iPad 1:1 Program: The Journey Begins!

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Jade Peartree

iPad 1:1 Program: The Journey Begins!

There was a buzz in the air on the first day of school this year; maybe it was the new iPad Air that had influenced the mood in Year 6.

Year 6 2014: It is my first year teaching in a 1:1 iPad programme. I will be using my blog to document the programme successes, challenges and evaluate the power of BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices) within schools.

I will be working closely with my colleagues

Paul Huebl: http://paulhuebl.com/ and

Andy Peartree: http://anderspearz.edublogs.org/

to plan, modify and restructure the way we work in Year 6. We have spent a considerable amount of time experimenting with apps, discussing workflow issues and adapting existing Year 6 planners to meet the needs of the ever-changing learning environment.

I particularly enjoyed our recent shopping spree, purchasing beanbags, cushions and classroom décor to create flexible working spaces within our areas. Here are some photos of the space we have created for our students:

So far we have had many compliments from students, parents and other colleagues in the way we have set up our spaces. One parent compared the space to a corporate trend called ‘hot desking’ also known as Activity-based Work Spaces

http://searchvirtualdesktop.techtarget.com/definition/hot-desking

http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/kpmg-testruns-future-workplace-20121119-29m1j.html

This system is considered favourable in work productivity. There are not enough desks for each individual at the same time; instead there are workspaces where people can choose to work to suit their specific needs.

Successes:

No iPad’s were broken at school!
All students had their Apple ID’s, passwords and codes ready to go, everyone was connected to the wireless facilities within the school and all iPad Acceptable Usage Agreement forms were signed by students and parents.
The students and teachers created the iPad Essential Agreements:
Students learnt how to submit work via Airdrop to their teachers. Here are some examples of the work that they Airdropped:

Students joined all of the Year 6 Edmodo groups, one created for each subject area.

Challenges:

Apple ID’s and passwords: Some parents were reluctant about giving these details to the teacher. We explained that the only reason we need to have these details is in situations where students will forget passwords or there is a need to install an educational app at school.
A few complaints about the compulsory iPad cover with school logo. Some parents were concerned about the design and wanted to buy individual covers to protect their investments (stronger cases etc.)
What happens when a student forgets to bring his/her iPad to school? (This actually happened on the 3^rd day!) We returned to old school methods, but it was inconvenient and we needed to get this student connected with set tasks on Edmodo! In this situation a student can borrow a laptop from our School IT area or share a screen with another student/ teacher.
Paddlet issue: One student was posting silly messages on the shared board. This was actually a great teachable moment. Students did not like this and it was a great way to begin our Digital Citizenship Unit, opening discussions about what we should or shouldn’t post online, including proper netiquette rules.
Connecting our new boards to our iPads, we had a few issues with display and sound. Some professional development is still required in the setup and training on how to use these new boards.
Monitoring screen time and students using iPads appropriately, revisiting the iPad Essential Agreements.

iPad Essential Agreement

Overall a highly successful and engaging week at school! We had lots of happy students and parents, mainly because students were very organised and efficient at school. Students were able to work collaboratively and independently with ease. Exciting times ahead.

Goals for coming weeks:

I’m looking forward to using iBook Creator with my students this week, introducing how to use this in Language & Literature lessons.
All school selected apps (a list we have created) will be installed on student iPads, looking forward to using them.
Parent information evening is this week, hoping to explain the program to parents and get them all onto Edmodo.
Running Parent workshops introducing Edmodo, Edublogs and organisation structures.

The Child as a Learner (Staff Meeting Week 4 Term 1)

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Jade Peartree

In Staff meeting this week were were asked to reflect on the following questions:

What is my image of the child as a learner?

I have always believed that we are born to engage and learn about our world. I feel that there is a natural curiosity instilled in all people. Children are are eager to absorb, inquire and question their world and the information they experience or knowledge which is given to them. They are also banks of knowledge from their own life experiences, ready to share and inspire their family, friends and teachers.

I see the learning child with bright eyes, burning questions, fidgeting fingers, crafting hands, open ears, thought filled voices and inquiring minds.

What are my professional views on how children learn?

There are so many different learning styles. I believe on personalised learning and catering for differentiation. This year my students did an online Myers Briggs Survey which helped them to identify their personality types and learning profiles. This survey identified their strengths, stretches, how they work best, who they work well with, how they can be supported in learning etc. Check out these links for more information: http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html

http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/tt/t-articl/mb-simpl.htm

I believe we need to cater for individual learning styles and allow for creativity and self expression.

What is my image of the teacher?

The teacher can take many forms. You may automatically envisage the classroom teacher, at his/her board/desk working with children (as pictured above), but I think that there are many different types of teachers in disguise. For example; the children teach each other in class, parents are a child’s first teachers, we have coaches, counsellors, friends, family members, technology (Google/ YouTube etc), animals & environments etc. We learn from others who are involved in our lives and world, our teachers are everywhere.

CEGSA Conference/ EdTechSA 2013

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Jade Peartree

I am currently attending the CEGSA/ EdTechSA 2013 conference.

Today I have listened to 2 keynote speakers Mark Sparvell and Nick Jackson.

The first Keynote speaker was Mark Sparvell who was highly amusing and engaging. The main concepts/ messages I learnt from his keynote were as follows:

1. Technology is the key to taking action within our world today. Technology encourages creativity, socialisation and an active path to engage with society.

2. Technology was not invented to make the teachers job harder (although we may feel like it does sometimes!), we want our students to work harder, not the teacher. Technology is a tool to aid us in meeting learners needs in a complex world where we don’t know what our students need for their future.

3. Do not covet your ideas, give away everything you know and more will come back to you. This idea of collaboration and sharing our knowledge and learning with the world. Making learning relevant and useful. Sharing what we know and seeking answers to things we don’t.

