EdWeb.net Webinar: How to Use the iPad's Unique Capabilities to Cultivate & Capture Learning in Your Classroom

How to Use the iPad's Unique Capabilities to Cultivate & Capture Learning in Your Classroom

App of the Week: VoiceThread

This week's App of the Week is VoiceThread. This free iPad app is a great way to view and create multi-media albums about any topic in any subject area! We had a lot of fun coming up with ideas on how to use it in the classroom, but we would love to hear your thoughts too!

A few good ideas on how to use the VoiceThread app in the classroom:

1. To boost individual participation for shy/timid students
2. To show what you know! Make interactive media album about any topic in any subject!
3. As a pre-assessment: gauge students’ knowledge before teaching a topic
4. Do a zoom-in inquiry for history
5. Work on the 6 Traits of Writing, like 'Word Choice' (using descriptive language)
6. Offer a differentiated evaluation option. Give kids a chance to express what is in their heads without the language arts struggles getting in the way. 
7. Do participate in school, district, city, and world - wide collaboration!
8. To complete entrance and exit tickets
9. To immerse your students in foreign language!
10. How would YOU use VoiceThread in the classroom? How are YOU using VoiceThread in the classroom?

Controlling iPad presentation with different iDevice - Now Works!

http://appadvice.com/appnn/2011/06/keynote-remote-app-works-keynote-ipad

You can control your iPad Keynote presentation from your iPod Touch or iPhone.  

Conversation Builder by Emily Mirek Church, SLP, MA-CCC

Conversation Game

Last month, Mobile Education released Conversation Builder, the newest addition to the Builder family—a series of language-based apps designed to meet the unique intelligence and learning styles of children with high-functioning autism and Aspergers. Billed as a conversation simulator, Conversation Builder is designed to teach elementary aged children how to have multiple exchange conversations with their peers in a variety of social settings.  As a Speech Therapist, working directly with this target population, I have experienced the frustration of trying to provide meaningful conversation skills therapy within the staged awkwardness of traditional “role-play” to children to whom the very concept of “acting” is beyond their logical mindset, uncomfortable and strange.  There is no script for real conversation and even the unspoken rules of conversation are malleable—changing based on context and conversation partner. Based on my disappointment with traditional social skills therapy, I was thrilled at the possibility of having a new way of addressing this complex issue. Conversation Builder does not disappoint.  From the very first time my students tried it, they took to it like ducks to the water.  It is engaging, personalized, and easy to use. Check out the link below for a brief video of how it works:

I absolutely LOVE this app for about a hundred reasons, but I will do my best to be succinct for the sake of the reader and focus on what makes it different from other social communication/conversation therapy approaches I have tried:

Personalization

By creating a Profile for each user, conversations become personalized to the individual student.  This information is weaved in naturally and used throughout the game. By allowing the child to enter their name, the app is able to provide practice knowing when and how to introduce oneself. The app also encourages children to use communication styles similar to that of their peers. When introducing himself, in the context of the game, one of my students chose: “My first name is Joe” which was technically correct, but is as narrator prompt informed him “an unusual thing to say.” He was encouraged to introduce himself using the phrasing a neurotypical peer would use—“Hi, I’m Joe”—instead.

Interest is an especially valuable piece of info to have included, as many children on the Autism Spectrum have a special and compulsive interest in a topic which they tend to bring up and discuss without regard for the listener’s interest or how it relates to the conversation as a whole.  One of my students loves dinosaurs, for example, and had provided this info for his Profile.  During a simulated conversation, one of the three choices provided for a response was, “I like dinosaurs,” and he impulsively chose this response, although it had nothing to do with the situation or conversation at hand.  When he did so, the game’s narrator gently guided him by saying: “It’s not quite time to change the topic,” and prompted him to choose another response. 

Fluidity

Most of the conversations that I have completed with my students have been created using the individual setting, in which the student records their half of a conversation in response to peer-voiced audio clips and an accompanying photograph. The innovative interface of Conversation Builder mimics the pattern of natural conversation, using a visual and auditory format proven effective for teaching children with ASD.  The flow back-and-forth between responses is incredibly intuitive and natural, keeping the student utterly engaged while providing just the right amount of feedback and encouragement to guide them throughout.  After completing the final exchange, the student is prompted to playback the entire conversation.  This is a simple, but amazing feature.  My students love hearing their own voices intertwined with the voice of a peer in a fluid and believable conversation.

