Everyone found some really useful articles and blogs for Assignment #3. We highly recommend that you go back and check some of them out. Brian E. found the video below that features a classroom that uses the iPads from opening to closing bell. Watch the video and then think about what it would be like if you had more than one iPad in your classroom. In your comment to this post, write up a daily schedule (or weekly schedule if you are in HS and teach the same course throughout the day) for your classroom and describe how you would incorporate the iPads in each activity.
How does he pay for the many duplicate apps on all these devices?! He says that if they find a cool one, they buy it. Really? How would this work in a Paideia classroom? One basic fee-based app (99 cents) could cost my classroom $15. That'd add up really fast!
ReplyDeleteThat said, the stuff going on in his classroom is very cool. It would take a while to set up substantial parts of my curriculum, but it would be fun and productive in new ways.
David, you can install the same app on up to five devices from one account. So, if you were to have a class set of 15 ipads, you could sync them all to one computer and only spend $3.
ReplyDeleteIs there a way to access (I didn't see a link) to the webpage sample that he gives to his students in terms of how he sets up the tasks?
ReplyDeleteShould I be planning a day assuming I had 15 ipads or just the one?
-Elisa
Elisa-
ReplyDeleteGood question. Assume you have a class set.
Ok...so here's a snapshot. (partly influenced by a Math webinar over at apple)
ReplyDeleteMath: I'd have Algebra Touch on all the ipads (I teach the transition math kids). The kids would have some time before each section to do the tutorials on their own. I'd love to create quizes online for feedback for me to know if they're "getting it" before moving on. This would also let me group kids more fluidly in terms of pacing and one on one time.
Greek time: I have uploaded tons of apps on Greek mythology, art, and history. Depending on the week, the kids would work on each of those themes. I'd also use the various notetaking apps for the kids to practice how to take notes. This would be easy to do in pairs. (I'm assuming as well that kids could assess wikispaces that we've already had in place for Greek mythology.)
Writing time: I'd have the kids work on the ipads to write, practice grammar, and share work for feedback. This would be better suited to half group times, so kids wouldn't have to share the ipads.
Science: It would be great for the kids to be able to input group info for labs, as well as using an app to explore each of the themes we study in our in-class lab times.
Reading: How awesome would it be to use the ipads for Lit groups or even just silent reading time! I'm not sure exactly how that would work if they can't take the ipads home with them. (I know I can read books I have downloaded to my nook or via the kindle app, but I'm not sure how I would work that on a kid to kid case.) It would also be easy for kids to submit book reviews/reading records to the Googledoc I had already created.
I need to ponder adding in more...
My only criticism of the classroom in the video is that it REALLY bothered me that so few of the kids were interacting with each other at lunch time, choosing instead to be alone on an ipad.
-Elisa H.
We start our day with math, so we could do our workbook pages from Everyday Math on the ipad. I also have several math apps that fit our level: Slice It works on fractions and percentages; Fraction Factory gives fraction practice; Pearl Diver has increasingly difficult number lines.
ReplyDeleteThen we have a history class. I have the app called “FDR Years.”
(cost = $0.99) This has thousands of photos. We are studying the 20th century this year, starting with the Great Depression. I made a slide show of favorite photos showing Depression era scenes. This can introduce and conclude our study.
I also have Woody Guthrie as a program on Pandora. So I can play those songs behind the slide show.
For grammar practice we can review parts of speech using the free app, Grammar D.
Students can use Pages to write in class. They can send their work to me via First Class.
I found lots of science experiments at Video Science by ScienceHouse. Some of these experiments are beyond my class, so HS may want to check this out.
During journal writing time I can encourage quiet contemplation by playing Relax Melodies, a free app. I like the Piano sounds and the Rainy Day background. They can write and save in Penultimate. This could also be used for note-taking in history.
I agree with Elisa that the students need screen free times – lunch, recess, breaks.
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ReplyDeleteIn researching uses of the ipad2 in art, I found a group of artists who use the ipad as a sketchbook and they post the images on line. Last year, Elizabeth Lide and I had some high school students create collaborative sketchbooks with elementary students. Pairing elementary age art students with high school age students has many benefits. If I had more ipads in a class, we could use them as sketchbooks, work collaboratively with the elementary students, and post the images on line. We could also have the students create collaborative written stories or poems that accompany to visual images. Using the collaborative sketchbook idea between junior high and high school students might be a way to provide a bridge between the different ages and make the transition easier for the rising 9th grade student.
ReplyDeleteThis upcoming year I will regularly use the ipad for students to look at art on the Art Authority app. The image clarity is unbelievable and the ability to zoom in to a painting is an excellent tool for my teaching. If I had more ipads, we would all look at the images together and discuss and evaluate the artwork as a class.
I will be using the app Accudraw, particularly with my beginning students who are struggling with understanding proportion and composition. If I had a classroom of ipads, I could have all of the students look at and evaluated their drawings and paintings in progress.
This past June, there was a group of San Francisco artists who had a first ever gallery show of work exclusively created on the ipad. It could be fascinating to have a rotating exhibit of ipad art.
