iPad Training 101

The article, iPad Training 101, talks not just about introducing the iPads to students, but also introducing iPads to teachers. Although many teachers may have been teaching in the classroom for a while, and excited about introducing new technology into their classrooms, they may also be nervous about it because the don’t know how to use the technology themselves. This is why a Christian school in Southfield Michigan decided to have a three-day intensive training session to help get the teachers acquainted with the iPads. One of the projects that the teachers did at this workshop was create and Public Service Announcement to remind the students of the importance of caring for their iPad. The teachers used the iPads to do every step of the project from writing the scripts, to filming, and even editing. Teachers commented that they liked that they were getting the training on the technology first, instead of just being given technology to use with no experience of their own.

As a future educator, I rally like what this school did with teaching their teachers about the technology first, so that they will not only know how to use it, but also will be able to answer questions that the students may have. As technology continues to improve I know that a day will come when education will begin to use a type of technology that I have no experience left, and I hope that when that happens I will not just be handed that technology to use in y classroom, but that I will be trained on it so that I will first no how to use it before trying to implement it into my teacher.

I really like what this school did, and I hope that other school take their lead and begin training teachers in whatever type of technology they are introducing before just introducing it to the students. If the teachers actually understand how to use the technology well, they will be able to use it much more effectively in their classrooms. 

Schools Abandon Textbooks to Go All iPad

The article Schools Abandon Textbooks to Go All iPad gives a brief overview of a school decision to abandon the use of textbooks, and use only iPads in classes. The article addresses the big question of, how did the school pay for this? Since the school launched a one-to-one iPad program, it cast the school about $500,000 for all the devices, which the school paid for within its already existing budget. How did they do this? The saved money by getting rid of its computer labs, and abandoning plans to build a language lab. They also saved money by not buying any new textbooks. The article addresses the fact that at first teacher were skeptical, but after having the iPads for a while those skepticism seem to have vanished. The article also includes a video of students explaining what it is about having the iPad that they like most. Many students said it was the not taking ability and organization, but other answers included having access to the internet from anywhere, and even being able to put their music for band and choir on the iPad so it was all in one location. This was a big positive for students, having all of the stuff for all of their classes in one location that was easy to carry around.

Based on the feedback from the students I definitely think the idea of a fully iPad school could be a great idea. It provides a lot of organization for the students, and less papers to deal with for the teacher as everything is done electronically. I am not sure however that I agree with the total abandonment of textbooks, whether electronic or traditional. This is something I would want to experience for myself as a teacher, how teaching a class with no textbook works. I feel that it could either be a good thing that gives students more freedom, or a negative thing with as there is no structure. However it is hard to say without experiencing it myself. 

What do Students Think of Using iPads in Class? Pilot Survey Results

The article What do Students Think of using iPads in Class? Pilot Survey Results, actually gives statistics from a survey taken by students about their time using iPads in the classroom. The author, Sam Gliksman states upfront that the their schools pilot program did not a have a 1:1 ration, instead students were sharing iPads, so this affected the students opinions of the iPads, Also as some students used the iPads more extensively in their class, the results were varies as well. When the survey was taken the students had been using iPads for three to four months. Over all the results were fairly good for students liking the iPads. The biggest complaint that they got from students was that they had to share them. This caused problems as students were not able to make the iPads their own, and had to be extra cautious about making sure they were signed out of everything, and had emailed any important notes to themselves. Through the survey they found that students who had more exposure to the iPads in their classroom and used them for more intensive things, like the iPads better than other students. Part of this could be because they understood how to use them better and were more comfortable using them since they had done so much work with them.

This survey was very interesting to read. As a future educator I have heard about the benefits of having technology like the iPad in classrooms, but it was nice to see a student survey and see how well the students actually enjoyed using the iPads. It is important that the technology we introduce into classrooms actually has a purpose and is beneficial to the students and that we are not just introducing technology into the classroom to have more technology. I would be very interested to see a survey of students who used iPads in a 1:1 setting.

When reading this article I could definitely understand the students’ frustration with having to share iPads, and I could see why they may not be as open to using iPads exclusively as they have just simply not had enough exposure to them. However, this article did provide a good starting points for educators to look at and make a better informed decision as to whether bringing iPads into the classroom would be beneficial. 

Managing A Classroom Set of iPads

 In the article, Managing a classroom set of iPads, the author, a teacher, explains the basic process she used when introducing iPads into her classroom. She covers a few different issues from student use management, to setting up the iPads, to storage and maintenance. IN Students management she mainly just addresses that students should be assigned a specific iPad that they use all the time, and they should take a certain amount of ownership of it such as polishing the screen. She also addresses how she will teach students who may not familiar with iPads how to use them. She also addressed setting up the iPads, she explained hw she did it personally, however schools may have policies already set in place to setting up the iPads. She did mention that all of the iPads needed updates, which took a while to do, as well as installing the apps on all the iPads. She also mentions the need to come up with a system to keep the apps updated. Finally, the teacher addressed the issue of storage, She stressed the fact that the iPads should be stored in a cabinet that could be locked, and where the iPads could charge. Se even provided a picture of the storage cabinet that she has in her classroom.

