All Skills. The Challenge of iPad Pedagogy. Staff training completed.
Make no bones about it, the use of the word completed couldn’t be further from the truth. My advice to anyone else undertaking an iPad trial, be more than prepared. Imagine the most challenging class you have ever had to personalise learning for and double it. Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely grateful for the vigour with which the staff and students have approached the training at such a busy time. It isn’t the device either. The challenge lies in the pedagogy. Exposure to app use, productivity and possible implications has opened up the proverbial can of worms, and it’s fantastic. Whether you subscribe to the device as a consumption, creation or discovery tool, the technology opens the eyes of educators when given time to investigate.
Not that I didn’t have my own ideas! It just feels like the trial has a real chance of success and not because of the new technology. So what to do next? It’s a challenge and it’s not about the technology! Like this: Like Loading... Classeur : Education- Teaching & Learning. The ICT Click: Presentation Tools – the very busy teachers' guide. Want some fresh presentation ideas?
Want to wake up your students with better visuals? There are so many presentation tools out there Never fear, here is your busy teachers quick guide to the top 5 presentation tools you could and should be using. Good for – Import your old PowerPoints and add fresher transitions, text effects and multimedia. Choose from a great range of fresh templates. Also – It's all web based so no more memory sticks, but you will need Internet access to present your presentations which does worry some teachers. Ease of use – Takes a while to find your way around the editor but a suite of videos help with unlocking new skills. 2. prezi.com In a nutshell - Forget slides. Good for - mind map based presentations. Also - You can embed YouTube videos which means you can show videos without all of the Youtube distractions.
Apps for Professional Development. Twitter App (free) Twitter is one of the most active and beneficial social networks on the web.
All educators would be wise to join the conversation. If you haven’t used Twitter yet, I would recommend that you read these excellent blog posts: Google Voice (free) Text and call for free! Skype (free) A beautiful app that allows you to make and receive VOIP calls on your iOS device. HeyTell (free) A fun “walkie-talkie” app for quick voice communication.
Consumption Apps FlipBoard (free) A beautiful app that turns your RSS reader (such as Google Reader) into a magazine. Zite (free) Similar to FlipBoard, however instead of just providing a beautiful interface to view content you select, Zite tries to introduce you to new content sources based off of sources you currently read. QR Code Readers Quick-Response codes are the strange black and white boxes that have begun appearing everywhere. RedLaser: free native iPhone app, simple and lightweightQrafter: free, the most robust of all of the QR scanners. Mrs. Wideen's Blog: From 1 iPad to 20 iPads and How It Has Changed My Classroom. I was challenged to improve my students’ vocabulary and sight word recognition with one iPad in the Fall of 2011.
My students were amazingly successful and we only used 4 skill building apps. This minor success developed into a written proposal for 20 more iPads, a MacBook and an iPad cart. Our proposal was fulfilled and we received all of the technology in May of 2012. Skill building has developed into knowledge building through the use of applications on the iPad that harness the power of creation, communication, collaboration and motivation.
My multidisciplinary approach in the use of the iPads has led to the demonstration of student growth in Literacy, in Math, and in Digital Literacy. I am very excited about the results I have seen and the knowledge I have gained. Students in my class are excited to write because they now have the excitement of an authentic audience. Aside from the benefits my students have gained, I have been granted additional benefits for myself as an educator. Mr P's ICT blog. Top 10 Twitter Tips! Without a doubt, Twitter is my number one form of professional development and I am always recommending it to other educators.
I first joined Twitter in early 2009 although I didn’t start using it daily until early 2010. I find Twitter to be a one stop shop to meet like-minded educators. It is a place where I can find advice, give advice, find great links, share my work and engage in general musings about education. For me, Twitter has never been a place where I tell people what I am eating for breakfast or catch up on celebrity goss.
While I use Facebook to keep up with friends, Twitter is purely a professional medium for me. If you’re new to Twitter, this is a terrific video that explains how Twitter can be used as a professional development tool for teachers (I came across this via Michael Graffin @mgraffin – thanks!).