I typically provide support once a day - once or twice a week. The majority of my sessions focus on organization strategies, completion of long term assignments, and support with writing. Below is a potential approach I will take with my high schoolers this year:
ReplyDelete1st mtg: Begin year with an introduction of InClass (planner for reminders of due dates). This will give students an audible reminder/alarm of deadlines. They may need support organizing the info but once it's there, they're set!
2nd mtg: for students having difficulty with saliency, note taking, or organizing a binder Noterize (daily recording and downloads of notes) will be our next step. This app allows students to download teacher notes/outlines to follow in class, record lectures, while taking notes, and play back later to fill in gaps.
3rd mtg: Inkling (highlighting & notes of textbooks and research text) will help organize notes for upcoming papers, presentations, projects. Students can highlight or make stickies of important points from class.
4th mtg: Idea sketch (webbing of ideas and creation of outline) will give students a non intimidating visual of how to group ideas together. Once the mind map is created it can be transformed to outline mode.
5th mtg: Session will focus on fleshing out the outline ideas. We form paragraphs and incorporate quotes and citations. Haven't found a bibliography app yet but it would be good to have one that I could insert here.
I’m excited to try the following schedule this year.
ReplyDeleteHW: Watch a presentation of the next lesson using the Kahn Academy app. The app is free to download. Once a specific course is loaded, presentations can be viewed at any time without a wifi connection. Each presentation is about 10 minutes long.
In-class (45 minute class)
0-10 min – Review the lesson. Students can take notes using their notebook or the PenUltimate app.
20-25 min – Practice the Lesson
Plan A: Complete a related real world problem in groups. The problem could be presented using any one of the many presentation tools available with the Ipad2. Students will work and solve the problem on the Ipad2 in groups and their work will be emailed to me for credit. Students will have additional practice exercises to complete for HW.
Plan B: Download and complete practice exercises. Students can download a PDF, write on it and email me their work for credit.
4-10 min – Go over the class exercise. With either plan A or B, student’s work can be presented on the overhead with a quick connection to their Ipad2. The class can then evaluate their work together.
My goal is to use this schedule several times a week.
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ReplyDeleteTis video made me think about what I would do if I had a class set. All of my textbooks are available online so I could have the kids read their assignment and send me the hw answers electronically. I could have them do virtual dissections on the body system that we are studying which make so much more sense than a worksheet. I have. Some dissection. Apps that are pretty cool. Also, in bio 2 I cud have the kids do all of their data collections using the iPad and submit their report that way.
ReplyDeleteA downside is that even with changing ink color I know that some of my kids would be happy to have their partner do all of the work!
Unfortunately I haven't found my books online yet, otherwise that would be a great use.
ReplyDeleteInstead there are some apps that would tie directly to labs, allowing each student to go capture and analyze video motion. It would actually make a trip to six flags a little more feasible because the kids could video capture the motion of the different parts of the park.
On a more daily basis I would love having everyone use a sketchbook program on their ipad to solve a problem on the board. Then they can email there work to themselves for reference, and they can send the correct solution from one of the students to everyone for cross-reference.
Lit: The active reading options on "good reader" as well as ibook are excellent. They both make it easier to navigate through and make connections within a larger work.
ReplyDeleteHistory: Specialty apps depending on the unit. Note take in SimpleNote or something similar. I like the idea of multiple dialogues happening at once, although I'd have to try it out to see if it was too distracting.
Current Events: I'd have students get stories from NYTimes, Al Jazeera, or Washington Post. I'd have them record podcasts, and listen to news occasionally on the NPR app (very useful) to get ideas for their own podcasts.
Organization: I'd be able to go paperless, posting all handouts in dropbox or googledocs. Students would be able to organize all of their assignments and responsibilities through the calendar app.
I like what the teacher was doing with his class, and I see many ways that the ipad can be integrated into elementary classrooms. In the high school I can see the ipad being used as a collaboration tool with group work (ibrainstorm or using "numbers" to collect data). Students could also take notes (I like Notes Plus) using the ipad. Students can have an electronic version of their book, creating a lighter backpack. I can use airsketch to interact with diagrams and information on the active board and, if students had their own ipads, they could be contributing to the discussion by adding visuals to the board.
ReplyDeleteI can also see the students using the ipads to look up real time information on topics we are talking about in class. Ipad apps illustrating cells, body parts, or other scientific concepts can add interactive visuals for the students.
All homework and assignments can be completed on the ipad and sent to me electronically. I am trying to make this happen this year - we will see if it works.
Here are a few ways that I might use an I-pad set over the course of a day.
ReplyDeleteFirst thing in the morning, we sing every day, using multiple copies of a many paged songbook. We could load the book onto the I-pads or have them accessible through the Internet and use the I-pads instead of the books. That would save a whole lot of paper over the years. Kids could share.
We go straight from meeting to math, but if we had any changes in homework, the kids could document those changes right away on their I- pads, but that would work best if they each had their own. If they were sharing, I guess they could make changes in some online way or take turns shifting something on the first class account -- I'm still working on figuring that out...
