or address online. It's like a QR code, but as soon as it's transmitted, a while class can click to be taken to the URL. Much easier than having students type in convoluted URLs.
ReplyDeleteI too agree with Andrea - things like Google Docs are great, but can all be done on desktops or laptops. It would be extremely convenient to have iPads so the kids have easy, instant access all the time, but that's the sort of thing that seems to be in the future.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the practical applications. I'm going to bring in my iPad next week and try the Pick Me app, it's cheap, only 1.99. I'd also be interested in using the iForum app with my ALP students when we're reading the Iliad. The epic is long, dense, wonderful, and complex; my kids might need a community to take it apart and offer moral boosting comment.
ReplyDeleteI use the iPad to do live stats for the basketball team and it was so much easier plus I also found many options for additonal stat programs that may be more user friendly. I also began exploring and plan to continue exploring the apps that are available.
ReplyDeleteI really like the Pick Me app. It seems like the perfect tool for formative assessments. It seems like parents are constantly asking about participation during conferences. This would be a really easy way of showing what is happening. Much better than my memory!
ReplyDeleteI think that it was a good way to look at some of the ways that I could possible incorporate the use of the apps/ipad in my classroom. I was struggling to think of some ways to do that, I think that one day this year I may check out the cart and see if I can successfully incorporate some of the ideas/strategies into my classroom.
ReplyDeleteI just came across an article about a potentially revolutionary app that may have potential for our school called NearPod. Here's a link to it: http://edudemic.com/2012/11/nearpod-ipad-app/
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