I Pads in the Classroom

mockingjay

Just wondering if many of you are using I-Pads in the classroom? I mean full time throughout the school - and if so, how are they working out? There is so much talk about the benefits, but when one of our Departments tried them out on small groups they found them difficult to monitor, kids lacked concentration, etc. what are your thoughts on them as I'm hearing very mixed reports from both teachers and parents. Seems like some books are cheaper to buy in hardback and some e-books are a mere €3- €4 cheaper! What sort of training did you receive in advance?

gctest50

Would they be better off with laptops ?

as usual pros and cons to each

http://www.intel.com/cd/corporate/education/emea/eng/ireland/elem_sec/tools_resources/learntec/167300.htm


"Convertible" laptops make iPads seem past their sell-by date ?

http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/laptop/ideapad/yoga/yoga-13/


.

whiteandlight

We're going one to one next year, I can't wait. I'm not even using a book publisher for music next year, writing my own workbooks that they'll get in PDF and complete using copy/manuscript. I've requested a couple of apps that work out cheaper than the book would have and students should hopefully benefit from. In maths they will have an ebook but again I'm organising all my worksheets by chapter in PDF form. No worksheets for students to lose, massive saving in time in the end as I won't need to photocopy (does take time to organise in year one). Tons of apps that can encourage students, particularly in first year e.g. Integers.

I suspect this is where they could be hugely successful in the future, book
Publishers are scrambling at the moment and its allowing/encouraging teachers to look at other options.

Also I will say I'm a tech nerd. I have Apple TV and an iPad in use in my room already and have been using it all year for board work. I am obviously going to be more enthusiastic than most. I'll post updates next year as we go

crappyireland

Hi,
I am currently in a school at the moment that rolled out ipads with all first year students.
It is definitely the way forward. My biggest concern was classroom management with them but i have had only minor issues. All students signed a fair usage policy and are extremely good to follow by it.

Ipads offer a whole new dimension to teaching. I teach History and English and its invaluable as it allows them for example to become historians and researchers themselves.
iPads are a tool to ensure that the learning experience is as effective and authentic as possible for all students and furthermore ipads promotes the development of digital literacy skills.
I consider textbooks to be somewhat one dimensional and the use of ipads in the learning and teaching environment creates a multidimensional atmosphere.

This year I have also found using ipads immensely beneficial when working with students with SEN.
Ipads also offer an alternative form of assessment by means of moving away from summative normal forms to formative forms with programs such as Socrative which is a fun, time saving assessment technique which students like

Tom Dunne

This is an area I have been doing a lot of reading on in research journals. There appears to be a "ooooh, let's buy iPads for the kids" mentality, but the reality is when they appear in the classroom, it turns into "Ok, what now?".

Management of the devices appears to be a significant issue. We have about 20 iPads and 10 iPhones (I'm at third level, we are programmers rather than end users), and we are learning the hard way how difficult it can be keeping everything in synch.

Back to education, I think Apple has again grabbed that all-important head start in terms of the education market. The e-book creation software (can't think of the name of it off hand) looks very promising for educators, I don't think we even need to discuss the success of the app store, and traditional educational publishers are now onboard. In the medium term, the iPad offers a lot of potential.

However, I have started using the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, which does everything the iPad does, plus it has excellent handwriting recognition. To me, this is the future of the classroom.

doc_17

Musicmental85 wrote: »

We're going one to one next year, I can't wait. I'm not even using a book publisher for music next year, writing my own workbooks that they'll get in PDF and complete using copy/manuscript. I've requested a couple of apps that work out cheaper than the book would have and students should hopefully benefit from. In maths they will have an ebook but again I'm organising all my worksheets by chapter in PDF form. No worksheets for students to lose, massive saving in time in the end as I won't need to photocopy (does take time to organise in year one). Tons of apps that can encourage students, particularly in first year e.g. Integers.

