Weber's+iPad+Pilot

=Stacey Weber's iPad Pilot =

This is my first attempt to writing on my wiki. I am very excited about the possibilities, but see a lot of room for advancement in the area of educational apps and accessories. I am solely thinking about this as a tool for the elementary grades and how we can use it in and possibly out of the classroom.

I have spent countless hours scanning the available educational apps and frankly I am not truly impressed. I am ready to hire some young computer programmers (right out of school) to write for me the exact type of apps that I will need to make this Ipad successful in the classroom. If anyone knows anybody who can do this, let me know and we can start making some serious money :)

Anyway, I want to break it down into subject areas. How can we use the Ipad for math, reading, writing (spelling and vocabulary), social studies, science, foreign language, and of course organizational routines.

If the Ipad truly becomes the future, then every student must own one to use in and out of school. I see classwork and homework being used from the Ipad.

Used as an organizational and management tool: Each student will use their Ipad to write down their homework in their Ipad calendar. From there they will go to their warm-up folder where a bunch of fun apps that focus on quick math, reading, or writing skills can be used for the 15 minutes before first period begins. There are plenty of these educational apps available and ready to use right now for the students.

Using the Ipad for math: Here is where the apps become a bit scarce. I believe that whatever math publisher we choose to adopt next year needs to get on the band wagon and create a curriculum on the Ipad. Most publishers have the ready-made websites that contain tutorials that go with their lessons, but it is time to create the easy to use app that will take students quickly to the place that they need. This includes, daily warm-ups, tutorials, practice, enrichment, problem solving, games, and homework. If we can get this done, then I see math done mostly on the Ipad. The greatest part about the Ipad is that there is no start-up wait time. I find this cumbersome and honestly wasted time in the classroom right now when using the Toshiba Tablets. Which is why I honestly choose not to use them in my math class. We waste probably 15 minutes of class time due to delay of starting it up and of course problems when starting it up and navigating to the designated site. Not worth the valuable time I need in my class.

April 30, 2011

After meeting with Louis, Renee, and Robert, I typed up the following information for my Ipad pilot program:

iPad Pilot

My vision for this pilot program is to explore ways to enhance the learning of my students through the new technological age of the iPad.

What I would like to be able to do to help me in the process: 0. Access my files from the server onto the iPad 1. Project information from iPad onto screen 2. Printing capabilities 3. External keyboards 4. Apps that mirror Word, PowerPoint, photostory etc. (pages/...) keynote 5. Have license to download books and apps for every iPad 6. Have at least 7 iPads for a 2:1 student to iPad ratio

How I envision the use of iPads in the classroom: 7. Warm-up apps for the start of the day which will reinforce math, geography, and grammar concepts. 8. Using the calendar to create a homework assignment planner 9. Math - app games and tutorials to reinforce concepts taught in class. Interactive whiteboards to demonstrate work and knowledge of the concept. 10. Reading - iPad nook book novels to read in groups, whole class, and partners. Online blogs and journals to document higher level understanding and comprehension of reading assignments. Reading apps to frequently assess grade level reading comprehension and reading rate and fluency. 11. Language arts- apps to instruct students on essay writing, creative writing, and research writing. Reference apps for research. Digital writer's notebooks, handwriting and grammar practice. 12. Social studies - apps that assist in the research of the history of Maryland - including important wars, geography, and trivia. Economic apps and games.

May 2, 2011

Within my Ipad, I have created 8 important folders that contain the applications necessary for a successful pilot program. I will continue to do further research of other applications to add to the folders and possibly delete some of the less important ones. Here is the list below:

A. PRODUCTIVITY FOLDER: 1. Pages - allows students to create word documents and save their work as PDF, WORD, or PAGES document. 2. KEYNOTE - similar to PowerPoint. Students can create and edit presentations on their Ipad. 3. NOTERIZE - This is an awesome note taking and editing application. Students can upload my lessons and worksheets as PDF files and write on them using typed text or handwriting with their finger. They can also insert pictures into their notes. 4. PREZI VIEWER - this gives students the ability to view PREZI presentations on their IPAD; created by themselves or other students. 5. GARAGE BAND - this encompasses what I think is Audacity PLUS. Students can create their own music and lyrics for whatever project they want.

B. WARM-APPS (these are fun apps that students can work on in the morning and during down time in the classroom) 1. P SCHEDULE - students can use this to keep track of their homework assignments and schedules of their classes 2. ANALOGY- teaches students to practice analogies 3. TYPING TEST - Helps students learn how to type on the Ipad smoothly and quickly 4. BIG BRAIN - Trivia questions to get the students' brains working 5. WHO AM I? - Fun guessing game 6. WAR OF WORDS - similar to scrabble 7. IQ TEST - Just what it says 8. COOLFACTS

C. TEACHER (These are resources of me to have) 1. SIMPLE GBK - a gradebook app 2. TEACHER PAL

D. READING 1. IBOOKS - a place for students to download novels. Students can read the books, add active thoughts, and lookup unknown words. 2. NOOK KIDS - Same 3. KINDLE - Same 4. READING LOGS - This is basic. I will continue to look for more advanced apps that allow students to record their activie reading thoughts before they read, while they read, and after they read their novels. 5. TIMEREADING - Times students on their reading rates.