As a future teacher I love the idea of using technology like the iPad in my classroom, however I had never thought about what it would take to set up these iPads and maintain them. It was nice to read an article written by someone who had went through the process, so now I have a better idea of what it will take to get iPads set up in my classroom if they are not already. I also got some great ideas from this article for how to have students share the iPads and not give out personal information. One of things that I like that this teacher did was, instead of having the students setting up their own email addresses on the iPads, which is a bad idea with multiple students using the same one, she instead gave each iPad its own email address that would be used for in class purposes only. I really like that idea.

Over all I thought this was a really good article, and I agree with a lot of the things the teacher said, such as the need for a lockable storage, and the various things that should be invested in to maintain the iPads if and when possible.

How the Amazon Kindle Fire Fits Into Education

The article How the Amazon Kindle Fire Fits Into Education, reads very much like an advertisement for the Kindle Fire. It touches on it’s size, weight, resolution, and even mentions it being protected by Gorilla Glass It mentions its connection to the android, so users can connect to the App store for Android with their Kindle Fire. The article also talks about the Kindle Fire’s cloud storage. Which means that when users download a book it will automatically link to the users Amazon account and save it to their 5 GB of free storage on Amazon’s cloud drive. Finally, at the end of the article it mentions the new feature of textbook rentals, which the article claims is unique to the Kindle Fire.

This article only briefly touches on the uses of the Kindle Fire in school, and when it does it mentions only textbook rentals. Based solely on this article, I don’t know, as a teacher, whether this would be something I would want to try to use in my class. There were definitely some good features mentioned such as it being protected by Gorilla Glass, which in a classroom setting could be very beneficial. Also the storage of the books would be a bonus, although I am not sure if that amount of storage would be enough if the Kindle Fire were being used for a classroom. The textbook rentals were really the biggest positive for a classroom setting, but even still I am not convinced that the Kindle Fire would be the best investment, even over traditional books.

I am hesitant to believe everything in this article at face value because it does read so much like an advertisement. It is not written from the perspective of someone who has actually used the Kindle Fire, but rather from someone who it trying to sell it, and make it sound good. 

Will the Kindle Change Education?

In the article, Will the Kindle Change Education, the author simply addresses this question. He talks about the positive aspects of the kindle such as how light it is, the ability to access almost any book from almost anywhere, and simply the convenience of the number of books that students could have access to. Educators also feel that the Kindles text-to-speech function could be beneficial for those students with vision problems, language barriers, and lack of reading fluency. The author also addresses a few problems with the kindles as well. This includes their durability. The kindle is supposed to be able to survive repeated drops from 30 inches, however the author mentions that one of the kindles he uses in his classroom was broken shortly after receiving it when a students accidentally dropped it. Another issue with the kindle is that of content transfer. Amazon limits the number of kindles that can have access to books on a single account to six. Also there is no output jack to connect to an overhead projector, which is key in a classroom setting. Over all, the author concludes that the price of the kindle is too high, when compared with the classroom hurdles. The use of the kindle in a classroom setting is very limited.

As I said in my previous post, I do see a great benefit in using kindles, or something similar to kindles in the classroom. However, the issue of durability is something to consider, especially for he price that it costs to buy a kindle. If they can be easily broken, then the investment may not be a good one, especially if students are being allowed to take them home and carry them in their back backs. Also the fact that there is no way to display the text to the entire class through an overhead projector is a big downside from teaching perspective. Also the cost is fairly high, with one kindle costing more than most teachers are allotted for their classroom per year. The article mentioned the text-to-speech feature as being beneficial for students with a lack of reading fluency. I am hesitant to agree with this. While I do see the benefit of a student who has trouble reading being able to have the book read to them as they follow along, I feel that this could actually hinder their ability and motivation to learn how to read. If a student knows that he can just have the device read the book to him, then why learn how to read at all?

This article presented many good arguments, and based on strictly this articles research I would say I agree with the authors conclusion that while e-readers could be a great investment for schools, the cost is going to be the biggest hurdle to overcome at this time. 

Amazon Tries Taking the Kindle to School, Again, With Textbook Rentals

In the article Amazon Tries Taking the Kindle to School, Again, With Textbook Rentals the author addresses Amazons decisions back in 2011 to begin renting electronic textbooks. What is surprising about this is how long it took Amazon to begin offering electronic textbooks. The kindle was one of the first electronic readers to be produced back in 2007, and they are just now beginning to allow students to rent textbooks on their e-readers. This is something Barnes & Nobel has been doing with their tablet for a couple of years already.

As a future educator I really like the fact that Amazon is allowing students to rent electronic textbooks, especially at a lower price than traditional textbooks cost. If students are able to get all their textbooks electrically, than it would save students from having o carry around numerous heavy textbooks in their backpacks, which has been known to cause back problems. I also like the feature that anything students highlights and notes that students made in their text will remain even after the book is “returned.” This means students will still be able to access information that they or the teacher deemed important. I definitely like the idea of using electronic textbooks on e-readers in my classroom, and so I am excited to hear that the kindle has begun offering electronic textbooks.