iPad Presentations - The perfect answer(s)

Creating presentations with the iPad in ways that are educationally sound and that can easily be shared with a broader audience, requires a little bit of a thoughtful approach. While there are always more ways to do things, this post presents the most common and comprehensive options including tips on sharing, exporting and more. In this post I explore 3 formats and highlight several apps for each:

• Whiteboard Apps
• Slideshows
• Video Productions
• Special Mentions

PARCC - Common Core Test Will Require Students on Computers

Beginning in 2014-2015, there will be 23 states adopting the new, Common Core driven, PARCC standardized assessment. While the Common Core has been adopted in 45 states and the replacement of current high stakes tests with this new multi-state tool are common knowledge, there are some things that are not common knowledge.

As of December 2012, the expectations of PARCC will be that all students are taking the exam on a computer device with few exceptions. This is a quote directly from their technology FAQ:

iPads: Stop motion, Vernier Probes, and Google Maps

Any integration of new technology is bound to have its ups and downs, bumps, bruises and maybe even broken bones. Fortunately, in this story, these painstaking steps are experienced by a staff dedicated to progress and the belief that a little pain now, will result in long term gains for the students and an ever improving process for the staff. This is the summary of the experiences shared by a small pre-k to 8 school in central Massachusetts, during a typical faculty meeting in which they discussed not-so-typical practices.

As a participant in this meeting, I was able to share about my role in the classes, and I was able to hear the feedback, questions, and concerns of the faculty as they plan to continue their pilot. What I came away with were two key points:

• Integrating iPads with AppleTV units, various apps, scientific probes, and projectors was a frequently frustrating and time consuming task for the teachers
• The level of student engagement and success in reaching and perhaps exceeding classroom expectations was evident in every situation where the iPads were implemented

3 Case Studies

Stop Motion

An art teacher shared about her experience of putting together stop-motion videos. What she took away from the process was not only fun, artistic videos made by students, but also an opportunity to help students learn about and better understand sequencing. This is a critical skill that is frequently employed in math, writing, and science. Through the simple app, iMotionHD, she helped students experience sequencing in a non-threatening, highly engaging environment.

Vernier Probes

Source: vernier.com

An elementary teacher shared about how she took several weeks to figure out how to integrate Vernier Probes with the iPad. She was dedicated to this task, and by the end of the unit, found it all worth her time. Each probe, when connected to the portable Vernier device would send its data to any iPad accessing the data on the network. The results were that students could be on the go, around the school, outside, or in the classroom, and all reading the same data on multiple devices. Students could create multiple graphs, compare and contrast data, and draw scientifically based conclusions on what they were observing. 

Scientific Cataloguing

Another science teacher at the 7 and 8th grade level, utilized the iPads, Edmodo.com, and Google Maps to create a unit around having students identify different trees on the school campus. Using an app called LeafSnap, students took pictures of leaves, uploaded them to the app and then used a little deductive reasoning to determine which trees they were identifying. Students kept a scientific journal through Edmodo and posted photos of their findings here as well. Finally, the teacher was able to take all of the student data, including lattitude and longitude of the tree locations and enter it all into a personalized Google Maps. The end result was a Google Map, that not only located individual trees around campus, but also provided a description of and photo of the trees. 

Conclusion

These three teachers all experienced tech troubles. From files that wouldn't upload, to lost photos, to hours on tech support calls with various companies. The key was in their dedication to making a richer, more engaging experience for their students. Each teacher concluded their sharing by indicating just how engaged their students were in the entire process. They also spoke about being able to create a learning environment in which students could complete tasks that would not have been possible in a more traditional setting. The use of the iPad was in most cases something the students handled with ease. In many situations, the students gained more knowledge and were more comfortable with the technology than the teachers, and these teachers were happy to roll with this role reversal.
*This post will be updated soon with more links and media!

iPads - The election issue

Recently, I worked with a teacher to develop ideas on how to best utilize the iPad to teach 10-12 year olds about the presidential election process (and much of what we did could be done with almost any age group). She had never used iPads in her classroom before, but was determined to take advantage of the school's investment in this technology. The challenge would be to take as few as six iPads and give the entire class an opportunity to use the tool in a meaningful and enriching manner.

Her strategy ended up having three phases to it.

1. First, bring some learning apps and websites to the students' fingertips that would allow them to learn about the states and the presidential election process. 
2. Second, have the students put together a booklet that would highlight info on key issues with perspectives from both major candidates. 
3. Third, create a political ad using a combination of photos, videos and voice overs, allowing students to synthesize all of the knowledge they had gained throughout the unit.

Phase 1

She and I met several times over the course of this unit. We researched and found a variety of apps and websites that would help students learn about the states and how presidential elections work. Our favorite state app turned out to be by Discovery, US Geography. With video clips, trivia questions, and a variety of factoids, students were able to research different regions of the country with various interests in mind. We combined this with various free apps and links to websites at appropriate reading levels, where students could learn about various issues, the Electoral College, and where each candidate stood on the issues. Students were able to use the iPads independently at their own pace, and with a projector, the teacher was able to showcase and share particular apps and websites that she wanted students to see.

Phase 2

As the class moved into phase two, we decided to use Pages as a way for students to design their booklet. Each group took on one issue and designed one page. The pages were designed with images, a breakdown of the issue and a comparison of where each candidate stood on the issues. The final result was a six page booklet that could be emailed home to families as a PDF and printed to share with classroom visitors. Throughout the process, students were engaged in research, analyzing and summarizing their findings, and creating a final quality product to share what they had learned.

Phase 3

This week, students are working on the third phase. In small groups, the students are writing their own political advertisements supporting the candidate of their choice. This assignment is designed to engage students in synthesizing their acquired knowledge into a product reflective of turning understanding into a persuasive argument. Each advertisement will combine images from the Internet, photos students take with the iPad, videos students film with the iPad, and voice overs students record with the iPad. After a brief look at different options, it was clear that iMovie for iPad was the tool for this assignment. While the final products are not yet complete, the students are once again combining 21st century skills. From their use of technology, to creative problem solving, and collaboration, this project is proving to be fun, educational, and skill building.

Summary

Why was this unit successful? The goal was not to teach students how to use a new tool, it was to teach students about the presidential election process. Bringing the iPads into the classroom allowed the students to utilize various apps and websites to achieve this goal. The level of student engagement remained high throughout, with many students commenting on how much they were enjoying what they were doing. In addition to the students learning, the teacher learned how to integrate new technologies into her classroom. This verteran teacher spent several hours preparing on her own and in meetings with me. Instead of fearing the unknown, she embraced it, and accepted that the bumps and bruises along the way were worth creating a rich classroom environment for her students.