My favourite iPad Apps for the classroom - Keith Rispin » Keith Rispin I spend a lot of time reflecting about my use of iPads in the classroom and I have gotten a lot of attention and positive feedback about my glass half full approach to evaluating these marvelous little devices. Lately however, I have been getting asked “What are your favorite iPad apps for classroom?” and My response isn’t much more then a very thoughtful “ummmmmm?” This is mainly because the list is rather short and hardly impressive and it is strangely missing most of the big names in Apps for Education. What follows is a short list of My 6 favorite iPad Apps for the classroom. Finally, keep in mind that this list is by no means intended to be the last word in Apps for educators. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for some more reviews on Apps for Pro D and other School related stuff.
iPad - Keith Rispin » Keith Rispin Well, it looks like another school year is on a collision course with my summer vacation, so I guess I better start being useful again. Since my usefulness generally doesn’t go much beyond the 9.7 inch dimensions of an iPad screen, I figured I should pen a preseason post on using iPads in the Classroom. As I type this post, truckloads of iPads are being delivered and prepared for use in classrooms all over the world. Educational institutions are jumping on board the runaway train called the Apple Express, even though we have yet to prove that the iPad is the best personal electronic device for the classroom. Undeniably, these are exciting times for tech geeks like me but what about my colleagues who are not sold on iPad mania but feel they need to step into the fray? The devices are sitting in the principal’s office primed and ready to use but there has yet to be any Pro D on how to use these $500 paperweights? You curse under your breath and frantically change gears.
The 60-Second Guide To Teaching With Tablets 5 Reasons We Use Social Media 9.58K Views 0 Likes There are many reasons we use social media. An Apple for the teacher: are iPads the future in class? | Teacher Network Blog | Guardian Professional I'm a self-confessed Apple fanatic so I was curious to see how iPads and iPods could be used successfully in a primary school. I was sure they would inspire and encourage the teachers I work with to take a chance and think outside their comfort zone and embrace new technology. But before our school jumped on the iPad bandwagon, I wanted to determine how these devices were going to offer a better learning experience compared to the laptops that we already had in our school. My 'iPad journey' began approximately a year ago, when I bought an iPad 2. Having seen the huge potential of the iPads as an educational tool, I decided to investigate the pros and cons of iPads compared to laptops in the classroom. In my mind these were the pros: • Ease and speed of use and accessibility: The touch interface and app system on the iPad makes it easy to access learning tools. And here are the cons: Initially, five members of staff (head, deputy, phase leaders and ICT co-ordinator) were given an iPad.
Best Practices for Deploying iPads in Schools Digital Tools Teaching Strategies Flickr: Lexie Flickinger By Matt Levinson As schools get ready to deploy iPads this year, each one is scrambling to figure out how to develop an efficient and effective system that works. Without professional development and a set plan in place, educators in individual classes might be stumped by how to set up iPads for different uses. To that end, here are some ideas about how to put a system in place for iPad use in classrooms:
50 really useful iPad 2 tips and tricks An absolute gem of an article by John Brandon and Graham Barlow from MacLife on 30th March over at TechRadar. This is going to become my iPad manual from here on in. Customised iPads for all iPad 2 tips and original iPad tips - get 'em here! iPad 2 review It's also fully capable of running the latest version of Apple's iOS operating system and great apps like iMovie and GarageBand. 1. iOS now supports folders. 2. Double-clicking the Home button shows you all the apps that are running on your iPad in a bar along the bottom of the screen. 3. The internet got mightily upset when Orientation Lock was replaced with Mute on the iPad during the last iOS update. 4. If you're carrying around sensitive data, you can now enable a feature that'll erase all the data on the device if someone inputs the incorrect passcode 10 times. 5. First, turn on Home Sharing in iTunes (Advanced menu) and on your iPad (Settings > iPod and enter your Apple ID). 6. Have you ever played Tap Tap Revenge on the iPhone?
5 Things Not To Do During an iPad Rollout 1-to-1 Programs | Feature 5 Things Not To Do During an iPad Rollout K-12 teachers and administrators pinpoint five different areas that schools should be aware of when rolling out iPad initiatives. By Bridget McCrea07/25/12 There's no shortage of iPad rollouts in the K-12 space right now. Here are five things that you shouldn't do during an iPad rollout. 1. Haggard said she uses a similar organizational approach with daily assignments, knowing that her young students will be most productive when given specific tasks to complete on their tablets. 2. Wiecking, HPA's energy lab director, said getting students away from games like Angry Birds and engaged in educational projects on their iPads isn't always easy. "It's about students being engaged and on task," said Wiecking. 3. "This is not a network-friendly device," said Nagler. Nagler said the problem has grown as more devices were distributed and as more teachers recognized the limitation. 4.
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?
