I Education Apps Review - I Education Apps Review

Entries in Professional Development (4)

Monday

Jul262010

Thoughts from the Apple Summer Learning Institute: Day One

Monday, July 26, 2010 at 10:29PM

THINK BIG.

Change is coming fast in the world of education.

Day one of the two day Apple Summer Learning Institute was all about rethinking teaching and learning. Students are changing and education has to catch up. As a teacher, it was really wonderful to set aside time to think about where education is going and how I wanted to be a part of the change.

The institute kicked off day one with a discussion about how to transform the learning environment through enthusiasm, technology, and high standards. Apple fully supports the ISTE NETS standards and there was time set aside to talk about technology operations and concepts, creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and info, critical thinking and problem solving, and digital citizenship. My thoughts at the end of the first session were simply that we need to provide children with as many tools, strategies, and inspiration as we can so that they engage in learning far beyond the classroom.

Students today have joy and passion about their own lives and one way we can tap into that is by utilizing those ‘toys’ in their pockets. Whether or not they know it, many kids today are carrying around mobile learning devices where ever they go. Cell phones, gaming systems, iPods, and iPads are blurring the lines of learning and living for our students. Session two tapped into the idea of extending the learning day by using the iPod Touch. Apple certainly doesn’t have to sell me on using iPods to learn... I’ve been a believer since I bought my first iPod years ago. Yet I am still amazed at the growing educational possibilities of the App Store, iTunes U, iCal subscriptions, and the iPod Touch’s Internet capabilities.

The people at Apple know how to put on a great conference for educators. It was exciting to see experienced classroom teachers discussing their educational philosophies and strategies for success in the classroom; it was more than just products and software. It was about enhancing classroom collaboration and communication, and doing so with great tools like wikis and blogs, iWork, and iChat. I wasn’t aware that Apple offered wikis and blogs as part of their MacOSX server, but they do and they are awesome. The templates are clean-looking, organized, and easy to use. I highly recommend this option if you have the updated server.

If you have ever seen someone use Photo Booth for the first time, you know that the Mac software that comes standard can foster creativity and innovation in almost anyone; this was the idea of the fourth session. The iLife suite (iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb, Garage Band) comes standard in all Macs and is ideal for giving students a lot of creative freedom and the chance to be an innovator. I walked away from this session with lots of great content ideas that I will need to post about later!

Day one ended with a session on enhancing the learning experience with the iPad. Apple selected some great apps for the demonstration iPads. As soon as I was handed the iPad, I furiously flipped through the screens looking for educational gems. If you are curious, here are a few that I found:

After a full day of collaboration and learning, I headed up to my hotel room thinking that I am lucky to be a teacher right now. Students and teachers today have access to tools that will change our educational experiences in ways we never could have imagined. Education is trying to keep up with the culture of today’s students. Students in our classrooms are demanding challenge-based learning where they can be individuals and learn real life skills in their own style. Day one has left me inspired to enter my classroom this fall with more of the tools and strategies I need to keep up with my students’ educational expectations. High praise and no complaints for day one of the Apple Summer Learning Institute.

Cross-posted on the iPodsibilities Blog at www.iPodsibilities.com

Reviewer Name: Meg Wilson

Reviewer Blog: www.iPodsibilities.com

Reviewer Twitter: http://twitter.com/iPodsibilities

Other: Don’t forget to check out our Ning (Online Community) devoted to helping teachers utilize these devices to the their fullest. Please leave a comment if you agree, disagree, or have other creative uses for this app in the classroom, etc.

Meg Wilson |

4 Comments

Permalink |

Print Article

tagged

App,

Apple,

Professional Development | in

Conference Recommendations,

Thursday

Apr082010

Slide to Learn Mobile Event - Conference - Virtual and in Person - Australia

Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 4:00AM

http://slidetolearn.ning.com

July 1, 2010 to July 2, 2010 – Shepparton High School, Victoria, Australia

If you have considered the possibilities for learning with the iPod touch in your school, but weren’t sure where mobile learning fits into your school’s eLearning plans, this is the event for you.

