K4 Technology Chat

What Learning is Happening with iPads in YES classrooms?

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:07:00 +0000

It seems like every day there are conversations buzzing about how we can support learning with the single iPads that are in classrooms at YES. The teachers whose classrooms received the YEF grant iPads are using them connected to the projector for whole class instruction, for individual student use and as a center for a small groups of students. Additional teachers are using iPads that are their own.

One class recorded the field trip to the State House in Augusta by creating a Voicethread using the mobile app. The camera on the iPad made taking pictures easy and then students added narration with audio or video clips to describe what they had learned. The kids seemed to enjoy how easy it was to build the slideshow and the iPad made it possible to do everything on one device.

Students are using the ShowMe app to write math procedures and record their descriptions of what they are doing or teachers are creating blog videos for explaining an algorithm.

Dragon Dictation is helping some students with writing as they can speak into the iPad microphone and the app turns their voice into text. This text can be emailed to the teacher who can help the student continue the document.

Some other thoughts for exploration are spelling apps, voice recording of reading fluency, math practice and TumbleBooks online. Also, we added an "eprint" color laser printer this week in the YES Lab for printing directly from the iPads.

There is excitement in the air as we explore ways to use this "touch" device in ways that supplement and expand the technology access we offer to students at YES.
(cross posted at http://ipadsyes.blogspot.com/)

iPads are Launched at Rowe & YES

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:30:00 +0000

Thanks to the generous support of the Yarmouth Education Foundation we now have 13 iPad in use in grades 1, 3 & 4.

The three teachers at YES are exploring using 1 iPad per classroom. Energy is percolating around using the Dragon app for more productivity by reluctant writers, ideas for sharing storybooks on the classroom projector, demonstrating math processes with the Show Me app and a Voicethread of a field trip to the State House all done on the iPad.

Today first grade teachers spent most of their prep period setting up a new cart with a projector and an Apple TV that can mirror the iPad screen through a wireless connection so that the teacher can be moving around the room and projecting the iPad to the whole class. We started by sharing some Tumblebooks from Portland Public Library that have been adapted to display on the iPad. Classroom excitement is high and we are all thrilled to have all this equipment up and running.

Automating vs. Transforming Uses of iPads - from Sylvia Tolisano

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:17:00 +0000

Slideshare.net is a great source for presentations. Sylvia Tolisano is a prolific contributor to the learning community around technology and global collaboration. Here is a link to her "Ipads in Education Part 1"which has great tips for getting started.

In Part 2 asks the essential question, "What is the difference between transformative use and automated use of iPads in the classroom?" Sylvia displays some of her app choices and provides several activities using iPads in transformative ways.

iPads in Education- Part 2

View more presentations from Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

Searching for Apps

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:37:00 +0000

I found a new way to search for apps tonight that I thought I would share: Quixey. On a quick search for "teaching reading". I found these iPad apps we might want to explore for the first grade pilot:

This may be one more way to explore and search for useful apps.

iPad Links to Share

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:23:00 +0000

These are some links to find out more about Apps and using an iPad:

Leveraging Learning: the iPad in Primary Grades
Auburn Kindergarten Top 20 Apps
Rethinking Reading - Richard Colosi, Grade 1 Teacher (Rochester, NY)
Richard Colosi's classroom website and student videos
iPad Maine - Educational Apps from Apple Roundtables
Apple in Education - Apps
Elementary iPad Apps
Apps for Children with Special Needs (Hundreds of reviews & videos on Apps)
Apps in Education: 50 really useful iPad 2 tips and tricks (Article on getting started with iPads)
Teach with your iPad (wiki on using an iPad, teacher tips, apps, etc.)
Apptivities (learning activities with Apps)
Crestview iPads (One school's set up and one teacher's apps)
Edreach article by Meg Wilson with many resources
iPod Touch & iPad Resources - LiveBinder

iPads in the Classroom - Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything

TechLearning: Involve, Prepare, Apply, and Develop: iPads in the Classroom

K-5 iPad Apps According to Bloom's Taxonomy | Edutopia

A Catalog of iPad Apps for Teachers and Students by Vicki Windman

iPads in Education - Scoop it (a collection of up-to-date bits on iPads)

What's on my iPad?

