An Increase in Price, Increase in Quality?

As my budget for technology quickly dwindled after purchasing cases and covers for the iPads, I purchased cheap sets of stylus pens; some from eBay, some from a website out of China. Now the price of these pens were in the one dollar range and within a couple weeks, most were broken and worn out.

Should I Pay the Extra for Quality?

A colleague of mine, Craig Guthrie, found some nice stylus pens which felt great in your hand and wrote very smoothly on the iPad. They were the Kuel H10 stylus pens by Spigen which you could purchase online for $12.99 each. A huge price jump from the cheap dollar pens I had been experimenting with. I decided to purchase a class set, because in the long run, hopefully they would last longer than the cheap pens which had a short lifespan.

Photo from the Spigen H10 Series webpage

Out of the Box – Kids Loved Them!

During the first two weeks, kids raved about the new Kuel H10 pens. They had a nice weight to them and they allowed students to write very clearly on the iPads.

After about three weeks, a student came to me showing the tip of their pen and how it had ripped. I was disappointed, but chalked it up to a student being a little careless or simply a lemon in the set of pens. But as time went on, into the fourth week, more and more students were showing me their pens and their little defects.

Photo from the Spigen H10 website

Even Quality Can’t Endure the Long Days

By the end of the first month and about half of the pens unusable and the other half looking like they were on their last leg, I decided to ship the whole lot back for a refund.

Don’t Take It Out on Spigen

While I would still recommend that iPad users purchase the Kuel H10 for themselves, I would shy teachers and administrators away from purchasing class sets of stylus pens from any company. At the current time, I don’t think that there is a stylus pen out there that can withstand the rigors of being used by multiple students everyday for the entire day. I would love for a company to prove me wrong with my claim, so if you feel your company has a stylus pen which is up to the task, contact me by leaving a comment below and I can get you my shipping information.

The refund was no hassle and Spigen was easy to work with. I have nothing but good things to say about how they handled the situation and hope that sometime soon, they develop a tougher stylus which can stand up to day in and day out of student use.

What is the Stylus Solution for an iPad Classroom?

Fingers! As @StudyHelpSite mentioned in a Tweet just now, Steve Jobs thought stylus pens shouldn’t be used on an iPad and to this day, Apple will not sell them! The vast majority of my students write with their fingers and get by just fine. One less thing to carry to math class!

If students wish to use a stylus, I have encouraged them to purchase their own stylus and take measures to take care of it. A few students asked me to purchase the Kuel h10 for themselves and are still using them today. I believe that if a stylus pen is purchased for an individual student, they may take better measures to keep it in good shape. Soon enough, a stylus pen and iPad will be a course requirement in many classrooms. Why not start now?

If you’re currently using a stylus pen that you really enjoy using, I’d love to hear about it below. Shoot us a comment!

After presenting at the beginning of May at the OAME 2012 Conference in Kingston, Ontario, I was inspired to go out and discover something new. As soon as I got home, I popped into Best Buy and purchased an Apple TV for $99 and ran home to try it out.

Initial Reaction

Overall, a great concept by Apple, allowing users to stream content on iTunes from their Macs and PC’s to their TV.  Content from the internet can also be streamed such as YouTube, Flickr, and MLB.tv and users can also rent movies and TV shows from iTunes.  As with all Apple products, there are restrictions and limitations.  While this is disappointing, it was expected.  There are clearly some cool ideas and features which will slowly be released as the newer generation models are introduced.

Apple TV Use In Classroom – Well Worth the $100!

One of the additional features of Apple TV which goes unnoticed for many typical users would be the option to mirror the screen of your iPad.  For someone using Apple TV at home, this may not be a popular feature, but for a teacher, it is a must have for the classroom.

The mirroring feature is great for teachers who wish to present directly from their iPad, but even better for classrooms with a 1:1 iPad project like my Tap Into Teen Minds paperless classroom.

Student Engagement At Its Best

Since I’ve had iPads in the classroom, student engagement has improved dramatically and I didn’t think it could get any better.  When I brought Apple TV into my classroom, I instantly witnessed students anxiously awaiting their turn to mirror the screen of their iPads and to explain their understanding.

Constant Math Talk – A Digital Bansho Classroom

With Apple TV, students are constantly sharing their answers while classmates offer constructive criticism to help them bump their answers up to the next level.  With students continually sharing answers, we save time “taking up” questions, and have more time to allow multiple students share different approaches to solving the problem.  It is like completing a “digital bansho” activity throughout each class.

Lazy Teacher or Effective Teacher?

Since I decided to try Apple TV in my math classroom, I have found myself acting more as a mediator rather than an instructor.  Students leading the majority of the lesson and I am doing less and less.  Students who haven’t piped up to answer a question in weeks are starting to come out of their shell to join in the group discussion.

Some might say that my job is easier and I’m getting lazy because of the Apple TV.  Others might suggest that the students are gaining much more from this educational platform than they were previously.