I suspect this is where they could be hugely successful in the future, book
Publishers are scrambling at the moment and its allowing/encouraging teachers to look at other options.

Also I will say I'm a tech nerd. I have Apple TV and an iPad in use in my room already and have been using it all year for board work. I am obviously going to be more enthusiastic than most. I'll post updates next year as we go

Are you able to write out solutions to questions on your iPad with a stylus? And if so what app and stylus have you found to be best so far?

Mine is connect wirelessly but haven't advanced with the writing yet

whiteandlight

doc_17 wrote: »

Are you able to write out solutions to questions on your iPad with a stylus? And if so what app and stylus have you found to be best so far?

Mine is connect wirelessly but haven't advanced with the writing yet

I don't tend to write long solutions (maths teacher) but I use notes plus for daily work with just my finger (had a beautiful jot stylus but lost it) and I bought the handwriting to text feature which is generally excellent

joebloggs32

We're looking into it too. Android may be a better way to go. IPad just ties you too much to iOS. Also in terms of cost to parents, apple will be more expensive.

One big issue I have with the whole area is that parents will loose out on buying and selling second hand books, so the book companies are going to clean up on the licenses, while no longer actually paying for printing costs.

Postgrad10

I have an ipad myself, French and English teacher. Can anyone recommend any app's that I could use? Sorry to bring the thread off topic.

crappyireland

Hi postgrad10, not a french teacher myself but i have some app ideas here for u from an app list suggestions my school gave me:
French essentials
French Verb Conjugator
Expressions Idiomatiques:
Le Figaro.fr
MobiBrevet Français
Quizlet
FrenchRadio
Le Monde

Postgrad10

Lots for me to explore. Thanks. I'm a total newbie to ipad so learning as I go . What do I need to download to connect to the IWB?

crappyireland

well i use a thing called airplay.. it mirrors whats on my ipad onto the board..
im not sure how it works because it was put onto my ipad for me.

Postgrad10

I'll check it out. Thank you crappyireland

evolving_doors

joebloggs32 wrote: »

One big issue I have with the whole area is that parents will loose out on buying and selling second hand books, so the book companies are going to clean up on the licenses, while no longer actually paying for printing costs.

Depends on your teaching preferences, personally I detest traditional books and just go with talk and chalk/ my own worksheets and online supplementary stuff. I reckon publishing companies will be defunkt with teachers sticking their own stuff on appstores for 99¢...only a matter of time..

Im attempting to introduce research skills but it can take a lot of rewriting/recorrecting badly plagerised content! Sometimes the students just want the bloody 'notes' ...

was at an apple 'bootcamp' a few years ago and the head dude from apple said that education in the future will be online/interactive research 'guided' by the teacher as opposed to the teacher being the font of all wisdom...negates the point of the traditional 3 hr LC exam.

whiteandlight

Armelodie wrote: »

Depends on your teaching preferences, personally I detest traditional books and just go with talk and chalk/ my own worksheets and online supplementary stuff. I reckon publishing companies will be defunkt with teachers sticking their own stuff on appstores for 99¢...only a matter of time..

Im attempting to introduce research skills but it can take a lot of rewriting/recorrecting badly plagerised content! Sometimes the students just want the bloody 'notes' ...

was at an apple 'bootcamp' a few years ago and the head dude from apple said that education in the future will be online/interactive research 'guided' by the teacher as opposed to the teacher being the font of all wisdom...negates the point of the traditional 3 hr LC exam.

I agree, I reckon the book companies are in a losing battle and we are moving towards a much more open system of notes/books being shared and used. Its going to be slow but the cost saving for parents and the satisfaction of teachers with "books" that can be edited for a particular group are huge forces pushing towards this type of system

Tigerandahalf

I wouldnt be so sure about cost savings for parents. All these Ipads/tablets will need new software updates and could be obselete within 5 years. The technology is changing all the time. Also with the increased amount of technology in schools technicians will be required to fix the equipment.
It will also make it easier for standardised test results to be forwarded to a national agency where results for each individual pupil could be obtained with a click of a mouse.

flatbackfour

Tom Dunne wrote: »

In the medium term, the iPad offers a lot of potential.