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 01:03:00 +0000

Recently I realized that I have 10 Gigabytes of "apps" on my iPad. These are some that I see uses for in our classrooms, some are iPhone versions running on an iPad:

Weather: The Weather Channel, MyWeather, Weather Station
Books: BookShelfLT, Flip Reader, iBooks, Kindle, Read it Later, LibAnywhere
Education: Edmodo, eduTecher, Google Earth, Dictionary, Keynote, Pages, Numbers, iMovie, Garageband, PowerTeacher, iBrainstorm, Mental Class, VoiceThread, Mobile Slides, SlideShark, ShowMe, Countdown, Cosmic
Math: Everyday Math (free during NCTM in April), PopMathLite, ArithmeTick, NumberMathLite, Just Maths!, TellingTimeGame, Rocket Math, TanZen Lite, Concentration, Lemonade Stand, Mad Math, Set, Mancala,
Drawing: GlowColoring, Doodle Buddy, MyPaint Free, Brushes, Artisan, Doodle Dandy, SimpleDraw, DoodleDots, Neon Mania
Kids Books: Arthur Turns Green, Callum, Read Me, ICDL, Wild Fables, Magic Ink Books, Magic Books, Shel Movies, Paid Titles include Cat in The Hat, Peter Rabbit Popup
Kids Story Writing: Voicethread, Good Idea, Stories2Go, StoryMakerHD, Toontastic, Story Builder, JibJab Jr., This is My Story, PuppetPals, StoryBuddy Jr.
Kids Games: Super Why!, KiddyU, Uno, TicTacFree, Shapes,
Kids Literacy: Magnets, Read On Sight, Magico 2, Word Wizard, Alphabytes Lite, Word Bingo, Chicktionary, PocketABClite,
Useful Utilities: Flashlight, iTalk, Audioboo, QuickVoice, Dragon, i-nigma,Splashtop, Recorder, Remote, iClickrLite, Chronolite, TouchMouse, Mobile Mouse, Penultimate

Reading Bear from WatchKnowLearn

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 02:01:00 +0000

WatchKnowLearn has launched this new FREE phonics learning site with video presentations and an interactive format for early readers. This site will eventually have 50 lessons.

Tech Tip: Creating a Student Contact Group for Sharing Docs

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 01:05:00 +0000

It is possible to set all the students in your class up as a group in your Contacts and then you can share a document with the whole class at a time. If you want to do this you add your students to your Contacts (you need to put in both their name and their full google login), make them a group and then you can share with that contact group. Most likely you want to give them "View" access so they don't edit the original document. If students are going to edit the document, ask them to go to File>Make a Copy and then change the title of the document to include their name.

Awards for Blogs, Wikis, etc.

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:53:00 +0000

Edublog runs an annual "Best of" for several categories each year. There are some very interesting blogs, wikis and tools listed here that might be of interest.

http://edublogawards.com/announcing-the-2011-winners-congrats-to-all

Quote of the Day from a Second Grader

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:01:00 +0000

"On my iPod there's an apple on the back."

Google "Stock Photos" for Education

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:34:00 +0000

There's a new option for inserting something called "Stock photos". Basically if you go to insert an image as usual, you now have five options:

Upload
URL
Google Image Search
Picasa Wen Albums
Stock photos

Choose the "Stock photos" options (click on the image to the right for a bigger view), and then try out some common search terms. I had pretty good luck getting images for most things I entered, however the results seem to be more like real pictures and less like cartoon clipart. They are all images that can be used without copyright concerns.

http://www.appsusergroup.org/news/google-docs-gets-stock-photos

Grants for Teachers

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:25:00 +0000

FableVision Learning

This is a wonderful set of grant opportunities for teachers compiled by the people at Fablevision.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Best of TED 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:38:00 +0000

Best Of TED 2011 : Pictures, Videos, Breaking News

Check out these TED talks for 20 minutes on innovation topics.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Picasa Slideshows on Sites and Blogs

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 01:10:00 +0000

I have updated the Picasa Slideshow directions on the Yarmouth Google Tools site. It's great to see so many of you using these to display photos of student learning on your sites and blogs.

