Author Archives: mkaufman

iPad in Schools Discussion Groups

Posted on by mkaufman

I recently became aware of this online discussion that was started on the Apple Discussion boards.

It seems there is also a ning group started for educators using or exploring the use of the iPad in schools. From the discussion board:

There are two nings here addressing some of the questions you asked: one is part of a general ed tech discussion (http://isenet.ning.com/forum/topics/ipads-in-education) and one is more focused on the specifics of ipads (http://ipadeducators.ning.com/). Neither are terribly active (former has more going on than the latter) but you may find some answers on there, or at least get discussions going.

Here’s another discussion forum I discovered. It’s located in Australia – but the conversation is relavent no matter where you are:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/1408212.html

Students Using the iPad

Posted on by mkaufman

How might students use the iPad? The following reflections come from a middle school teacher in a blog post he made (after giving his iPad to some students and getting their input/opinion). In his previous post he was commenting about how the iPad had changed his life and wondered:

So now I wonder, if this has really changed my game, how might it change the game for a student who is able to go through the school day with it? One-to-one initiatives are popping up all over (finally), and the iPad may be one solution for students. An iPad is a consumption device more than a creation device (we still need laptops or desktops), but the types of input and resources available make it a real possibility for student use. I’m going to try an experiment this week with a couple of students and let them take it to all their classes for a day. I’m really interested in how they think an iPad might (or might not) make their learning better. Hopefully I’ll convicne them to share there thoughts here next week. Stay tuned…

So here is what he came up with after hearing the feedback from the students he gave the iPad to.

1st period, Science: Collect microscope data using the ProScope Mobile

2nd period, ELA: Enter/edit literary responses in a discussion forum

3rd period, Music: Compose music and email the music and notation files with the app, Music Composer

4th period, Spanish: Record target language conversations with the app, Voice Memos for iPad, and email them to the teacher

5th peroid, Math: Practice solving equations in the app, Draw for iPad, and share them with classmates over Bluetooth

6th period, Social Studies: Review historical videos on YouTube or Discovery Education Streaming

7th period, Band: Put the iPad on the music stand and play music from the app, Scorcerer

8th period, Physical Education: Enter fitness data into a Google spreadsheet (AFTER keeping iPad in locker room and moving actively for 40 minutes in class…)

9th period, Art: Sketch designs using the app, Doodle Buddy, and post work to the class website

These are his first thoughts. His further reflection suggests that he’s sold on the value of the iPad versus a laptop. His final thoughts in this post were:

So that is just a glimpse of what could be. All in a device that just turns on (as opposed to boots up) and tucks in your arm like a book. There is a incredible amount of room for deepening the learning experience for students. I totally acknowledge the proprietary nature of the iPad and some inherent limitations, but I’m still sold.

So the question becomes, does the school try to provide the iPads, or come up with some unique solution where families purchase them and get to keep them?

Back when the iPad first came out another teachers wrote the following review about the iPad and its use in schools:

What’s GREAT about the iPAd in Education:

  • It’s on INSTANTLY! I can’t tell you how great that is to have what you need on NOW! Love it.
  • It’s FAST! Everything is so fluid and quick. (And BIG!) Better than any interaction with iPhone or iPod Touch.
  • Reading books is outstanding!
  • The battery life is incredible. You can you use it all day on a single charge.
  • You don’t have to SAVE anything. Yep, that’s right, just hit the Home Button and come back later. It’s still there. Love it!
  • There is nothing to learn. You just use it!
  • The iPad’s inability to multitask is a plus for students. They will learn to focus on the project at hand.
  • Keynote’s ability to place a simulated red laser pointer where you touch is a nice touch.
  • The sheer fact that it holds so much content and can do so much in such a small form. Amazing. Yes, even magical.
  • Amazing Apps! Download the Free and spectacular Dragon Dictation to speak text into your iPad. It is so easy and accurate.
  • You can teach with it! You can actually walk around teaching with the iPad in one arm while displaying notes, plans, grades, etc.

How can the iPad be Improved for Education?

  • The iPad can’t print. (Teachers need to print stuff.)
  • The iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter is horrible for education! Your choices for what you can project is far, far, far too limiting. You can’t share a webpage on the projector, or a book for that matter! (Full review coming soon.)
  • More Educational Apps! (Build them and teachers will buy them. Better yet, give teachers an easier SDK to create our own. Templates?)
  • Textbooks Available on the iBooks Store. (Give it time.)
  • Educators and students need a camera. Student recognition, projects, capturing data, and more. (You put one on the iPod Nano for crying out loud.)
  • iPad to iPad collaboration and interactivity.
  • The ability to work together with Interactive White Board (SmartBoards). Teachers love their SmartBoards.
  • Easier ways to transfer documents. It is difficult to get Pages Documents, Keynote Presentations, Photos, etc, onto and off of them iPad. Not all classrooms allow students to email.

As I find more teachers reviewing and exploring the use of the iPad in schools I will post them here. What’s your take on the primary uses of the iPad in schools?

Will the iPad Fail in Schools?

Posted on by mkaufman

I just read an article written for a business magazine, Network World, written by a Chief Information Officer, where he argues that the iPad may fail in schools because of what he calls ‘flaws’ in the design.

In the article it describes on high school in Michigan (again a private school) that would love to get ahold of 700 iPads (it’s an all boys school). The problem they have is that there is no remote monitoring of the iPad like there is for laptops so teachers wouldn’t be able to insure students are looking at what they want them to be looking at.

Here’s the dilemma this school faces. They want a device that can be used to run a whole lot of different applications and has good battery life – and they want to connect these devices to the teachers computer so they can be monitored. Laptops and netbooks fulfill the first criteria but not the second.

