"Tools are important and necessary, but they come and go as better tools come along. Obsess instead about ideas."
For your first assignment of this school year, we would like for you to read an article entitled The Secret To Successfully Using iPads in Education. In the article, the writer states that iPads should be used "as a tool that can help students solve specific problems, overcome certain obstacles and create content to demonstrate their understanding." After reading the article, think about a way that you can use the iPad(s) in your classroom to do each of these things. Test out your ideas in your classroom and write about what you did in the comments section. Your comment to this post should be in three parts:
1. I used my iPad(s) in my classroom to have students solve the problem of...
2. I used my iPad(s) in my classroom to help students overcome the obstacle of...
3. I used my iPad(s) in my classroom to have students create...
This assignment is due Monday, October 8th.
I used my iPad(s) in my classroom to have students solve the problem of...
ReplyDelete-sharing and critiquing one another's written work. additionally, the kids now have the reading bowl bowl books on their ipads, which relieves the stress of losing books.
2. I used my iPad(s) in my classroom to help students overcome the obstacle of...
Gathering information in the moment and context of class discussion. We also use it to practice grammar with a grammar app.
3. I used my iPad(s) in my classroom to have students create...
Wonder (the novel) book trailers.
1. I used my iPad(s) in my classroom to have students solve the problem of collaborating on a group project. Some groups used google presentation to create a presentation for their last project on systems of equations.
ReplyDelete2. I used my iPad(s) in my classroom to help students overcome the obstacle of displaying the final outcome of the last project. While we had difficulty getting laptops to connect to the projector, students were able to easily project their projects from the document camera.
3. I used my iPad(s) in my classroom to have students create group presentations on keynote that compared fuel efficient cars with regular cars. They researched cars and gas prices online, pulled in images, graphs, and equations and then found the break even points based on MSRP and gas charges per mile.
I have used iPads in my classroom to have students solve the problem of increasing their knowledge of U.S. Politics. We are studying government and the elections, and we have used the iPads to have students access political websites, look at and discuss/share political cartoons, etc.
ReplyDeleteI used iPads in my classroom to overcome the obstacle of kids not having access to online materials without being in the lab for all sorts of class purposes (studying for vocabulary tests, learning state names and capitals, engaging in math problems, entering books onto a reading record, etc.)
I am using (allowing) students to create a variety of goofy "movies" on their own during break or recess. They have been a great socializing tool, particularly for some new students who were unsure of how to make inroads with other kids. When one kid has started on a movie, they solicit others to be their "actors". It's been very inclusive, AND, it is getting more students up to speed on iMovie, which we'll use throughout the year.
-Brian Eames
High School students have never (on their own) taken advantage of the many art magazines and art books I have in my room. It has been tricky getting them to even look. This year, I decided to have each student make a small hand-bound book in which to keep notes and sketches gathered from these periodicals. They seem to really like doing this for a few minutes before class. I have added the iPad as another source along with the magazines and books. To my surprise, what I have found, so far, is that students are using the drawing apps and not the apps ABOUT art and artists, even though they are clearly filed and is what I encouraged them to investigate. Since the class is Drawing and Design, I understand the attraction of being more hands-on. Not many of my high school students are experienced iPad users. I will continue to keep track of what apps are being used. (I have a sign-up sheet.) When their long-term project is finished in about two weeks, we will take a class period to do nothing but research and recording in their own hand-bound books, using all of these tools—books, mags and iPad.
ReplyDelete“Creating” seems to be the most common and popular use of the iPad as a tool in our classroom. The students quickly discovered its movie making possibilities and love free or work choice times using peers as the actors in their trilling and quite dramatic movie trailers. This has encouraged not only creative thinking and expression but also social interactions, especially beneficial at this time of year when students are new to each other. A “Premieres Viewing” period where these creations were projected onto the whiteboard and shared with the class has stimulated others into preparing new creations for a future showing next month.”
ReplyDelete“Solving a problem” has frequently occurred in researching tasks that we do on a weekly basis. I have found that discussions I plan are much more interactive when the student come to them with some previous knowledge or questions. Therefore, if I am planning to talk about the vice presidency, for example, the students are expected to come to that discussion with some information or questions to share. Their prior research makes them much more invested in the discussion, and questioning seems deeper and more relevant as a result.