Efficiency

The whole process generally takes no more than 5 minutes to complete, providing plenty of time to discuss, review, and complete multiple conversations in a single therapy session.  Additionally, this time frame provides the opportunity for small groups of students to take turns creating conversations, while their partner observes, without anyone becoming bored or impatient for their turn. In a twenty minute session with two students, we have had time to create, listen to, and discuss up to six unique 8-exchange conversations (three per student)—an amazing feat in itself!  After listening to the full conversation, another button then appears, allowing the SLP or child to “Save” the conversation to the student’s personalized archive. As an SLP, this is an incredibly functional and wonderful feature to have, resulting in a beautifully recorded speech/language sample that can be saved, replayed, and even emailed to an interested parent or teacher!

Beyond the Basics: Conversational Nuances

Conversation is made up of many subtle and intrinsically linked elements. As “neurotypicals,” we do all of these very complex things simultaneously, with little conscious thought or effort.  Because of this, it is difficult for us to break them apart, analyze or explain them in order to teach to those who do not naturally “get it.”  At the younger ages, therapy efforts are often focused on curbing undesirable behaviors—e.g., talking out of turn and rudeness—that affect the child’s ability to perform in the classroom.  While this is important, going beyond the basics and accessing the kind of conversation that leads to friendship is often left by the wayside, perhaps believed to be too difficult a skill to teach.  Yet, I believe many of our students are capable of understanding these more complex conversational nuances, if given a way to do so. 

One of the things I love best about Conversation Builder is that sometimes the choices of responses provide some “gray area.” By this, I mean that of the 3 choices, more than one may on the surface seem good or polite, but—based on the context of the situation and the purpose of the interaction—they are not the best choice.  For our kids, this is essential! Most students with ASD have been conditioned for certain types of “correct” responses.  They have memorized our lessons on staying on topic and avoiding rude or unkind comments.  However, in a real conversation, the best response is not simply “polite” or “on-topic.” The best response is relevant to the situation and to the speaker’s intent, engaging the listener and encouraging a response. Conversation is built on intent.  If your intent is to play with a group of children, a peripherally related comment on what they are doing will not lead to them asking you to join their game. 

While using this app, one of my especially intelligent 4^th graders (with Aspergers) chose an incorrect response and was prompted—by the app—to try asking a question. He offhandedly commented, “It seems like [the app] wants you to ask questions.” As he finished recording his response, I asked myself—Why is asking a question often a better choice than making a comment? Almost as soon as I asked the question, it hit me:  Because it keeps the conversation going. It invites a response.  While commenting, “Swimming is fun,” to a group of children who are having a swimming contest is on-topic and okay to say, asking “Who holds the record?” is a better choice because now they need to answer your question! Without prompting on my part, my student made this very astute and correct observation that allowed me to think about the why of something I naturally took for granted. 

I was recently reminded of the shortcomings of traditional social skills training during an interaction with one of my High School students.  As I was explaining how to appropriately transition between topics in a conversation, he commented, with genuine confusion: “But I thought changing the topic was a no-no!”  He’d been taught and fully taken to heart previous instruction to “stay on topic,” so much so that he honestly did not know it was ever okay to change it! Imagine how restrictive that “rule” is to any speaker! We spend so much time working on these more rote conversational skills, and our brightest students—with their black-and-white thinking and brilliant memories—have taken these rules and mentally written them—in stone.  Conversation Builder gives us a chance to address the more complex nuances of conversation, to pause and discuss, review and reflect.  To go beyond the basics.  This is something that, in my opinion, has never been done before. 