Live Report from the first iPad Summit I recently had the privilege of attending the first iPad Summit hosted by Ed Tech Teacher at Harvard Medical School. The conference brought together over 500 educators and experts from around the globe to consider one digital tool — the Apple iPad. The conference was one of the most innovative and exhilarating experiences I have had as an educator. This conference was unique: It didn’t focus on pedagogy or broad tools or philosophy. Instead, participants gave all their attention to a single piece of technology and how it might be applied in the realm of education. Speakers came from a broad array of backgrounds and experiences: school administrators, educators from shared platform classrooms, educators from 1:1 programs, technology coordinators, educational consultants, and educational researchers. The keynote speaker was Tony Wagner, Ph.D., Harvard professor and author of Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change The World. Three take-aways More to come
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning: 15 iPad Skills Every Teacher and Student should Have Check the learning goals below and share with us your feedback. Enjoy 1- My students should be able to create presentations . Here are the apps to help you achieve this goal : Sliderocket Idea Flight3- Slideshark5- SlideGrabber6- Prezi Viewer4- Xavier Presentation 2- My students should be able to create digital stories. 1-StoryKit2- Talking Tom & Ben News3- I Tell a Story4- Scholastic Storia5- Talking Tom Cat6- Toontastic7- Our Story8- Bunsella Bedtimes Story 3- My students should be able to create eBooks . 1- Book Creator for iPad2- eBook Magic3- Demibooks Composer4- Story Patch5- Creative Book Builder 4- My students should be able to print their docs right from their iPad. 1- Epson iPrint2- Print Magic3- ACT Printer4- Doc Printer5- Air Sharing 5- My students should be able to create videos . 1- Animoto Video2- Videolicious3- Vidify app4- ReelDirector5- Magisto6- Super 87- Vintagio8- iMovie 6- I want to Improve my students reading skills. 11- My students should be able to screen share .
6 Ways Students Can Collaborate With iPads The following post is written by Greg Kulowiec of EdTechTeacher . Join EdTechTeacher at the iPad Summit in Atlanta on April 10-12. 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 powerful screen casting option, students and teachers can collaborate on screencasts by exporting Explain Everything project files from an iPad. Google Drive (Free) BookCreator ($4.99) Subtext (free) Diigo
20 Apps (Games) for Play-based Learning - Getting Smart by Guest Author - EdTech, ipaded, serious games “20 Apps (Games) for Play-based Learning” by Julie DeNeen first appeared on the InformED blog. Even though older adults might still carry a negative association with video game consoles and devices, today’s technology is vastly different than it was 20 years ago. Apps have exploded on the scene, and while there are plenty of time wasting games available on the market, today’s offerings also include a wide range of affordable apps that enrich learning and allow for quick on-the-go play. Whether your child is waiting for the doctor or relaxing on a long car ride, the following apps are some of the best games that pack an educational punch. 1. The Letter School app won the Editor’s choice for Children’s Technology Review for 2012. 2. From the makers of Angry Birds comes Amazing Alex. 3. If your child likes puzzle games and math, Awesum is a fantastic combination of Tetris and Sudoki. 4. Traveling explorers and geographers will love the Barefoot World Atlas app available for iOS devices. 5.
Kids iPad Learning Apps Winter 2013  Ready for some new educational apps? I figured this was about the time you would be itching to get some new apps. Kids home for several weeks. Math & Science Pettson’s Inventions 2 $1.99 math, visual Cartoony graphics get to figure out how to build something but it’s not as easy as it seems because you can’t just put something somewhere – must figure out a system. The Curse $2.99math, thinking skills Oh, no! Number Run $.99 math I love this app for math practice. UmiZooomi $1.99 math A fun, interactive story that asks the reader to help Jake find his lost stuffed bunny at the carnival.Play the categorizing balloons game. Social Studies Geography Drive USA $4.99 geography Great for kids over ten. Thud: Presidential Edition $2.99 history I love that this trivia game keeps giving you chances until you get the correct answer. Paul Revere – Ansel & Claire $5.49 history Wow, this is probably the best example of learning through gaming that I’ve seen! Reading, Writing, Music & Art Toontastic Jr. xo
Redefining the Writing Process with iPads Take a moment to think about how you learned to write. What steps did you go through? What was your process? Most of us learned the same core set of skills on paper: organize, draft, edit, revise, turn in. When computers entered into the equation, we digitized the process. In the progression from Writing 1.0 to 2.0, we digitally enhanced an existing process. With what we'll call Writing 3.0, students and teachers can: Organize and draft through handwriting, drawing, text and voiceCollaborate and incorporate multimodal feedbackCreate a final product that demonstrates mastery and communicates understanding beyond the literal confines of paper Organizing & Drafting With iPads, writing has becoming mobile, not just in the sense that we can write anywhere -- in some ways, we could do that with paper -- but that we can use the tools and features of the devices to scaffold our process both in terms of the output and the input. Imagine a student who benefits from the tactile nature of handwriting.