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:

Save Icon?

I enjoy learning things like this. Above is a screen shot of one of Office² HD's documents. Notice the floppy disk icon. I kept telling my 6th grade students to tap it to save their documents until I noticed that very few of them have ever even seen a floppy disk! Most didn't know what a floppy disk was and I didn't have one handy because I haven't used one in years! What icon should software developers use for Save??

Play First, Work Later

When you bring out math manipulatives you let the kids play with them a bit so that later they can focus on the work of learning with the tool. That was my intent with our new iPads and netbooks. I have lots of ideas I want my students to try out but first I thought I'd let them play. They did ask nicely, after all. :)

I was also curious as to the apps they would gravitate to on their own. At first I was a bit surprised to see kids going to YouTube and Safari. I mean, they could do that on my iMacs. Many were content with YouTube in all of my five classes. Most did try out some apps. Doodle Buddy was a huge hit (Draw Free was popular but I saw more kids use Doodle Buddy). Rush Hour as well. I even got hooked! The chess app was quite popular. Meanderthal made kids curious but the iPads can't take pictures so they couldn't try it out. A few kids checked out Animals HD and the HD Marine Life App. I even had a few kids write a blog! Two were blogs about the iPads and one was actually the current assignment! Here are some of the kids' blogs on the iPads: iPads and Netbooks, The iPads, New iPads, and here's a blog with a Poll Daddy poll and a second student tried it too (it was extremely easy!).

What an awesome play experience! Here are the results of a Google Form asking kids which apps they liked the best.

Here's a video of their first day of play:

Office2 HD

I was reading a post from Adventures in Teaching and Learning by Mr. Keenan, Why the iPad IS for Content Creation in Education {iPads in Education, Mobile Learning, 21st Century Learning} and I splurged and bought one of the featured apps in that article, Office² HD.

Office²HD, $7.99

I decided to buy it for one main reason that I just couldn't resist: it allows you to edit your Google Docs documents! Not just edit, you can create a document and save it as a Google Doc! I was already resigning myself to have my students create written content on their iPads and then either email them to the desktop computers or use Dropbox to get the documents to the desktop where the documents could then be uploaded to Google Docs. Now we don't have to! The one shortfall I have come across so far is that I can't find where or how to view comments left on a Google Doc on Office². I'm still working on figuring that one out but I can't find anything. It doesn't help that when I add "comments" into my search I get mostly hits on blog comments. Maybe people haven't noticed the problem or maybe it's just me.

While searching to see if anyone else has noticed that you can't view comments or if someone has figured out how to view comments I came across this blog that describes Office² very well and gives tips on how to set it up to view your Google Docs documents and spreadsheets as well as your Dropbox files. Viewing and editing those files has been working very well for me. The blog is Editing Google Docs with Office2 HD, from MobileContent Today. It's worth the read if you plan on buying this app.

This app was definitely a good purchase.

App Review: Animoto

App Title: Animoto Videos

Grade Level: 3-12 and Higher Education

Cost: Free

Introduction/Background of App

Animoto is an application that brings the functionality of Animoto online to the iPhone. Animoto’s functionality is in the ability to take photos and video that the user specifies, add a music soundtrack ,which can be from their open source music library or music uploaded by the user, to create a movie complete with transitions. The iPhone app is free and available through the app store. Animoto online allows for the creation of 30 second videos for free and educators are able to apply for an all access pass. Additionally there is a professional version available as well. Pricing and features can be found at http://Animoto.com/pricing


Description of App functionality

The Animoto iPhone App allows you to create your movies directly from your iPhone. Images and videos can be selected from those stored on the iPhone, the soundtrack can be selected from the Animoto music library, and the movie can be rendered all on the mobile device. Additionally, videos can be synced with your Animoto account and downloaded so they can be viewed offline on your mobile device. Each time the video is rendered it is different through the remix feature. Additionally, individual photos can be “spotlighted” and have more attention paid to that image in the video. Text can be added to images and the movies can be shared and downloaded.

Here is an example of an Animoto video I created that I share with my students at the beginning of a class.

Classroom Use/ Examples /Ideas
Educators can have additional access to Animoto. Teachers can apply for an educator account at Animoto for Education which gives teachers full access to Animoto for free.

Their education website provides a number of case studies of how teachers have used Animoto for instruction.

I have seen Animoto used in education in two ways.

First, it is a great way to have students in an online class introduce themselves. Students are able to choose the images they would like to share as well as select their music. This provides a window to the students when they get to choose how to express themselves. I also include my own Animoto movie, as seen above,  to introduce myself to my students so they can get to know me as well. The result of using this easy to use tool has been that it has helped to build community in the online class and establish a rapport between me and my students. Here is a link to an assignment prompt, created by Shelley Rodrigo, Ph.D. and Susan K. Miller-Cochran, Ph.D., for having students create their introductions using Animoto.

Second, a colleague of mine has used Animoto for students to develop presentations. Using images and text they are able to convey ideas and their knowledge. The Business faculty member gave students an assignment to develop a 30 second movie (of course without audio words) to describe what NAFTA means to them. The result showed a thorough understanding of the legislation in a concise manner. By having to scour the Internet to find the best images to convey their thoughts and knowledge, students were able to truly express their understanding. Additionally, students had a sense of pride in the movie they created.

Developer website: http://animoto.com/developer

Reviewer Name: Lisa C. Young

Reviewer Blog: http://lcbyoung-scc.squarespace.com/