Real Teaching Moments

To some, working on conversation skills by using a technological device—no matter how advanced—may seem counterintuitive.  “I don’t want my child to learn how to talk to an iPad,” one parent not-so-subtly told me. I fully agreed with this very well-read parent that children with social skills deficits desperately need and benefit from direct exposure to real live typical peers in as many natural settings as possible. The end goal for therapy of any kind always takes place outside of the therapy room.  However, for children with Aspergers and other Autism Spectrum Disorders, the issue of social conversation goes beyond a lack of opportunity or simply needing more practice. Faced with a person-to-person encounter, there are a multitude of factors that interfere with a child with ASD’s ability to focus on the actual elements and flow of conversation: social anxiety, hypersensitivity to visual input—e.g., eye contact—and an overwhelming fear of being wrong.  Say the wrong thing to an adult and you may get in trouble.  Say the wrong thing to a peer and they’re likely to laugh in your face or call you a name or take their lunch tray to another table, permanently. To put it bluntly:  If children with Autism Spectrum Disorders could learn how to communicate like their peers simply from being around their peers, it wouldn’t be a disorder. 

That is why this app is so amazing. It lets a child with a social communication disorder work on the actual components of communication, separate from the anxiety and pressure induced by facing a human partner. Lets them have a minute to put a conversation on pause and think about what they want to say, without the distraction of sensing another’s real or imagined impatience or disapproval.  Lets them experience the back and forth pattern of real conversations in a format they can manipulate.  Lets them fix communication errors independently and rerecord misspoken responses. It not quite real life and because of this we are given multiple opportunities to teach, examine, and correct conversational skills in ways we could not do otherwise.

Conclusion

Children with Aspergers and other ASDs need to be taught a Reason (why) and a Way (how) to communicate.  The how is addressed by learning and practicing specific conversational skills—starting and ending conversations, knowing when and how to change the topic, ask a question or share personal information.  Why is addressed by examining intent—your own and that of your communication partner.  Conversation Builder provides a uniquely personal, flexible, and motivating way of working on the former, while innately “building” opportunities to discuss the latter with a teacher, parent, or SLP.  And, as for the why—as in—“Why are you making me do this boring therapy activity?” For now, that question is no longer on my daily table.  Students want to use the iPad.  They enjoy playing this “conversation game,” and I enjoy being able to focus on their responses, their perspectives, and their learning.  Most of all, I enjoy seeing the sometimes ear-to-ear, sometimes purposefully suppressed smile, accompanied by the insuppressible glow of a child, with Autism, listening to himself in conversation and hearing success.

1-1 with Kindergarten to 2nd grade

Creative Commons License - Mike Licht I was recently asked my thoughts on why 1-1 iPad might be beneficial for kindergarten to 2nd grade students? I have always subscribed to kid's ability to start younger than many give them credit ... Please note that this is not meant to be solely focused on the iDevices but 1-1, even though I firmly believe that the iPad is the device of choice.

1. Executive functioning in a digital age with digital tools. Calendars, Reminders, To Do's, Organization, etc. The ability to use notifications in creative ways can be very powerful for younger students. Think beyond just reminders as teachers can utilize unique messages and motivation as well.
2. Moving towards paperless classes earlier than later sets a tone for their education that I believe is very important.
3. True collaboration beyond sharing.
4. Reaching higher in Blooms ... Many apps are worksheet like and that means some are just transferring some of that low level learning. The ability to have these learning activities in digital format allows instruction to build upon them more effectively. The ability to use text, drawing, screenshots, sound, and video will allow effective and creative teachers to move beyond low level activities more effectively and efficiently.
5. Deep practice ... We need to provide students with dynamic tools that allow for practicing those basic skills that take them far beyond a worksheet with 10 problems. Many of the best activities allow for that low level practice and then proceed to step up the difficulty as students are ready. There is a lot of value in deep practice where students are completely engaged. An example is World Math Day. We had some students do over 1000 math problems as part of that activity. How many worksheets is that?

Additionally, listen to interview on IEAR of Joe Morelock, tech director at Canby in Oregon. He talks heavily about the addition of time for students to learn. He explains this much better than I am!