“Overcoming an obstacle” became apparent when Elisa was demonstrating the punctuation of conversation. Students were asked to draw with a stylus cartoon characters speaking with “bubbles.” They then wrote the same conversations using conventional punctuation. The iPad made the exercise both fun and visual while allowing the students to easily and quickly move from one mode of indicating speech to the other. The obstacle of conversation punctuation was circumvented through the combined use of motivational tools (iPad & stylus) and visual elements made possible by these tools.
Overcoming obstacles can also be seen in the work of several students who use the iPad as a writing tool since their handwriting is essentially illegible. Revision and correcting become easier and more productive for them, too, because they not only “see” their errors but also can correct them with the aids of spell check and grammar tools.
1. I used the iPads in my classroom to heave students solve the problem of note taking and organization. The students are able to download pdfs and take notes on the pdfs. This allows the students to have specific pictures, charts, etc and saves time.
ReplyDelete2. I used my iPad(s) in my classroom to help students overcome the obstacle of moving at different paces. If one student finishes an assignment faster than others, there are plenty of apps and websites that can be utilized and promote deeper learning opportunities.
3. I used my iPad(s) in my classroom to have students create commercials. The students used experimental design to create new products and showed their understanding of the experimental process through the commercials.
Create:
ReplyDeleteStudents have used the ipad to create movie trailers during free and work periods. While not an assignment in class, because they know how to use the application I can see myself creating a movie trailer assignment. Students are in the process of creating voicethreads for English. The ipads would be useful for this assignment as well.
Solving a problem:
In class when students do not know what something is or means, those students who have an ipad can immediately look up the information. Rather than the teacher being the one who knows, corrects, or defines concepts/terms students are given the opportunity to provide this information to their peers. Thus creating a more shared learning experience.
Overcoming an obstacle:
For students who struggle with organization I see the ipad as an effective way to support developing organizational strategies. Most handouts and readings can be turned into pdfs that students can access off our google docs folder (every student has a google docs folder). As a result, students who would normally lose their work always have a digital copy.
In terms of notetaking, the ipad is really helpful for students who have dysgraphia or simply really poor handwriting. I think students are more motivated to take notes because it is simply easier and faster to do while typing or even using the stylus.
It is hard for me to separate these three items, because they seem to be intertwined. In my classroom students use the iPads to complete asssignments, which solves the problem of handwriting, which can also be an obstacle.
ReplyDeleteWhenever we have a question, someone with an iPad looks it up, or gets a picture, and shares the information with those who don't.
Several students successfully use the iPad to take notes, which helps with organization.
Later this term, we will have a big project, and I expect that students will use the iPads to retrieve, organize, and present information.
Create:
ReplyDeleteI have been very pleased with the ability of my students to use the iPads in creative ways, especially in the way that they made a movie trailer after reading a short story. For example, in Oman and Tom's class, the students read "The Lottery" and then three students used the ipad to make a movie trailer from this. They used music, different backgrounds, actors and actresses, it was fantastic.
Solve the problem of:
I think the best thing that the iPads have done for students is that there is not as much "shuffling" of papers and "Oh, I left that at home" (when it comes to papers/assignments/worksheets). The work sheets, the lost papers, the "dog ate my homework", that has been nearly eliminated due to having things on Google Docs/Drive, and creating things on Pages/Ever Note etc. No problem, when it comes to teens, is ever going to be completely solved, but having the iPad has been a really big help with overall organizational issues.
Overcoming an obstacle: This really can be answered above, but I want to add the ease in which having the iPad/Kindle/e-reader pieces for being able to QUICKLY grab the book that is needed for reading assignments. It's been extremely, extremely helpful to be able to have the Kindle app and in a matter of seconds have the book up and ready that the teacher has asked for. There is no walking around the classrooms , looking for stray and wayward copies of books, no need to send out an email asking for one more copy of ...., it's really helped in that instance. And , again, see above, but students can not say, "Oh, I left my book at home." They may have left their IPAD at home, but this has again been very helpful.