Suzanne's Ed Tech Reflections

The Kentucky Virtual LIbrary has developed this great interactive graphic that very clearly explains the steps to completing a research project. Clicking on each of the sections even brings up additional information about each step and there are some graphic organizers in the Take Notes section that can be downloaded. It is really a great graphic but the best part for us is that it works on our mobile devices - both iPod touches and iPads! Here is the link to access the graphic: http://www.kyvl.org/kids/homebase.html

We like using the Bretford carts to help us manage our iPods and iPads. On the iPad carts they have even managed to etch numbers above the slots for each iPad. It's a clever idea but we found that the students were having trouble lining up the numbers. So we used a label maker and put numbers on the shelf where the iPads slide into the slot. Apparently, other users must have been having the same problem. The new iPad carts now come with a set of adhesive numbers to place along the shelf. At least someone listens to their customers!

A group of fifth graders have been using iPads this year and now that our state mandated testing is complete, the teachers are ready to have them complete state reports.  They are going to use the iPads and the teachers identified a set of 6 to 8 websites they would like the students to use and wanted to have bookmarks on the iPads for the students to use. It's a lot of bookmarks to put on the bookmarks bar in the mobile Safari app, so we decided to try creating a bookmarks folder and see if it would sync properly. Great news for us - it did sync and works like a charm! iPads are so amazing!!

Things are progressing nicely in our efforts to pilot a flipped classroom model with a 7th grade math class. The iPads have all been set up, our student/parent agreements have been developed, the teacher has been trained in using and syncing the iPads, and tonight we had our first parent meeting! About twelve or thirteen parents attended, which was a pretty good percentage on a night where there were lots of other activities going on at school. The parents were very receptive to our project plans and all in attendance were willing to have their students participate in the pilot - our first adventure with sending iPads home! It is really very exciting for all of us. The teacher and students are looking forward to their new learning format and the parents are very interested in seeing how this promotes math learning - but I also think they are interested in learning more about using iPads along with their children.

All members of our district leadership team (superintendents, directors, principals) have iPads. This year for their leadership meetings we have been sharing an "App of the Week" with them to introduce useful productivity apps or educational apps to help support classroom instruction. This week we introduced them to MathTrain. This app allows users to access the student created math tutorials on the MathTrain website ( http://mathtrain.tv/ ). The math videos are a great resource to use with students and are a good model for our students to use in creating their own. We were inspired to share this app after listening to the keynote presentation by Eric Marcos last week at the Mobile Learning Experience 2012  conference. Eric and two of his students shared their inspiration and process of creating and sharing student created math video tutorials. Visit our iAchieve webpage to view more Apps of the Week. Enjoy!

Robyn and I attended another great Apple event today - the Apple Learning Tour 2012. The focus of this event was on the educational uses of iPads. We reviewed several apps. learned about iBooks, iTunesU, and iBooks Author.                                      The seminar was quite interactive and gave us time to explore, create, and share. We also learned more about setting up an iTunesU channel/account for adding some of our own content that teachers and students have and will be creating. Very exciting! I particularly enjoyed the section on iBooks Author as it gave us some great new tips and clarified some procedures and effective book development strategies. Thanks Mark, Lee, and Josh! 

On Wednesday, April 11, the second annual Mobile Learning Experience Conference began. Three hundred educational technologists gathered at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Phoenix to learn from and with each other and share ideas, resources, and tips on integrating mobile technologies into the classroom. The conference has over 70 break out sessions where attendees can choose topics that appeal to them and their interests. We have learned about new apps and shared our favorites with each other, as well as sharing lesson ideas with other attendees. We have discussed the joys and trials of implementing hundreds of mobile devices. We have had great keynote speakers each day. On Wednesday evening, the keynote   speaker was Jaime Casap from Google. He talked about the importance of education and how it is “the most powerful weapon that can change the world” and the importance of integrating technology into education. On Thursday, Eric Marcos of MathTrain.tv along with two

The official press release in the Arizona Republic Newspaper announcing Project iAchieve's Apple Distinguished Program Award.

  Image credit: http://blog.wsd.net/skamp/files/2011/10/The-flipped-classroom.jpg   Creighton School District’s Project iAchieve is getting ready to pilot a “Flipped Classroom” model with a middle school math class. The students will be issued iPads to use for both their homework and in class work. Yes, that means they will be taking them home. But what is a flipped classroom? In a “traditional” classroom, students listen to a conventional lecture with the teacher sharing the information they need to know, they might have a few minutes to practice a couple of problems or ask a question, then they go home and complete their “homework” based upon the information they heard during the lecture. In the flipped classroom, this process is flipped, or reversed. Lectures become the homework and class time is used for student collaboration, interaction with the teacher, practice and problem solving that addresses a variety of learning styles and abilities.

The press release announcing the Apple Distinguished Program Award for Creighton's Project iAchieve appeared in the Arizona Republic Newspaper's Central Phoenix section today. Really great to see it in print!

Creighton students love their iPods and find interesting places to work with them. Their favorite place is often on the floor. They might curl up in a corner or gather in small groups on the floor. Sometimes they even crawl under their desks to interact with the devices. Makes it easy to create a stand for your iPod too!