4. There is real learning to be had in conflict. Testing our ideas, sharing and proving our theories, learning from others opinions etc. We need to engage with others to get a global view not simply a single class perspective.

5. The 3 P’s: Play, Project Management and Problem Finding. Engaged and successful students will play to create, explore and understand. Students will manage their own projects (Passion based learning) and direct their learning. Problem Finding: inquiry leads to deeper understanding on a personal level. We want our students to find answers to their own questions in any means suitable to them, using tech has made this easier.

The second Keynote speaker was Nick Jackson whose message about Digital Leaders had me thinking about how to implement this within my own school.

The main concepts/ messages I learnt from his keynote were as follows:

1. Empowerment: the giving or delegation of power or authority, authorisation. Communication is the fundamental concept here surrounded by trust, respect, territory and control. We want to empower our students, give them responsibility and power, take control of their territory (learning environments) and learning and to trust us (their teachers and peers) in this process of learning and life.

2. “Learning is most effective when it is active, involves working on real tasks in collaboration with others- in both virtual and physical settings” (Education Services Australia, 2009 a, p.2). We need to make learning authentic and purposeful. Being connected to our world, global perspectives, the ability to investigate and find answers to real life problems.

3. Digital Leaders: Nick had a team of students who were digital leaders within his school. In Year 6 we have been exploring this in peer modelling/ teaching. We would like to take this one step further and implement Digital Leaders across Year 5 & 6 within our school. Digital leaders, (Tech helpers) assist teachers and peers with their technology learning, via trouble shooting or modelling how to use/ solve issues. I think that this could be done through ICT Club within our school or just within Year 5/6 & 7 classes. The Year 7’s already have a Leadership Program, I think this would fit in nicely within our school context.

After Nick’s keynote presentation I spoke to him about coming to our school and speaking with staff about his findings and work in this area. I think we need to push for teacher & parent involvement/ understanding. Students know how, we need to catch up with them!

Workshops Day 1:

Session 1: iPads across the Curriculum

Organisational structures:

Planners or diaries time management. Synchronize home and school calendars. Day Map (Unley high school timetable) We would use KnowledgeNet here.

Backup to a computer not just iCloud.

iPads are delicate tools. If they get broken suggestion to fix them: Storage minders, Digimob in the City, AllTec fixing iPads.

Have protective cases. Armor cases, look into it.

Reminders to charge at home before school, no charge, use old school paper and pencil.

Homework Apps: Keynote, Pages and Numbers.

Sharing assignments, drop box, email, Knowledge Net or any learning platform.

Airplay, Apple TV useful to connect iPad to the screen as opposed to Interactive whiteboard across Year 6. Suggest to committee.

Pearson textbooks on iPad

Our team will need to find all of the standard apps we want our students to use, these will be purchased first above games and personal apps.

Science Apps:

The Elementals: Periodic table, Nova Elements, The Elements Quiz, GeoWalk SOSE/ Science, Solar Walk explore the solar system interactively. Biology App: iCell, Animal, Bacteria, Cell and cell structure, Puzzling Plates: Geology

Apps to investigate: Popplet, brainstorming map, mind map, Ubersense: Video slow motion video playback. Great for experiment playback, Explain Everything

The Arts

Music

Garageband Smart Instruments, I can play an instrument that I do not know how to use.

Tuner and time keeper both apps free for tuning instruments and keeping time.

Drama

iMovie

Art

Stylus, pad on the end, no lagging and more precise. Jot Classic Stylus, LeetGeek Stall.

SketchBook Pro: $5, good for design

Brushes: drawing app, playback shows the process of making and creating of images. Simplified Photoshop but you cannot put words into Brushes.

Procreate: user friendly again easier to use than Photoshop.

Photoshop

Art Rage

Note: Give students choice with tools on iPad apps, obviously needs to be compatible to hand up etc.

LOTE Language

LanguagePerfect Eg Chinese, Italian. Allows you to practice tones, pronunciation, writing etc. Searches through dictionary much easier, you can draw symbols, do direct searches and get interpretations. The app is free but the school needs to subscribe.

iTunes U: Useful for everything! Easy Chinese, online courses, quizzes, lectures, textbooks etc.

Reflection of session:

4 Students from Unley high school spent the sessions explaining how they use iPads across the curriculum in high school. Suggested apps they use across subjects. Some didn’t match obviously as we are Primary school but some were good suggestions. In relation to specialist staff I would recommend that Music and Art teachers utilise iPads within their programs. Chinese could benefit too.

I think staff should find the apps that we want to use and create a list for our student as part of their booklist, apps should be installed before school begins. We should utilise Google Docs, Calendars, email etc.

Also look into iPad guided app, which locks apps for use during lessons and explore Touch Autism: Social Stories about how to manage my own device.

Session 2 Blogging for Beginners: By Paul Huebl

This afternoon Paul went through the usefulness of blogging with your students and its educational benefits.

Blogging essentially is a learning journal for your students/ class. It improves literacy, writing skills in particular. It documents learning experiences via text, images and videos. It allows students to publish their work to a wider audience.

Many Practical ideas were shared as well as online safety practices. A link to some useful resources when blogging is here:

http://goo.gl/KTO1V

I used part of this session to blog about my personal learning today, and now you have read it!

Looking forward to the Teach Meet session later in the afternoon and Day 2 of the CEGSA conference. I will blog again tomorrow.

Please leave me some feedback, as I am quite new to blogging about my professional learning.

Thanks

Jade

Jade Peartree's Blog

My professional reflections and documentation

Monthly Archives: February 2014

iPad 1:1 Program: The Journey Begins!

The Child as a Learner (Staff Meeting Week 4 Term 1)

CEGSA Conference/ EdTechSA 2013