Bringing H.S.I.E Home with iMovie

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iMovie’s new ‘trailer’ function is unreal! I love the arranged themes with their respective musical scores. Additionally, iMovie is so easy to use, anyone can make something brilliant!

When I think about integrating the iPad, my considerations include: the outcomes of the unit of work (as per the syllabus), what I want the students to produce and how technology can assist in this project and students learning.

This term, my grade 6’s have been exploring notable Australians, each focusing on 1 Australian and writing a biography about their notable. Paired with this writing task, the students had to create a persuasive text inviting parents and students in the school to join us on the ‘Day of Notables’. This is where iMovie Trailers came in. The students were put in groups and given a quick demonstration of how to use the trailer function of iMovie. These are the steps we used to integrate the iPad with this project:

1. Explore the differences between notability and fame.
2. Look at global notables (people in the world from any time period) who contributed to the world.
3. Discussed local notables – looking at who they could do.
4. Writing proposals in order to convince us why their person is significant and what they have contributed to society.
5. Once approved, students begin researching and writing their biography (paired with explicit writing lessons on the language features and grammatical features of a biography).
6. Students create trailers persuading parents and students to the ‘Day of Notables’.
7. Students adapt their biographies to a first person speech in order to present as their notable.
8. ‘Day of Notables’ – interactive museum set up in school hall with each student presenting their notable to the grade/parents.

iMovie is functional and so easy applied across the curriculum there’s no excuse not to use it!

Fractions, Decimals and iPads – Integrating the iPad in Primary Maths

What is ‘Real Maths‘? – when I took a poll of what students thought ‘real maths’ was, they told me  that it included graphs, functions, algebra, worksheets or working by myself.  I’ve just finished another mini-project with my Grade 6 Maths class and it’s been another successful integration of the iPad. The mini-projects involve the students planning, calculating and creating around the different Mathematics strands. Which in my mind is the REAL MATHS!

Mini-project 1: Cost Analysis

This involved the students choosing a product of their choice and analyzing the mean price, the median, the mode (the most popular product ) and the price range. This paired nicely with the basic operations of whole numbers and decimals. Here is a work sample from 2 of my students.

Cost Analysis – Chairs

Mini-project 2: Heart Rate Measure

This was a fantastic project allowing the students to apply basic operations of multiplication and division as well as science idea of the heart rate and circulatory system. The students had to measure their heart rate at rest, after a jog and after a sprint and calculate their bpm (beats per minute), beats per hour, per day and per year. Least to say the numbers were huge! After this I asked them to calculate the amount of blood for each of those time frames at a rate of 60ml’s per beat.

Mini-project 3: Fractions Recipe

Students choose a food to cook and write a recipe on how to cook it. The students have to create the recipe to feed 2 people, 16 people and 54 people. This way they are multiplying fractions and showing equivalence. They must also convert their fractions to decimals and percentages in their recipe.

These mini-projects cover numerous strands in Mathematics. Additionally, by blending KLA’s (Key Learning Areas), students get exposure to real life maths tasks and ultimately their perceptions change about what ‘real maths‘ is.

10 Essential Tech Skills Students NEED To Know

When confronted with the question: What tech skills do you want your kids to know by the end of primary school? I was forced to reflect on my IT education and where and when I obtained it. It seemed that most of my own IT education was self taught. Playing computer games, exploring the internet with basic search engines like Alta Vista. Today, employers and society expect 10 essential tech skills in order to cope with this dynamic experience we call life!

These are:

1. Typing – The force that enables all that we do on computers. Say goodbye to two-finger typing, enter touch typing.
2. Word/Excel/Powerpoint – Children need something to do other than surfing the internet. Knowing and understanding these 3 programs prepares students to perform other functions on the computer. From word processing to spreadsheets with basic formulas to presentations for the class, using these programs are an essential skill.
3. Email – A powerful form of communication. Students should know how to write emails with the correct intended tone as well as functionality like ‘reply all’ and ‘BCC’. Additionally, email management is never too early to learn (I only wish my expert email management transferred into my real life).
4. Internet Search – Ever tried to find your needle in a handful of needles? The ability to trawl through search engines, know which sites to trust and how to research effectively is absolutely essential for students to learn.
5. Social Media – Remember the ‘Truman Show’? Now it’s real life! Students need to be aware that their digital footprint can be accessed by the world. They must be taught to manage their online profiles properly as well as managing cyber bullying whether they’re victims, bullies or bystanders. Facebook and Twitter have opened the world to new dimensions but interacting in this world has to be monitored.
6. Texting/Mobile Technology – Using mobile devices in schools is becoming ever increasing and knowing how to text with intended tone and meaning is important.
7. 