Can you give me two examples of this potential?

flatbackfour

Armelodie wrote: »

was at an apple 'bootcamp' a few years ago and the head dude from apple said that education in the future will be online/interactive research 'guided' by the teacher as opposed to the teacher being the font of all wisdom...negates the point of the traditional 3 hr LC exam.

Apple bootcamp selling the future of education thought their products. Lovely thought.

Are you teaching your kids some critical thinking skills??

flatbackfour

Throwing P Pads into classrooms is like pissing money down the drain. Where is the non bias research that using Ipads within the existing junior cert/LC system leads to quantitative/qualitative improvement in students learning experiences?

I read a quote about how television was going to transform education. From the 70s this IPad fad reminds me of that kind of naivete

Then again, management can boast about how "innovative" their schools are and big IT companies sell our kids their dreams.

Seanchai

How are your students getting the finances for ipads, etc? I'm in a DEIS school and I can't see 90% of the kids in front of me having ipads bought by their families.

What sort of money is involved and is there a DoE repayment scheme to assist students such as my own?

Also, how are you stopping them from using their ipads to access Facebook and other social media when they should be using it for class research?

Tom Dunne

flatbackfour wrote: »

Can you give me two examples of this potential?

Being the first mover in the market, Apple has gained significant lead in education. Therefore, software companies tend to port apps to the iPad first, then other platforms.

Secondly, as I mention above, educational publishers are on board. So not only are educators getting software on the iPad, they are also getting relevant content.

evolving_doors

Deleted

evolving_doors

flatbackfour wrote: »

Apple bootcamp selling the future of education thought their products. Lovely thought.

Are you teaching your kids some critical thinking skills??

Ok cool the jets there bingo, the reason I was at the bootcamp is that it was the only one IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY that ever bothered to showcase how its media applications were useful in the classroom as teaching and learning tools. All of the software used usually comes free with apple laptops (IPads hadn't really appeared on the scene in a big way then). Im by no means an Apple pimp but for music/video it's the most stable platform I've used to date, and it's somewhat of an industry standard if you want to encourage students in that direction...

If you look at my post I never mentioned that the apple guy was hawking apple products in his presentation. He was presenting the way he saw how students of the future would be ACCESSING education... Have a look at Khan academy or MIT online lectures, Hibernian college...this has NOTHING to do with apple products. As you well know there are many ways to access the internet these days. (But ya sure, he had videos of students on IPads , but hey I wouldn't walk out just because of that).

As regards critical thinking I really dont think learning off monkey procedure tricks from one dusty old text book and 'past papers' to get the leaving cert is the way forward... Sure, the fundamentals dont change and are crucial but you have to be adaptable and creative as a teacher. Kids expect it, their parents expect it , your principal expects it, the change is happening and if you think you can get away with it until retirement then good luck to ya. I like to have a mix of everything ...new and OLD.

BTW just to let you know I'm typing this on my Macbook (I could have used my android phone if I wanted.)

And yes I do challenge my students to question everything and create their own work despite being under severe pressure to just hand out 'the notes'.

flatbackfour

Armelodie wrote: »

As regards critical thinking I really dont think learning off monkey procedure tricks from one dusty old text book and 'past papers' to get the leaving cert is the way forward... Sure, the fundamentals dont change and are crucial but you have to be adaptable and creative as a teacher. Kids expect it, their parents expect it , your principal expects it, the change is happening and if you think you can get away with it until retirement then good luck to ya. I like to have a mix of everything ...new and OLD.

In fairness I never said anything about dusty old textbooks are or past papers as examples of good teaching.

I just think you should be careful about taking on the agenda of digital media companies and wrapping this agenda up as "innovative" education, without question.

