- a new app you love
- how you are using your iPad in the classroom
- a link to (or synopsis of) an article about iPads in education
- ideas you have for school-uses of iPads
- any "aha!" moments you have with your iPads
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
January Open Thread
Comment below before January 31st. You can write about anything iPad related, for example:
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I found a few articles about iPads in the classroom. Here are a few links:
ReplyDeletehttp://teacher.ocps.net/groups/ipodsintheclassroom/
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/ipad-teaching-learning-apps-ben-johnson
http://www.govtech.com/education/iPads-In-The-Classroom.html
In the beginning of the year, when I was still figuring out how to use my iPad in class, I tested out a bunch of fancy apps, and they were all pretty good, but really the apps that I like the best are the simple, generally apple produced apps.
ReplyDeleteMy most used app is Pages, and it is fantastic for writing papers, writing notes in class, and doing handouts that teachers send to me. Other ones that I like using are the most basic Notes, and email.
Before I had the iPad I had a hard time organizing and remembering what I had to do. No that I have the iPad I can remember all of that. The iPad also helps me with taking notes. I can also email my teachers If I need to.
ReplyDeleteI really love working on my iPad. One app that I am so interested in right now is flipboard. It is this great app where you can check out current news all around the world. There are small boxes of news articles and what ever interests you, you can click on it. It gives many categories of news. It also has a folder for photos that have been taken around the world. I love looking at the photos! It is a great app to have, and will even help you out if you are in some type of current events class.
ReplyDeleteMy iPad has really helped me out this year. A really good app that I found is Flashcardlet. It is a app that is has shown great effects on my quizes and tests this year. You can make your own flashcards or download them from Quizlet. I have mostly used this app for science but it am sure it would help a lot in other subjects. Another cool thing about this app is that you can suggest new features and if your lucky the company might add that feature to the apps next update.
ReplyDeleteA cool app I like is called voice recorder. I really don't know what to do without it, because I use it to record myself playing the violin, and it really helps me point out sections where I need to practice something. I actually use it weekly and I've found It helpful to get better.
ReplyDeleteI really like having the iPad. It is very helpful and I am thinking of buying my own. I really want and iPad stylus; they look like hey help a lot. I have been looking at a few and have decided to get the box wave. The iPad is really helpful at kee
ReplyDeleteIt every thing organized and it saves my hand a lot of bad cramps.
An idea for using the iPads in the classroom would to have all assignments linked to your teachers email through google docs, and possibly dropbox. It would save paper, students wouldn't get late assignments by forgetting print it out and teachers could comment on the papers. Although this idea doesn't have to be enacted through iPads, it would a great idea to implement in our classrooms.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I think the iPad is a great learning tool and has huge potential in the learning environment. However, for me, there are some shortfalls that have caused me not to use the iPad as much as I wish I could.
ReplyDeleteDuring the first term of this year, I used my iPad to take notes in math, science, and most of my other classes. I used the Notability app, which added a handwriting feature fairly recently, in combination with a Targus stylus. After doing this for a month or two, I reverted back to taking handwritten notes. Why? I felt that it was taking me longer to take the notes on my iPad than it would on paper. In subjects like math, it is very important to be able to keep up with what the teacher is doing so you can understand the lecture. I felt that I was being hindered by having to switch back and forth from stylus to typing to stylus, etc. Also, writing with the stylus didn't feel especially comfortable or natural. I began handwriting notes and then scanning them at home and loading the scanned PDF files onto my iPad. I purchased a Bluetooth keyboard for typing notes and other documents that I now regret purchasing because I don't take notes on the iPad and when I'm at home I frequently just use my computer to type my assignments.
I have recently come across a product that I think will make me want to take notes on my iPad again. It's called the iPen. Most styluses that you find today are passive, meaning that they have no electronic components and work because of the static electricity in your body. However, the iPen is an active stylus, meaning that it is battery powered. To use the iPen, you plug the included infrared receiver into your iPad's dock connector port. The iPen itself transfers an infrared signal to this receiver, allowing the iPad to pinpoint the exact location of the stylus. This also allows for a much finer point than today's styluses because the stylus is not directly interacting with the iPad screen. The project started on Kickstarter, reached its funding goal, and it will be coming out later this month. I am considering selling my Bluetooth keyboard and purchasing an iPen instead. The iPen will retail for $90 but may be cheaper on sites like Amazon once it comes out. If I get an iPen, I really think I will start using my iPad to take notes again since I won't have to worry about a fat, clunky stylus.
