Creating content

At present I am exploring the pros and cons of our MLE (Fronter) in creating courses (learning paths) and the iTunesU Course Creator.


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Making marking quicker....

I have been playing around with the voice recording function in iAnnotate PDF and it should be able to speed up marking, particularly for coursework. Students need to email work as word or PDF files, teachers annotate and send back unflattened for students to open in an app such as Documents for Readdle (free) that can support sound files in PDFs. No more trying to decipher handwriting!


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Apple TV and video

Had a frustrating experience with appserver when trying to stream a movie file- on the other hand Apple TV worked flawlessly at the staff meeting with a number of us able to mirror in turn.
I am currently on a learning curve with video and Fronter. I can upload photo roll items to Fronter but can't view them on the iPad if I then try to open the subsequent Fronter file. I have been unable to view any QT files in Fronter on my iPad though I can open wmv movies as I get an 'open in' option when I try. There are a number of free apps that can open these files.
I also wanted to import a video from my dropbox into Keynote and couldn't figure out a way that didn't use hyperlinks. PhotoSync provided a neat solution to this.
And finally on matters video, I bought a 'premium' app on the strength of a Creative Cow newsletter TouchEdit that promises pro video editing on my iPad.
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New Apps

A couple more new apps: MailShot that is great in that not only does it mean that I can send group emails from my iPad but also because it just works; ClassAct looks as though it has potential, though as a drama teacher it is possibly not as useful as ClassOrganiser.

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New Focus

I think that, rather than reflect on deployment in our school, I should write about my own personal journey instead. Much of what happens on an institutional level is frustrating and that is not the stuff of a public forum and that has limited this record of the journey of the last 9 months. So, here goes...
I was reading an article in the FT about finding the quality writing on the web and ended up downloading The Browser app which does just that. A top end A level student would find much of interest. I have also discovered that the latest update of Explain Everything has video capability, which is great. As I want to use it try and put as much Inset as possible online to encourage the idea of the flipped meeting!



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Updating

I have spent some time this week updating the wiki, partly inspired by other wikis, but also because I felt I needed to share the 'How I Use My iPad ' responses.
One of the best uses I came across this week was in the delivery of a PSHE lesson on healthy eating which involved students having to download a free app. Brilliant!


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A mixed week

I seem to veer from the optimistic to the pessimistic about our adoption in about equal measure. More people are discovering new ways to help inform their teaching/learning but there are just as many who still consider it an expensive distraction.
The most frustrating thing though has been the continued lack of bandwidth making it difficult to get online in some parts of the 6th form area.
The most positive is the 'discovery' of iTuneU and podcasts by the Humanities faculty....


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FaceTime

Great use in a lesson the other day. One student asked if she could FaceTime her friend who was ill at home so that she could take part in the lesson from her sick bed. She was able to do so, so missed nothing, even asking and answering questions!


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The Next Big Push

iPads are now set up and are being used by staff instead of hard copy in many instances. However, there needs to be a leap forward when it comes to facilitating student use on a day to day basis. Insisting on hard copy of essays, evidence of daily planning etc shows just how hard it is to shift from the safe and familiar. In the first instance I am going to have to persuade at least one or two to shift away from paper as much as possible in their dealings with students. Easier said than done?


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Catchup

I have been neglecting the blog which will be my major source of recollecting my feelings during this initiative, so....
the first half of term.
The Good: the year 12s have signed up with the programme en masse; SLT have been very supportive.
The Bad: Virgin have still not upgraded our broadband. We survive, but just.
The Ugly: the K-Drive still rules (this is the local storage drive, inaccessible unless you log in via a school based PC).

More detail to follow.

WebDAV part2

One of the most difficult things to do is to persuade people that storing data on a USB stick is unnecessary, as is having a USB port on the iPad. Whilst the school is still reluctant to embrace Dropbox, easily sharing files to and from the school server is problematic, however.  Any of the reader apps that support WebDAV can overcome this. In GoodReader, for example, it is simple to see other devices on the same network as servers and add them. Providing the necessary permissions can be set up, it should make for easy integration whilst on the school network. This is something, along with AirServer, on the first week back. I think the right combination of Dropbox, Fronter and WebDAV should emerge over the course of the term.

