Another iPad Media Kit Training Success!

Another successful iPad Media Kit training last Saturday. The group was small but very enthusiastic! They are excited about the possibilities having an iPad, Apple TV, and HDMI projector will bring to their classroom instruction and the positive impact to student learning.

As we moved through our 4 hours training, the excitement grew and grew as we introduced each app and its potential for instruction, learning, and student engagement.

One of the first things we do at iPad Media Kit training is to read 3 articles about teachers using iPads and Apple TVs in their classrooms. It is a great way to get everyone on the same page and thinking about how the iPad and Apple TV will impact their own classrooms. We always try to model best practices during the training. So as teachers are sharing the big ideas from each article, we model using the PaperPort Notes app to record their comments while wirelessly mirroring our iPad screens via the Apple TV.

They were excited to set up their district email on the iPads for the convenience it would provide, but even more excited to learn that the "Open In" feature through Mail would let them add content to specific apps on the iPad from an email.

But they were even more excited as they were introduced to Dropbox and the potential it has for adding and sharing content. There were Oohhs and Aahhs as they uploaded a document to Dropbox from their laptop and it instantly appeared in the Dropbox app on their iPads.

QuickOffice pro HD was a hit with its Dropbox integration feature and the ability to open, edit, and create office documents. The ability to access a tool such as PowerPoint presentations on their iPads helps them develop a comfort level with the devices.

A quick introduction to the Adobe Reader and the ability to import a pdf document, such as a math worksheet, and easily annotate on the document brought some "Oh Yeahs" from the group.

As we introduced the Explain Everything app the "Wows" and "This is what we need" comments started to surface. They could really begin to see the potential in using and iPad to become an "untethered teacher". Dropbox integration and the ease of adding photos, videos, files, and websites directly to a presentation got their creative ideas flowing.

I am really excited to follow their progress as these teachers begin integrating the iPad and Apple TV into their classroom instruction to impact student learning and engagement. I think they will become great models for other teachers at their schools!