6. Differentiation is much more possible for teachers to manage with these devices
7. RtI can be managed more effectively as well in many ways from specific interventions to data collection.
8. Assessment can take many more forms because of text, screenshots, drawing, sound and video with the device.
9. Instantaneous access to so many activities and resources from every conceivable subject matter offered in school. These activities go way beyond apps! Books ... Books ... and more Books ...
10. Personalization of the tech allows students to more effectively explore creative possibilities and logical troubleshooting. They tend to be more effective outside the box as a result.
11. The ability to access digital activities that extend traditional activities by being mobile with learning is big.
12. Digital tools allow students to "test" before and after something. I am referring to drafting and manipulating final products. Art teachers may ask their students to do a virtual model clay mold before they hand the students the actual clay. Maybe the students make a real clay pot, digitize it and now they are able to create multiple final products with different forms of painting on it.
13. Giving students an experience for ownership of a 1—1 device has it's own lessons embedded simply by being 1-1.

"If we teach today's students as we did yesterday's, we are robbing them of tomorrow." — John Dewey.

These were some of the thoughts to consider ... Let me know if you add or subtract from that list ...

Scott Meech

Creating Talking Stories with Pictello

As IEAR app reviewers, we sometimes stumble across an app that just oozes of potential but isn’t there quite yet. With a $14.99 price tag, Pictello, from AssistiveWare packs quite a punch with its unique opportunity to create and publish visual stories. However, IEAR app reviewers can't help but notice there are some critical features that are missing from the app at this time. Meg Wilson (@ipodsibilities) and Jeremy Brueck (@brueckj23) share their educational insights into the positive features of the app, provide possible areas of classroom application, share their Pictello story codes and point out some places where they hope to see Pictello grow in future releases and updates.

From the AssistiveWare website:

Pictello is a simple way to create talking photo albums and talking books on your iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Each page in a Pictello Story can contain a picture, up to five lines of text, and a recorded sound or text-to-speech using high-quality voices. Stories can be shared using iTunes File Sharing or via WiFi with other Pictello users through a free account on the Pictello Sharing Server.

Pictello is developed for all ages and skill levels, so it is easy to use and requires no reading skills to locate and read stories. Pictello offers an easy visual story creation wizard so everyone can use pictures and sound to share important moments in their lives. An advanced editor gives full control of the editing capabilities.

Initial Impressions of Pictello

brueckj23: User interface seems pretty well designed. Easy to navigate, even for my 3 year old.
iPodsibilities: Agree, easy to use and easy on the eyes. I like that you have the choice of a wood or black (apple) theme.
brueckj23: It was confusing to have text boxes for header/footer on each page and then the option to add text or audio to the same page after. I initially tried to “write” the text for page 1 of my story in the header/footer sections.
iPodsibilities: I think that the header/footer is meant to offer a choice, but I agree with you. It wasn’t clear about what needed to go where. “Top Label” and “Bottom Label” didn’t make sense to me as a storyteller.
brueckj23: I don’t like how you have to use pictures that are saved on you iPad. This means I have to have my story “written” and “illustrated” before I create my Pictello storybook, make sure the images are synced via iTunes. This just doesn’t seem to be the way I want to create.
iPodsibilities: Like you, I didn’t like that I had to use photos from my photo section. It would be nice to go to the Internet or create your own pictures within Pictello, without using multi-tasking to get what you need as you go (or pre-planning completely)
brueckj23: I was able to use multi-tasking to create pictures in DoodleBuddy, save them and then add them to a story. How about a way to search and import Flickr CC photos?
iPodsibilities: That would make it much better!
brueckj23: Although this app is kind of branded as “for iPad,” I think there is more potential if it is used with the iPod Touch. The ability to add your own photos with the built-in camera is really an advantage at this time.

Creating a Talking Story with Pictello

brueckj23:

• Brainstormed story topic with my son, Aiden, and talked about what types of things we might take pictures of.
• Used camera on my HTC Incredible to shoot photos and then email them to my GMail account.
• Used 3G/wifi on iPad to open emails and download photos to SAVED PHOTOS on iPad.
• Used the Wizard option to create book.
• Aiden choose pictures for cover and each page.
• He and I discussed what was happening in each picture and composed simple sentences.
• I typed in top and bottom page descriptions.
• Aiden recorded audio of text. I would read aloud, he would press record button and then repeat text. He loved the ability to have it played back to him and hear himself read. I found that I needed to compose short, succinct sentences to allow him to “read” them back accurately. I wanted audio to match text....too much control?
• Created a free Pictello Sharing Server account.
• Exported book to account and secured unique story code.
• When I made revisions to the book and re-exported I received a totally different code.

iPodsibilities:

• Used photos I already had uploaded to iPad, didn’t want to take time to find new ones before creating a story. I quickly added “labels” (text) just to try out the app.
• Created free account, received code to share with others
• I plan to use it with a student tomorrow. We will use a similar process to you and Aiden but with my iPhone camera instead.

