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Can the iPAD Deliver as an eBook Reader for Education.

Can the iPAD Deliver as an eBook Reader for Education.

We all know that the Kindle does deliver much more than the iPAD when it comes to leisure reading… the use of the e-ink display has no flicker and so is kinder to the eyes rather than the iPad with its LCD backlit display that flickers at a frequency that over long periods of time will cause tiredness. BUT would an iPAD work for textbooks – as these are not read over long periods of time but in short bursts and if the software offered the ability to annotate and collaborate it could even add to the model and use of textbooks. Obviously beyond cost and the benefits of not carrying around a bag full of brick heavy books – there are many more advantages however up until now this has not led the shall we say traditional textbook publishers to rush forward with ebooks and systems that would work for students.

In fact while designing and writing one of the new Pamoja online IB courses – it was evident how difficult it was to persuade publishers that this could be a fabulous way ahead and not ruin there current ‘business models.’ Often the rental models used and software is so intrusive or costly that it is cheaper to buy two physical copies. However things seem to be changing and recently we took part in a Cambridge trial of Read and Note software where Cambridge Unviersity Press are actually publishing and sharing official IB books and software that allows collaboration. Great news but as the Read and Note software is browser based would it work well on the iPad? Below and some screenshots showing it in action on the iPad.

ReadAndNote in Action2

ReadAndNote in Action2

ReadAndNote in Action

ReadAndNote in Action

Initial thoughts are it is fine but could be better and if Cambridge want to expand in this area then making the browsing experience on mobile devices there number one priority will be essential. Obviously Cambridge do not provide the technology and so will need to lean on companies like Read and Note to keep on improving the user experience and often the only route is to go down a native app route rather than through a browser to make sure that the user experience is a reliable and smooth one. One of the most frustrating areas was that none of the annotation tools worked to any level of use… but all I can say is it is a start and something our school can carefully consider if the iPad trial moves forward quickly.

Although to finish – one thoughtful blog writer suggests that however good those apps become for reading books it will not help when you come to students trying to study from 4 0r 5 texts at once?

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Validation of an iPADs Ability to Improve Student Achievement?

Validation of an iPADs Ability to Improve Student Achievement?

Oh that www.good.is website just keeps on delivering and finding great stories and articles – if you have never been there or do not subscribe to their RSS feed – do it now! Some of their infographics are just amazing.

Anyway they have just published a recent article showing one teachers’ iPAD experiment to show that the use of such mobile technology can and actually does raise achievement. Although as the author of the post suggests this is not peer-reviewed research it definitely puts at least some positive backing to the idea of the iPAD as more than an expensive toy.

“Harmon’s experiment hardly measures up as a peer reviewed study, but one teacher’s experience is valuable too. Let’s hope more teachers take the initiative to see if new classroom technology is worth the investment.”

Jim Harmon the English teacher who undertakes the research is working in the context of a state school where students and parents are disenfranchised  with school in general and there are a large number of issues with literacy and numeracy. The research showed that the iPAD raised “excitement for learning” which I do wonder is enough to suggest that any improvement in literacy can come about due to the fact that students like playing with an Apple device simply because it is “cool” and easy to use. However the report is an interesting read and worth a delve into.

The report also provides food for thought at how we as a school go ahead with a program and then ensure that there is a way to measure its impact on the students learning and as importantly their management of learning.

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iPAD deployment : 1-to-1 but how…

iPAD deployment : 1-to-1 but how…

Featured Image Above…Interesting weblog post from Wesley Fryer’s weblog regarding iPAD deployment in Western Academy of Beijing – which as with many of these discussions still comes up with more questions than answers :-

Here come the iPADs – now what? iPAD Deployment.

Most interesting point however is the title to this weblog post – surely this means the school is buying the iPADs and then thinking of how to use them – which seems a crazy way forward – hopefully at ACS even if our timeline is slightly longer we should be able to have a full plan of action of how and why we are deploying in a certain way. Or actually is the experimental way the most sensible way forward – as the use of the technology like the iPAD’s may often produce surprising results and outcomes?

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Initial Meeting and Ruminations…while using Daily Note

Initial Meeting and Ruminations…while using Daily Note

Daily Notes - the best Notetaking App on the iPAD?

We had out first planning at the end of last week to discuss through some of the initial constraints and ideas related to the iPAD iniative. It was an interesting discussion as it showed what a great deal of work needs to happen to be able to facilitate the implementation properly and hopefully ensure its success. Below are some of my initial notes that I wrote on the App “Daily Notes” which so far is my pick on the many note taking apps out there.

I have also tried – Bamboo Paper, Note Taker HD, Notes Plus and Noteshelf which all have some great tools but for some reason the link between a notetaking app and a diary calendar view just seems the right way forward for my organisational style and also how I work within school. So the notes below were written in Daily Notes. The missing link with all of these notemaking apps though is that the handwriting recognition apps are all separate – which is just so annoying at this stage. However more about those in another post.

