Saturday, 22 February 2014
Book Creator for Anecdotal Records
I watched a presentation by a teacher named Gabrielle Trinca on the AITSL Website - The Learning Collective. It was an extremely interesting presentation about contemporary teaching and project based learning. One thing she mentioned, though, that was quite unrelated was an idea with book creating Apps that I hadn't actually considered. At KPS we use Book Creator to create books for students and to have students create books. Another idea is to use Book Creator to keep records about students. A book can be created for each class member and photos, videos, written notes and audio notes can be added to the book. What a great way to keep digital records and have evidence for assessment!
Quizzes
After such fantastic success with Kahootit the first couple of times I used it, I have now encountered some difficulties. The last two times I attempted to use it the students couldn't join - very disappointing but I will try again.
This week I have been trying out NearPod which, like many of my favourites is an app and also browser based. Excellent for blended learning and similar to Blendspace, but with less options for uploading material but more options for quizzes, NearPod is quite easy to use. You need to make the lessons in the browser version, easier on a PC, and then students can log into your lesson through the app or browser. They need no ID etc which makes life easier, you just start the lesson and they type in a short code. I used it with groups from year 1 to 7 with very good results - 100% engagement. With a free membership you can do all of the above but I am going to sign up to a gold membership for a month. This allows you to set the lessons for homework. I will use this to make the lessons more self paced, particularly for the older students.
This week I have been trying out NearPod which, like many of my favourites is an app and also browser based. Excellent for blended learning and similar to Blendspace, but with less options for uploading material but more options for quizzes, NearPod is quite easy to use. You need to make the lessons in the browser version, easier on a PC, and then students can log into your lesson through the app or browser. They need no ID etc which makes life easier, you just start the lesson and they type in a short code. I used it with groups from year 1 to 7 with very good results - 100% engagement. With a free membership you can do all of the above but I am going to sign up to a gold membership for a month. This allows you to set the lessons for homework. I will use this to make the lessons more self paced, particularly for the older students.
Friday, 7 February 2014
Quizzes in a Blended Learning Environment
For the last couple of weeks I have been really exploring the various ways I can use technology to present quizzes. My current purpose is to pre-test the students but I have found that there are some really good formats for a variety of purposes. I thought I would share what I have discovered so far.
I had great fun with Web-based Kahoot today. This is a type of student response system. You need to create an account and then create your quizzes. These are multiple choice and would be fantastic for mental maths, spelling and many other things. The presenter displays the quiz on an IWB or even a screen mirrored from their iPad and students log into Kahootit and use the game pin shown. They read the question and answers on the big screen and the select the corresponding answer on their computer or iPad screen. When all students have answered it shows a leaderboard and is ready for you to move on. Students get a higher score for answering quickly and it shows them if they were correct or incorrect on their scree . Teachers can download the results to excel. The boys loved the competition side of it!
Socrative is an app that is specific to quizzes and feedback. There is a teacher version and a student version and both are free. You can develop multiple choice questions as wells as short answer questions that can include images. This, too, works on iPads or computers and responses can be displayed on the board as they are entered. Socrative quizzes can be student paced, so they move on after each student has answered, or teacher paced. Results can be downloaded.
Quizzes that you can make on Edmodo have a nice range of options for the types of questions you can use such as multiple choice, short answer, fill the blanks, matching the answer. You can also add web links and files.
Blendspace is an excellent tool for blended learning. In the lessons you create you can include a huge range of resources such as YouTube clips, Educreations, photos, we pages, files from Dropbox and a Google Drive and you can add text. The quizzes you can make in Blendspace are just basic multiple choice but excellent to check for understanding. Blendspace is also a free app that is available in Edmodo and once you have assigned the app to your class or to your groups you can create resources and share them through Edmodo.
I will continue to explore tools for creating quizzes and other blended learning resources and hopefully add some more information as I discover it.
I had great fun with Web-based Kahoot today. This is a type of student response system. You need to create an account and then create your quizzes. These are multiple choice and would be fantastic for mental maths, spelling and many other things. The presenter displays the quiz on an IWB or even a screen mirrored from their iPad and students log into Kahootit and use the game pin shown. They read the question and answers on the big screen and the select the corresponding answer on their computer or iPad screen. When all students have answered it shows a leaderboard and is ready for you to move on. Students get a higher score for answering quickly and it shows them if they were correct or incorrect on their scree . Teachers can download the results to excel. The boys loved the competition side of it!
Socrative is an app that is specific to quizzes and feedback. There is a teacher version and a student version and both are free. You can develop multiple choice questions as wells as short answer questions that can include images. This, too, works on iPads or computers and responses can be displayed on the board as they are entered. Socrative quizzes can be student paced, so they move on after each student has answered, or teacher paced. Results can be downloaded.
Quizzes that you can make on Edmodo have a nice range of options for the types of questions you can use such as multiple choice, short answer, fill the blanks, matching the answer. You can also add web links and files.
Blendspace is an excellent tool for blended learning. In the lessons you create you can include a huge range of resources such as YouTube clips, Educreations, photos, we pages, files from Dropbox and a Google Drive and you can add text. The quizzes you can make in Blendspace are just basic multiple choice but excellent to check for understanding. Blendspace is also a free app that is available in Edmodo and once you have assigned the app to your class or to your groups you can create resources and share them through Edmodo.
I will continue to explore tools for creating quizzes and other blended learning resources and hopefully add some more information as I discover it.