Here’s the situation in the words of the school:

The big idea is to have students conduct browser-based research, participate in discussions, take virtual field trips at institutions around the world, use app tools for math and science, write essays, take notes, and read e-books and PDF handouts.

and later,

“So far, we haven’t found the right solution,” Lawson says. “We flirted with netbooks, and at the time netbook batteries just weren’t there with a two or three hour battery life. When you have 700 boys going all day, you’ve got to have a 10-hour battery life. I don’t have 30 [power outlets] per classroom, and even if I did I’d probably blow fuses.”

Without the remote monitoring the school says,

For now, an iPad without this enterprise feature is a deal breaker. “We can’t put in something if we can’t do any monitoring,”

This whole topic builds upon the one we started yesterday – but it drives directly to the point I was attempting to make about methodology. Just giving young people a piece of technology or a device will do nothing more than distract them for some period of time unless it is tied in with something that is interesting and relevant to their lives.

The method of teaching and learning will have to be re-designed if we are really going to take advantage of the potential represented by a new technology like a computer – or like an iPad.

If the fundamental operating principle of schools continue to be control and compliance then the kind of tool like the iPad will not surely fail. If the fundamental operating principle of schools can change to be one focused on learning – real learning, not memorization and regurgitation – then there is a possibility that something like the iPad can do really well.

Here is the link directly to the article.

Students Get iPads

Posted on by mkaufman

students with an iPadI imagine this fall we should be seeing many students using iPads – and many because their school is providing them. This eventuality will come with controversy as there are still many school personnel that do not believe giving students a laptop – or an iPad – will improve learning.

If the teaching methods employed in schools do not change I would tend to agree with this. Just giving students a tool like an iPad will not solve any of the issues related to student engagement and student achievement. Sure there may be some short term novelty but that novelty will wear off – unless something uniquely different happens in the experience of the teacher and in the experience of the students.

For instance, in typical teaching environments where students have access to computers, schools have installed monitoring software to be sure students are following along and not doing other things. In these types of environments the iPad will present a similar challenge. In order to insure students are doing productive things on the device the way they are used in the learning experience will have to be compelling, interesting, and relevant to the learner. And, maybe the need to control everything the student does is part of the problem?

The other thing is what I mentioned in a previous post. The iPad is a consumption device and that creates a problem for schools – as many of the leading schools know they must transition to getting students to be producers and not just consumers.

In a recent ABC News article (June 16th) several schools have announced giving 6th graders (6th and 7th graders in one case) iPads in the fall when school semesters begin again. I imagine, and I hope, these schools would be on leading edge of understanding that just replacing text books and traditional tools with a digital version will likely add little value. The opportunity in these schools is to explore and discover new ways of teaching and learning.

No matter what, the tide has turned, and we will continue to see more and more students carrying iPads at school starting this fall!

From the ABC News article: Coming this fall every 6th grader at Sacramento Country Day School in California, a private school, will receive an iPad at no extra cost to parents. From the headmaster,

“There are hundreds and hundreds of educational apps for the iPad,” he said. “We found that there are so many [that] we felt there was a tremendous opportunity to bridge the gap between the traditional pen and paper and textbook and laptop.”

More from the article and the headmaster:

Students will use the sleek tablets to develop reports, conduct research, read e-books and study. For example, using a flash card application, they could study for tests. They could also hook up the iPad to a projector and easily share a multimedia presentation with the class, he said.

The article also says another school in Wisconsin plans on giving 6th and 7th graders iPads this fall and plans on having all students and teachers from 6th grade through 12th grade using iPads instead of text books by 2012.

The local Racine newspaper published an article both praising the school and warning that being on the leading edge could have some unseen costs – since no one has used iPads under school conditions to date there is little known about how they will hold up.

The ABC News Article: Apple’s iPad Joins the 6th Grade: A Novelty or the Next Big Idea? Schools Embrace iPad as a Teaching Tool, But Some Educators Say It’s Limited

iPad, iFad, iWait – the Journal Times Article

Will iPad Replace Text Books?

Posted on by mkaufman

One of the reasons I wanted to start this blog is because I feel pretty strongly that the iPad is a game changer when it comes to schools and the experience of accessing information. Think about it. In the past most of us had to go to the library to access any kind of additional resources beyond our text books. And there were special classes set up to teach young people how to use the library and to access resource materials.

Today, with the iPad, a young person can have access to anything they need – at their finger tips!

Will the iPad replace text books?

I believe they will – unequivocally! The iPad and other tablet like devices will definitely replace text books.

Here’s an article about a school in Santa Cruz, CA where they have purchased 60 – 16gb iPads to replace history books (obviously they replace more than history books but that’s the experiment).

California School Introduces iPad into the Classroom

The article says the iPad is 1/3 the cost (which I don’t fully understand yet – since if that’s true there will be no reason this wouldn’t be happening everywhere!). The school also says,

“There are so many academic advantages. They provide new access to photos, videos, daily newspapers and resource material that enhance the curriculum”, he says.

The Sentinel reports how English teacher Marcus Schwager taught his students to look up the meaning and pronunciation of unfamiliar words in Shakespeare’s The Tempest on the iPad with just a tap, and Science teacher Cynthia Armstrong showed her class an interactive display of a cutaway view of the female body, zooming in when necessary. All of the teachers involved in the pilot scheme expressed their excitement and enthusiasm for the many benefits that the iPad has to offer as a teaching tool. The students were just as impressed, as you might expect, with 15-year-old sophomore student Alyssa Villanueva saying that in comparison to a text book, the iPad is “a little easier to use. You can really focus on where you’re studying.”

Here’s a youtube video by someone expressing the same sentiment. He believes the iPad will replace text books!

What do you think?