Week 5

I got to spend some time this morning looking at the submissions for the 21st Century library awards, I have been asked to serve on the selection committee. I really enjoyed the opportunity to look at these submissions and see some of the things that others are doing in their libraries. One thing that really stands out is that most libraries are finding some great ways to work with current technology. It is obvious that tablets and smart phones are going to play a big role in many different types of activities in the library. They are currently being used as e-readers, catalog and internet search tools, devices to share and communicate with in many different ways and they are also being used for many, many different specific uses through various apps. It is interesting to see what a large role technology plays for some of these smaller school districts. Many of them have a one-to-one program that insures that all older students are given access to some type of device. In one district I really liked that students were being allowed to select and bring their own devices to school and that students who were in a situation where they could not afford a device were being provided one. This type of policy show an understanding of real world technology use where not everyone is working on the same device or platform. I would bet that it is tricky though when it comes time to select programs and applications that work across all of these different platforms. I thought that some of these libraries were very creative in how they were using their iPads and laptops and I am glad that I had the opportunity to see what they have been doing.

Week Four

I found another Minecraft and education article on line: http://national.deseretnews.com/article/1498/Could-Minecraft-help-kids-get-smarter.html
I thought this was an interesting article because it really looked at the game from all sides, pros, cons, at school, at home, as a game, as an educational tool and others. In the end though it is like most other technology, it is what you make of it. I can see some of the down side with children wanting to spend excessive amounts of time with the game, I have fallen victim to that as well. But whenever we stumble upon a tool that will give students creative educational opportunities as well as motivate them to spend the time on task it is worth exploring. One of the links this article shares is to the site MinecraftEdu.com. This is a site that has been created for helping people use Minecraft with students for educational purposes. This site not only gets educators in contact with Minecraft resources but helps them get up and running with hands-on tutorials and real classroom projects. There is also a forum where educators have shared projects done by students. This is also the site where you can purchase Minecraft for schools at a substantial discount. I have designed my final project for the iPad class around Minecraft and think that I have come up with an interesting way for students to use this game to learn about Egypt and the pyramids. After looking at some of the projects on the website I could see where this could be used to create things for many different types of units. I have seen examples of both student created and teacher created environments. The on-line elements of this software make sharing projects and exploring what others have done very easy. Unlike other projects where we can only look with Minecraft others can actually come inside the world we have created and wander around.

Week three post

IOS 7
I finally took the leap and updated both my iPads to IOS 7. I waited a while to do this in part because there were some bumps when it first came out and also because I was very familiar and comfortable with IOS 6 and wasn't in a hurry to switch. My wife's iPhone and most of the iPads here at school had already been updated so I did have some idea of what was going to change. Now after a week I am wondering what I was worried about? It works almost the same as the old OS and what has changed is quick and easy to learn. I have noticed some things that I like better: control panel access, organization of photos, and the search feature. I have also noticed some things I liked better before: app management (double click), and the look in general. I will say that FaceTime and a few other apps seem to be working much better now that I have made the switch.

Week Two Post

Some thoughts on some of the exploration sites:
Digital Storytelling: I have some experience with this. I have used both of the Toontastic and Sock Puppets apps. I like Toontastic for older students, it gives them more options and they can put more detail into their stories. Sock puppets is probably best for younger students because it is so simple. I like the way Toontastic makes students think about the different parts of the story. I also like some of the character and setting options available. I think I would use Sock Puppets with K - 2 students and Toontastic would work best for 3 - 5. I would also like to explore the possibility of doing some video storytelling and using the iPad and iMovie to produce the video.

Flipped Classrooms: I think this is a good idea for older students but I don't know how successful it would be for either younger students or students from low-income situations. In my building access of technology at home would be a major issue. Almost 90% of our population is on free or reduced lunch and so there is not a great deal of technology available to these students outside of school. I would also be concerned that younger students may not fully comprehend what they are hearing and do not have the opportunity for clarification or questions. I do however see some benefits of using this with older and more connected students. By taking care of the instruction outside of the classroom it opens up more opportunities for different types of work during the regular class time. This would be especially helpful in giving students a better opportunity to work in groups.

Iphonography: I found this interesting because of my background in photography. My first degree was in Mass Communication and I focused on still and video photography (no pun intended). I have spent some time as both a professional news and commercial photographer for both stills and video. One of the reasons that I chose to leave this behind was the need to carry so much stuff. Most days I felt more like a pack mule than a photographer. Since that time things have become much smaller. Now almost everyone has the ability to take still photos or video all the time. This has changed photography on all levels. People are no longer limited by how much film they want to buy and process or by how much equipment they have. As a result the number of photos and videos has exploded. I heard a statistic that said that more photos will be taken in 2014 then in all the rest of history combined. This also presents a good opportunity for educators. We can now document almost everything very easily. I have found myself taking pictures of students working, students projects, brainstorming we have done on the board, examples that both I and the students have created, notes, and many other things. I think this type of use will only continue to increase.

Hello

Here is an introduction post for the iPad class.