Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Smiles, tears and iPads on first day of school
By Nicole Martinelli (5:26 pm, Sep 08)
A few short months ago, we wondered whether the wee ones should be learning their ABCs with iPads.The answer appears to be yes: Fall 2011 brings a bumper crop of U.S. preschools launching iPad programs. From Maine to Tennessee, kids are saying teary goodbyes to their parents and being greeted in schoolrooms with sympathetic teachers (we hope) and Apple’s magical device. At Washburn Elementary in Maine, a pilot project is giving half the 5-year-olds iPads. The other half of the students will get them in November to see who learns faster. (It’s easy to imagine a few scuffles on the communal playgrounds between the iHaves and iHave-nots.) School officials hope results of the test will act as a magnet for grant money to pay for future iPads. The $240,000 for iPads this year came from last year’s school budget.Probably the best argument for the scheme: the above video where a precious tot shows teachers how to use the iPad. The six-year-old plays a game with five teachers watching over his shoulder and explains: “It’s an iPad, it makes you learn. Kindergarten students that did not get an iPad, that’s quite a shame. But they’re going to get one soon.” (The kid’s so cute that a Dorothy Parker compendium died of spontaneous combustion, somewhere. Viewer caution advised.)At Haynesfield Elementary in Tennessee, it’s being used for the first time specifically for reading skills. “It’s amazing, they honestly know exactly what to do when you put these iPads in front of them. It’s an instinct to them and it probably is from being around them at such an early age that these children can pick them up and go ahead and find their way through them to find the apps they want to go to,” teacher Kate White said.At Westbrook Elementary School in Nebraska, three kindergarten classrooms started out with the iPad in the 2010/2011 school year. Following the successful experiment, Westside Community Schools will use the devices in all 10 district kindergartens this year. Each class room will be equipped with six iPads; one for the teacher and five for the students to share.“When the kids go into their center to play, they can get on an iPad and play a game that reinforces what they just learned in large group (instruction),” said Glen Jagels, the teacher who pioneered the iPad project. “Would you rather do it with a magnet letter on a cookie sheet, or would you rather do it on an iPad where you can hear it and manipulate it?”A quick search of Google news turned up a bunch of other U.S. schools launching iPad pilot projects for young children, including South Carolina, Michigan, North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, Massachusetts and, naturally, Apple’s home state of California.
Thousands of Apps, endless potential
With so many educational apps on the App Store, there’s no limit to the learning possibilities at your fingertips. Take a look at some of Apple's favorite apps for learning:
http://www.apple.com/education/apps/
http://www.apple.com/education/apps/
Five ways readers are using iPads in the classroom
eSN readers discuss their experiences using the iPad with their students:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/05/27/five-ways-readers-are-using-ipads-in-the-classroom/
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/05/27/five-ways-readers-are-using-ipads-in-the-classroom/
Touch-screen Education
Local kindergartners to be part of growing technology trend:
http://www.leaderherald.com/page/content.detail/id/540311/Touch-screen-Education.html?nav=5011
http://www.leaderherald.com/page/content.detail/id/540311/Touch-screen-Education.html?nav=5011
Tower School's 1:1 Program Brings the iPad 2 to the Elementary Classroom
By Tad Wayne Taborn
08/03/11
Last spring, Tower School, an independent school in Marblehead, MA, launched a pilot program utilizing tablet computers. The success of the pilot has led the school to start a 1:1 iPad program for students in grades 3 through 8 this coming fall.Tower's Head of School Peter S. Philip said the time is now to leap in and put his grade 3-8 students at the forefront of the information and technology revolution. Philip pointed to the tablet computer as the tool to get them there."We think this is the time and we think this is the beginning of the platform that really is going to bring the information revolution into the hands of elementary school students," Philip said.The 1:1 program provides students and teachers with an iPad 2. Approximately 300 students will use the tablets in the classroom and at home.The one major change in infrastructure is a currently in-progress upgrade of the school's wireless network to accommodate a substantial increase in usage. The school's network will have to transition from handling about 100 wireless devices to approximately 400.iPad Training and Teacher AcceptanceAccording to Philip, teachers have responded incredibly well to the adoption of the technology.Tower's grade 3-8 teachers were given an iPad to work with over the summer. Philip explained that the administration has found that the students are very adept with the technology and while training for them remains important, minimal student training is required.Tower allocated professional development time to iPad training and has set aside future training time as well. During the summer, many of the teachers have gathered voluntarily to share ideas and tips."It is important to note that there are really two levels of training," Philip said. "The easy part is to learn how to use the tablet computer. The more complicated and more rewarding part is to contemplate how this new tool can enhance student learning."Funding for the TabletsTower is providing iPads for most of the kids. Parents are encouraged to purchase their own as the tablets must be returned at the end of each school year. Starting this fall, the students will be required to bring their tablets each day and take them home in the evenings for both homework and charging. The kids are allowed to take the tablets home for vacation as well."We chose the iPad after careful consideration because we thought it represented the most widely accepted device with the widest range of applications ready for it," Philip said. "Apple has a head start on this technology and will for another few years."Philip explained that Tower chose to engage in the leasing program because the terms both constrain the cost and allow for the purchase of new equipment as upgrades become available at the end of the three-year period."We have a three year lease with a built in residual value repurchase at the end of the term. The total lease payments are equal to about 97 percent of purchase value," Tower School's business manager Dean Sidell said. "The company provides an account representative that handles all of the ordering and delivery tracking. We are able to spread the cost of the tablets equally over three fiscal years, both in the budget and in managing our cash flow."Tower is reallocating other technology spending from its technology budget to pay for this program. The school is funded primarily through tuition but also relies on an endowment and an annual fund drive.Philip says that technology as applied to schools is changing and Tower School had the choice of whether to wait for the next generation of technology or to leap in and get moving. The pilot program presented results showing that the with tablet technology, the opportunity had been presented to really take advantage of the information revolution for elementary education, Philip explained.