This will be a series of hands-on workshops, keynote presentations and break out sessions from which you can choose, to access this once only opportunity to find these inspirational educators working together. Planning is in its early stages. A number of strands have been described to ensure our participants a complete experience in mobile learning. These are:

Showcase - sessions offer a range of examples of current practice around Australia and the world
Personalize - these devices offer lots of options for personalised learning
Create - sessions offer ways to create with/for the iPod Touch eg Podcasts, multimedia, creation using apps;
Manage - sessions offer advice/ideas on management - personal and program/school management, using iPods for productivity;
Connect - using the iPod touch to connect to the internet, contact with others and collaborate;
Learn - sessions showcasing the fact that it is not the iPods that offer the learning but rather the way they support good effective pedagogy that enhances the learning. Sessions would show how iPods are embedded in good pedagogy and context.

The kind of workshops you can expect include:

Meet the iPod touch
Literacy and numeracy with the iPod touch
Implementation planning for school leaders
Personalising Learning with iPod touch
Improving staff productivity
The iPod touch and music
The iPod touch for higher order thinking
Creativity with the iPod touch
Digital storytelling
School Showcases
Creating simple podcasts
1 – to – 1 iPod touch
And also, as of January 28th, the iPad!

Some workshops will have the capacity to join in virtually using Elluminate.

We also have some very special guest presenters confirmed from the US. Tony Vincent from Learning in Hand, an internationally recognised expert in creativity with mobile learning, and Susan Wells and her team from Culbreth Middle School in North Carolina, where they have gone 1 – to – 1 with the iPod touch this year.

The event will run over two days in the first week of the Victorian school holidays in July. There will be many resources made available here on this Ning for participants to be able to connect both before and after the event.

At this point, we would like people to register their interest in the event (see time/date details above) by completing the following form:

Click here to register your interest - http://slidetolearn.ning.com/page/register-1

Update on Saturday, April 24, 2010 at 6:42AM by

I Education Apps Review

Slide to Learn Registration has Opened:

Click here to go to the online registration form

This will be the cheapest PD you will find. At only $75 per day, you are getting AMAZING value for money.

Get your registrations in NOW!

I Education Apps Review |

1 Comment

Permalink |

Print Article

tagged

Professional Development,

conference | in

Conference Recommendations

Monday

Jul062009

Teaching and Learning with iPods@NECC09

Monday, July 6, 2009 at 9:00AM

Cross posted from -http://edtechapalooza.wordpress.com - July 3, 2009 — jepcke

My district will be implementing some sets of iPod Touches during the 2009-2010 school year and I have been on a quest to learn as much as I can about their use in schools. I attended 3 sessions at NECC 2009 that gave me some great ideas and information

Tony Vincent, handheld guru, presented a session called: Do So Much With an iPod Touch. Tony’s presentations are always wonderfully well organized and have something for everyone.

Here are some great apps and ideas he shared:

places to look for iPod apps besides the iTunes store: appshopper, mobclix
earbuds are available from Walmart for $0.97. Beats having kids share them. Ew!

*Note: Games labeled as “lite” are free versions of a paid application. Lite versions usually have fewer levels or settings/options to entice you into buying the full-featured version. Lite versions often are enough for a school setting.

Language Arts
- Whiteboard Lite* — 2 devices share one ‘whiteboard’. Have students pose math problems to partner, create a list of synonyms together (can be saved for use later)
- Quickword ($4.99) — word processor, can be used for peer editing: ‘red hot’ words (strong words) make them red, ‘cold words’ that need revision color them blue
- Dictionary.com — once downloaded you don’t a wifi connection, a dictionary that is always with you
- Lifestrips ($2.99) and Comic Touch ($2.99, also a Lite* version) — create comics, add speech bubbles and effects to photos, the ideas are limitless

