iPads in the classroom

Attended Making the Most of an iPad in the Elementary Classroom with Susan Watt & Trish online through OTF Connects this evening.  I've shared a few key takeaways below; some are directly from the workshop, whereas others were inspired by ideas from this evening's session.

reblogged from twitter

The session began with an overview of the iPad as a specific tool as opposed to a digital alternative to a paper product -- what can be created and consumed on an iPad is qualitatively different from a paper and pencil task and/or a text book.  Further, we need not teach students how to use the tool (they can figure this out on their own faster than we can!) but rather we need to give them a purpose for using the device that aligns with our learning goals.

Additionally, we should remember to teach digital citizenship:  For example, a first lesson might include using the camera to take a photo of and introduce a partner in the class... Students are taught to ask, "May I take your picture?" Once permission has been granted by the 'model', and the photo taken, the 'photographer' shows the model the photo and asks, "May I use this photo for...?" (If done in the late junior or intermediate grades, students can then share this learning with younger learning buddies.)
 

Frayer Model Piccollage

Made with Educreations in Kindergarten

Secondary School Math with Skitch

PicCollage

• students use the app together in groups to to create a visual to document a school or classroom event
  
• posters with headings, etc.
  
• Frayer Models or labeled diagrams
• collage at the end of a science unit as a summative... or at the beginning as a diagnostic (e.g., what do we already know about...?)

Educreations

• whiteboard screencasting app
  
• have students create a "lesson" that includes 3 photos, three words, and a microphone to explain their thinking/describe their understanding of a concept (e.g. 2-D Shapes)
  
• I could use this at a center; students who have trouble with a concept could use it as a peer help tool, a digital dictionary of sorts!

Sock Puppets

• great for older students who may not like the sound of their own voices; ideal to use for example in French class
  
• I could see some of my students using this (or puppet pals) to create a "lesson" where one character "teaches" a math concept to another character... and maybe clarifies common misunderstandings!
  

Skitch

• make a map of... whatever... and label it!
  
• label a photo of a Science lab experiment
  
• Character Ed: photo of a "special person of the week" -- each student in the class adds a label with a complement

Another comment during the workshop was that some creations can happen "in the moment", and we can share and teach from them, and then delete them afterwards; no need to archive everything!  (This changes the way we do business in classrooms... some of us -- both teachers and parents -- will have trouble with this... not everything students make and do needs to be sent home!)

“First and foremost, the iPad is simply a tool -
it is not the magical, shiny, object 
that will innovate education.
The power of the tool lays in its users,
and, in education, the teachers.
Pedagogy comes first, iPads follow.”

~ Jennifer Carey
(from http://plpnetwork.com/2012/11/15/live-ipad-summit)