Yes changes is happening, who is driving this change? and for what purpose? Is the change driven by digital media companies who want to pedal their educational "innovative" products to teachers who want to be "adaptable" and "creative" (who in reality are just putting test papers on their laptops or macbook and then thinking they are innovative and creative)

Pedagogical innovation must use technology in an innovative ways, I don't see how putting textbooks onto Ipads or laptops(practically exactly the same content as the dusty old textbooks) is educationally innovative.


And just because you are using Ipads it does not mean you are being automatically "adaptable" or "creative".

its great that you are using a quality "brand" to write your posts on. You see that's part of my point, you associate a brand with "innovation" in reality, its little more than a pen.

flatbackfour

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Being the first mover in the market, Apple has gained significant lead in education. Therefore, software companies tend to port apps to the iPad first, then other platforms.

Secondly, as I mention above, educational publishers are on board. So not only are educators getting software on the iPad, they are also getting relevant content.

In the medium term, the iPad offers a lot of potential.

Can you give me two examples of this potential?

I asked you what is the potential iPads offer in the medium term?

I don't know how the above answers my question?

What software are they getting?
How is it being used?
What is the research that says this software is innovative or creative?
What is the pedagogical perspective/theory underyling this software?
Is the software doing something new and innovative or simply replacing content already in books? If so is it really cost effective?

So can I ask you again (and its not a trick question) can you give examples of how I pads offer potential in the medium term?

JustAThought

As an adult who went back to refresh language skills last year I was really blown away by the integration of multimedia into the teaching by one particular teacher ( Celiné) at the Alliançe Francaise in Dublin. They use a whiteboard system there that is wireless enabled & she was able to pull up all kinds of integrated online resources & lead us through them while still being very much the leader & controller of the flow & quality of direction of the class.

It was light years away in both speed & interest from my schoolbook texts & taped av experiences of school.

However I would be concerned about the loss of attention from students if left to browse by themselves - I see it in business conferences & meetings all the time - the laptops are on & the heads are down but everyone is surfing the net or scanning emails & ignoring the manager... Can't see many classes being too different if there is no central focus & strong knowledgable leader.

Some of the questions here are so basic I am shuddering.

flatbackfour

JustAThought wrote: »

As an adult who went back to refresh language skills last year I was really blown away by the integration of multimedia into the teaching by one particular teacher ( Celiné) at the Alliançe Francaise in Dublin. They use a whiteboard system there that is wireless enabled & she was able to pull up all kinds of integrated online resources & lead us through them while still being very much the leader & controller of the flow & quality of direction of the class.

It was light years away in both speed & interest from my schoolbook texts & taped av experiences of school.

I would be concerned about the loss of attention from students if left to browse by themselves - I see it in business conferences & meetings all the time - the laptops are on & the heads are down but everyone is surfing the net or scanning emails & ignoring the manager... Can't see many classes being too different if there is no central focus & strong knowledgable leader.

Some of the questions here are so basic I am shuddering.

Well in terms of educational innovation its better that students are creators and leaders of their own learning.

I agree with you about the difficulty of maintaining students on task if they are using Ipads etc without a focus.

However students learn best in a constructivist/collaborative and self directed learning environment and technology has a great role to play in helping facilitate this kind of environment.

I see technology being used to do exactly the same thing that teachers were doing in textbooks. That is not innovative. Students reading text from expensive I Pads and then doing tick the box multiple choice questions on the same I pads is not innovative.

My questions are rhetorical BTW.

I would be interested to hear the experiences of teachers who are using Ipads in the classroom now.

As someone who has started working in a school where they have been introduced, I can tell you its not all a bed of innovative and creative roses.

whiteandlight

The use of technology and iPads in the classroom and its success is (I would suspect-as in my opinion!) due to the teachers capabilities, the classroom management plan and the planning of lessons targeted at it as well as other factors.

As a maths and music teacher who is extremely comfortable with technology (helping design an app for the iPad, writing a course for iBooks) I am I confess struggling for inspiration for maths on the iPad while music is much easier (for me) to plan and imagine.