E. LANGUAGE ARTS 1. PROMPTS - great app to give students writing ideas 2. BLUSTER - grammar app 3. DICTATION - dragon dictation allows students to record what they reaed. 4. CURSIVES - practice cursive writing 5. STORYKIT - helps students create stories of their own 6. SPELLING MADE SIMPLE - Allows students use spelling lists to study word patterns 7. WORDWEB - an English dictionary 8. DICTIONARY - another dictionary 9. FREEGRAMMAR - grammar 10. P. VERBS LITE - grammar tests 11. JOURNALS - an E-BOOK similar to an electronic Writer's Notebook 12. IJOURNAL - another electronic Writer's Notebook 13. Write&SAY LITE - a writing app that allows students to write and it will play it back for them.

F. MATH 1. MATH DRILLS LITE 2. MATHCONTESTS 3. WHITEBOARD - Electronic whiteboard to show student work so teacher can see it easily 4. PEARLDIVER 5. EFLASHCARDS by McGraw Hill 6. GEOMETRY TEST 7. MY MATH APP 8. 4th MATH 9. FLASHTO...FREE 10. BYB: MATH 11. CLOCKMASTER

G. SOCIAL STUDIES AND SCIENCE 1. ADOBE IDEAS 2. GEOPLAY 3. KHANACADEMY 4. PEARSON AMERICAN HISTORY GAMES AND TEST PREP 5. PEARSON WORLD HISTORY GAMES AND TEST PREP 6. PBS 7. INKLING 8. XPERICA HD 9. BRAINPOP 10. TED 11. CIV REV LINE 12. ON THIS DAY 13. OT FREE! - Oregon Trail 14. TIMBUKTU - online student magazing (similar to TIME FOR KIDS) 15. SAS FLASH CARDS - great flash cards for all grade levels and all subject areas 16. GOOGLE EARTH 17. NG MAGAZINE - National Geographic

May 7

Pros and cons to switching to an iPad after using the toshiba tablet for 5 years:

CONS: 1. iPad does not support adobe flash player, so all my Internet based games that I have my students play for math class don't work. Ugh! 2. Typing on an iPad is difficult if you want to write papers on pages. 3. Projecting from the iPad is not so simple and is NOT wireless. 4. Saving any work from the iPad can no longer be done on the server in an "H" drive. 5. This means teachers can't pull up student work from the server. 6. The first class app does not allow for download attachments. Ugh!!

HOW To DEAL WITH THE CONS: 1. Find other games that don't use flash 2. Use an external keyboard or became an expert on ping on an iPad (I am typing on my iPad right now by turning it horizontal so I use the larger keyboard. I have become quite good and quick.   I'm starting to enjoy it) 3. Project using a long attachment cord. Show student work once they email it to me or connect the cord to their iPad. 4. Students will have to email me their completed work or print it out. 5.  I can also start grading their work by walking around while they are working and assessing their information on the spot. 6. Forward any emails with attachments to my yahoo account and pull it up.

PROS: 1. Instantaneous start-up time - no more lost minutes of instructional time at the beginning of class. 2. No more crashing computers since apple rarely has these issues. 3. Cool apps that could possibly enhance student understanding of material and give them more motivation to perform. 4. Compact and light and easy to carry around and share with others.

The BIG questions???? Can the iPad become a better tool in the classroom than the tablet?? After a year of piloting iPads in the classroom, will I be a believer or will I be running back to the traditional computer? How much change will I have to make in order to really make this tool successful in the classroom? Will it be worth it?

June 3, 2011

MANAGEMENT: How. Will I manage the iPads ithe classroom?

Each trimester I plan to designate each iPad to a specific student to be their complete responsibility for the marking period. They will be required to sign an agreement adhering to the rules and responsibilities that go with this job. Each student will be responsible for keeping the iPads safe, sync and charge them at the end of the day, and be responsible for adding to the IPad Pilot Wiki at least once a week. They will also ONLY be allowed to use the iPad and not the tablet when doing any kind of work?

What will the students write in the iPad pilot wiki? 1. Write about 5 things they did on the iPad this week (applications, productivity)? 2. Rate each task using this scale (harder to do than a laptop, easier to do than a laptop, fun, challenging, frustrating, pointless, productive, learned a lot, learned a little, learned nothing). 3. Explain in detail why you rated each task.

How do I manage the balance between the iPad and the tablet in the classroom? I thought the ipad could take the place of the tablet, but I am feeling as if it may not be the best route to take. I have been playing with my iPad all summer and have tried to use it without a computer to see if it is possible. The iPad is just not meant for creating big projects without the help of a computer. Trying to make a PowerPoint presentation is frustrating. It doesn't have all the navigation buttons or access to all the bells and whistles. I did not enjoy it at all.

So the question is... Where does the iPad fit into the classroom as a super technological tool to enhance curriculum? This needs to be investigated further. I'm feeling defeated in the matter.