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Jen Carey is LIVE blogging for us from the EdTechTeacher iPad Summit USA. You can also find these posts on her site – indianajen.com. Concurrent Session #1: iPads for Administrators – Chris Casal While the title of this talk is iPad for Administrators, the focus is less about administration and more on working as a leader (in every capacity) in the school. Chris works for a public school in NYC of about 1,000 students. Administrators view iPads primarily for three things: communication, collaboration, and observation. They often have a fourth goal as well: going paperless. iPad is an amazing tool for…
Jen Carey is LIVE blogging for us from the EdTechTeacher iPad Summit USA. You can also find these posts on her site – indianajen.com. “Follow my lead. Let’s go somewhere that matters – not just somewhere that glitters.” – Angela Maiers Please note: the slides and audio for Angela’s talks are available on her website. Angela Maiers is an experienced and passionate educator. She is a celebrated author and keynote speaker. She just kicked off the iPad Summit with her keynote address. Angela’s excitement is palpable in the large conference room. In spite of some technical difficulties (a staple at…
I thoroughly enjoy coming up with workflow solutions for iPads. Don Orth (@fonddonorth) recently posted a picture of a well thought out iPad workflow solution for teacher created video feedback on student writing. Don’s diagram below uses a combination of eBackpack, Explain Everything, Reflector and PDF Annotate. Don’s diagram is outstanding, but I also wanted to provide a solution for schools using Google Apps and iPads. The diagram below uses a combination of Pages, Explain Everything and Google Drive to achieve the same result, teacher created video feedback. Pages could of course be swapped out for any word processing app…
For over a year, we have been working to dispel the myth that there’s an app for that… However, as Greg continues to document, while there may not be one single app, two might just do the trick. Explain Everything X Google Drive = Awesome! Using iPads in the classroom and particularly workflow solutions for iPads has slowly progressed from maddening to relatively seamless. While just last year an app for Google Drive didn’t exist, it now directly interfaces quite nicely with a number of student creation apps and nearly everything can upload to Google Drive using the “open in” feature.…
Last week, EdTechTeacher’s Greg Kulowiec wrote: After working with iPads for any amount of time in the classroom, one will quickly realize that most processes can’t be completed with just one app. While many apps slightly overlap in terms of functionality, there tends to be a few black holes in each app that require the use of another app to complete the process. This leads us to App Smashing. App Smashing Defined: The process of using multiple apps in conjunction with one another to complete a final task or project. In App Smashing: Part I, Greg walks through his favorite…
In a recent piece for Edudemic, I explored six ways that students can collaborate with iPads. As a follow up, I thought I would share a few other methods by which students can collaborate, some possible now, some coming down the road. A pattern is emerging in my perspective on iPad use in the classroom…find ways to collaborate with these devices. TimelineJS In my last blog post I outlined a method by which students can collaborate in real time on a google form to create a web based timeline. The entire process is outlined here. What I like most about…
These days I find myself searching for ways that allow for collaboration with iPads. In a recent piece I wrote for Edudemic I outlined 6 ways that students can currently collaborate using iPads and this afternoon another possibly crossed my mind. TimelineJS is a web based timeline creator, that in my opinion is the best timeline creation tool on the web. What I like most about this platform is that the creation process takes place in a google form. There is a template that can be downloaded from the TimelineJS site that is automatically pulled into a users Google Drive…
The app store is loaded with options that allow students to create content on their iPads. From comic strip creators to mind maps, video editing and publishing, screencasting & digital books, the options for individual student creation are expanding. However, collaboration between students is often a critical component of any classroom activity or project and increasingly there are options available that allow for collaborative efforts across iPads. Below are six ways to support collaboration between student iPads that cover the spectrum of creation options that range from text to digital storytelling to video creation. Explain Everything ($2.99) A flexible and…
While there will never be a replacement for a paper book with dog-eared pages, hand written notes in the margins, a broken spine and a proudly worn cover with a hint of dirt and stains, there is an exciting new option to transform the practice of reading to make it more social and collaborative. Subtext is an intriguing iPad application that allows users to read books collaboratively. While reading, participants can insert text, emotions, questions, links and thoughts into the margins of the book. When other readers jump into the text they can see the notations and reply to the…
In a continued quest to find ways that iPads can be not only consumption, but creation devices, I recently worked with a high school psychology class (@alisonshaver’s class) where students were working in pairs to create children’s books about various psychological disorders. The app we used for the project was BookCreator. We chose the app for its ease of use, ability to record audio directly into the book and the ability to export the final product as both an eBook and PDF file. The Process: 5 minute BookCreator tutorial Students worked in pairs to research their disorder Groups outlined their…
I recently visited a French foreign language class and the teacher asked if I had ever hear of Henri the Cat. I take a tiny bit of pride in attempting to know everything that is on the internet, but I had never crossed paths with Henri. The teacher quickly pulled up Henri and we watched and laughed out loud with the students. If you have never seen Henri, I suggest you take a few minutes to watch part one… Before I left the class, I asked the teacher if she would be interested in having her students create similar style…
For the past several weeks, Greg has been working to set up two iPad carts in his school (we posted iPad Cart & App Selection last week). Now that everything is up and running, he has embarked on a completely paperless research process with colleague @katrinakennett and her 10th grade English class. This will be a three week process, throughout which, Greg is going to blog his observations. Here is the beginning from Greg: “Before we start the process, we had a conversation about the goals of this research process and why iPads would be a good fit. I think it is critical…
After two weeks of setting his school up with two new iPad carts, Greg posted iPad Cart & App Selection to his blog, chronicling some of the decision making process that he employed in setting up two carts of 30 iPads for his school. Rather than focusing first on the apps, Greg took a goal-based approach, much like the one implemented in the design of the EdTechTeacher iPad As… page, where apps are suggested based on how they help teachers and students achieve specified learning objectives. “I am in the process of setting up an iPad cart at my…
At the annual National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) conference this fall, Greg Kulowiec presented with three colleagues on the topic of Video in the Classroom. Edutopia regularly features great examples of Project-Based Learning and Comprehensive Assessment, and the presentation that Greg and his colleagues delivered addresses both of those themes. In the article, Lights, Camera . . . Engagement! Three Great Tools for Classroom Video, Ron Peck presents the slides from NCSS as well as simple directions and classroom examples that leverage Animoto, Common Craft style, and Choose Your Own Adventure videos. Their Google Presentation is embedded below. What makes video a…
This school year, at EdTechTeacher, we are doing our first iPad T21 program. During our second face-to-face workshops, our participants raised an excellent question: how do we actually USE these in the classroom? This seems to be a common thread throughout the blogosphere as educators grapple not with finding apps, but the challenge of truly transforming teaching and learning with these new devices. When not working as an EdTechTeacher instructor and presenter, Greg Kulowiec is a history teacher and Technology Integration Specialist at Plymouth South High School. In the latter capacity, he collaborates with teachers to successfully integrate iPads into…