   Photo Courtesty of StoneySteiner (Flickr)

   Computer Hardware (data knowledge) – Why don’t teachers teach data as part of maths? Understanding relative terms like 1000MG=1GB is becoming increasingly important. Also, recognising ‘that stick thingie’ as a USB and other parts of the computer is essential to any child’s technical knowledge base.

8. Cross OS understanding – Apple and PC’s are chalk and cheese – rhyme aside, it’s imperative to know how to use both operating systems. Especially with iPads entering schools and many schools using PC’s/Android OS, it’s highly valuable to understand both systems.
9. Protecting against viruses – Students should be familiar with virus protection, what a virus is, what it does and how it does it.
10. Knowing when enough is enough – Our world is becoming increasingly digital and online and one of the most important skills is to realise when it’s time to take a break. Students need to be taught how to recognise the symptoms of being on the computer/device for too long.

As long as your student can master the 10 skills above, they will not only be ready for the next step in their education but for numerous opportunities in the world in front of them.

5 Reasons to Evaluate your School iPad Program + Sample Evaluation Form

Quality teaching instructs us that reflection and evaluation is vital in the development of ourselves as teachers.

Photo courtesy of Loco Steve

As teachers we reflect on our students daily – “Why did Nathan do this?” “Why did Sarah do that?. We also evaluate our own teaching and lessons – “That was a disastrous lesson” “Why did I use that manipulative?”

Evaluating the use of the iPad in the classroom is just as important. The significance of gathering data and information about iPad integration will allow for the following:

1. Providing Feeback– gives you great insight in how differently the device is being used across your school as well as how teachers feel about integrating the iPads. Anonymity is probably a good thing here in order to gain honest feedback yet also understanding what grades use/feel more comfortable with what function may provide integral feedback.
2. Promoting direction – giving you an idea of where you have been and where you need to go next.
3. Concrete data – stakeholders may inquire about the effectiveness or benefits to learning and with concrete data, you can share information about how the devices are being used and their value.
4. Focus – the focus of the iPads might initially be student oriented but evaluation might determine that the focus should actually be on teacher PD (professional development) at that point in time.
5. Reason – reinforcing to the community and staff that the decisions being made and the directions taken are based on evidence and research not just one mans vision.

Below is an example of an evaluation used for the reasons outlined. Using a Google form is beneficial in collecting and organising the data gathered.

iPad Evaluation Form

How do we prepare our students for jobs that don’t exist? iPad Deployment cont’d

Why are people happier to lose their wallet rather than their iPhone or iPad? The iDevices are very personal devices. They allow one to completely personalise their device to their liking and in that it becomes part of them. A fraction of their soul if you will 🙂 Wallets are replaceable – money is replaceable – credit cards are replaceable but the iPad and the other iDevices are a representation of one’s self. I’d be devastated if I lost either but it would break my heart to lose my iPad!

Photo taken by MC Morgan

Welcome 2012 – Year of Exploration

The personal nature of the iPad has encouraged me to reflect on our iPad deployment at school and with the hardworking IT coordinator we have been able to secure a significant number of additional iPads at school. This increase will enable the upper grades to be at a 1:1 ratio of device to student. This increase will allow students to collaborate and connect to the content and each other with ease. The production of content and accessibility to powerful educational apps and user-friendly functions are all part of preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist. I’m not saying teachers and schools are career making factories but if we can prepare our students for what’s out there and what’s inevitably coming then we’ve done the right thing.

This year for me and my colleagues will be about exploring the true impact of the iPad in the classroom. We have a big task ahead but we are at ground zero of true leadership in the area. Our desire to use the iPad’s as learning enablers will soar by planning and embedding the use of the technology into our programs. As Tony Vincent concurs in his advice about Project Based Learning in Hand, he alerts us to mobile technology making great learning tools because they motivate students and lend themselves to student voice and choice (for elaboration on this watch his video here).

For updates on my school’s iPad deployment from the ground up, watch this space!

Next steps…MDM – iPad Deployment cont’d

It’s been a while since I blogged but with so much happening at school, it’s so hard to find the time.

I had school camp recently and this time away allowed me to reflect and brainstorm moves for the future. Along with the IT coordinator, we put our heads together and decided to explore an MDM (mobile device management server). The expansion of our project is increasing and we felt the need for something more professional and effective in managing our app distribution and profile configuration. We had a few meetings but one we were impressed with was ‘Casper’.