In math, there are several apps that could work for me over the course of the year. I really like Algebra Champ and Algebra Combat for later in the year, and Factor Race is a good one as well, but it's just above the level I generally teach. It deals with the distributive property. Algebra champ involves solving simple equations, and Algebra combat does the same in a slightly competitive format. Mathematris is a good app for practice with math facts of all operations, and it can include negative numbers and has lots of different levels. It is in a flash card format, and would be good for a few minutes of individual practice. I like the idea of doing Everyday Math mathbox exercises also, but I am not convinced that I could completely check on everyone. I guess the emailing option is possible. For a unit that involves fractions and decimals and percents, Numberline is an app that gives good (though not exciting) practice with ordering fractions, decimals and percents and doing mental conversions. Motion Math is another App that involves practice with ordering and comparing fractions, decimals, and percents that is a bit more movement oriented (and bit mesmerizing, as you tilt the I-pad to make this ball bounce in the right place on a number line based on the number written on the ball). Slice It is a cool app for estimating a visualizing equivalent fractions as well as a bit of problem solving.
In grammar, I would use Grammar Dragon to practice identifying parts of speech after we had covered the material. Grammar Fun is more basic and could be good for a quick practice after individual parts of speech were learned.
We do various research projects in our class, and the I-pads would be great for that, whether researching individually or in pairs. The kids could use the I-pads to search for China in the news, for example, and work together to pick a good article to share with the class. They could write a summary or take notes on it as well, but that might get a bit more complicated with the need to switch windows. Is there an app that could make that easier?
For vocabulary, kids could take practice quizzes using quizlet.
It would be interesting during David's lectures to see if kids could take notes on his notes using the i-pad, but I have not investigated the note taking apps enough.
As for science...hmm. I found a kite building app, but it's mainly instructions and lists. I might use the information, but I don't know that I would set the kids up to follow the directions straight from the I-pad...
Lit...reading on the I-pad? Not sure yet, but we could save paper by doing quizzes on the I-pads and correcting them. I guess they could be emailed for the purpose of recording...They would be great for journaling or poetry writing or lit responses.
I'm sure there could be loads more...I'm still investigating lots...
Becca
There are a number of great apps for Astronomy. We could look at the SkyWalk app daily to see what was happening in the sky that night. When studying the constellations, the same app could be used to find out the history and the mythology behind each of the main constellations. We could use the NASA app to study different topics like the planets or the international space station or even different satellites and probes that are already in space or about to be deployed. It would be awesome to have several iPads and then go out one evening to view the stars.
ReplyDeleteIn chemistry, there are several apps that deal with the periodic table of the elements. One particular app called EMD PTE would be good to have the students to just “play” with to answer several questions that I would come up with about different properties of the periodic table. It would be a good inquiry way of learning the properties.
having several ipads in the class is good, but at times they can be a bit distracting. a class set is optimal because the assignments can be pushed to the device. many times they are useful in helping kids speed the lesson along, but until the class as a whole has ipads, they need a lot of monitoring.
ReplyDeletewhen they are used in group work and projects they are awesome. the use of the movie, and camera to document and record discussions in small groups and then editing on the spot is terrific! it gives the kids freedom to be creative and on task.
If I had ipads for my entire class, I would integrate it into my class Blog. Each day students would use it in conjunction with the blog. They could take notes, create vocab flash cards or new words introduced in class, I could share my notes with them, they could also complete quizzes and tests and submit through “Turnitin.” How would this look on one lesson?
ReplyDeleteMandela Readings (On the blog is a study guide for the entire book where questions for exams and quizzes are taken. Also these questions are used as the basis of class discussion.)
1.Open to the blog
2.Click on the Mandela Study Guide and
3 Go to the appropriate section
4 Open the app Noterize
5.Open flash cards +
6.As the discussion takes place, write notes and vocabulary words (always introduced by me during all discussions)
6.Share with me so that I could know what they take from the discussions.
The iPads would be very useful in our classroom. For Lit, we could download books. The chief benefit of this would be that students could annotate as they read, something they cannot do now with our class sets of books. I think they would be encouraged to look up unfamiliar words since one need only hover over a word to see the definition. Taking notes and reading on the same device would eliminate the need for cumbersome notebooks and problem of lost notes. I could have a Lit blog where students could quickly and easily respond to reading assignments, I would also try various grammar programs, specifically Grammar 101, and having iPads for the work would let students take advantage of class work periods for this. While I find the iPad keyboard difficult just now my students seem to have no trouble creating documents on it, so we could use the iPads for writing, which we do three days a week, and students could post writing on Google dock. Organization is a big part of what we teach in Jr. High so I can seethe inClass app replacing our planning sheets for most students. We use a class wiki for assignments, and the iPad would allow instant access to the wiki. As things stand, students look at the wiki mostly from home computers. I also know of other classes using the iPad for quizzes, so the daily Lit quizzes could be paperless. I would encourage students to play word games for vocabulary development. I see the iPad as a quicker tool for accomplishing much of what we do.
ReplyDelete