A colleague of mine, Dave Bracken, shared some advice his father Ray gave him when he decided to follow in his footsteps and become a teacher.  He said: “If you are working harder than the students, then you’re doing something wrong.”

I think I finally figured out what Ray was talking about…

Some of us may remember him from his Apple Distinguished Educator application video from a few years back:

The Three Acts of a Mathematical Story

His session involved Word Problems and the huge hate most students have for them.  The first act, Meyer suggests, should “Introduce the central conflict of your story/task clearly, visually, viscerally, using as few words as possible.“  He suggests giving some sort of visual, maybe a photo, to get students to see what it is we are actually dealing with.  To live the problem.

The second act, should start introducing some of the information required for students to actually answer a question in the problem.  This could be showing measurements over the actual picture, speeds, time, etc.

And finally, in the third act, the conclusion of the problem.  After students put some time into the problem at hand, follow through with a visual of the actual answer.

Dan Meyer’s blog post here goes in depth and gives some great examples of how you can take some simple steps to bring some real world math into your classroom!

Have you had the pleasure of seeing Dan speak live?  Any other great ideas that you have learned from him?  Share with us, below!

While at the OAME 2012 Annual Conference, I took some time to hang out with Alex Shum and Michael Ruscitti who presented a tutorial for the iPad app, Explain Everything.

The best part of having iPads in my classroom is the fact that there is an unlimited number of uses for the classroom.  At the same time, the worst part of having iPads in my classroom is the fact that there is an unlimited number of uses for the classroom.  After attending an Apple Educators workshop in London, Ontario, I downloaded the Explain Everything app, but I have yet to put it to use simply due to a lack of time!  There are so many benefits to having the iPad in the classroom, yet the biggest problem is WHEN and WHERE to apply them.  While many teachers believe 75 minutes is too long for a single math class, I am starting to think that it is not enough time to incorporate all of the great tools which can be used.

What is Explain Everything?

Simply put, Explain Everything is an iPad app ($4.99 currently on the App Store) which allows the user to create their own videos using markers, shapes, photos, and much more.  This app can clearly be used in the classroom for teachers to create mini-lesson videos, similar to the Khan Academy, as well as allow students to create their own mini-lessons to clearly communicate their understanding.

Check Out the YouTube Tutorial from the Explain Everything website:

Are you currently using Explain Everything or another iPad / tablet based recording application which you’d like to share?  We’d love to hear from you!

Here’s a taste of what we’ll cover:

Download the OAME 2012 – Presentation Slides Here

Google Drive is Here…

The slogan for Google Drive is “Google Drive.  Keep everything.  Share anything” which shows that their aim is to take a blow at Dropbox enabling users to share files and complete folders with other colleagues, friends, & family.

How Will They Convert Dropbox Users?

While Dropbox offers their users 2 GB of storage for free, Google Drive has more than doubled them up by offering 5 GB free of charge.  In order to keep their current users, we may see Dropbox having to extend the amount of free space they provide as well as possibly reduce the price of extra storage space.

Will Google Drive be as Reliable as Dropbox?

At this point, we can’t say with any certainty.  But, if I was a betting man, I would have to assume that Google will have a system which is secure and stable for all users across their devices.

Have you used Google Drive yet?  If so, please comment below so we can compare these online storage leaders and declare a Cloud Computing Champ.

The Apoyo Click stylus was very good in my experience, but I found the tip did not allow for fine, smooth writing since it was rather thick.

Enter the Kuel H10

After an elementary colleague, Craig Guthrie, had purchased a few of the H10′s, I asked him to order me one as well. Much like the Click stylus, the Kuel H10 had a price tag of just under $15. Although this was much more expensive than the previous class sets of stylus pens I had purchased in the past, the writing experience was excellent. The weight of the pen felt like quality and the rubber tip allowed for more detail when writing.

Students Love the Feel

For a few weeks, my students were in love with the new stylus pens. Some even asked me to put in an order for them so they could purchase one for their own iPads. Unfortunately, the honeymoon wouldn’t last long.

Then It Went Downhill

It wasn’t long before the rubber tips began to rip. Some of the pens even began to have other issues, like the extension which allows for the pen to be made another inch longer would fall out.

It may be difficult to see the extent of damage on some of the pens, as the rubber is very dark, but most pens at this point have some sort of rip on the rubber tips. After contacting the company regarding the issue, the company sounds very willing to work with us to make it right. I will keep you posted on how the returns/exchanges shake out in a few weeks.

At the 2012 conference, I will have the pleasure of not only attending, but delivering two Tap Into Teen Minds sessions.  What originally started as a one session workshop, has now blown up to two full sessions which should be a great sharing experience. Click here to check out the descriptor for my sessions being held on Thursday May 10th at 8:30am and 12:30pm.

Interested in heading to Kingston for the OAME 2012 Conference?  I’m sure it will be a mathematics professional development experience unlike any other you have ever been to!

Download the OAME 2012 Conference Brochure