Only 1 iPad in the Classroom? [for additional ELA/Reading specific apps and ideas see Reading on the iPad] Is only one iPad in a classroom worth it? This question keeps reappearing on the EC Ning and in other blog spaces. The answer is easy: YES, especially if the teacher has access to a Mac desktop or (preferably) laptop and a wifi network in the classroom. If more iPads are in the future, you might want to check out iPad App Reviews and iPad 3C's: Some Planning Questions. Setup and Projection You will definitely need to set up a unique Apple ID (iTunes acct.) with a password that is kept secret from the students. OK - I have apps, now what can I do with them?
My favourite iPad Apps for the classroom - Keith Rispin » Keith Rispin I spend a lot of time reflecting about my use of iPads in the classroom and I have gotten a lot of attention and positive feedback about my glass half full approach to evaluating these marvelous little devices. Lately however, I have been getting asked “What are your favorite iPad apps for classroom?” and My response isn’t much more then a very thoughtful “ummmmmm?” This is mainly because the list is rather short and hardly impressive and it is strangely missing most of the big names in Apps for Education. What follows is a short list of My 6 favorite iPad Apps for the classroom. Finally, keep in mind that this list is by no means intended to be the last word in Apps for educators. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for some more reviews on Apps for Pro D and other School related stuff.
Keys to Implementing a Laptop Program Connecticut's Thomas Edison Middle School issued every one of the school's 6th graders a laptop computer. More than 30 major planning meetings and countless person-hours went into the rollout, which was declared a success by everyone involved. How did they do it? Driving up to Thomas Edison Middle School (TEMS) in Meriden, Connecticut, you might think you were approaching a high-tech corporation. The day Education World visited the school, something else dramatic was going on: One of the three sixth-grade teams was issuing each of its 80 students a laptop computer. "We looked at all the information on laptop programs that we could find," said Dan Metz, senior systems network engineer for Area Cooperative Educational Services (ACES), the inter-district agency that governs the school. If the prospect of implementing that plan sounds daunting, perhaps you'd like to know that you're right. The benefits of each of those key principles were in evidence the day of the laptop rollout.
Parent Resources As a 1:1 learning environment, Burlington Public Schools are committed to preparing students to be responsible and productive digital citizens. To achieve this goal, all schools in the district provide age appropriate digital citizenship education. Topics in the curriculum include Internet safety, privacy and security, online relationships and communication, information literacy and copyrights, cyberbullying and self-image. Extending digital citizenship education beyond the classrooms and into the home is the best way to support your children as they navigate their way through an increasingly complex digital world. Being aware of current and emerging technologies, including social media, is important in keeping your children safe and productive online. Image Credit: Cyberwise.org CYBERWISEExcellent resources for parents are available from Cyberwise.org. Image Credit:remakelearning.org Image Credit:wikipedia.org Image Credit:ConnectSafely.org Image Credit:Pixabay.com Image Credit:edutopia.org
8 Great Free Web Resources Focused on Using the iPad in Education The popularity of the iPad in our schools continues to grow, and with it, the proliferation of related web articles, tips, how-to's, and so on. This week we searched out some excellent free Internet based web sites and resources dedicated to the use of the iPad in the instructional setting. 1. Apple's Education Resources for the iPad It should come as no surprise that the iPad's maker has done a good job of putting together pages dedicated to education related applications and uses for it's popular tablet. Here Apple has put together links to apps grouped by Academic Subject. 2. 3. iPadCurriculum.com ( This is a unique site, in that it has a great side bar for searching for content. 4. iPadinSchools.com ( This site is a blog and resource listing, and a set of resources worth being aware of are their collections of apps organized by grade level. 5. 6. 8. Bonus!
iPad - Keith Rispin » Keith Rispin Well, it looks like another school year is on a collision course with my summer vacation, so I guess I better start being useful again. Since my usefulness generally doesn’t go much beyond the 9.7 inch dimensions of an iPad screen, I figured I should pen a preseason post on using iPads in the Classroom. As I type this post, truckloads of iPads are being delivered and prepared for use in classrooms all over the world. Educational institutions are jumping on board the runaway train called the Apple Express, even though we have yet to prove that the iPad is the best personal electronic device for the classroom. Undeniably, these are exciting times for tech geeks like me but what about my colleagues who are not sold on iPad mania but feel they need to step into the fray? The devices are sitting in the principal’s office primed and ready to use but there has yet to be any Pro D on how to use these $500 paperweights? You curse under your breath and frantically change gears.
