Jan 30 2012
Ruminations, Codes of Conduct and Training…
Well the iPAD trial is well underway at Egham – and even though not all students have gone 1-to-1 yet the possibilities that the iPAD may has as a productivity and learning tool seem to be beginning to be understood. The initial communications and iPad Letter with Code of Conduct took much longer than expected – but it is interesting to note were received well by both parents and students. We are at the stage of collecting all the permissions back in before we begin the 1-to-1 program apart from four ITGS students who have been trained earlier (and already posting to this weblog) and are helping with all the iPAD training that both students and teachers are receiving. This has been working really well as it is spreading the knowledge and understanding of the workflow necessary.
Most interesting is how essential I have realised this training is for both students and teachers – as otherwise a tool such as the iPAD would not, however usable it may seem, be understood as an educational and productivity tool. Obviously many iPAD programs are realising this issue and a recent article in the Chronical of Higher Education highlights this and many more points to focus on with any iPAD implementation. A great quote from this is the following :- “As one of my students said, “The litmus test is that it has to simplify rather than complicate life.”” – which is something I often forgot when training others. However the article very much resonates with other areas such as the importance of training students, and making sure that the tool is used in the right situations e.g. the right tool for the right job!
Areas we have already concentrated on include the following :-
- Dropbox and Storage
- Notability and notetaking apps and connection to Dropbox
- eClicker and quiz best apps
- App + Pro Flashcards and how students can use their iPAD for revision
- Google Apps account and synchronising a central calendar
- Shortcuts and backchanneling with Todays Meet
- Workflow and the four Finger Swipe
- WordPress and blogging
- Using Diigo and a RSS reader for reading around subjects
Hopefully much much more to come over the coming weeks. Will it be a success or a failure – interesting to know and at this stage I will continue to sit on the fence. But it was very interesting to note a teacher emailing me to suggest one student that has really struggled but suggested – ” The student made very good use of the ipad this afternoon – I set the class a creative writing task, and he really got on with it.” More to follow – but up next will be some more student posts…
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