Social Studies
- convert YouTube videos into mp4 format (needed to play on iPod) by using kickyoutube.com
  - first access the video on YouTube
  - then add ‘kick’ to the url before ‘youtube’ in the URL (ie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEJL2Uuv-oQ becomes http://www.kickyoutube.com/watch?v=mEJL2Uuv-oQ)
  - choose the mp4 format and download
  - drag into iTunes on computer
  - add to iPod during next sync
- Inflation ($0.99) — see the relative prices of most anything from 1800 to the present
- Google Maps (installed on iPod Touches as ‘Maps app’ — take a photo of a place/building and use with other maps
- Allli’s Jigsaw Puzzle ($0.99) — turn any picture into a jigsaw puzzle, let kids put together to review a concept
- create a list of links for students using wirenode.com
  - creates a mobile website for students to access using Safari on iPod
  - eliminates need for bookmarking in Safari on each iPod

Science
- Flipbook Lite* — create animations of processes or cycles
  - will need a stylus to draw with detail
  - can upload animation or see what others have created on flipbook.tv
- Belkin Mic (or similar) — have students narrate during a field trip or while performing an experiment (will need to put audio into GarageBand on a Mac (or similar audio editing software on PC) if editing audio is desired)

Math
- Math Drills Lite* — math facts practice
- Make Num Lite* (Sum it Up) — use as many numbers possible to make a given sum
- Lemonade Stand ($0.99) — the old stand by simulation game now for iPods/iPhone

The “Birds of a Feather” session Using iTouch and iPhones for Teaching and Learning, dealt with a huge gamut of topics with lots of folks popping up from the audience to add to the learning. It was a wonderful structure and a rich learning experience. It can be viewed here thanks to Scott Meech for posting the video and the folks at ISTE for recording it.

Here’s a tidbit from the session, Global Connections in the Primary Classroom:

Australian teacher Amanda Marrinan has her Years 2s (which is equivalent to first grade, I think), read books into an iPod and then sends the iPod home with the child so parents can hear their children’s reading fluency. She stated that many parents say they are too busy to sit down and listen to their children read. She also has them podcast what they are learning and posts it to their blog.

For more iPod apps, ideas and information please check these sites:

Tony Vincent’s Learning in Hand
IEAR.org (i Education Apps Review)
Lots of links and resources on Karen Thompson’s iPod Touch site
iPods4Education wiki Add some of your own resources/ideas, too!

- Judi Epcke - Edtechapalooza

I Education Apps Review |

1 Comment

Permalink |

Print Article

tagged

NECC,

Professional Development

Friday

Jun192009

Birds of a Feather Session on IPhone / ITouch for Education at NECC

Friday, June 19, 2009 at 10:35AM

Here is a great "Birds of a Feather" session being put together by Vicki Davis for NECC 2009: http://ieducation.wikispaces.com/

Here is the information currently on the wikispace:

This is a viral wiki created as part of the Birds of a Feather, Using iTouch and iPhones for Teaching and Learning, at NECC 2009 held on Monday, June 29, 2009.

If this using itouch and iPhones for learning interests you, plan to participate. If you contacted me on twitter and I haven't tweeted or emailed you back - DON'T WAIT -- the response was overwhelming -- jump in!! We would like to have a virtual participation room in Elluminate also, but need some facilitators in there as well. If you're a vendor and want to demonstrate your app, feel free to sign up on our Awesome App Vendor page. While Vendors will be asked not to hard sell their apps, we'd like you to wear a large badge that has your app name on it. (Would love someone to help faciliate the vendor part if you wish.)

So, this is open - wide open - and that is what makes the best sessions. It is viral - let's mash it up, mix it up, and create a wiki and share about how to use itouches and iphones in education. Share share share - whether you're there there there or some where where where else! Rock the house! (the school house that is)

Also, would love to have a tool that will let us show our itouch apps on the projector. Right now I've got tent cards being printed to facilitate connections by gradelevel and interests but am open to ideas and thoughts. Join the wiki - let's get going! (Note: This is NOT sponsored by Apple, although if any of you have contacts, we'd welcome their participation!)

Vicki Davis
Twitter: coolcatteacher

Additionally, here are the links for the site so check them out!

I Education Apps Review |