If you're interested in the iPen, here's a link to their Kickstarter project...
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1225098940/ipen-the-first-active-stylus-for-ipad
Here's a link to their website...
http://www.cregle.com/
Something that would also help is if teachers started posting the handouts they print out for in-class or homework use in something like a public Dropbox folder so that iPad users could access them. To me, the main issue with the iPads at Paideia right now is the fact that not everyone has an iPad and not all of the teachers are able to incorporate the iPads into their classes.
I hope to discover more ways that I can use my iPad in school soon. If I am able to take notes on the iPad again, am able to access all of my textbooks, lit books, etc. on the iPad, and am able to get to all of my handouts and homework on the iPad, I don't think I'll need to bring any books or notebooks to school. This would be wonderful!
Adam
What I really enjoyed about using the iPad is that you can be very creative in how you do things. For instance, there are over 1,000 apps on note taking. The best note taking app that I've used so far is Noterize and Dragon Dictation.
ReplyDeleteWhat is really hard about using my iPad in class is because, unlike Jennifer and Tony's Class, our class doesn't circulate around the iPad. Although I do get my math textbook on my iPad, I would like to do other things such as doing worksheets on the iPad and sending them in to my teachers, things like that.
The app I really like using is inclass ,which helps me manage my time by showing my schedule throughout the day, I can take notes on it, and I can write down my homework in the checklist. I think this app has helped me the most.
I really appreciate having this iPad and hope to be learning new ways of doing things.
Sophie
Here are a few links about iPads in education:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.apple.com/education/ipad/
http://www.emergingedtech.com/2011/07/ipads-in-education-hows-it-going-so-far/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/education/05tablets.html?pagewanted=all
I love the app called Human Body. It caught my eye the minute I found the app. You see I am very interested in Science, so I fell in love with this app. This app has so many interesting facts about human bodies that most people don't know. I love learning about these kind of things, so I recommend it to everyone.
ReplyDeleteI am a little late, but now I have a stylus for my iPad. Having it makes such a world of difference. I can take math notes on my iPad so much more efficiently now. I can also use it in French class, where we hold up our answers on mini whiteboards. I have an app called ShowMe (basically a whiteboard app) and using my stylus, I can write the answer on there.
ReplyDeleteI am loving my iAd so much when it comes to taking notes in class. I am having such an easier time taking notes. I use Noterize and Evernote for my note taking apps. I also love to write my writing assignment on it. I can put links to my class websites to check up on homework. I honestly don't know what I would do without an iPad.
ReplyDeleteIt is also so cool to see how much technology has taken over this school. Probably half of the people in my class now use iPads, laptops, and iPods to take notes. It is the coolest thing! I would like to see someday the whole school running on technology from the textbooks to taking without pencil and paper.
When I got my iPad in the beginning of the year, I thought the main reason why I would use it, would be for note taking. I started taking notes, but truthfully, I would much rather write my notes on paper. It got a littlenannoying having to touch the screen over and over for me to type up notes.
ReplyDeleteThe main reasons why I do use the iPad is for in class reasearch, email and pages.
I love using the iPad, as it offers opportunity and potential. First thing, I hoped for better organization with notes and works. Overall, I did, like with the notetaking apps, at first I was very fond of Noterize thinking there were little flaws, but as I progressed, the app did not. Currently I use Goodnotes, and plan on using Notability for the second term. I love taking notes on iPad, but the only downside is that feeling of physically having pages of notes. The other ways it has helped me is with emails, papers, and research.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if you heard yet of the advancements Apple has taken in education on the iPad. Here are two links, one a video and the other an article on the new features:
Article: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9223593/Apple_s_new_vision_of_education?taxonomyId=123
Video: http://youtu.be/uDNQr52b4oI
I love that they are trying to bring in textbooks to iPad. I was impressed by the sample they provided. As for now, the only textbook I see that would be useful is the Chemistry book for sophomores, hopefully more would become available.
