An introductory guide to iPads for Teachers. I’m delivering some iPad training to a school tomorrow, so thought it might be useful to collate some of the links I’ve been putting together for the session.
The session is concentrating mainly on teachers using the iPads for their own professional use, rather than being used as a classroom resource, but a lot of the apps below will be suitable for use by students too. I’ll do another post sometime of great apps for different subject areas. Here’s some of the useful apps I’d recommend investigating. Some are free, others the price of a pint or so. Links are to the UK version of iTunes so other readers may need to do a search in the App Store to find the version for their region. File storage / Transfer Dropbox Dropbox is probably one of the most useful applications I’ve used in years.
Other apps also work with Dropbox too. Word Processing / Office Capability.
iPad apps. Why Go 1:1 iPad? In a response to a well written and thoughtful post that I recently read by @jmcconville1000, "Why the iPad is bad for education", I felt compelled to respond from my personal experience of rolling out a cart of 30 iPads in a shared high school environment.
Fundamentally I believe that an iPad can neither be good or bad. All it can ever be is an iPad. I argue instead, that when used effectively and with specific goals in mind, iPads can have a positive impact on education. Seeing that schools are investing money on these devices, the perspective to adopt is not a combative one, but rather one that explores how to effectively integrate the devices.
Whether a school is 1:1, or there is a shared iPad cart, the devices can be used effectively. Time & Space: iPad features related to time and space are incredibly important. The iPad is Not a Computer... The device shouldn't be looked at as a computer, because it isn't...it is more than that. iPads can’t improve learning without good teaching Pt 2 – Writing. Used with permission from Debbie Ridpath Ohi at Inkygirl.com ( ) Writing and technology has been a controversial subject for many traditionalists in education.
“Spell check stops children from learning to spell”. “All students do today is copy and paste from Wikipedia and Google searched articles.” ” Children need to handwrite all their drafts”. “William Shakespeare didn’t have a laptop” ( OK, i just threw that in for fun!) At the same time, of course, as a teacher I have been subjected to countless reports and stories typed in ridiculous unreadable coloured fonts, decorated with superfluous clip art and WordArt headings and thousands of “death by Powerpoints” unnecessarily printed out to hand up to me. 20 years of computers as a publishing tool has not necessarily improved the standard of students’ writing skills. The key words in that last sentence are of course publishing and writing.
Which leads me once more to the star of “Mr G Online”, the iPad. Six Examples of iPad Integration in the 1:1 Classroom. There has been a lot of conversation and debate in multiple forums, both online and face-to-face, about schools adopting or already working in a 1:1 environment.
While many of these conversations revert back to replacing teachers and what device is best, the real conversation begins with providing our students with the best learning environment possible. At Burlington High School in Burlington, MA, we are entering our eighth month of a 1:1 iPad initiative that began in September 2011. Don't get me wrong, we think the iPad is a great device for learning and gives each of our students a dynamic learning tool that can be used across the content areas and to accomplish a variety of tasks. Many of the critics claim that we are backing our students into a corner by giving them one brand and one skill set to learn exclusively on one device.
This is not the case at Burlington. Our teachers have been compiling exemplary work and engaging our students in a diverse manner. Recently, Ms. 1. How to Design a Beautiful iPad Lesson: This is a beautiful lesson designed and presented by Rob Miller on Scrib.
What I really like about this series of activities is that it allows the students or in Rob's case his teachers to articulate their own learning. It is never about a single app. It is the combination of apps that allow the learners to meet the learning outcomes. It is a great example of building a meaningful lesson around a concept and then providing the students with the tools to create content. The other great thing about this lesson is the beautifully designed yet simple instructions built by Rob. I would like to thank Rob for sharing this resource. iPad Curriculum. iPads in Schools. Ipads in the Classroom. Turn the iPad® into a Knowledge Creation resource with Inspiration® Maps. Buy Now Free Trials Products & Services Inspiration (Mac/Windows) Inspiration Maps (iPad/iPhone) Kidspiration (Mac/Windows) Kidspiration Maps (iPad) Webspiration Classroom (Web/Chromebooks) WebspirationPRO (Web/Chromebooks) Visual Learning Overview Graphic Organizers Concept Mapping Mind Mapping Webbing Outlining Plots & Graphs Resources Getting Started Training Scripts For Parents State Standards Research Blog Curriculum Integration Inspiration Kidspiration Webspiration Classroom InspireData Lesson Plans Common Core Special Needs Inspired Learning Community Global Help Center Inspiration Inspiration Maps InspireData Kidspiration Kidspiration Maps Webspiration Classroom WebspirationPRO Content creation for iPad The Leader in Visual Thinking and Learning.