PowerSchool Web Gradebook for Teachers

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:15:00 +0000

If you are starting to think about visiting the PowerSchool Web Gradebook, or if you are using it for the first time, here is the link to the slideshow I used at last year's introductory meeting:
https://sites.google.com/a/yarmouthschools.org/yes-technology-for-teachers/web-gradebook

Everyday Math Online Login

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 01:18:00 +0000

During a meeting about Everyday math resources yesterday I learned that we can setup student logins. I have sent all the K-4 student names to McGraw Hill and they have imported them into our school account. The next step is to move students to your own classes. Then we can distribute login and password cards to the students. Students can then login and select a unit and a lesson window which would like like this example:

Another option is that we can set up the "EM Facts Workshop Game" to track your students' progress as a class as well as individually.

Digital Citizenship for Parents

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:38:00 +0000

Digital Citizenship (Parent Presentation)

Resources for our work on Digital Citizenship with students, faculty and parents.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Auburn Apple iPad Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:38:00 +0000

Collected links from the Auburn workshop Leveraging Learning: the iPad in Primary Grades workshop in Auburn, Maine.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Cyberchase Website Revamped and Improved

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 01:25:00 +0000

Cyberchase
"The Cyberchase website recently relaunched with all 94 episodes, hundreds of video clips including in-video gaming, engaging math games, and fun printable activities. Find student resources http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/ or explore lesson plans and thematic units http://www.pbs.org/teachers/cyberchase/. Cyberchase brings math to life for early elementary."

Cyberchase has some very appropriate high interest connections with our Math units, many of the games and video clips are on our student Educational Resource pages.

ACTEM MaineEd Conference 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 18:10:00 +0000

Mac Apps from Ecamm Network
tags: CallRecorder Printopia mac software podcast skype apple
TakingITGlobal - Inspire. Inform. Involve.
tags: global globalcollaborations lucygray ACTEM11 collaboration takingitglobal
Nota : Casual Collaboration
tags: collaboration Web2.0 presentation flatclassroom multimedia mashup
Going Global: Preparing Students to Be Citizens of the World
tags: global globalcollaborations lucygray ACTEM11
ipadmaine
Wiki for Maine iPad deployment
tags: iPad Maine support resources apple k12it
Apple - Education - Resources - Information Technology
Managing iOS devices tutorials from Apple
tags: iosdevices apple resources education k12it

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

AudioBooks, Recording and Assistive Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:15:00 +0000

Accessible Books and Periodicals for Readers with Print Disabilities - Bookshare - Accessible Books for Individuals with Print Disabilities
Browse and Order Audiobooks | Learning Ally, formerly Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic
Mobilizing Learning with iPods, iPhones and iPads
iPods and iPads in the Classroom - SAD6 K-5 Technology with Mrs. Gleason
Speech MakerElementary planning - beginning, middle, end, Create then record. Kids can create a login and password, no email, to get back to it

Technology in (Spl) Education » Technology in Education – Recommended Apps by IEP Goals/Skills and some useful tools

Back to School App Specials « Techno Bytes
Technology in (Spl) Education » #B2SAppSpecials by IEP Goal/Skill Page

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Global Projects and Collaborations

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 17:54:00 +0000

Some of the most powerful learning opportunities that recent technologies have made available to our students are global collaborations. Over the last year I have expanded my professional network and I have had the tremendous opportunity to connect with several teachers who have started global projects.