Sunday, 19 January 2014
Thought for the day
"Here’s to the crazy ones — the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things. They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do." Steve Jobs
Sunday, 12 January 2014
Starting Fresh
To start the new year we have once again cleared the iPads of content based apps and set them up with a good selection of apps for production, not consumption. Here is the list of apps that we are starting the year with. Of course, during the year teachers will be downloading some free apps for particular purposes and we may make additional purchases.
iMovie
PhotoCard
Doodle Buddy
Pic Collage
BaiBoard HD
Zondle
Tellagami
PuppetPads HD
TinyTap
Strip Designer
Qrafter
Skitch
Socrative
Explain Everything
K9 Browser
Little Story Maker
Toontastic
Kidblog
Sock Puppets
Google Drive
Popplet
iFunFace
Educreations
Edmodo
Aurasma
Book Creator
Keynote
SonicPics
Back to School
It is still a couple of weeks ago but I'm sure there are some teachers thinking about what they will do with their students in that first week. With this post I will focus on some ideas for those "getting to know you" and "what I did in my holidays" type activities.
Just starting with some basic ideas -students could use:
PicCollage to introduce themselves by including a photo of themselves, images of their favourite things and text that describes the things they enjoy. The teacher would make one first to model the expectations. Once each student has created their own and sent it to the camera roll, they could be made into an iBook using Book Creator. Students could add audio to their page and you have an iBook to keep for the year.
Popplet to create a mind map about themselves, adding photos and information. This could also be made into an iBook.
Popplet to create a timeline of their holidays.
PhotoCard to create a postcard of somewhere they visited during their holidays or, for those who didn't go anywhere, somewhere they would like to visit.
Other apps that are excellent for first day activities include iMovie, PuppetPals, Explain Everything, Strip Designer, Tellagami and iFunFace. So many possibilities.
The simple video camera is also very useful. Students in their groups of three could take turns interviewing each other and ask questions about their holidays, themselves and their hopes for the year. (One interviewer, one interviewee and one filming - then swap)
The thing I like best about all of these ideas and apps is that the creations can be combined and published. If I had my very own class this year I think I would have each student make three projects - one that introduces them, one that retells their holidays and one that describes their hopes for the year. I would then combine their three projects into an iMovie. I would then have them create a self portrait (using real paper and pastels). I would use this as the trigger for their movie, using Aurasma or stick a QR Code link to their movie on the sheet. Voila! The first of many interactive displays for the year.
One idea that involves a bit more collaboration is to create a wall on Padlet and have students make "wall posts" about their holidays or about themselves. If they include their aspirations for the year this would be something great to reflect on during or at the end of the year. Padlet would also be a great place for students to post personal learning goals.
These really are just some basic ideas and I'm sure you, the readers, will have far more creative ones. I would love you to share them!
Just starting with some basic ideas -students could use:
PicCollage to introduce themselves by including a photo of themselves, images of their favourite things and text that describes the things they enjoy. The teacher would make one first to model the expectations. Once each student has created their own and sent it to the camera roll, they could be made into an iBook using Book Creator. Students could add audio to their page and you have an iBook to keep for the year.
Popplet to create a mind map about themselves, adding photos and information. This could also be made into an iBook.
Popplet to create a timeline of their holidays.
PhotoCard to create a postcard of somewhere they visited during their holidays or, for those who didn't go anywhere, somewhere they would like to visit.
Other apps that are excellent for first day activities include iMovie, PuppetPals, Explain Everything, Strip Designer, Tellagami and iFunFace. So many possibilities.
The simple video camera is also very useful. Students in their groups of three could take turns interviewing each other and ask questions about their holidays, themselves and their hopes for the year. (One interviewer, one interviewee and one filming - then swap)
The thing I like best about all of these ideas and apps is that the creations can be combined and published. If I had my very own class this year I think I would have each student make three projects - one that introduces them, one that retells their holidays and one that describes their hopes for the year. I would then combine their three projects into an iMovie. I would then have them create a self portrait (using real paper and pastels). I would use this as the trigger for their movie, using Aurasma or stick a QR Code link to their movie on the sheet. Voila! The first of many interactive displays for the year.
One idea that involves a bit more collaboration is to create a wall on Padlet and have students make "wall posts" about their holidays or about themselves. If they include their aspirations for the year this would be something great to reflect on during or at the end of the year. Padlet would also be a great place for students to post personal learning goals.
These really are just some basic ideas and I'm sure you, the readers, will have far more creative ones. I would love you to share them!
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
12 Apps for Christmas
These are not, as the title might suggest, Christmas apps but I am going to try to limit myself to 12 apps that I suggest you check out over the Christmas break. With this lot of apps I am going to focus on those that best complement 'flipping the classroom' and paperless homework. I might even sneak in a couple that are not actual apps but are web browser based programs that work on iOS devices - some are both. I also stick to the free version of each of these resources.
In no particular order:
Edmodo (both)
Kidblog (both)
Padlet (web)
GoClass (both)
Blendspace (web)
ActivelyLearn (web)
inklewriter (web)
GoogleDrive (both)
BaiBoard HD (app)
Capture (app)
YouTube (both)
Educreations (both)
Wednesday, 11 December 2013
My Vision
I was thinking about how I see the place of the iPad, and technology in general, at KPS and the best way I could think of to represent it was a mind map. My role as the ICT teacher and as the iPad coordinator are so different. My thinking is, when teaching students ICT, the technology skills are an important part along with teaching students what they can do with technology and how technology can help them develop solutions. iPads can certainly be part of this as a form of technology. When using iPads in classrooms, the focus should be on the content and pedagogy with technology presenting opportunities for creation and engagement. The students are being taught content, they are being taught how to think and learn and they are being shown that the iPad is a very useful tool for doing these things and for helping them articulate and present what they have learned.
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