How many Apple IDs should your family have? — Apple News, Tips and Reviews 10 Steps to a Successful School iPad Program Portions excerpted from new book, "iPad in Education for Dummies" by Sam Gliksman iPads have certainly become a highly desired commodity in education. Apple is reporting that schools are purchasing iPads by a ratio of 2:1 over MacBooks. However, that rush to purchase the latest technologies often precedes the careful planning and preparation that’s crucial to their success as educational tools. Stated simply, technology alone doesn’t have the capacity to improve education. It needs to be woven into a holistic approach to education that encompasses thorough planning and ongoing review of the skills and competencies required by the rapidly changing society that characterizes life in the 21st century. Well-planned technology deployments have the potential to have a remarkably transformative impact on schools and students. 1. Do you have adequate incoming Internet bandwidth to connect all the devices and use them at the same time? 2. Can you explain why you have decided to purchase iPads? 3.
$59 Adapter Connects Apple TV And AirPlay To Virtually And Display System Kanex adapter and Apple TV bring AirPlay to virtually any venue AirPlay and AirPlay Mirroring add a lot of value to the second and third generation Apple TVs. Paired with a recent iPad or the iPhone 4S, an Apple TV can instantly become a gaming solution and a theater for home movies – and will be amazing when combined with Mountain Lion when it ships this summer. AirPlay also turns that Apple TV into powerful and extremely portable presentation system that’s a great fit for the classroom or the board room. Kanex today announced its new ATV Pro adapter designed for the Apple TV. That portability makes it a great companions to an Apple TV and iPhone/iPad for mobile professionals that need to make presentations in a variety of different settings – and using a variety of different display options. The device also works great for existing presentation solutions in classrooms, conference rooms, and other venues that don’t include HDMI support. Source KanexImage KanexRelated
5 Tips to Prepare Teachers for 1:1 iPad Projects | Terice T. Schneider's Digital Home After talking to many of my colleagues over the last few days, I realize there are many schools looking at some version of iPad deployment and they want to do it right. In order for the iPad to be a great learning tool, you’ll need your teachers fully committed to it. It requires time and effort to prepare teachers for such a deployment, so make sure you have staff in place to do it. Without blathering on, here are Terice’s 5 Tips to Preparing Teachers for 1:1 iPad Projects. Give them iPads–Put them in the teacher’s hands early and let them use them for work and play. If they do not understand how they work or why someone would use it, they won’t be able to guide students effectively. Now for my disclaimer: We planned to do each of these things and even more.
Myths about iOS, iPad, iPhone & iPod touch I have the pleasure of working with educators who get to use iPads and iPod touches with students. Wherever I facilitate workshops, I find there are some myths floating around about Apple's iOS devices, and I'd like to clear up some of the misinformation. iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch do not have user manuals. Gone are the days when you receive a thick printed user manual with your electronics purchase. iPad User Guide: PDF or iBooksiPhone User Guide: PDF or iBooksiPod touch User Guide: PDF or iBooks You have to have a credit card associated with your iTunes account. A credit card is not required when you create an iTunes account. First log out of any iTunes accounts you might be signed into. If you have already given iTunes a credit card number, you can log into your account and click to edit your payment information. You can buy an app once and install it on all devices in the classroom or school. The Volume Purchase Program is only for paid apps. You need a Mac to sync multiple devices.
Data and Analysis of a High School 1:1 iPad Program. « The Westlake Initiative for Innovation (WIFI) project launched in August of 2011 in the Eanes Independent School District. The objectives – create a culture of digital and global learning, increase the relevance of education in real-world scenarios, and allow for a more individualized, flexible and differentiated learning via 1:1 iPads for every Junior and Senior level student. When the WIFI project began, those may have been the focal points of introducing a new tool into an already successful high school environment, but as our data and focus-group studies have shown us, there were a lot of other unintended outcomes as a result of this pilot. In October of 2011, students and teachers were surveyed about the use of iPads in their classes. Since only those 38 teachers that were actually in the WIFI program were required to have some sort of integrated instruction with the iPad, some students were in classes that weren’t required to integrate these. Survey Questions and Data – Like this:
Apple Configurator offers easy iOS deployment from OS X | MacFixIt Apple's iPads and other iOS devices have become some of the most popular electronics out there for consumers, and schools and businesses. While the iPad is excellent for quick access to portable tools to use in a laboratory, office, or classroom, one problem is managing all the iPads that are available and restricting features on them to work properly with your needs. The iPad is built to be associated with one person and then customized by that person for his or her needs; however, depending on your business setup you may wish to restrict the iPad for specific purposes. For instance, if you work with sensitive information, then while the iPad might be useful for taking notes and organizing your employee's workflow, the presence of the camera and Internet access might be a security concern. The last option the Configurator program offers is user and group assignments. While the Configurator does run on OS X, it so far is fairly separate from many of the services built into the OS.