Last fall I participated in the pilot elementary FlatClassroom® project and last spring I joined a group of teachers in the Flat Classroom Certified Teacher's Course based on the upcoming book by Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay. To followup on the learning from those experiences I am helping to manage the FlatClassroom elementary "A Week in the Life..." project which has over 500 students comparing and contrasting their communities, schools, languages and environments. The students are meeting each other in Edmodo and the wiki for that project will be up later this week. The next round of this project starts in February, 2012 and that timing will allow our third grade students to join in as part of their countries unit.

Some second grade classes are connecting with other schools around the "community" unit that is hosted at the wiki: http://ispycommunity.wikispaces.com/. Classes are starting this project this week and the final product will be Voicethreads from each school.

A fourth grade class is connecting with other readers on the Read Acr oss the Globe wiki. This will be a good experience of reading and writing with other students before our fourth graders start their own writing blogs. The first book we are reading is In My Family by Sheila Kinkade & Elaine Little with a forward by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.

Throughout the year we are planning to work with several other global collaborations including the Global Classroom Project 2011-2012 that was started by teachers in Ohio and Australia and is posted at http://globalclassroom2011-12.wikispaces.com/

I have found some of these projects through my online Professional Learning Network (sometimes called a PLN) and others through "clearinghouses" for global projects like the Global Education Collaborative ning hosted by Lucy Gray.

Deepening Learning through Storytelling - Wes Fryer in Yarmouth

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:58:00 +0000

One thing I would like to get better at is sharing professional learning when I go to a workshop, etc. This morning we were fortunate to have Wes Fryer at the YHS faculty meeting. This is a link to the site he used: http://wiki.wesfryer.com/Home/handouts/deepening to talk with us about "Deepening our Learning Through Storytelling: creativity, STEM and stories." Hopefully I'll have a chance to share more with faculty groups at a future time as I think his message is applicable to all levels.

ISTE 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:34:00 +0000

ISTE 2011 was held in Philadelphia from June 25-29. Alice and I traveled on the chartered ACTEM bus with 40 Maine technology educators. At the conference we were able to talk with many colleagues who we usually only connect to online. The conversations and collegial connections are certainly a highlight of attending this conference. The initial keynote was by Dr. John Medina who has published Brain Rules. Videos of all the keynotes are available here. While I didn't find Medina's message new (students need to learn basics and then build on them in a logical order, etc.), I think his rules make sense and contain ideas that we should be attending to in schools. I was reminded that there is very little that is known about the way the brain works and that teachers are often the experts about how to approach individual students.

One of my goals for attending the conference was to explore more uses for iPads, for teachers as well as students. I took my new iPad instead of my laptop and was able to use it for most everything I would have done on a laptop with a lot less weight to carry around. The best uses of an iPad at this point in time seem to be to use the apps for Pages, Keynote, etc. to place instructional materials on the iPad for students to use and of course the access to the Internet. There are a few apps that are designed for particular adaptive uses, but many of those being marketed are a return to skill & drill on a new machine.

I was please to hear about the upcoming mobile apps for Voicethread and I think using it on a mobile device for field trips would be a great addition to use of that site. I talked to a number of teachers who are using iPod touches in the classroom and I think that we would make use of those if we had access to them. They are smaller and more manageable than an iPad and there are apps for story creation, drawing and math practice that would be appealing to students. I'm not sure how that will fit in with our budgets at Rowe and YES.

I learned about "infographics"(e.g. http://www.coolinfographics.com/) from a session cotaught by Diane Laufenberg, social studies teacher at Science Learning Academy in Philadephia. I hope to follow up on the ideas of this session with student assignments at YHS next year. Like many other tools I have been exploring, infographics are a creative way for students to describe their learning in a subject area.

More Weblinks ISTE2011

noreply@blogger.com (Cathy Wolinsky) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 19:35:00 +0000

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.