Enriching literacy with cell phones? 3 ideas to get started SmartBlogs September is National Literacy Month, and what better way to celebrate and promote literacy than focusing on the tools that students own and love: their cellphones! Using cellphones to enhance learning does not require that they be used in class. If you are in a school where cellphones are banned, the ideas shared here are also applicable outside of class. Cellphones are a great tool for enriching literacy instruction. Here are three ways innovative educators can use the tools in their students’ pockets for learning inside or outside the classroom. Texting drafts Students are reading and writing more than ever. In the classroom: Texting has become the shorthand of the 21st century. Oral reports Google Voice is one of many tools that can capture students’ voices. In the classroom: Have students do their oral reports using Google Voice. Video Most cellphones today can shoot video. In the classroom: Have students record themselves acting out chapters of a book they are reading.
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.
BYOD in 10 steps Mobile learning lets pupils move toward personalised, anytime/anywhere learning, with access to the wealth of information and resources on the web at their fingertips. But budget concerns often leave schools without the ability to provide every student with their own device. And research increasingly shows that students already own those devices anyway. More and more schools are implementing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programmes, which allow students to bring their own SmartPhone, iPod touch, iPad, tablet or other device into school. An obvious benefit is the lower cost of implementing a mobile learning programme when compared to a traditional school-supplied device roll-out. As BYOD has grown in popularity, it has also brought some challenges: equity, compatibility, security, management – to name a few. Cover the whys What makes BYOD a good fit for your school? Get buy-in You will need a solid, written plan to get approval from your leadership and buy-in from parents and teachers.
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.
Levels of Use in BYOT – Transforming Learning Experiences When students are encouraged to bring their own technology to school, this initiative has the potential to empower students and teachers in their learning experiences. We now have BYOT being implemented in all 35 schools in my district, and it is still gradually spreading from classroom to classroom. We have noticed varying levels of use of the technology devices that the students are bringing to school, yet our goal is to achieve the optimal potential of BYOT to impact student learning. To describe the use of instructional technology in our classrooms, we use Bernajean Porter’s Grappling’s Technology and Learning Spectrum to differentiate between Literacy, Adapting, and Transforming uses of technology. In fact, this spectrum has been incorporated into the classroom observation of our teachers to help focus on areas of strength and potential areas for future growth. Literacy Uses Adapting Uses Transforming Uses The Next Steps… Please share your ideas for additional transforming uses of BYOT…
How to Roll Out a 1:1 iPad Program When The Westside School decided to grow its established primary school into a leading middle school program, parents, teachers, students and administrators mapped out an integrated project-based learning environment designed to engage and challenge all participants. The planning team made a list of skills and tools that would support learning, and decided on a 1:1 iPad program to support their vision. I was brought on as technology coordinator to plan and support the curricular and technical deployment for the start of the 2011-12 school year. After a year or two of early adopter experimentation with education-based iPad deployments, a collaboration of IT departments, edTech consultants and third party vendors pieced together a best practice scenario for iOS management. Equally as important to successfully implementing a 1:1 program is the social and curricular roll-out to your school community. Outline of a Phase-In EdTech Guiding Statement Week 1-2: Personal Academic and Social Success
7 Myths About BYOD Debunked BYOD | Viewpoint 7 Myths About BYOD Debunked Lisa Nielsen, the author of "Teaching Generation Text: Using Cell Phones to Enhance Learning" and "The Innovative Educator" blog, believes it is time to shatter a few myths about students bringing their own devices (BYOD) to school. By Lisa Nielsen11/09/11 More than a decade into the 21st century and we are still keeping learners and teachers prisoners of the analog past by enforcing outdated mandates that ban and block them from using the digital resources of their world. Fortunately, today’s students are standing up, speaking out, and, in many cases, using the technology and websites they do not have access to in school to do so. Myth No. 1: BYOD deepens the digital divide. Myth No. 2: BYOD will result in lessons geared toward the weakest device. Myth No. 3: BYOD will cause students to be distracted.
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.
Learning@Lightspeed - The Lightspeed Systems Blog Recently PTAC (Privacy Technical Assistance Center, U.S. Department of Education) released a new publication, Protecting Student Privacy While Using Online Educational Services: Requirements and Best Practices. You can get the full publication here. FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) protects personally identifiable information (PII) from student records from unauthorized disclosure. Lightspeed Systems solutions (including My Big Campus, Mobile Manager, and our Web Filter) are such technologies, classified by PTAC as Online Educational Services. Because of the variety of services and the wide range of district needs and circumstances, the report offers “It depends” as the answer to both “Is student information used in Online Educational Services protected by FERPA” and “What does FERPA require if PII from students’ education records is disclosed to a provider.”
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:
The 4 Big Reasons You Should Try Mobile Learning The idea of implementing mobile learning into a course or instruction may be daunting for many educators. They may assume that mobile learning (aka m-learning) is too complicated and so decide to stick to the methods they have more experience with. Besides, the old fashioned methods of learning have worked for centuries, so what’s the need for change? However, the initial anxiety is quickly overcome once people realize the huge advantages that are gained from using m-learning . Accessibility Mobile learning content is easily accessible. It’s simple not only for students to access m-learning content, but also for teachers to upload their content, which can then be easily updated and reviewed. Customized Content This is a major advantage of m-learning. Easy To Check Progress This is a key benefit to teachers. Variety This is what makes learning content interesting.