For example all students will have a virtual piano app on their iPad. I plan on teaching them the basics of piano reading while teaching them to read music and I have an app lined up that they can use to practice at night. This would have been impossible/no fun/book based only without technology as there is only one piano in the room. Now all students can get the visual and audio feedback as they learn and I hope may encourage some of them to continue on to learn the instrument.

evolving_doors

flatbackfour wrote: »

As someone who has started working in a school where they have been introduced, I can tell you its not all a bed of innovative and creative roses.

I think this is the nub of the issue...

The introduction of IPads on a large scale is really just a way to look swish when showing the prospective parents around... Although on the flip side you would at least have to commend the principal for giving all teachers the (expensive!) opportunity to try. Even with comprehensive training you' ll probably find that half the teachers will emit a few oohs and ahs but then go back to the task of getting students through the exams by the usual ' tried and tested' methods.

I firmly believe that it's the exam system and associated pressures that dictates how the majority of teachers approach their subject...The introduction of the short courses for JC should see some innovation taking place in terms of IT etc. Some teachers will just modularise the JC and do the same old ding dong.

Anyway, sorry if I'm dragging this off topic so....has anyone considered some uses for the IPad (our any tablet!) and JC short courses.

Postgrad10

What courses are available for teachers in the use of ipads?

byhookorbycrook

Postgrad10 wrote: »

What courses are available for teachers in the use of ipads?

Check with your local education centre.

whiteandlight

To be honest I don't care if its iPads or another device but I do feel that we have to move with the times. Technology is in all aspects of everyone's lives and at least if we teachers embrace it we can teach students to be responsible and careful in using it

flatbackfour

Musicmental85 wrote: »

To be honest I don't care if its iPads or another device but I do feel that we have to move with the times. Technology is in all aspects of everyone's lives and at least if we teachers embrace it we can teach students to be responsible and careful in using it

No one, or at least not me is saying that we should not embrace technology to improve education outcomes.

However this change or use of technology should be done with clear pedagogical rationale.

"Sure we need to move with the times lets blindly introduce fadish technology without any pedagogical rationale"

That kind of thinking leads to failed use of technology, teachers turn away, and lot of money is wasted of whole sale intro of IPADS etc.

Who get the blame for this failure? You guessed it, teachers. Thats what sloppy thinking as a teacher gets you.

whiteandlight

flatbackfour wrote: »

No one, or at least not me is saying that we should not embrace technology to improve education outcomes.

However this change or use of technology should be done with clear pedagogical rationale.

"Sure we need to move with the times lets blindly introduce fadish technology without any pedagogical rationale"

That kind of thinking leads to failed use of technology, teachers turn away, and lot of money is wasted of whole sale intro of IPADS etc.

Who get the blame for this failure? You guessed it, teachers. Thats what sloppy thinking as a teacher gets you.

Oh I'm not saying anyone in particular but I do feel it is slow to break the feeling that "chalk and talk" is best. No matter what the change, technology or other, that is being introduced, in many schools I have taught in the immediate reaction is its a bad idea as opposed to how could this work.

And I'm not saying that some changes aren't in the wrong direction-just that the over riding feeling always seems to first be negative. However I have been sick most of the weekend so it's very possible I'm just feeling negative

Seanchai

Could anybody answer my questions here? Please.

grma.

teacherhead

Seanchai wrote: »

How are your students getting the finances for ipads, etc? I'm in a DEIS school and I can't see 90% of the kids in front of me having ipads bought by their families.

What sort of money is involved and is there a DoE repayment scheme to assist students s@uch as my own?

Also, how are you stopping them from using their ipads to access Facebook and other social media when they should be using it for class research?

No des funding.

Most schools seem to be dealing with credit unions to allow kids to buy over a few years.

Wouldn't get an iPad and books for less than 700€ and then there's insurance covers etc.