Classroom Uses from iPodsibilities

1. social stories
2. sequencing events
3. task analysis
4. retelling events/summarizing stories
5. vocabulary stories/practice
6. picture schedules

Big Questions from brueckj23

1. Where do stories on the Pictello Sharing Server go?
2. Whose property are they when they are on the Pictello Sharing Server?
3. Why is the built-in opportunity to add a Creative Commons copyright to each book missing from the app while traditional copyright option is there?
4. Should updating a book on the Pictello Sharing Server really create a new copy with a new code or should the original story just be updated; should users have the option?
5. Can we please get the option view the book through a browser? It would be even better to be able to get embed code of the “Slideshow” version of the book for sharing beyond mobile devices.

Pictella Story Codes

brueckj23: 3491-6851
iPodsibilities: 8679-1240

Report Card

Purpose: A

We both really like the purpose behind this app and think it has great potential. Talking books can be an excellent addition to any classroom. The ability to combine photos, text, and sound is a great way to create rich educational content.

Program Functionality: B-

We felt the app was well designed and easy to use, but it was a bit unclear when it came to entering in text. The biggest issue we had with the app was importing photos. We felt limited by the fact that we could only use photos that we had stored in our photo library. This meant we had to have the whole story preplanned before making it. We would like to see more options for importing photos in a future update.
 

Overall Educational Value: B+

Pictello has many features that could make it a useful classroom tool.
 

Recommendation:
We recommend this app for personal use and limited school use at this time. We feel this app would be most appropriate to supplement or enhance classroom instruction. Students can use Pictello to demonstrate their knowledge of a historical reading or a short story. Teachers can demonstrate a step by step procedure or math problem. Special educators may find it useful for creating task analyses and social stories. Families could use Pictello to create a talking photo album about a recent vacation to share with others. Children will benefit from teacher or adult modeling of use, but most early elementary students should be able to operate independently after their first interaction with the app.

Cost: $14.99
Developer Website: http://www.assistiveware.com/pictello.php
ITunes Link: http://itunes.apple.com/app/pictello/id397858008?mt=8
Reviewer Name:
Jeremy Brueck, http://brueckei.org/
Meg Wilson, http://www.ipodsibilities.com/

Be sure to check out our Ning (Online Community) devoted to helping teachers utilize iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad to the their fullest.  Please leave a comment if you agree, disagree, or have other creative uses for this app in the classroom or at home.

Technology as a Tool

After seven weeks (28 actual class days) of working with iPads, netbooks and desktop computers in the classroom in a 1:1 environment, my students have settled into a pretty swell routine. The apps most used by students to get their work done are Safari for Internet research, and Office² HD for creating documents and/or adding them to their Google Docs. For fun I catch students playing Chess or Rush Hour. Along with Doodle Buddy, still a favorite, those are the apps students use the most.

On my iPad I find myself using Office² HD whenever I need to work with documents. I also use Mail, Reeder, TwitBird Pro, Read It Later, Evernote, Wordpress, Facebook, and Dictionary the most. I have used Gusto a few times when I want to edit my HW webpages on my iPad instead of pulling out my laptop. Our tech guy also turned me on to Desktop, which has been great for connecting to my Macs from my iPad, but I haven't used it as much as I thought I would. Having the PDF Reader has also been invaluable since I get a lot of attachments via email.

What I'm most delighted with has been how students work in a 1:1 environment and how well they make use of the iPads for learning. They are truly using the technology as tools. It's not about the technology, it's about learning and working. I filmed a typical day of my students at work. What you see in that video is what I see every day! This is what I was hoping would happen. The technology is no different than books, paper and pencils were when I was in school. This is how it should be. Check it out: