We officially shifted into spring/summer mode this past week. Our T21 programs have started to wrap up with final face-to-face workshops, and registrations are streaming in for Summer Workshops. This also means that our writing has diversified as we reflect on pedagogical concepts such as assessment, PLN curation, and collaboration, and begin building our toolkits for summer. This week’s post includes resources from both schools of thought.
New Articles from the EdTechTeacher Team
Why iPads? It’s a Question of Innovation from Tom Daccord
The question that administrators and educators rarely address is the most important and fundamental of all: “Why iPads?” How, exactly, does an iPad align with an institution’s vision of authentic and essential learning? How can iPads help prepare students to be effective global citizens?
>>>> Read the full editorial on eSchool News
5 Myths about Writing with Mobile Devices from Beth Holland
Is writing possible on a mobile device? Absolutely. Could it be easier on a computer? Possibly. In listening to friends and colleagues, I understand that there are certainly limitations to writing on various devices, but also plenty of benefits depending on how you choose to define the process.
>>>>Read how Beth defined the 5 myths the full article
Blow the Top Off Your Rubric from Shawn McCusker
Blow the top off of your rubrics to encourage students to keep pursuing their learning. Leave the basic level standards in place to help students meet the assignment’s objective and support students who need more structure, but then create a rubric with a blatant challenge and ample encouragement for students to push themselves beyond the basic requirements.
In this article that first appeared on Free Technology for Teachers, Shawn provided 5 ways for students to push beyond basic expectations.
New Tools & Resources
iReadWrite for iPad-Powerful Tools for Writing
This blog post includes a great video tutorial of this new assistive technology device that provides students with text-to-speech, word prediction and vocabulary support.
iPad is right for PE!: iPad in Physical Education
Oftentimes, PE teachers get left out of the mix when talking about technology. However, this PE teacher from Vancouver, Canada documents how he has used iPad to replace a number of traditional items used on a daily basis and transform their intended purpose.
Touch App Creator: Creating Powerful Web Apps for Teaching and Assessment
With Touch App Creator, eBooks, videos, text, and other learning objects created and curated on iPad can be constructed into a web-app (mini-web site) that can be hosted from a Google Drive account. Here is a great example about Caring for Pets made by a group of children.
Hopscotch
This is being described as Scratch for iPad. Students begin to learn the basic thought processes behind programming and computer science by creating with this app.
AskMe about Ask3
The Ask3 app, free from Tech Smith, not only allows students to screencast but also has dynamic features for allowing them to collaborate and provide each other feedback. In this post, iPad Summit Keynoter Jennie Magiera provides a number of reasons about why it’s her new favorite app.
Voice Comments Tutorial
With this new Chrome extension, it is now possible to leave voice comments in Google Docs as alternative feedback. This link provides a great tutorial for getting started.
Thinking About Chromebooks? Here’s Everything You Need to Know First
This article from THE Journal, describes how Richland School District Two in Columbia, SC not only rolled out a 1:1 Chromebook program, but also a SAMR program to ensure effective use of the technology.
Open MS Office Files In Google Chrome With This Official Extension
Google released a new extension that allows the Chrome Browser to open Microsoft Office files. This post from Chromestory provides all of the details.
Fotor – Edit Images and Create Image Collages on Almost Any Device
Richard Byrne describes this free image editing platform that works in any browser as well as a desktop application for Mac and Windows, an iPad app, an Android app, and a Windows 8 application.
WHY we found these new tools….
In addition to looking for new resources for our iPad Classroom workshops in Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago, we have been researching for:
- Leveraging Technology to Differentiate Instruction: Creating Rich Curricula for ALL Students
- Building an Interactive or BYOD Classroom with Multiple Devices: iPads, Interactive White Boards, Laptops, & more
- All Things Google
- Teaching the Elementary Grades with Technology
Check out the Master Schedule for a complete list of all of our sessions this summer.