‘Casper’ offered us the option of managing:

1. Inventory – all our devices and new devices coming into our deployment
2. Configuration – profile configuration was important to manage in terms of settings, email, etc.
3. Security – making sure we were accountable of all our devices
4. App distribution – self service application and distribution

Some other questions we had to ask ourselves were:

What’s happening with volume licensing? How will it effect us and our app distribution? – at this stage we are still waiting for Apple to make decisions about volume licensing as it is all in limbo at the moment.

One other thing we need to create is an ‘Apple Push Notification Certificate’ (APN). This is imperative in order to set up and utilize Mobile Device Management (MDM).

 

APP Directory with a Twist

We’ve deployed 45 iPads to teachers and students and the classes are now swimming without floaties (don’t worry, the swim instructor is never too far away!). All iPads are being used everyday and this has been really amazing to see.

Recently, my school has been assessing students using various online tests. Using the iPads for these types of tests has been interesting. A colleague of mine put it aptly that the iPads are such a social device, the students couldn’t help moving in their seats, whispering to others, showing others what they were doing all throughout their tests. If this is the case, collaboration doesn’t need to be forced. Setting up individual or small group tasks with the iPads will illustrate how social these devices are and allow you to program for it.

One site which has been a revelation in app research and reviews has been APPitic. This site has a wealth of apps for all your teaching and learning needs. Labelled as “a directory of apps for education”, the simplicity and user-friendliness of this site draws you in to spend hours searching, reading and trialling an endless amount of apps (well not endless, 1300+ to be exact).

The site has 3 important heading: Themes, Multiple Intelligences and Bloom’s Taxonomy. Why is this site unique? It’s brilliance lies in its ability to embed the needs of an iPad program and teaching pedagogy and curriculum.

Finally people are starting to realise that technology cannot drive one’s curriculum, it is merely an enabler. The framework of the website and all the apps offered demonstrate how important it is to develop curriculum based programs with the integration of the iPad on our mind. We can’t just say “write it on the iPad” instead of using paper because replacing old technology with new is a cop out. We have to say “how can I use the iPad to extend and promote learning on a daily basis”. In this way, we can transform our school.

Question is: What tech skills do we want our students to have by the time they leave at the end of the year?

Addressing the needs of iOS 5 – iPad Deployment cont’d

Manually updating all the new iPads (45 of them) hasn’t been as bad as I thought. Throughout the week I have been updating all the staff iPads and it came time to update the student devices so we split it into 3 groups and took them home to do them. What we didn’t take into consideration was that each computer we were using to update and sync the iPads with had to have the most current back-up of the iPad we wanted to emulate i.e. have all the settings and apps we required. This was just a minor hiccup as we simply waited until we saw each other, backed up one completed iPad and proceeded to complete the updates.

So, this week the students will finally have their time… the iPads are ready to go with 100 apps and newly updated software. Fingers crossed all goes well.

Albeit the excitement of finally rolling out all the devices, I still have a few thoughts on some logistics. Sam Gliksman’s blog on ‘iPads in Education’ has been extremely helpful in really analyzing the finer elements of our iPad deployment, however, it doesn’t address the needs of the new iOS 5. Here are some questions I’d like to add:

• I am a bit uneasy about activating the iCloud on  all the devices because of my fear of the unknown. What will happen?
• Will all the photos, music and data be pushed to every device since they are all on the one account?
• Should we be trialling a 3 account setup before the end of the year?
• Where will students store their own content? Google Docs? Dropbox? and will every student need an account?
• Do we need periodic deletion of content that’s stored locally?
• When charging, will I need to back up the most current iPad before it syncs wirelessly?

That’s where we are up to in our iPad deployment. The staff have had an exciting 2 weeks getting familiar with their class iPad and since the message was to play, create and discover, I believe many teachers have stretched themselves in terms of becoming familiar with the device.

One thing I do ask myself is what do the stakeholders of our community think of the iPad deployment? I mean, the staff are stoked as they get an iPad for the class which is essentially theirs to personalize and utilize as they wish. The students are most ecstatic to be receiving iPads to use in the classroom. But where do the parents fit in? Where does our school board fit in? And how do they view the use of iPads in the classroom? My guess is that it’s up to us to convince them that this path is necessary in order to stay at the forefront of educational technology in schools and to be honest, I don’t think it’ll take that much convincing.

Click below to see how I’ve already integrated the iPads in my classroom.

Digital Education

Play, Create & Discover – iPad Deployment cont’d

What a whirlwind week! Not only returning to school and to teaching my lovely Year 6’s but the iPads were officially rolled out as of Wednesday! The excitement was palpable all week until deployment. Teachers were talking, students were talking, it was all very exciting and a neccessary part of drumming up support for the program.