End of Term

We finished the term with a staff survey to go with the student one. I think we have a clear idea for our strategy for September. The first week will be interesting as it always generates a huge amount of paper that can easily be accessed on the iPad.
In the meantime I shall update the wiki and think about some workflows that could work for us.


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Write Up of Conference

Academia iPad conference: notes from the keynote speeches

Ben Stanley, Apple Distinguished Educator.
His task essentially was to demonstrate the potential of the iPad and he recommended several useful and fun apps such as Flipboard, Popplet, Soundnotes, Green Screen and Morfo.
He also flagged up the problem we have of not yet having the education volume licensing that they have in the States. He did think that we would get this soon. His other interesting idea was asking students the simple question: what does mobile learning mean to you?

Stephen Byrne of Gumley House School basically talked about his experiences since setting up the iPhone initiative over two years ago. He also posed some interesting food for thought:
Who owns the learning? Who works harder? Teacher or students?
Mobile technology is set up as open access ie Facebook/ Twitter not banned.
Autology is a good investment and students should use it as a first port of call
Students who struggle with independent learning will be flagged up by iPad usage.
In his school the model has been to give iPads to students, not teachers.


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Academia Conferene

Having left the kids with their Grandmother I have taken the morning off paternity leave to go to the half day iPad conference run by the company. We had presentations from an Apple Distinguished Educator and from Stephen Byrne from Gumley House.
The first presentation was essentially about how rouse the iPad, so it was god to know I am up to speed! Some useful apps that I didn't know about though...including Popplet for mind mapping as well as GreenScreen and Morfo for playing around with video.
The second was an update to the Gumley House experiment with mobile technology. One of the most interesting points he raised was that the iPad is an effective tool for flagging up students who struggle with independent learning.


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Stop Animation

I've downloaded a couple of apps. - the iMotion HD is free - and I'm really impressed. It seems to be one of those things that was made for the device. The other app that I'm playing around with at the moment is Explain Everything. Not quite sure how I'm going to use it yet but it does look a whole lot more interesting way of delivering content than the ubiquitous Ppt.


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Workarounds

I was updating the wiki and wanted to embed a YouTube video. I found that I couldn't do it using my iPad.... But, as ever, there is a workaround, using a code generator on the Tools 4 Noobs site.
I was in fact adding some info about a couple of mind mapping apps, both of which are excellent. I've added this to a new page, 'Organisation'.


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Update

We've got 2 student blogs up and running so I'm really hoping that we can start to get the sort of reflection that will drive the whole initiative forward. I am pleased with the ways I have seen the iPads being used to support learning by the Year 12s.


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Year 12 Bloggers

Hopefully we will start to get some of the Year 12s blogging their experiences. Most will wait until their exams are over but a couple have promised to get going in the next few days.
People seem to have been getting used to their devices so I am adopting a hands off strategy at present. Things are starting to happen in lessons which is good but we need to have a clear idea of where we stand after the exams. As I'm off for the whole of June, it does raise a problem.
Good news and bad news re the Airserver app. It needs at least Vista to run so wont work, but the school is planning to upgrade to Windows7 in September-so we can try then.
No news with lgfl and the bandwidth upgrade. Which is bad news.


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Air Server

The answer to the question of wirelessly mirroring the iPad to the classroom pc (and hence the projector might lie in Airserverapp (http://www.airserverapp.com). It comes in at a fraction of the price of an Apple TV. I shall investigate further next week.
The other issue that I have been investigating is backup, particularly for the year 12. The easiest way is to use iCloud, but some are already over their 5gb limit. I shall post about this on the wiki.


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iPads in action

Now that the sixth form are starting to get their devices, it is interesting to see how their priorities work. Evernote seems to be a hit so I must add the "how to' set up the bookmarklet on the wiki. We also managed to find a way to install Hotmail, circumventing the server restrictions - another comment on the wiki. This weekend I shall make it more student friendly, in preparation for next week's onslaught.


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