Tag Archives: iPad

School Media Specialist

TIES Conference Highlights: A CMLE Scholarship

The following was submitted by a CMLE scholarship recipient.

 Submitted by: Nancy Lorentz, Becker High School Media Specialist

 TIES was once again an outstanding conference.  The biggest problem at TIES is choosing from the many truly awesome sessions–but we did our best.   I tried to attend as many sessions as possible on managing iOS devices, since Becker High School (BHS) is a 1:1 iPad school.

iPad 1:1 session

The school that presented during this session, located in South St. Paul, has 32 charging carts and are using Mobile Device Management (MDM) systems (Casper and Filewave).  This school’s situation is not really similar to ours at Becker High School.  We did our entire rollout with two staff members and seven students, and the management since the rollout has fallen to me and four student TA’s.  Things that I did learn are that we need some syncing carts–hopefully one per grade level and some kind of MDM so that all of my time is not spent managing the iPads.  I also found out that the Volume Pricing Program in iTunes now takes credit cards, making it easier to purchase large numbers of apps.  The fact that this school has had 150 damaged iPads out of 800 made me feel better about our 35 or so broken iPads out of 850–even though they purchased much more expensive cases than we did!  We’re hoping the Lion Servers that we purchased will do much of the management that we need.

Apple iOS 5 session

 This session was focused on the management of the iPads–which were not designed for mass deployment/management.  Apple is working to improve management of multiple devices for schools, and between the iPhone Configuration Utility and the Lion Server, we hope that we will be able to push out apps, update apps, and allow us to change settings.  I feel that we are ahead of the game, but still have a lot to learn about managing the 900 iPads in my building.

Braincasting – Using Brain Research in Presentations

 The presenter gave us several ideas about how to help teachers improve their presentations by using widgets that are free and available on the internet.  He talked about how teachers should be teaching differently with a data projector.  The use of images is key because “words can only recall images we’ve seen.”  Brain research also indicates that the use of color and student participation in the presentation is important to keep their attention.  The presenter should be anchored to the left of the screen, use a clicker so you can move around the room and NEVER read to them from the screen.  Be careful of the fonts you use, how many words you put on a slide (6 x 6 Rule) and include pictures or video of your students or of people they know.  I look forward to incorporating these ideas for an upcoming staff development session.

Using iOS for Higher Order Thinking

 Presented by a 4th grade teacher, this session had some really useful tips and examples of students using mobile devices in the classroom.  Using a combination of paid and free apps, his students were able to write their own ePub books, to create ePubs with video teaching their future selves what they needed to remember for the science MCAs in 5th grade (a brilliant idea which I immediately shared with my curriculum director).  He also showed some very quick ways that comprehension can be quickly determined by students answering a question on the iPad and showing the teacher their answer on the iPad. I also shared this idea with my staff.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

TIES Conference Recap: A CMLE Scholarship

The following was submitted by a CMLE Scholarship recipient. 

Submitted by: Holly Pringle, Becker High School

 For a first-timer at the TIES conference, overwhelming isn’t a strong enough word.  I spent two and a half days taking in knowledge, meeting new people, commiserating about iOS devices, talking with vendors, and realizing how much I’ve learned about technology in my first three months as a media specialist…..and how very, very, very much I don’t know yet.

 The theme of the conference was “It’s Personal!  Transforming Pedagogy with Technology”, and transformative it was!  Sessions were offered for a plethora of needs & interests, and my only disappointment was that there were so many concurrent sessions, I had to choose not to see some sessions that looked like they’d be great. I hope the whole technology integration team from my school can join me next year and we can divide & conquer to get even more out of the many sessions offered, because each session offers something, even if it’s a little something, that can come back to our district and make an impact.

Working in an “Apple” district made me interested to talk with the folks from Apple regarding mega-management of iPads/iPods and iOS devices in general, which is something that we’re constantly trying to learn more about.  Evidently, many folks around here are trying to get some of the same questions answered, and it showed me that in Becker we’re going about things in the right way.  I also had the chance to see how other districts and teachers are using iPads and iPods in the classrooms for more than just substitution, but for true and deep learning with their kids.  The most eye-opening presentation of the conference for me involved a fourth grade teacher who showed off the kinds of work his kids had accomplished using various technologies.  I was blown away at what we can help kids create with an iPad.

