The continuing mission, to ....

I love my iPad but it is not the full answer. Even though I am dedicated to using it, I yearn for the full power of a laptop. I have allowed myself flex to do menial tasks like sorting and putting into folders 75 emails etc.

While an ad can recapture productivity times when you just have 5 min before a meeting starts or suring the meeting, it loses in other areas with functionality and data entry.

My goal this weekend was to be creative. I went for a walk with my girls(iPad and a camera in hand). Boy did I feel awkward carrying the iPad in the trails. I did some filming as they played by the strem; however they were more interested in the woods than the ipad( yeah:)

A bit later we fed some ducks and geese. The iPad was functional but I preferred making photos on my point and shoot camera. I held it just off the water to get some creative shots. Not as simple to be creative at the shore with a bulky low res iPad camera.

I have now began to look at telling a story with the raw footage. Walking, talking, ducks, geese, feeding, stills and video.

First up. IMovie (4.99)- easy to use, I would feel comfortable teaching k/1 to make a movie no problem. The finger gestures are easy to learn. I made a movie quickly.

Aha moment - you can transfer the raw movie between devices with iTunes sharing. You can export the final movie to a service like YouTube or the camera roll but you have to wait for it to render. I started it and switched tasks... Returned to have to restart the rendering.

Next. The Avid Studio app(4.99) - pretty powerful. I would not use this with K/1 (at least at first). The expanded features and options in comparison to iMovie allow for much more fine editing and higher quality end product

(high quality end products should not be the goal though. We want students to be able to create and communicate - both do the task and iMovie is simpler to use)

Splice (free and 3.99) (with additional in app purchase for special fx) (iPhone not universal app). This is a very simple to use app. The workflow makes sense. Being an iPhone app that does the same as the first two, I would stick to them on the iPad. For an iPod/ iPhone app, I would use Splice


A turn in a different but relevant direction is to film and event and provide a vice and annotation analysis. Coaches Eye (4.99). Let's you film a clip, then record your review and notes over it. Awesome tool. (I will revisit this looking at tools like Show Me or Explain Everything)

My choice for starting with students - iMovie. (I may move to Avid later with them)
My choice for a project of mine - Avid Studio
My choice if on my iPod - Spilce
My choice for annotating or teaching through the video - Coaches Eye
(in short - choose the right tool at the right time)

Now that I had fun creating, I just want to touch on the why again.

I believe that students need to be creative and be creators. These tools allow a very engaging way to do both.
Reasons to have students create a video:

Exploration / wonder
Review of learning
Explaining learning of a concept
Interviewing
Speech practice
Creative writing coming to life
Practicing oral fluency
Describing a piece of their work - author statement
Public service announcements
(feel free to comment and add to the list)

Living on an iPad.

I have tried very hard to just use my iPad as my computing device for the last two days. It really is challenging. I dietary and prepare by enabling print sharing the night before. It configured at home but not within the district network. Took some MacBook time to try tweaking but to no avail(I have submitted a service page and will see if that provides an option)

I needed to break from the plan to:
1. Try tweaking a printing solution
2. Create a fireworks logo that needed printing. Since I had one that needed editing it was easier than creating a new one in a new software.
3. I also needed over the last two days to print.

Printing is not going away. When I work with teachers new to iPads I ask why you would need to print. I have now got several answers..
Printing posters for bulletin boards
Printing expense claims ( that I have to attach receipts and submit))
Printing a document requiring a signature
Printing an attendance sheet for a workshop. (I could have used an app and have them sign in on my device; however I would then dedicate a 500 device to act as a $0.05 piece of paper and not be able to use it myself while they sign in.)

Beyond the basics...
Multitasking
I am trying to be true to the concept; however, I find myself wanting to 'quickly' do some multitasking work while I was on my laptop to print. It brought to my attenttion that I multi task heavily. If a website takes time to load, I move to another task. If a file is uploading, I switch and do something else. If I am answering email, I like to have my calendar open at the same time (without switching)

Creative work ...
I haven't had time to do any today... My IPad is being used as a small laptop without a tactile keyboard. I am doing quite well atyping and allowing autocorrect to do its magic. Still slower than using a keyboard (when I am focused on typing I can type 60 wpm). Currently I am able to type about 30 wpm on the iPad. The iPad is not the best typing device. I personally miss the tab key, the underscore on the main keyboard, and cursor keys

Internet ...
Most websites are working fine. You learn some quirks like entering dates on calendars that are not optimized for mobile devices - zoom and slide etc. We are doing a pedometer challenge in our building and that site must use flash as it just appears blank. If it was just me, I would use a different site, but I have to use the site provided. (and they dont have an app).

I needed to edit a web page but the wysiwyg editor did not show properly on the iPad I managed to accomplish it but not as easy in a full browser.

I didn't realize just how much I did in emails / paperwork in a day. It was harder to be as efficient getting my regular work load done. That is real aha though.

I need to spend more time in the classroom. We have several key events coming up that require a level of productivity, but I will stick to using iPad. It will force me to think differently.

What if the iPad was the only device available to a teacher, a student, a class. Should it be wasted on productivity.... Perhaps there are other ways to get the desired result on an iPad by doing it differently or to quote APPLE Think different

Off to finish my emails today. Tomorrow I will do my blog without backspace for corrections...