The iPad and Parental Engagement in Education Parents have a very different perspective. Whilst educators wax lyrical about the potential of the iPad for learning, there are concerns from parents about its impact on their child. Or so we thought. All parents of iPad trial students were asked to complete a questionnaire, attend a focus group meeting and email any further thoughts to inform the decision making progress for future iPad use. A great deal of time was taken by these parents as they were keen to convey their thoughts to inform the research process and we are very grateful for all their efforts. Below are direct responses to questions from the focus group where parents were encouraged to discuss with each other the various advantages and disadvantages of the iPad for learning. Have you noticed any change in the way your child approaches learning?. As suspected the increased motivation and collaboration we have witnessed from students has also been observed at home. Like this: Like Loading...
Apple Releases Apple Configurator for Businesses & Schools Following today’s Apple Event, Apple has just released Apple Configurator, an app that “makes it easy for anyone to mass configure and deploy iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch in a school, business, or institution.” Apple Configurator is likely of the same variety as what Apple uses in its own stores to reset its showroom devices, but now it’s available for organizations and schools to make updating and resetting devices effortless. This should break down a few major barriers that kept organizations from widely adopting the devices before. From Apple: Three simple workflows let you prepare new iOS devices for immediate distribution, supervise devices that need to maintain a standard configuration, and assign devices to users. The app is free to download today for anyone looking to keep track of iDevices in volume. ➤ Apple Configurator (free) You might also want to check out how Apple is partnering with a Philadelphia design school to provide new students with iPads.
Managing: The Nuts & Bolts of an iPad Classroom Awhile ago, I wrote about the beginning of the one-to-one iPad journey in my classroom. I have always appreciated when others have shared not only their pedagogy, but the organization of their tools or classroom as well. I’ve also had more people ask me questions about my set-up than how I use iPads to actually teach in my classroom, so here’s my “share”. Purchasing the iPads was the easy part. Organizing Each iPad was named with a number. Before we purchased the iPads, the students had been storing their headphones at the other end of the classroom. Ipad Storage The iPad shelf in my classroom has become as hot an item for discussion (at least for the adults who visit us) as the iPads themselves. To power the iPads, I used four Belkin charging stations, which are fastened right onto the back of the shelves. Students Making the Rules Up to this point, we had had a couple of the original iPads in our classroom, so Use two hands to carry the iPads.Don’t leave the iPad on the floor.
A Principal's Perspective: Preparing to Distribute Student iPads? Yes, let's give students iPads so they can be smarter and learn better. It sounds so easy. The reality is that there are many unknowns, like how do you hand out 800 iPads and keep track of which student has which iPad, and how do you get 800 students to register with iTunes so they can use their iPads on the school system? (The school system: How do you provide enough bandwidth for 800 iPads? That's another challenge entirely!) As principal, here are questions myself and faculty have been faced with: What if I lose my iPad? These many questions and a hundred more from the students, teachers, and parents are being answered one by one in my iPad experience. The iPad Rationale Our school district has a high number of low-income families, and one of the reasons for lending each ninth and tenth grader an iPad for the school year is an effort to eliminate the well-known "digital divide." Tackling the Challenges Cost Insurance Ownership "So what happens at the end of the year?" What's Next?
Want Increased Student Achievement Using iPads? Apple reports that 1.5 million iPads are used in K12. Given that there are approximately 55 million students in K12, the iPad has penetrated K12 faster than any other computing technology. And the tech tsunami doesn’t seem to be slowing down. What Do iPads Have to Do With It? Why would K12 administrators and teachers expect iPads to do what neither desktops nor laptops could do? Before you say we are anti-iPad, substitute any other mobile device for iPad and the argument presented here holds true. In fact, Hu pointed out that the failure of laptops was due to (1) lack of educational software, (2) lack of curriculum that exploited the software, and (3) lack of professional development. Essential Learning Devices The bottom line is that after spending all that money and effort outfitting all the students in a class, educators should not settle for just using them as supplemental tools. Cathleen Norris is a Regents Professor at the University of North Texas and a past ISTE President.
25 Ways To Use iPads In The Classroom by Degree of Difficulty In case you haven’t heard the news, we’re putting out a special mini-issue early next week. It’ll be available in the Edudemic Magazine iPad app and, best of all, FREE to subscribers! If you’re not (yet) a subscriber, it’ll be just $0.99. The following is an excerpt from just one of the articles in the mini-issue. So you’ve got one or a few iPads that you want to use in the classroom. iPad Apps for School | The Best iOS Apps for Students and Teachers