Meeting Notes and Questions…

– iPad ownership – how does the trial work
Logistics of 1-to-1 ownership dsicussed at length including  payment, vouchers/redemption codes – key apps…not sustainable

Members of team will continue to go on School visits… of schools of excellence – Cedars hosting an event, 29th/30th

hardware – numbers, teachers involved – paragons in each department, 3G …
How will the trial become sustainable … long term there will be a fee if taken forward, or do we take device…
If paid for –  it is the students and so will look after more?

– software issues – legal, base apps, free apps, gifting
Ideas – jampf, mobile iron…purchase licenses
Apple – speak to apps…different apple store education
Precedent…be careful…
Key apps… Parents? A cost –  parent engagement…
What if kid has one already?

– policies and standards
Damage on devices – 1% to 5% , 11-13 year olds?
Insurance – bundle discount…
AUP
Talk inspirational – genius bar environment

– communication –  parents, students
Event evening – needs everyone involved… will be incredibly important
Unknown territory? Parents concerns…Responsibility of use…

– timeline … Stop dithering, however needs to be structured… Needs success, longer term – move this on
Team… Who is this?

As you can see alot was discussed with no real answers – however at least Daily Notes was up to the task 🙂

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The iPAD arrives, First Thoughts…

The iPAD arrives, First Thoughts…

Well the tablet and the iPAD is everywhere in the news, whether it be Pilots throwing away their manuals and going completely tablet based or even bigger stories heralding that the iPAD is taking over the workplace whether that is schools, colleges, American football teams or even hospitals. The question however is whether these are the start of a flood and a new paradigm that is beyond that the tablet is a fun and entertaining device – and will lead to a real change in how we all work and communicate?

Obviously the reason I and many educators are asking this – is that we are on that same verge where many schools including mine are looking at implementing an iPAD program but want to make sure it is more than a gimic but is an actual game changer. 600 + districts in the US definitely think so but do I after having played with my shiny new iPAD for just over two weeks?

As a proud owner of an iPHONE for over 3 years – I know and can understand the allure of Apple products but it is I always believe important especially in a school environment that you look beyond the shiny Aluminium shell to what lies beneath. The interesting question however that I must layer on top of  ‘is the iPAD going to be useful in education’ –  is in what way will it be useful and to what age groups?

Our intention at ACS Egham is to follow a 1-to-1 program with DP1, Grade 11 IB Diploma students who are aged 16 and 17 years old. Where the iPAD will be used in a very similar way to that of myself or any other professional – in that it will be used to organise, plan a students two years of study while allowing for unparalleled collaboration and sharing. More to follow shortly…

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links for 2009-11-16

links for 2009-11-15

Introduction – The Critical Study Is Taking Shape…

Over the next few weeks I will be publishing drafts of areas of my Critical Study – more than anything to allow me to validate and vindicate to myself that I am getting somewhere. I do not profess anything specifically visionary, but if you fancy a read then enjoy…Picture 1

‘Technology is woven in the fabric of our lives.’(Marcinkiewicz, 2000, p. 3)

In the 21st Century there is no mistaking the impact that technology has had on every aspect of our lives, although until recently the”…technological changes that affected society left educational systems largely unchanged.” (Strommen, 1992 cited in (Kiraz & Ozdemir, 2006, p. 152) However the world of education has in recent years begun to consider the potential that new technologies might bring including e-learning tools and learning strategies.

E-learning is a broad term, which has many definitions but is often simply‘…defined as ‘…learning facilitated and supported through the use of information and communications technology.’’ (JISC, 2008) E-learning comes in many forms and methods ‘…encompassing a broad range of activities across a spectrum from using e-learning for “smarter” learner support, through blended learning (the majority of activity) to learning that is delivered entirely online.’ (E-learning at UCL, 2009) Whether the technology used facilitates distance-based learning at University or High School with organisations like Virtual High School[1] or within face-2-face school environments to enhance teaching; the most is always to improve learning. (JISC, 2008)

In recent years UK secondary schools have been required to invest and integrate the use of one particular e-learning tool, often described as a Learning Platform or Virtual Learning Environment. In 2004, FERL[2] organised an online conference to assess the progress of the use and implementation of VLE’s across all areas of education in the UK which found that ‘…many educational institutions (including schools) now have VLEs (or some similar form of learning platform.’(Minshull, 2004, p. 5) However VLEs were often found to be underutilised due to no specific aims for integration and a lack of teacher control during implementation leading to ‘…a perception that new technology and additional work is being imposed.’ (Minshull, 2004, p. 15)

