Top 10 Things NOT to do in a 1:1 iPad Initiative « Part of the benefit of jumping forward with a 1:1 iPad deployment like we have tried is that we get the opportunity to impart knowledge to other districts looking to do a similar initiative. While that might not seem like a benefit, it actually also means we can make some mistakes because there is not a long history of this type of deployment in the world. Many districts have had 1:1 Laptop projects, which we have benefited from and could easily be applied to this list I’m about to share. 1. 2. We planned the launch day as perfectly as we could have, but there are always a couple of issues to deal with. 3. Don’t Ctrl 4. 5. 6. It’s not all about scores kids…heh heh! 7. It may be the easiest and most publicized metric to measure kids with, but it’s far from the most accurate when you are talking about changing the culture of learning and customizing a student’s school experience through a 1:1 program. Teachers without a CMS 9. Like this: Like Loading...
ScreenChomp 10 Steps to a Successful School iPad Program Portions excerpted from new book, "iPad in Education for Dummies" by Sam Gliksman iPads have certainly become a highly desired commodity in education. Apple is reporting that schools are purchasing iPads by a ratio of 2:1 over MacBooks. Stated simply, technology alone doesn’t have the capacity to improve education. Well-planned technology deployments have the potential to have a remarkably transformative impact on schools and students. 1. Do you have adequate incoming Internet bandwidth to connect all the devices and use them at the same time? 2. Can you explain why you have decided to purchase iPads? It’s the question that’s rarely discussed before the decision is made to rush out and purchase new technology. 3. "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. " --Albert Einstein There’s a natural inclination to stay in your comfort zone. 4. 5. It’s important to remember that iPads are not laptops. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
5 Tips to Prepare Teachers for 1:1 iPad Projects | Terice T. Schneider's Digital Home After talking to many of my colleagues over the last few days, I realize there are many schools looking at some version of iPad deployment and they want to do it right. In order for the iPad to be a great learning tool, you’ll need your teachers fully committed to it. It requires time and effort to prepare teachers for such a deployment, so make sure you have staff in place to do it. Without blathering on, here are Terice’s 5 Tips to Preparing Teachers for 1:1 iPad Projects. Give them iPads–Put them in the teacher’s hands early and let them use them for work and play. Now for my disclaimer: We planned to do each of these things and even more.
Data and Analysis of a High School 1:1 iPad Program. « The Westlake Initiative for Innovation (WIFI) project launched in August of 2011 in the Eanes Independent School District. The objectives – create a culture of digital and global learning, increase the relevance of education in real-world scenarios, and allow for a more individualized, flexible and differentiated learning via 1:1 iPads for every Junior and Senior level student. When the WIFI project began, those may have been the focal points of introducing a new tool into an already successful high school environment, but as our data and focus-group studies have shown us, there were a lot of other unintended outcomes as a result of this pilot. In October of 2011, students and teachers were surveyed about the use of iPads in their classes. Since only those 38 teachers that were actually in the WIFI program were required to have some sort of integrated instruction with the iPad, some students were in classes that weren’t required to integrate these. Survey Questions and Data – Like this:
Managing: The Nuts & Bolts of an iPad Classroom Awhile ago, I wrote about the beginning of the one-to-one iPad journey in my classroom. I have always appreciated when others have shared not only their pedagogy, but the organization of their tools or classroom as well. I’ve also had more people ask me questions about my set-up than how I use iPads to actually teach in my classroom, so here’s my “share”. Purchasing the iPads was the easy part. Organizing Each iPad was named with a number. Before we purchased the iPads, the students had been storing their headphones at the other end of the classroom. Ipad Storage The iPad shelf in my classroom has become as hot an item for discussion (at least for the adults who visit us) as the iPads themselves. To power the iPads, I used four Belkin charging stations, which are fastened right onto the back of the shelves. Students Making the Rules Up to this point, we had had a couple of the original iPads in our classroom, so Use two hands to carry the iPads.Don’t leave the iPad on the floor.
The iPad and Parental Engagement in Education Parents have a very different perspective. Whilst educators wax lyrical about the potential of the iPad for learning, there are concerns from parents about its impact on their child. Or so we thought. All parents of iPad trial students were asked to complete a questionnaire, attend a focus group meeting and email any further thoughts to inform the decision making progress for future iPad use. Below are direct responses to questions from the focus group where parents were encouraged to discuss with each other the various advantages and disadvantages of the iPad for learning. Have you noticed any change in the way your child approaches learning?. As suspected the increased motivation and collaboration we have witnessed from students has also been observed at home. What are the disadvantages of the iPad in the learning process? Blurring the boundary between work and playAddictive nature of the deviceDoes it detract from the need for good handwriting? Like this: Like Loading...
A Principal's Perspective: Preparing to Distribute Student iPads? Yes, let's give students iPads so they can be smarter and learn better. It sounds so easy. The reality is that there are many unknowns, like how do you hand out 800 iPads and keep track of which student has which iPad, and how do you get 800 students to register with iTunes so they can use their iPads on the school system? (The school system: How do you provide enough bandwidth for 800 iPads? That's another challenge entirely!) As principal, here are questions myself and faculty have been faced with: What if I lose my iPad? These many questions and a hundred more from the students, teachers, and parents are being answered one by one in my iPad experience. The iPad Rationale Our school district has a high number of low-income families, and one of the reasons for lending each ninth and tenth grader an iPad for the school year is an effort to eliminate the well-known "digital divide." Tackling the Challenges Cost Insurance Ownership "So what happens at the end of the year?" What's Next?
Want Increased Student Achievement Using iPads? Apple reports that 1.5 million iPads are used in K12. Given that there are approximately 55 million students in K12, the iPad has penetrated K12 faster than any other computing technology. And the tech tsunami doesn’t seem to be slowing down. We have seen this type of excitement before with desktops and then again with laptops, although their rates of growth in K12 were slower. What Do iPads Have to Do With It? Why would K12 administrators and teachers expect iPads to do what neither desktops nor laptops could do? Before you say we are anti-iPad, substitute any other mobile device for iPad and the argument presented here holds true. In fact, Hu pointed out that the failure of laptops was due to (1) lack of educational software, (2) lack of curriculum that exploited the software, and (3) lack of professional development. Essential Learning Devices Cathleen Norris is a Regents Professor at the University of North Texas and a past ISTE President.
25 Ways To Use iPads In The Classroom by Degree of Difficulty In case you haven’t heard the news, we’re putting out a special mini-issue early next week. It’ll be available in the Edudemic Magazine iPad app and, best of all, FREE to subscribers! If you’re not (yet) a subscriber, it’ll be just $0.99. The following is an excerpt from just one of the articles in the mini-issue. So you’ve got one or a few iPads that you want to use in the classroom. iPad Apps for School | The Best iOS Apps for Students and Teachers 10 Great Apps for a Teacher’s New iPad Did you receive a gift of a new iPad this year? If so, you’re probably spending this holiday vacation week trying out all kinds of new apps. Here are ten that I recommend getting started with. Evernote is the Swiss Army knife of iPad apps. I subscribe to the RSS feeds of a few hundred blogs and websites. If you want to make your own short instructional videos for students, Knowmia Teach is an app you have to try. Box is another service that I use for file storage and sharing. It took me a while to come around to Pinterest, but now that I have I really like it. Haiku Deck is an iPad app that all students and teachers should have installed on their iPads. Skitch for iPad is an app that I use when I want to quickly edit, create, and or draw on an image. A couple of years ago a friend of mine set a New Year’s resolution to watch one TED Talk a day. You may have noticed that this list is comprised entirely of free apps. Chrome is the browser that I use 90% of the time that I’m on the web.