Mass. District Overhauls WiFi To Support iPad Initiative
By David Nagel
06/08/11
06/08/11
As part of a 1:1 iPad initiative, Millis Public Schools in Massachusetts is rolling out a new WiFi network that will support dozens of devices in classrooms and up to 150 in hallways simultaneously.The program is currently in the pilot stage but will ramp up to support students and teachers across the entire district. The network, provided by Xirrus, will support hundreds of devices without requiring access points to be installed in each classroom--a money-saving consideration for the district.But as Grace Magley, director of educational technology for Millis PS, explained, saving on costs wasn't the only consideration. The new network had to be one that would meet the district's heavy technical requirements for dense concentrations of tablet devices."We have always used technology in our district to help leverage teaching and learning programs," Magley said in a statement released this week. "We were looking to embrace a personalized learning initiative and needed to upgrade to a wireless solution that could support our impending wireless saturation requirements of 30 devices in every classroom, in addition to the devices brought from home. Our hallways have up to 150 devices online at any given time, so it was crucial for us to find a wireless network that could handle a 1:1 initiative while also saving us money over time. Of the five wireless vendors we researched, Xirrus was the only one that could offer a solid and reliable solution to support the density demands we required without having to place an AP in every classroom."The district's iPad initiative will eventually impact about 1,700 faculty members and students. The Millis PS serves more than 1,500 students in one high school, one middle school, an elementary school, and a preschool. It's proposed fiscal 2012 budget is a little more than $12 million.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
A Charlie Brown Christmas
"Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?!" Help Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the entire Peanuts gang as they struggle to find the true meaning of Christmas. Peter Robbins, the original voice of Charlie Brown, narrates the rebirth of the 1965 animated classic as an interactive storybook complete with original dialogue and digitally remastered illustrations, animation, and music optimized for your Apple device.
Play Schroeder's piano, finger paint with the gang, go carolling with the Peanuts choir, and participate in the Spectacular Super-Colossal Neighborhood Christmas Lights and Display Contest to unlock decorations for your very own Charlie Brown Christmas Tree! With something to discover on every page, this is one interactive Peanuts adventure you won't want to miss this holiday season!!
iTunes Link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/a-charlie-brown-christmas/id476508724?mt=8
Website:
http://loudcrow.com/a-charlie-brown-christmas-2
Daily iPad App: Doodlecast
From TUAW:
Doodlecast is one of several Doodling applications for the iPad that targets kids from 3- to 5-years-old. What separates Doodlecast from its competition is the ability to narrate the Doodle while your child is drawing. The app has a record option that'll record the drawing as the child creates it and will capture the child talking using the iPad's microphone. It's an appealing combination that makes creating doodles fun for the child and enjoyable for parents who can watch the doodle after it's done.Doodlecast has many features that help with doodle creation. It launches with several preset doodles like sky and park that contain pre-made drawings. The child can add to this template, and record what they draw. There are also some idea-based doodles like "big," which ask the child to draw something he or she thinks is big. If your child wants to start with a blank slate, there's that option, too.The drawing canvas uses the entire screen of the iPad and has a straightforward interface. At the top, there is a new button, a recording button that can turn the recording feature on and off, and a done button that'll let you export the video. At the bottom is a color selector that changes the color you are using, and a clear button to erase the entire drawing. There's no tool to change the width of the finger stroke, but you don't need that option in an app meant for young children.When your child is done doodling, you can play back the video of the drawing's creation before you export it. You can save it to the iPad, or export it to YouTube to share with friends or relatives. Saving the video places it in your photos library where you can email it, watch it on your iPad or use AirPlay to watch it on your TV. If you decide to upload it to YouTube, the app lets you add a title, description, tag, and category. You can also set the doodle video to public or private. Uploading it to YouTube is as easy as hitting the publish button and it takes about a minute to prepare and upload the video over Wi-Fi.Doodlecast is an excellent app for kids. Just make sure you have a lot of space on your iPad. I handed my iPad over to my kids to check it out; my iPad disappeared for an hour and returned to me chock full of videos. The app appealed to my younger children who just doodled and my 9-year-old, who enjoyed using it to tell a story. The app costs a reasonable US$1.99 and will give your children hours of fun.
by Kelly Hodgkins
Dec 5th 2011 at 9:00AM
How the iPad is succeeding in Heathcare
From TUAW:
by Mike SchrammWired has posted a profile of one Afshad Mistri, an Apple employee whose goal is quite focused. As the medical market manager, he's tasked with connecting medical professionals and Apple's technology. Mistri couldn't chat with Wired for the article itself (Apple's less-than-press-friendly reputation is upheld), but according to medical personnel he's working with, Apple is pushing hard on the healthcare industry by setting up iPads and other brand new tech in medical workplaces.That's interesting, as Apple traditionally hasn't aggressively pursued the enterprise, leaving most offices to companies like Microsoft and RIM. But the medical market is different. In addition to Mistri's behind-the-scenes work and stories about organizations using the iPad, Apple has featured medical apps during several public presentationsIt's not a big surprise, since the medical industry is tech-friendly (which is right where Apple wants to be) and has deep pockets to fund upgrades. But it is interesting that Apple has chosen to actively pursue medicine. We can probably expect to see more universities and hospitals embracing the iPad and Apple's devices moving forward.
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