On the Windows device front hp are doing a scheme at 20€ per month for three years for 11 books and the device the elitepad.

Fully agree that it's about the learning not about the device. Book publishers will be told to feck off shortly. So many teachers making their.own content now anyway. It's actually the cost if books that makes the thing financially inaccessible.

fall

Seanchai wrote: »

Could anybody answer my questions here? Please.

grma.

Work in a Deis school. The kids seem to have a lot of disposable income, eg. €10 a day for lunch money. The majority of students in first year have I pads. Not compulsory so very small number have books. The proposal was supposed to be a pilot group but so many kids wanted to use iPads that they allowed anyone who wanted one to get one. Less than ten don't. There was no credit union agreement. The schools I have heard doing that are usually not Deis.
You can block sites like face book and have really strict consequences for students off task. If everyone is consistent they can be very positive as a teaching resource. Getting the staff on side is so important if it is to work.

markievicz

My current school is planning to introduce iPads to first years from 2014. the plan at the moment is involve credit unions, the school would be a DEIS school, incredibly disadvantaged but so far there have been no big issues coming from parents but we'll have to wait and see what happens between now and then.

I use my own ipad in class a lot and the school has one ipad that I borrow for resource classes. I find it really useful for games based activites in English and Maths. I use one app called Mensa academy ( I think) with third years who would have literacy and numeracy issues. They love it, they play games like defining words, putting the correct word into the sentence, putting lists in alphabetical order, arranging numbers in order and filling in the missing mathematical symbol in an equation. It gets more difficult the longer you play it and they can measure their own improvements as it gives you a grade at the end. They literally argue with other over who will get to use them first. I also like to use that 4 pics 1 word app because I think it helps them spelling wise and it gets them thinking outside the box and making connections between things. To date they have out levelled me!

For my main subjects, I like to use the camera on my ipad as a way of showcasing work by students. I can take a picture of their work and swipe to get it in my projector screen to show everyone good points in the work and they evaluate it themselves to see how it could be improved. I teach English so this works really well for me because English mainly involves long answers but you could do the same thing in any subject really. I also like to use an app called I annotate which lets me write on PDFs and any other file on my ipad which can be seen on screen by students. It saves me a lot of time calling out definitions over and over again and it works quite well for Shakespeare studies. I can write a simple English version above a line and th students can see it there in front of them.
I use teacher kit and class dojo for my own classroom management type things. Teacher kit lets you upload your classes, have a seating plan and record grades in the one place. Class dojo I really only use with first and second years, it's similar to teacher kit except you can have avatars for each student in the class and throughout the class you can give them a point for good behaviour or good work etc and can also deduct points for negative behaviour. I find it really good for motivating younger years and keeping them on task.
The show me app is really good for screen casting. I would use it to translate a piece of text and annotate it and I can leave it playing while I'm correcting student work throughout the class. The podcasting app is useful for obviously recording students. I use it to practice vox pops and interviews, they have to write them properly and then I record it like an actual interview/vox pop.
I use Lino for brainstorming. It looks like a load of post it notes and you type on the ideas I can then save it for the next class instead of wasting time rewriting it on the board and its useful for students to recall what happened in the last class. I mainly use this in my Religion classes because I might see them on a Monday and not again until Friday. Time is tight enough with them.
The only app I spent money on was iMovie and I was deliberating it for months. It's not that expensive but I couldn't justify spending money on it until I went to a course about iMovie. I use it for making short films in English particularly with senior classes. It really helps them see the other facets of drama like stage, setting, props, costume etc when they make their own piece. When they look back at what they've recorded they will point out what is missing, what looks odd etc. it was great to see them thinking further than the actual text itself.

As you can probably tell, I'm a big advocate of iPads and I wasn't to begin with. I thought it would be another fad that would go by but I can see lots of potential uses for them in the future classroom. I think it helps with pupil engagement and they love showing off what they know about iPads too. It gives me more time to actually teach because I'm not clicking here there and everywhere opening twenty things on my laptop and I'm not constantly writing on the board. That's not to say I don't do any of these things, I do. Like another poster said its a mix between both new and old methods. Each to their own, the most important thing is to be comfortable with what you're doing and what you're using in your class.