These issues alongside constraints including lack of hardware, support and connectivity had led ‘…to considerable dissatisfaction within some areas of the school educational community in what is currently being offered as a VLE solution.’(Minshull, 2004, p. 15) With the UK governments’ ‘Harnessing Technology – Transforming Learning and Children’s Services’ paper published in 2004, a new agenda was set for education in England with two main goals. Firstly it was stated that ‘…developing improved, personalised learning with technology,’(BECTA, 2008) for every student was necessary through ‘…building an integrated, accessible infrastructure which supports personalisation.’(BECTA, 2008)

This has led to the VLE becoming ubiquitous in almost all UK schools and colleges, which has in turn influenced the private sector. However there still seems to be a need to understand how to improve acceptance and integration of these environments for the benefit of all stakeholders and most importantly the learning of individual students. Are VLEs succeeding in delivering the personalised learning that some said they have promised?

On a personal level after recent action research into setting up a Virtual Learning Environment within an International School, I had many unanswered questions regarding implementation and acceptance of such an environment. My research had specifically looked at development and use of a Moodle[3] based environment within the ICT department at school.(Perkins, 2006) It was noted within the evaluation that ‘…I [did] wonder at this point if teachers within [the school][4] would have the time or passion to develop a course themselves.’(Perkins, 2006, p. 24)

At the time one other department and three teachers voluntarily decided that they would like to introduce Moodle based courses within their teaching. The teachers could see how the use of such a technology could help their course development. The Business Studies and ICT department over the year successfully developed courses, but it was a small scale that thrived on the enthusiasm of a few teachers. It was however certain that the e-learning innovation would not spread or be adopted by the wider school community. This research raised the question of how such a learning environment would be accepted if set as a whole school iniative and what would be the issues and ways to make this innovation successful with high teacher adoption and acceptance of such a system.


[1] Virtual High School – an organisation for High School students to follow web based distance-learning courses with over 11,902 students as of 2009. GovVHS. (2009, September 5). About Use. Retrieved September 5, 2009, from VHS: http://www.govhs.org/Pages/AboutUs-Home

[2] Further Education Resources for Learning – an organisation for Post 16 education to enable the integration of technologies for teaching and learning.

[3] Moodle – an open source LMS/VLE system

[4] Schools names have not been included within this research paper – although all citations and sources that come from specific schools can be found within the Bibliography.

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This weblog is now iPhone and Mobile Compliant…

iPhone 3G vs. Android G1
Image by inju via Flickr

Just take a look, and browse with your iPhone or Google Android based phone.

It is as simple as that – loads fast and enables optimised viewing for your delight. Thanks simply goto the Wphone plugin

Enjoy,

Dr Tech

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Another 6 months – In the world of IT and Education…

EFF says Cory is a superhero and they mean it;...
Image via Wikipedia

Well should I be making excuses probably not. Is anyone reading, probably not. So why do I return to my trusty weblog after so long -well more than anything to unload almost cathartically everything that has been happening in the last few months – as boy has it been a little busy!

  1. Twitter has taken hold via Seesmic Desktop – still unsure of this continual building and then uptake of new communication platforms – but the aggregating of these makes much more sense and Seesmic now links both my twitter accounts with my facebook feed as well – so in the end it might well work this continual connecting of feeds and applications. I used Tweetdeck for a while and also Twhirl but somehow Seesmic is developing out to be the best so far.
  2. Cory Doctorow and the Open Rights Group – All Seeing Eye Lecture was a cool event although it seemed much to my amusement that the beard ratio was the highest I have ever seen for any event. But Cory Doctorow’s discussion and Stross’s to a lesser extent were very interesting – so much so in fact I am hoping to get Cory to come along to the school and give a chat to students in my ITGS group and maybe to a larger group of students as well.
  3. NIM, VHS and ITGS IB Distance Learning – well I have finished my ten week course into using the wondrous Blackboard (hmm –  please it is only a tool I am using and it does not mean I approve of their methods). I must say that the VHS facilitators and setup was very professional and shall we say extremely positive about the use of remote learnign courses with High School students. I am really looking forward to running my ITGS course – and interested to see how well it really works, and especially what students can cope and do well with such a course completely online. Watch this space and I will bring you the occasional update from September.
  4. Drobo – Thoughts and Backup keep haunting me – and it will not be long until I buy one of these – would love to know if they are as good as they look, or if some of the voices of criticism need to be listened to.
  5. Marking IB Internal Assessment Portfolios – Well a great deal of my time has been taken up with the grading of Internal Assessment portfolios. This was my first time moderating and a very interesting if demanding experience. It is amazing how much time moderating 240*1000 word essays takes. But it has definitely given me a better view of how criteria based assessment can be very tricky
  6. Critical Study / Final Thesis for my Masters is now beginning to take shape – over the next few weeks I will be survey monkeying away to create my first questionnaire for teachers and possibly students. Frog has now been installed and the initial builds are happening at the school – it is a little disappointing that we still seem to be working with Frog 2.0 rather that the widgetised Frog 3.0 – but hoping by role out in September things seem a little more user friendly as otherwise I wonder about uptake initially.
  7. Quest Atlantis – Still fighting to get IT support to finally test and install this 3D Second Life learning environment – hopes are still for introduction next year?
  8. And almost forgot that I taught over Spring Break for the Oxford Revisions Courses company – at St Anne’s College. Surprisingly it was a fun experience, obviously hard work but ultimately rewarding as I hope and believe the students came away after 3 days and 17.5 hours with a better understanding and a confidence for their final examinations. I hope to return next year – and maybe will do the mid IB course at Emmanuel College in Cambridge.