One-to-One Laptop Schools/San Diego Alway-on Learning: The one-to-one laptop initiative in San Diego[edit] Introduction[edit] The San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) serves over 130,000 students at 187 different sites. This makes SDUSD the eighth largest district in the United States. It is an urban district with close to 70% of its students receiving free or reduced school lunch. The student community is very diverse with large percentages of both Hispanic and Asian students. For the last few years, SDUSD has been developing plans to give each of their students access to a computer on a regular basis, an arrangement that is known as one-to-one computing. At one time, one-to-one laptop initiatives were big news in education circles. Always-on Learning[edit] Phase one[edit] The first phase of the Always-on Learning initiative was rolled out in March of 2007. Phase two[edit] Phase two of the program was initiated in February of 2008. A new direction[edit] Wireless access at home[edit] Conclusion[edit] References[edit]
Burlington High School Help Desk | A student run genius bar App Evaluation Program for Schools | HappiPapi If you are an educator you can now test Happi Papi’s and other developers’ high quality learning apps for free. Apply below to receive 3-4 new apps every month. How it works: Approximately every 7-10 days participating teachers will get an email describing the new app being released. In the email there will be a link where interested teachers can order a free copy of the app in question. Apply The program is free of charge and there are no obligations. Please note that we use an email service to send out the apps in the program. Please take a moment and help us by clicking recommend below to tell your fellow teachers.
The 60-Second Guide To Teaching With Tablets 5 Reasons We Use Social Media 9.58K Views 0 Likes There are many reasons we use social media. Information Technology / One-to-One Initiative Roadmap In 2000, Kent School District passed its first Technology Levy since 1988. With this funding came increased equity of access to technology to students. The basis of this commitment led the KSD Board of Directors to create a road map to guide all future technology projects and funding. This road map enabled the various groups and teams involved with the One-to-One Laptop Initiative to lay important groundwork, including fiber infrastructure, increasing wireless access points, developing a hardware life cycle, and centralizing district servers. Joint Initiative In 2004, plans began to fall into place to launch an exciting new venture: one laptop for each student. Strategic Goals Embarking on a One-to-One Laptop Initiative is no small task. Starting Small In 2005, the Kent Technology Academy opened at Mill Creek Middle School. The success of the first year of this program led to a second year with the addition of more teaching staff and another grade level of students.
About The Student Technology Innovation and Integration course, open to students in grades 10, 11, and 12, is a semester long, hands on study of technology integration in an educational context. Students are required to assess problem sets throughout the day and define the best approach to addressing or solving the problem. In addition to solving problems for students and teachers, students will be required to complete and maintain several running projects that address problems or solutions in educational technology integration. The course also asks students to have a prior understanding of Apple OS, Microsoft Windows OS, and the iPad iOS. To be considered for Help Desk, students are required to interview with the Instructional Technology Specialist, members of the Burlington Public School Ed Tech Team, as well as the BHS administration. Interviews are held in the late spring. Help Desk is an exciting program to be a part of at Burlington High School. Like this: Like Loading...
An introductory guide to iPads for Teachers I’m delivering some iPad training to a school tomorrow, so thought it might be useful to collate some of the links I’ve been putting together for the session. The session is concentrating mainly on teachers using the iPads for their own professional use, rather than being used as a classroom resource, but a lot of the apps below will be suitable for use by students too. I’ll do another post sometime of great apps for different subject areas. Here’s some of the useful apps I’d recommend investigating. File storage / Transfer Dropbox Dropbox is probably one of the most useful applications I’ve used in years. Other apps also work with Dropbox too. Word Processing / Office Capability Documents to Go Microsoft have yet to release an Office app for the iPad – so there’s a need to look at alternatives. The spreadsheet would make it possible to set up grade books and student record sheets without having to buy additional gradebook applications. Note taking Also worth taking a look at these apps too :
An Apple for the teacher: are iPads the future in class? | Teacher Network Blog | Guardian Professional I'm a self-confessed Apple fanatic so I was curious to see how iPads and iPods could be used successfully in a primary school. I was sure they would inspire and encourage the teachers I work with to take a chance and think outside their comfort zone and embrace new technology. But before our school jumped on the iPad bandwagon, I wanted to determine how these devices were going to offer a better learning experience compared to the laptops that we already had in our school. My 'iPad journey' began approximately a year ago, when I bought an iPad 2. Having seen the huge potential of the iPads as an educational tool, I decided to investigate the pros and cons of iPads compared to laptops in the classroom. In my mind these were the pros: • Ease and speed of use and accessibility: The touch interface and app system on the iPad makes it easy to access learning tools. And here are the cons: Initially, five members of staff (head, deputy, phase leaders and ICT co-ordinator) were given an iPad.