In all, the conference was worthwhile for me on many levels, and I’m so thankful CMLE made it possible for me to attend.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Using Tablets for News

Pew Research Center reports that tablets are one of the fastest growing technologies ever. Though the iPad has only been available for a year and a half, already 11 percent of American adults report that they own an iPad. The publishing industry, sensing a huge opportunity in this new market, has begun pumping out apps to support the reading preferences and interests of this quickly growing market. Of the 11 percent of adults that own an iPad, roughly 53 percent say that they use the device every day to get their news. A full 79 percent of tablet users claim that they are now using the tablet for their news rather than using a desktop or laptop. Another interesting statistic is that 41 percent of iPad users say they enjoy reading books about the same in both print and on the tablet. Interested in finding out more? Check out Pew Research Center’s Infographic!

School Media Specialist

TIES Highlights: A CMLE Scholarship

The following was submitted by a CMLE scholarship recipient.

Submitted by: Nancy Lorentz, Becker High School Media Specialist

Monday’s speaker, Sir Ken Robinson, gave an inspirational as well as humorous keynote. He discussed the state of education in the United States, and our emphasis on standardized testing and continuing to train our young people for an industrialized economy that simply no longer exists. We need to expose students to all sorts of experiences–arts, music, movement, technology as well as academics so that they can discover where their passions and talents lay.

The most valuable sessions I attended dealt with the use and management of mobile devices in education–specifically the iPad, and putting content on-line (especially using Moodle).

Becker High School will be rolling out a one-to-one program next fall, and every student will be issued an iPad for use during the school year. One of the challenges we will face is management of over 800 devices–without any extra personnel. A seemingly great solution was presented by JAMF Software out of Minneapolis in their session titled, “Apple Mobile Device Management Using the Casper Suite.” Some of the management capabilities of the Casper Suite iOS device management software include: Remote Wipe, Remote Lock and Remove Passcode. Mail can be set up on devices remotely; configuration profiles can be pushed to devices; the App Store can be removed from student devices; LDAP groups can be used to push out content and it automates the Apple Volume Purchasing Program. Sadly, there is a cost of approximately $8 per device for this service, so there will need to be a discussion about how to pay for it.

Because of our one-to-one initiative, the other topic I was interested in at TIES is creating content for the iPad. There were several sessions about future of textbooks in our schools. With more and more content being available digitally, teachers are able to find free materials and customize them for their own courses. A California initiative (CK12.org) provides “flexbook” content free for anyone to download, although most of the content is presently math and science/engineering related. The availability of this type of digital content, the ePub capabilities in iWork, the ease of creating presentations and video on the iPad will someday (hopefully soon) make the purchasing of expensive textbooks unnecessary.

Presently, about 25% of BHS teachers use Moodle and our wiki to put their content on-line. When all of our students have access to iPads 24/7, that means they will also need access to our content 24/7. Moodle is a free and easy way for teachers to post assignments, upload worksheets, link to websites, and create lessons and quizzes that students can access any time. The blogging and forum features of Moodle and wikis also make it easy for students to communicate with their teachers and each other on a regular basis. The math department in Byron, MN has done away with textbooks completely and now have all of their content–including videos of their lessons–on Moodle. While they pay licensing fees for some resources, the rest is a blend of open education resources and teacher-created content. Wolf Creek Online High School has used Moodle as its content management system for the past three years, using forums and on-line texts and journals with students to create and foster relationships between the students and their Learning Managers, and amongst themselves. The teachers have put together learning modules to teach academics, technology, career planning and personal and social skills to their students.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

iPad Trends of Interest

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Apple’s new iPad is all the rage. It’s hard to get through a day without hearing about the iPad on the news, radio, or through RSS Feeds. A lot of people have A LOT to say about the iPad, but for this post, we’re bringing it on home to some iPad trends of interest to CMLE members.

News emerged on March 30th that Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania is “giving” all of its full-time students iPads beginning in fall 2010. Seton Hill is providing the iPad to its students as part of its new Technology Advantage Program. The goal of the Technology Advantage Program is to “…provide students with the best in technology and collaborative learning tools, ensuring that Seton Hill students will be uniquely suited to whatever careers they choose.” It sounds like they’re especially interested in the iPad’s ability to download and display textbooks. For more information direct from the source, try this link … http://www.setonhill.edu/ipad/. For additional coverage, visit these news stories: http://tinyurl.com/yb87ttz, http://tinyurl.com/y9uqfxm.

The iPad craze hits closer to home at GFW Schools in southern Minnesota. News broke on April 12th that the high school is in the process of providing an iPad to each of its students.  The Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop School Board’s new $265,000 tech program will also provide Wi-Fi and technical training next year. At this time a group of students and teachers are test driving the iPads and will soon develop a plan for implementing and using the iPads to their full potential. Here’s an interesting recap provided by WCCO http://wcco.com/education/ipads.for.students.2.1628182.html.

Doug Johnson, of the Blue Skunk Blog, also provides some interesting iPad food for thought in two posts dated April 11th and April 15th. Be sure to read the comments too!