So as you can see life has been a little busy…and sure to get busier…hopefully the next few posts will be less excuses and more work related to my final Masters thesis.

Turn ‘Em In – Inset Training…

Hi all here is the basic presentation I gave to introduce Turnitin (to see fullscreen click here.) Obviously for all the worksheets, tutorials etc head over to the Turnitin website for more information.

Wiki Wiki Wiki – Inset Training…

Welcome on board the wiki wiki bus? Below are links to a variety of resources and the basic presentation I am giving on the use of Wiki’s within the MYP and IB curricular, to view the presentation full screen click on this link.

Wiki Tools – Links to the best

Examples of Wiki’s for different subject areas:-

Wiki Wiki bus at the Honolulu International Ai...
Image via Wikipedia

Other Presentations:-

Here is a great but very simple way of explaining what a wiki is to your students:-

Common Craft do some other great videos including one about Wetpaint over at their website.

Finally a much better presentation than I can ever produce from a Wikiexpert:-

WordPress 2.7 and so another Theme Change – AND maybe the start of my CS

Image representing WordPress as depicted in Cr...
Image via CrunchBase, source unknown

Well just to give you a heads up I have just updated the version of WordPress that ConstructICT  uses and so there maybe some glitches and inevitable Theme changes. The whole of the User interface has been turned on its head -which sill take a little bit of getting used to, but with a few minutes things will make sense.

New features that might be useful to you all – are the quick-press tool on the front dashboard which will enable you to post within a matter of seconds and there is also a quick-edit tool within the writing pages as well.Wordpress screenshot

This theme change and user interface update will hopefully coincide with the restart of posts to this weblog, as now is the time when I begin again my CS in earnest. I know I have promised before well let us see if I deliver little?

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Educational Technology overload…

Tech Overload

Is anyone else suffering the same technology overload?

Well it has been a whirl-wind few weeks back at the helm, trying to negotiate the choppy waters of being a Technology teacher. Here are a few recent events to get the heart racing and make me sometimes wonder if it would be much better to be a technophobe:-

  • Returned from holiday to find my server compromised and hundreds of Javascript injected to many different files within my site. Thanks to RealWebHost who were very helpful on the whole – things seem fine now. One word of advice keep all your web based applications e.g. WordPress, Moodle etc updated!
  • Leopard has been introduced at school – and seems to be causing unknown problems on the network – leading to MS applications taking ages to load – leading to frustration all round.
  • The wonders of a new filter system have been introduced to the school system – by the name of BLOXX. And as ever makes me wonder if this is really the best way to educate our students be blocking almost everything? This article over at eschoolnews regarding overzealous filters rings very true.
  • Spending my time re-learning Pro-Desktop – after finding Cobalt a nightmare to use for students for Design and Technology projects – and can actually say how pleasantly surprised I am that students are picking it up pretty quickly.

On top of all this are many little jobs like finding a way to connect the wonders of Mindmeister, with Word to allow the automatic creation of a Table of Contents – and in fact after a little bit of messing it sort of works – check out my simple tutorial here – MindMeister to Word.

Give me a couple more weeks, and hopefully we can start thinking about more than treading water and get back on with my Master Critical Study focusing on integrating the use of a VLE/ Ultranet into a 3 school system.

Google and Firefox 3 Problems – They were right?

Down

Well it is the return of Dr Tech, and his education weblog after a wonderful summer of travel in Vietnam. So what is going to happen this academic year, well hopefully a great deal as finally it will be time after a year of procrastination to develop my critical study research project and finish my Masters course. Yet still I have not made my final decision whether I will concentrate on the use of social networks within a specific teaching setting or the implementation of a VLE within a whole school context and its perception by a variety of users.

Most other news will have to wait, as after much grumbling at Google for their new feature on Firefox 3 which blocks sites suspected of having exploits. Yes they began to block this site it appears that in one way they were correct in that some lovely person has managed to mess around in my server. So while I sort out the mess and clean my server up do not expect too many posts – maybe it will push me to work more on my critical study. Also I am looking on it as a good learning experience.

Until clean,

Dr Tech