Postgrad10

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Check with your local education centre.

I already did. Very basic computer courses there. Nothing on iPads. But thanks anyway.

gctest50

Seanchai wrote: »

Also, how are you stopping them from using their ipads to access Facebook and other social media when they should be using it for class research?

As usual - loads of ways to do this eg:

www.opendns.com

http://www.clearfoundation.com/Software/live-demo.html

http://www.smoothwall.net/product-library/guardian-web-filter/

http://www1.k9webprotection.com/

https://www.barracuda.com/products


plenty of that kind of stuff out there since it is an issue for businesses too

If you are blocking stuff on the wifi for the kids,

stick a separate "unfiltered" wireless access point in the luxurious teachers lounge/canteen , stick a password on it, turn the power down

This will save problems when they are booking flights etc etc

dambarude

The NCTE/ PDST Tech in Education are running many courses for primary teachers on iPads in the classroom this summer. I know secondary teachers who have done the courses. It's called 'Using Tablets and Online Tools for Literacy and Numeracy'. Check out: http://www.ncte.ie/courseschedule/

whiteandlight

Any idea if its good for second level? I'm very proficient on my iPad (been using it in class all year) so trying to decide is it worth it to do the course given its related to literacy and numeracy and I'm on the SSE committee

Postgrad10

That's what I was wondering. Most courses are geared to primary, must look out for this one.

byhookorbycrook

If there's enough demand ,the education centre are usually open to suggestions from interested teachers.

whiteandlight

I did promise to update and now seems as good a time as any! This is long so clock out now if you aren't interested!

I love being 1:1 with devices in the classroom. My work had been transformed already last year when the ipad/Apple TV detached me from the board for the first time, allowing me to roam as I write-particularly amazing in maths where a lot of demo work needs to be done at the board. However this is a whole new ball game. There have been some glitches. The wireless upgrade in the summer broke the Apple TV connection and it took a while to come up with a workaround to allow it to broadcast. The students are on a different wifi network so I can't have them post their work to the Apple TV, I have to use the camera on mine. I don't think we've had any breakages of devices. There have been some issues with books but nothing that affected me much. The edco app drives me insane as you often have to force close the app to switch book which is possibly no harm as it means I keep looking at other options.

We implemented a very strict policy on usage of device/Internet/camera. If caught doing pretty much anything you aren't supposed to be the device is removed for a week and the student is handed a bag of books instead. It seems to work well as a deterrent. I've only seen two students so far have it. It's a very visual punishment! iPads allow with one swipe to see what has been open and I swoop regularly to check. I caught two students in the first week, none since. It's also blatantly obvious if a student is doing something they shouldn't. Like using the phone under the desk, most of them will have the slightly awkward head angle and furtive glances up! If they are tapping the screen or have one hand hidden behind it, again it's just like writing notes behind a book.

In class with my students we use (in order of level of use) edmodo, edco, iBooks, zondle, safari, virtual piano, musicnotes, whiteboard apps (various), various free apps for whatever topic we are on e.g. Fractions/naming notes in music, socrative, pic collage.

Edmodo is now my primary tool in the classroom. It works like a limited, private Facebook for school. I use it as a virtual grade book (parents have access codes). When planning lessons all worksheets, instructions etc can be added in advance so all students have to do is open them. I can add quizzes, polls, Links to apps gone free, files I want them to have, alerts/reminders etc. In addition I encourage them to help each other and they post to the 'wall' (think Facebook feed) and discuss problems/help each other inside and outside school.