Wednesday morning staff meeting began as usual but I had an opportunity along with the IT coordinator to discuss our vision and look through the application of the iPad in the classroom. I connected my iPad up to our Smartboard using the VGA adapter and began with a Keynote presentation using the Keynote Remote on my phone. Meanwhile, all the teachers were sitting there with their class iPad exploring the apps with me as I went through some of the ‘essentials’. The main message we were trying to push was to simply play, create and discover and I think that message was conveyed.

‘Essentials’ include: Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Splashtop, TeacherPal, Twitter, SMH, School A to Z, Dropbox, ShowMe and a few more.

One other great idea was moving a shared batch of iPads (7 to be exact) around to each class giving all classes an opportunity to plan for and use the devices in their classroom. By giving out a roster of shared iPad use, teachers could plan for integration in order to maximise their effectiveness.

A Window to Possibility

Discussions, chats, conversations, whatever you want to call them, they are INTEGRAL in moving forward. Collaborating with others (especially those with such brillant, visionary minds like we have at my school) is key in developing our school iPad program and after a discussion on Wednesday, further progress was made. We considered a few things:

• How to manage spending and apps.
• How to sync effectively so apps aren’t lost or replaced.
• How iOS 5 will effect our planning.

A solution that we will most likely try starting Term 1 2012 is outlined below (then again, maybe we want to tease this out before the new school year):

Create 3 accounts: Teacher, Primary and Infant accounts.

Control through iTunes: Apps can be checked and unchecked according to each account so it can be managed fairly easily– every afternoon apps can be downloaded and checked or unchecked according to what the account requires. This will allow teachers to provide me with a list of apps they want on their device, I will be able to download it and apply it to all the respective devices.

When charged overnight, each account configuration will be synced as per the account on the device (I think?…)

iOS 5: Allows for wireless syncing while the devices are charging overnight – need for just a charging cart. Will there be enough storage space in iCloud to sync 3 accounts worth of data? It will mean we have essentially 15GB of space but will it be enough? We’ll have to see.

‘App’-ropriate Questions – iPad Deployment cont’d…

It’s been a few days since my last reflection but so much has happened, so much has been discussed and thought about, I thought it’d be essential to update you.

The cheaper option…

As a result of not going with a mobile device manager (MDM) we have had to go about things the long way. It’s as if we were going to buy a remote control car to play with but we’ve had to put the car together, figure out if it works, adjust as we go, build the remote control too and then retest it. My assumption about an MDM is that it will allow us to create and set up profiles, manage app downloads, filters, setup, syncing and configuration all through a crafted piece of software however, my school hasn’t gone for that option and trusts that for what we want to do for the time being, it’s enough. In some ways I agree but I think that as soon as our volume of devices increases (we currently have 45) we’ll have to employ an MDM.

Breakthrough!

Our network filter hadn’t been looked at in years. I couldn’t believe it! It was good to tease out some of the issues we had with it.

When configuring our first iPad, we had to decide whether to put the devices through the network proxy, configure Safari’s settings or set up a filter on the search engine. What was surprising to me was that there was no filters for Safari which actually left my dirty websites and swear words in the Safari history and the Google history. We had a look at the school’s network filter and decided that the only way to secure and protect the students from illicit material was to put it through the proxy like this: Settings>Wi-Fi>Choose a Network (the arrow)>HTTP Proxy –Manual and then enter the server details and port number.

This didn’t mean the teachers had to, they could adjust the settings so it only used the school’s network and so, another hurdle cleared.

‘C3PO’

I have set everyone up using one template iPad. This template iPad labelled ‘C3PO’ was backed up and every other iPad has been restored from the back up of C3PO. Let me tell you, it takes agggggeessss to restore 5Gb of apps for 45 devices! I haven’t even bothered with the students devices yet because we are contemplating the functionality of iOS5 and what it means for our devices. I’m hoping the new iOS will solve some of our cloud and syncing questions. Some more pertinent questions that have been raised are that of the management of staff and student apps.

1. Should teachers download their own apps?
2. How can teachers download their own apps if we are all on the same account?
3. What credit card do we use or do we give each grade an iTunes gift card to limit spending?
4. Will there be an issue of overlapping?
5. Will wi-fi syncing mess with a charging cart?
6. Will apps get lost when all devices are synced in the charging cart?
7. How can I manage the new apps that all staff and students need?
8. Will this change the role of the iPad in the classroom if the device is not able to be personalised?

I know we’re asking the right questions. A solution is imminent, I can feel it…