Also, I got my stylus a while back and there were so many options, so deciding was difficult. This article really help me find the stylus i need. I chose the Kuel H10.:
Article: http://www.macworld.com/article/156560/2011/05/touchscreen_stylus_roundup.html
Also, using the iPad can be more beneficial if the class itself was iPad oriented. That may be hard for now since there are not so many who use the iPad at school. A good idea for possibly next year, is to create classes of the same course, but iPad oriented to really see the potential of an iPad community. That may be hard with high school, since there are so many courses being offered. This could possibly work with Junior high, to get one class to have all students receive iPads and use it all based around it. Possible good idea to see how the iPad's affects?
ReplyDeleteI use my iPad mostly for note taking and research. My most recent "aha" moment was when I discovered that I could download articles from websites such as JSTOR directly to my iBooks app. It is so much easier to attempt to read, annotate and take notes on a research article when it is in PDF form in iBooks rather than just on the website.
ReplyDeleteAnother "aha" moment for me was when I discovered the international keyboards. This discovery has made it so much easier for me to take notes in Spanish class.
-Madison H.
My all-time favorite app is Pages. It's perfect for writing, making outlines, and taking notes. I use some other note-taking apps, but the app I use 80% of the time is Pages. It's clear, easy to use, and I can organize my thoughts in a specific manner, with columns or in colors or specific fonts, and write my papers just as easily. It's by far one of the highest quality apps I have, I haven't bought any apps that cost money besides the ones given to us at the beginning, so this may be why. Here's some links to some articles, http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/21/apple-textbook-public-private-schools/ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/education/05tablets.html?pagewanted=all From reading multiple articles on iPads at schools, it seems like the general reaction is that sometimes they work amazingly, sometimes OK, but if more course content could be worked into apps and iBooks and more textbooks and resources too, it could be even more successful. I think if more apps like Pages are made, and more textbooks put on things like iBooks, then it could be great. I'm especially excited about the new textbooks coming out, because they would have links to videos that could help explain the content better, could all be stored in an iPad, are much less expensive, and could link you to exercises and extra content and videos that could help your understanding. I realized the other day that I could open PDF's in ibooks (an 'aha moment') and it's helped me so much already, that I can just imagine how cool having something like a textbook on your iPad could be.
ReplyDeleteI recently started to takes notes on my iPad in history and science. These are probably the two class's where I take the most notes. In the beginning of the year I decided not to take notes on my iPad in those subjects because I didn't think that I would be able to type fast enough, but it actually has worked really well since I started. Something that someone said before that I really agree with is i'm not in a "iPad class" so for some things in home base, and more things in specialist classes it is hard to use the iPad.
ReplyDeleteIn short term, using my iPad for writing assignments and note taking was much easier. I also did Modern Arab League and used it there which was convenient because it's not as heavy but can still be used the exact same way as a laptop, such as to search facts or edit papers. Here is an article I found about iPads in education with many great app recommendations:
ReplyDeletehttp://teacher.ocps.net/groups/ipodsintheclassroom/
Check out this new note-taking app from Dragon. It looks really good. If anyone decides to try it, let us know what you think!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.igoipad.com/2012/01/free-ipad-notes-handwriting-drawing-typing-audio-recording-and-speech-to-text/
I saw these really interesting articles on cnn about using iPads in schools.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2012/01/20/tech/innovation/ipad-wont-transform-education/index.html
and
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/23/tech/innovation/ipad-solid-education-tool/index.html
The app I use and a lot is Evernote. I have been using it to record my history teacher's lectures and then hand writing notes. Then I use the app's camera option to photograph my notes. I then have two copies to learn from.
In the app store, there is now an option to get textbooks on your iPad. I noticed that my chemistry book was among the ones available, and I plan on downloading it on iBooks, so I can have it portable. I really Ike the iBooks app because it allows you to search for a topic in everything available. It is a convenient app to have, because it saves space from having to carry around books. Currently there are nine books, but I am sure there will be more in the future.