As mentioned the edco app drives me insane. As a maths book it is literally just that and more frustrating at times. It can be slow to log in. There is no shortcut to the answers chapter. It doesn't ever seek to remember pages properly and book marking every day is just impractical. There is nothing interactive. At times I wonder could they just have given us a pdf and let us open in one of those apps. It would be more stable! On the plus side it's encouraging me to continue looking around and at possibly writing something in maths like I did for music and in fairness they are updating it as time goes on.

I wrote four iBooks for the first years for music instead of using a publishers book. I adore this. I can edit as I go, I've already submitted two updates since September. If I don't like how it worked I can delete it and replace, next years wont see it. There's no charge for reprint or new editions. It is brilliant teaching from your own materials and saves me tweaking someone else's work on a daily basis to work for my class. I honestly encourage anyone going 1:1 to try it, even for a chapter!

Zondle one of my great 'finds' this year. It is totally free. It 'gamefies' quizzes. I can set up my own quiz or use one of the hundreds already designed, set it to my students and they can play games as they answer. Students seem to love it and it does seem to be improving grades, particularly in key words. It is wonderful formative assessment and they have also just introduced a summative assessment version where students can only play once and their grade is counted.

The rest are a bit more self explanatory. Virtual piano means every student can learn basic keyboarding skills. Musicnotes is an app for digital versions of purchased music. Students are very fond of whiteboard apps though it's as likely to be them writing on blue with a pink pen as white with black. Socrative is a very handy free 'clicker' system. Students don't have to sign up, just put in your classroom code. I haven't expanded on this one because I feel it has more potential I haven't used yet. Pic collage is a favourite of students for visual learning and poster creation. Safari is self explanatory-just a browser.

I'm still learning but I love it. There's a real buzz in class, particularly if it's something fresh rather than just the book. Most of the apps allow me to either do things I couldn't with paper and pen or do simple things like mini whiteboards really easily and quickly without the need to extra materials (markers etc etc). Headphones and devices allow students to work individually or in groups on listening assignments in music, at their own pace and repeating recordings as often as they need something that was never possible with one set of speakers everyone had to work at the same pace.

Anyways feel free to ask any questions and I'd love suggestions if anyone else is 1:1 for ideas!

curly.bert

Hey Musicmental85 - thanks for the update! Sounds very interesting, especially the EdModo part.

whiteandlight

Its a learning curve but I love it!

I cannot praise edmodo enough, it is continuously improving and the level of support is phenomenal given it is a free platform-they are polite and love to get suggestions. I ended up signing all my classes up, even though they don't have ipads yet its a great resource store. To date there has been 1268 visits to the site by my students, an average of 16 visits a day (including weekends), which given I don't have them using it every day, particularly in maths is a reflection of how much the students use it.

happywithlife

musicmental
just wanted to say I am soooo jealous ! :-( lol
on reading your update post yesterday I am guessing you have massively underplayed the amount of work and effort you've put in to find and develop these apps for your students.
well done you !

whiteandlight

Well actually most of the apps are suggestions from others! You have to "force" yourself to use new things regularly until they become second nature. It wasn't until I banned myself from using markers in class that I became proficient using the ipad/apple tv instead-Its so tempting to fall back into the easy chalk and talk at times. The same with edmodo. I used it last year but this year I've gone paperless with my 2nd year computer class for example, now its perfectly normal to upload the file instead of printing it.

You also have to become very comfortable with things going wrong. If technology fails then I just move on, tomorrow is another day-there's no point getting too stressed about it. Internet down? Back to my usual way of learning SOHCAHTOA instead of the rap song etc etc You get my meaning. We are all very comfortable with our subject matter so you have to get over that fear of "technology failed-I can't do it!"

jb08668

Its better to use the vintage method of teaching in the class room is on the board,today technology has great significance but it has many flaws as well because it totally changes the way of teaching the students plus students also find it entertaining to learn on such technology without knowing that the are been diverted from their actual goals of studying through a Digitized way.

byhookorbycrook

Did anyone hear Matt Cooper talking about a secondary school ,which had been using tablets, now getting rid of them?