Does an iPad replace other computers ?

I have bantered the idea of using my iPad only for the month of February.  If I am going to be immersed in supporting iPads with our teachers, I need to make the mind shift to use it for everything.

Currently my iPad is used less than maximum; however, I have access to a MacbookPro for work and a PC at home.

The question rises for schools - what if I only have an iPad?  Should we buy desktops or even laptops anymore?

I haven't quite decided myself if I will take on this challenge as there are challenges that I know will arise.
- What if I want to print?  Do I send it to a colleague? (not fair to them)  Do I try to get the district to have a new printer that accepts AirPrint?
- Can I create everything I need to on an iPad? - (Pages on iPad can't export to ePub)
- Will I be as efficient?  To search in First Class, it takes more steps on an iPad...

I am thinking that I should try this, but allow 30 minutes a day access to another computer.

Any thoughts or advice?

SIG Digital Equity Summit

Digital Equity Summit #NECC09

 

An interesting start to the summit when the bloggers at the table realize that we don’t have internet access.  It is amazing that free internet has only been provided for the last few years and already we can't live without it.

 

ISTE now has 20000 individual members and over 100 000 with affiliates.  Together we can plug in on issues that we are passionate about.

Today’s summit is named “Success Against All Odds”

Stories shared during the session

1. Despite Low Income and under served situations partnerships and connections grow
2. Zoe’s Room – online afterschool community working toward STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)
3. Community Computer Centre – created STEM program with no money
4. MOUSE – young people developing help desk in school 
5. Students are the best textbook written for each other
6. Students helping students becoming tech literate
7. Building and designing educational games with STEM content
8. Students refreshing computers to provide to the community after used in School 

 

Keynote Opening – Jenelle Leonard – US Department of Education

 

Many changes are happening in the US DoE with a shift from compliance bureaucracy.  There is a new culture in the US Department of Education focused on TeamWork for those in the department and those served (80+ million kids)   The new administration is listening and sharing what is heard and publishing it publicly.  The administration is listening to keep what was good and fix what isn’t

 

The goal is to be back on track being number one in education including 

-       Modernizing Classrooms

-       Keeping Teachers working

-       Early Childhood Education

-       Improvements in teacher quality and effectiveness. 

-       Spurring on Teacher Innovations

 

The soon coming result will be High Quality Education For All.

 

Education is a Civil Rights Issue.  A fight for education is a social justice fight.  We need to work with a sense of urgency.  Our children can’t wait

 

(What a great viewpoint.  It feels like in my local government that education is a drain on the system, not a civil right, not an urgent need, and not worth investing in by meeting needs (not just enough to keep the lights on))

 

Milton Chen – George Lucas Educational Foundation

Milton started with sharing 10 films produced by 9 to 18 year olds.  We need to see what these kids are doing to realize how far behind the thinking about education really is.  More than 300 hours of media about kids and by kids.  www.Edutopia.org – Digital Generation Project - http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-youth-portraits

 

One of the videos features Luis Chavez.  He is from Oregon and his parents are immigrants from Mexico with technology skills limited to the ATM.  He has excelled and has presented in Chile by the age of 18.  He recognizes that opportunities have been presented to him and he took advantage of them.  It motivates him to give back.  He supports both the community and the school.  He is a great example of paying it forward.

 

Edutopia is working to provide case studies of model schools to help with information on funding, policies, successes, and challenges.  More is being developed to support more schools in becoming Model Schools. 

 We next had 8 minutes at tables to learn about a project....

  Project 1

http://www.FlatClassroomProject..org

(Support from ICT Qatar and HSBC)

-       Key learning from students – “I Learned Not to Sterotype”

- Amazing communication – two students communicated only through Google Translate (while sitting beside each other)

Goes beyond HOTS to HO Living

 

First Step to flattening classroom is to Connect Self

 

Project 2

http://www.MOUSE.org

Targeting high need schools and high need students.  The program is challenged with funding and challenges with the nature of high need students and schools.

 

Results include increases attendance, improved reading skills and 21^st Century Skills.  Need to support teachers in being comfortable with technology but the teachers need to be comfortable with the technology to allow students to excel.  The whole school environment gets tech support.  Teachers and students are trained together.  Networking sets up schools to support each other as well.

( There continues to be issues with access – parts of NC only has dial up access.  Some areas only ½ of students have computers at home and only 1/3 of them have internet access.)

While Canada and the USA are diverse, we end up with very similar needs.  We have very low performing segments of the population, we have areas of high poverty and we have locations with very high English Language Learners.    Supporting all students is a critical challenge that we need to meet.  Following Malcolm Gladwell's conversation, these students are disadvantaged by lack of access to gain expertise, and a lack of feedback.  They have lots of opporunities where compensation is needed to overcome; however, they don't have the teachers or resources to develop compensation strategies.

In Surrey it is a challenge while the district faces a 9 million dollar shortfall and we need 3 million annually just to provide a minimal level of sustainable computers.  (Computers aren't the solution; however, students need access to technology and the lack of functioning computers at a reasonable ratio is an indicator that we are not providing equity.)

Kevin