ReplyDeleteI was interested in the new version of iBooks that allows for interactive textbooks. I think it came out a few weeks ago, and it seems pretty cool. Here's an article about it: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/19/apple-ibooks-2-author-itunes-u_n_1215887.html?ref=email_share. I've looked at some of the offerings, which are limited because the capability is new. I've looked through the sample of my chemistry book, which has movies, interactive images, and other nice features. I'm hesitant to buy the book before talking to my teacher about it, because it is a different edition, and therefore not exactly the same as the book I'm using, but for $15, it's a pretty affordable option that would allow me to leave my book at school. I see a lot of potential in this app, and I hope more publishers will start providing this kind of content optimized for the iPad.
ReplyDeleteI use my iPad more at home then at school. For research or coming home from a late practice. At school we would need to have the curriculum set around the iPads more than it is now. I.e. most teachers want the students to have a binder or notebook for their class, which doesn't work with the iPads.
ReplyDeleteI just want to say somthing about the general lack of knowledge concerning iPads. I've used my iPad throughout the whole school year. However, just the other day I had a teacher who seemed surprised to see me writing on my iPad with a stylus. She said she didn't know you could buy "pens" for the iPad and was very interested to learn more about them. Another one of my teachers told our class that we wouldn't want to get a graphing calculator for our iPad becuase they were $30 or more (I know for a fact that you can get a decent one for under $5 on the app store (and there's even one that's free!)
ReplyDeleteA couple days ago, I heard one of my classmates asking my bio teacher if she would upload our worksheet to Dropbox. The teacher said that she couldn't since she didn't have dropbox installed on her computer. She was excited to hear that you can access Dropbox online and that the download is free.
And I'm not just writing this to bash my teachers (in fact, I'm still a little bit impressed that my teacher even knew what Dropbox is.) My point is that if teachers knew more about the iPad, they could help us use it much more efficiently and effectively. This is why (from what I've heard) I think the experiences of Jennifer and Tony's students are very different from mine.
The iPad helps me so much every day. It's an amazing tool that has changed my school experience. If teachers were able to further integrate it into their classes, it would be even more powerful and so much more useful.
I had an aha moment when I realized that I can swipe my three fingers across the screen and the window will change to the other programs that I have opened
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to use my iPad more in art class. It's helpful if I want a reference image, but don't want to print it out or if I need to be able to zoom in on a really big image. I'm currently working on recreating a revolver from multiple angles and the iPad is helpful because it's portable, I can use it to google multiple images and if I don't understand what I'm seeing in front of me, I can google it really quickly to figure out what part of the revolver I'm looking at.
ReplyDeletei found an app for first class so that i can now open firstclass on my ipad. the only problem is that it does not always show attachments clearly visible. other than that, i would recommend this app to anyone. another app i found is called spanish english dictionary. it costs three dollars, but you can also use google translator. this helps me look up sentences and translate words.
ReplyDeleteDuring short term my iPad was very helpful. On Complete Class Organizer I can separate my classes by term. I have long term one, short term A, long term two, short term B. for all of my academics I can see what I learned and when.
ReplyDeleteI had all of my academic short term notes in one place that didn't waste paper, another folder, or interfere with my long term classes.
I feel that maybe we could make an iPad short term class were we could learn how to do cool stuff with the iPad. Or we could make the students teach the teachers and explain how we think they could make a more technologically advanced classroom.
I really like g-whizz because it let's you use googlle docs. I find it very helpful when your teacher wants to write comments you just share it with them and you can pull the doc up from anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be honest. For every productive, school-related use I've found for the iPad, I've found ten more fun, distracting uses. My iPad most certainly can be, and often is, a distraction. If I'm particularly bored in class, I might find myself Googling things or checking my email before I even realize what I'm doing. I'll take my iPad out in front of a group of people, and people suddenly seem very interested in what I'm doing on it, even though I know they just want to play with the thing. Please, don't get me started on fidgeting with iOS 5's new multitasking gestures. And yes, in case you're wondering, there are a couple games on my iPad. So shoot me.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, I don't think I'm alone. While the iPad has plenty of productive uses, it's really fun to play with. While in the blogs we all rave about the magical, revolutionary things the iPad can do for our schoolwork, I have an inkling that most of us are ashamed to admit the magical, revolutionary procrastination we've also done. I'd bet that at least a few of us bloggers feel a need to impress readers with iPad success stories because they're afraid they're not doing enough with the thing.
