5 Must-Know Tips For Deploying iPads In Your Classroom If you’re looking to deploy iPads in education, you may think that it’s just a matter of expense and storage. Those things are big, but they’re not the biggest problems you’ll face. In fact, this is one of those situations where money is the least of your troubles. I was chatting with an Edudemic reader this week who wanted to know a few tips and tricks about deploying iPads in his classroom this coming school year. How many devices can use one Apple ID? This is a question that pops up all the time. But long story short, it varies. Basically, you should plan on using free apps for the most part as these are easy to install on any device you have, no matter how many Apple IDs you have / need. How do I store all these various devices? There’s more to storing all these devices than just locking them away in a cabinet you already have. In order to properly store, you’ll also want to have the iPads, Macbooks, iPod Touches, Android devices, etc. all charging at the same time.
Gifting an App How to gift an app from your master iPad account. As a individual consumer with an iTunes account you would normally buy one app and load it onto all of your iOS devices. As a school you need to ensure that you buy one app per device to ensure that you do not break the iTunes licensing agreement. The situation is even more complicated if you are using the device with multiple users, but that's another story. There are three or four viable ways you can do this, each of them have their advantages and pitfalls. The main ways of distributing apps include; Volume LicensingiTunes CardsStudent ManagedGifting Apps Gifting apps is one method I had not thought to use in an educational setting. Having said that many teacher don't want the hassle of managing the devices. A simple how-to for gifting apps. Your master account is simply the account you nominate as the MAIN account for the school. You must pay for the app/s with a credit card. The email received by the recipient will look like this.
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. With no standardized system or uniform roadmap to follow, at the moment, it’s up to individual schools to reach out through their networks to find information about best practices and smooth, streamlined service. 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:
New approach to geometry takes shape with iPads in schools Holly Blocker’s geometry students at Northeastern Wisconsin Lutheran High School bring to class compasses, rulers and protractors. This year, they’re also carrying iPads. The school, like several others in the area, launched a one-to-one program this year, and is providing tablet computers to each of its 125 students to use both in the classroom and at home. Educators say the devices enhance classroom learning and also encourage students to become familiar with technology they will use later in life. N.E.W. Students also use the iPad to take pictures of formulas she’s written on the board which they can refer to later while doing homework. “It really is such a great resource,” Blocker said. School staff discussed ways to use the technology, and principal Chris Nelson said use varies between classrooms. Blocker, for example, expects about half of math tests will be done on the iPad and half with traditional pencil and paper. “Math is about training the brain,” she said.
Using iPads With Mixed-Ability Students, Teachers Must 'Give Up Some Control' Mobile Learning | Feature Using iPads With Mixed-Ability Students, Teachers Must 'Give Up Some Control' By Kim Fortson09/12/12 The power in today's classroom, according to Amanda Allen and David Lopez, who introduced iPads to their Los Angeles school, is no longer in the teacher's hands. In 2010, when Allen and Lopez helped to pioneer the implementation of 1-to-1 iPads at St. "Technology is too powerful not to use," said Allen, a primary school teacher at the time. St. A Control Issue Allen and Lopez both note that the iPads allowed teachers to cater to mixed ability students, or students of multiple learning levels, with varying learning styles, at the same time. "The biggest challenge was giving up some of the control and being OK with the fact that it might not go perfect the first time, but knowing that we were going to figure it out," Allen said. To achieve these outcomes, both Allen and Lopez gave their students great freedom in the way the tablets were used.
What Students Can Actually DO With An iPad Online, in workshops, and even with friends, I frequently get asked What can the iPad actually do? as a sort of challenge to the worth of the device. I would rather that they ask, What can you actually do with an iPad? So last week, in preparing for the New England Reading Association Conference and the NYSCATE Mobile Learning Summit , I decided to change my approach. However, before addressing that question, I asked not only WHY iPads but WHY Technology ? I want my students to communicate in complex and modern ways. What does this tangibly look like in the classroom? I want my students to demonstrate their knowledge of the parts of a story. Learning Objectives: In addition to learning the story elements, students learn… To write a constructive review To assess the credibility of an author or source To create a sense of visual hierarchy for their information To document their sources Project: Book Posters – students create a movie-style poster to advertise their book.
New iPad App May Be The Future Of Collaborative Online Learning One of the biggest problems many people have with Khan Academy and YouTube Edu is simply the format. It’s not the fault of Khan or YouTube … it’s just that the passive video format is just that. It’s passive. A San Francisco-based startup called Net Power & Light Inc. wants to change that. Net’s software is called ‘ Spin ‘ which essentially turns passive video watching into interactive group learning. Right now, Spin lets you remix and interact with content from Harvard, Stanford, TED, and the National Geographic Channel. “Teachers felt web-based learning wasn’t giving them the full experience,” Tara Lemmey, Net Power & Light’s co-founder and chief executive officer, said in an interview. So How’s It Work? The App Screenshot The Spin software lets you, like any video player, fast-forward, rewind, skip chapters, and pause videos. Start the video, get your group to join in, watch a bit, then discuss. Get The App “The global class is the next stage in the experiment,” Sandel said. Prof.
How Students Can Create Their Own e-Textbooks On An iPad Two of the most powerful apps on the iPad may be completely invisible: iBooks and the Camera Roll. However, when used together, they have the potential to create powerful learning experiences and dynamic projects. Dynamic Math Portfolios In July, Greg Kulowiec and I taught a workshop on Creating Digital Course Content. One of our participants, a high school math teacher, initially set out to create his own textbook. However, as we started exploring BookCreator, he realized that the real value may be in the students creating their own collection of books over the course of the year. For each chapter covered in the text book, his students could create an eBook. We then discussed workflow and how the students could “turn in” their books. Science Lab Book Collection In August, I worked with a middle school science teacher at Ascension Episcopal School in Lafayette, LA. This year, since her students would be 1:1 with iPads, she would have them create their own collection of lab books.
Apple Configurator Part II: Restoring Devices Jun122012 Previously I did a post as well as a video introducing the Apple Configurator. Today we are going to walkthrough setting up the devices for the first time in a cart situation in which you do not have to activate all of the individual devices. You can think of this like “imaging” the devices. Here is the workflow: Configure Step one is to configure one of the IOS Devices how you want it. Tip: I would suggest turning on the appstore syncing of applications so when you install an app on one it goes onto all of the devices (note make sure you are following VPP guidelines): Backup After you have configured the device to your specifications plug in the device to your Apple Computer. Open up Apple Configurator (if you have not downloaded it you can read more here). You should see the number of devices connected on the top left (should be only 1). About halfway down you should see an option for “Restore”, click on that drop down and click on the “Backup …” option: Restore Thats it! Thanks
Apple Configurator Part I: Walkthrough Mar Apple is really good at just putting stuff out there and not telling anyone about it. Earlier this week Apple released the Apple Configurator. Here is the description from the Mac appstore: Apple Configurator makes it easy for anyone to mass configure and deploy iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch in a school, business, or institution. 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. Apple Configurator can be used by larger organizations and businesses to set up new devices, install enterprise apps, and enroll each device with a Mobile Device Management solution for remote management by an IT administrator. Prepare devices • Configure up to 30 devices at a time • Update devices to the latest version of iOS • Create and restore a backup of settings and app data from one device to other devices • Import apps into Apple Configurator and sync them to new devices*