A Spark of Genius

Our students sat through a presentation marathon today.  As they listened to their classmates share their mini-research on such topics as Andrew Jackson, the Indian Removal Act, and the Seminole Wars, audience members were expected to keep track of new learning from each presentation.  Most of them kept track of this on index cards.

One student, however, was trying something different.  This student had an iPad.  I noticed that she was typing her notes on the iPad and maintained a very focused demeanor throughout the marathon, not once stopping for a Gatorade.  After some time, I decided to check in to see if she would share some reflection with me.  She proudly showed me the quantity of notes she had taken.  She told me it was easier for her to type on the iPad than write by hand.  I asked her if she knew she could email them and she told me she already had...twice.  Then she continued to explain and demonstrate something else.  With a four finger swipe, she switched the screen to the internet where she already had a bunch of images pulled up in a search of Sequoyah.  She explained that she could quickly move back and forth between her notes and these images of the different presentation topics.  "I even found the alphabet invented by Sequoyah!" As she shared this with me, she was knowledgable, confident, proud.  Did I mention yet that this is a student who often struggles with work...limited by reading comprehension and written expression??

I am curious as to how she learned to so quickly manipulate the iPad...I am curious about how she came up with the idea of dancing between notes and visuals.  Those would be some helpful and intriguing follow up discussions. 

One thing I do know, however, is that this student shared a spark of genius with me today...one that we can certainly use to light the way for her fellow classmates and other classroom applications. 

A Grand Debut

http://johart1.edublogs.org/2012/03/20/edublogs-serendipity-webinar-overview-ipads-in-class/

After a ridiculously long waiting period (during which we assembled protective cases, put together a docking station, explored some apps, and talked with tech support about logistics), I finally realized enough was enough, and so I unleashed the iPads in my classroom.  Yes, we have had these since the fall and it is now December.

So...the results?  Here are some student comments, totally unprompted:

Female student, quite earnestly: "Thank you, Ms. Slater, for letting us use the iPads!!"

Male student: "If only we could have more technology...homework wouldn't be so boring!"

Male student (often struggles in class):  "I work so much better on the iPad!". When I asked him why, he said, "Because I can make things bigger...."

Now, this could be novelty...but I'm sensing we are on to something.  I am keenly aware that students can make text larger on a laptop...but there seems to be someting about the tactile and personal experience of the iPad that surpasses the laptop.  And given my own affinity for tap, tap, tapping on my iPad, and my admiration for the quality and clarity of visual images on the iPad, I can relate to the sentiments expressed by my students.

So, this is just the start, and only time will tell as we continue with our inquiry, but this is certainly a positive beginning.  I'll keep you posted...

Unable to Root Out Any Root Word Apps

My second post and already I feel like a cynic.  Note to self: tame inner cynic.  So, I am trying to find some engaging and educational apps and/or games that will help students interact with word parts.  All of the links online require that darn Flash player (see earlier post), and there seem to not be any interesting age-appropriate apps for "fun with morphology." Am I missing something?  Note to self: stay far away from technology on Friday nights.

(Non) Interactives on the iPad

As my students embark on a journey westward with Lewis and Clark, I wonder what kind of interactive resources are available through the iPad.  I want students to experience something that integrates primary documents, gripping graphics, narrative text, key terms, maps, and more.  Am I asking too much??  So I found something neat: Lewis & Clark--Into the Unknown on PBS (see link below).  This site had some, certainly not all, of the components I was looking for...but it needs Flash.  So out of luck.  Now, what's up with this oversight?  It seems that many tools are inaccessible on the iPad because of the lack of Flash player.  Is there a remedy in sight?  Is there a loophole in the system?  Or, am I forever limited to a similar, but not so slick, interactive on National Geographic?

http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/into/index.html
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/west/main.html

Note:  I tried to add a screenshot I created of the PBS site.  Blogger wouldn't save this post with the image.  Is the file too big?  How do I work around that?  Last year, I learned to save it as a JPEG, but I couldn't remember how to do it.  Ahhh, I LOVE technology!!  (60 minutes later when I should have been grading papers...)