But guess what? I get more done with my iPad than without it. I get more done with my iPad than with a laptop. In fact, I don't plan on ever studying without an iPad again. How can such a distraction make me more productive? Because as well as being incredibly distracting, the iPad is also incredibly engaging. Scratch that. The iPad is so distracting because it is so engaging. I get embarrassingly distracted, but I also get intensely focused. I tend to have the attention span of a doorknob when it comes to schoolwork, but even when I'm off my meds, I can sit down and learn something on my iPad without much trouble at all. I downloaded a sample of the iBooks version of my sophomore chemistry textbook and read the whole chapter front to back without even realizing it. I barely read a page of that book last year. (Sorry, Magnus. Really!) Ironically enough, while I was reading my old chem textbook on the iPad, I should have been reading the paper AP Bio textbook sitting next to my iPad on the table.
Despite the iPad's engagingness, I've had that feeling before, that aforementioned fear, that I'm "not doing enough with the the thing." I then start to feel guilty that I'm occupying the school's iPad when someone else could be making much more use of it. The cheery blog posts with their success stories perpetuate this. Everyone seems to have found five good note taking apps, all of which they use daily. I don't take notes on my iPad. I spend the majority of my time on my iPad using Safari and checking email. Am I doing something wrong? Am I treating my iPad similarly to the way that many teachers treat their ActiveBoards – as if they're nothing more than fancy-looking projector screens with no special functionality at all? (I know it hurts to read that, but it's true. Some teachers just don't use those things.) Am I just not trying hard enough to find things to do with it?
Then I take a step back. I think about how I personally use the iPad, and how the iPad has saved me so much time. I remember that I never really took notes in class before I had the iPad anyway. I remember how much longer it takes, even with Mac OS's snappy Sleep mode, to start up anything on a laptop that's been sitting in my book bag. I remember how, before having my iPad, I spent half my break in the library writing an email, whereas now I pull a 10" screen out of my book bag and have my email done in two minutes, without having to walk anywhere or plug in a charger or deal with a fussy trackpad.
(Continued in next comment. Looks like I wrote too much for Blogspot's taste. Whoops.)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete(Continued from above.)
ReplyDeleteWhen they're viewed individually, talking about these little boosts in efficiency make me look lazy, impatient, and ungrateful for the existence, usefulness, and relative abundance of the full-sized PCs in my life. But collectively, these little boosts in efficiency that the iPad offers make a surprisingly great difference. It feels like I'm getting so much more done. Maybe it just feels like it – maybe the added convenience doesn't add up to all that much, and, ultimately, I just have a favorable view of the iPad because of the cool factor. After all, the iPad has so many fun distractions. But that's the magic of the iPad: because I feel like I can get more done, I end up getting more done anyway.
So, if you want to know whether the iPad is a distraction, the answer is yes. If you want to know whether the iPad is a cool, expensive toy, the answer is yes. But paradoxically, that's what makes it so good for students. Sometimes it feels like you aren't getting any work done on the iPad because the iPad leaves you with the illusion that you're doing less work.
I feel as if the iPad is a great learning tool overall. However, one massive shortcoming is the iPads inability to run google docs. Many of my teachers use google docs and want me to turn in assignments on google docs. It is literally impossible to use google docs at all on the iPad, which is rather frustrating since the school encourages teachers to use it. I wish teachers were asked to use a different online service, or we were given a product that works with the online service (google docs) that our teachers are using. The conflicting technology that has been provided for the classroom is a rather frustrating thing. This limits the products usefulness significantly, and makes it more or a note taking tool and a toy than a computer replacement.
ReplyDeleteAn aha moment that I have had is when I realized that ycan swipe you hand across the screen to go through all of your open programs. I used to close out my current window and go somewhere else.
ReplyDelete