Rich's+Journaling+Page

__**10/4/2010**__ Hello! As we are wrapping up our first day of training since school started,the ideas for use in the classroom have been coming faster and faster...the mysteries of the iPad are becoming less intrusive, and the uses for the class are beginning to reveal themselves...a bit. Still stuck on the idea that the best particular use of this technology for me is as a browser, but some additions to the app store in the recent past are encouraging. I am guessing that as time moves on, the app list will catch up to secondary education and become ore prevalent.

We have had some great ideas of use for learning centers, and today's exploration gave us much more material to choose from...an instructor in England has put together some wonderful primary source analysis activities which are going to benefit our students. Now to add those into our learning centers!

We scheduled some visitation with Depew and Alden in early November. Seems to be a great idea that shared experience in this new technology may be the best teacher of all...

__**10/26/2010**__ Excited as tomorrow and Friday we begin rolling out the iPads in Global 10r! We have put together a learning center regarding the culture of the Renaissance. The students will use the iPads to research particular components of the era, then use them to take an interactive quiz which will serve as the assesment for the two day project. With moat of the techno "glitches" seemingly worked out, this is it! I will post the link on my class website so that anyone reading this can view the project being done in class with the iPads.....more to come!

Update: Here is the link to the iPad Learning Center Project

~Rich

__**10/27/2010**__ A great "warmup" activity (used to be called anticipatory sets back when I was in school!) with the iPads being used today...Using Google Maps, I am having the students "tour" Florence, Venice, and Vatican City. It allowed the students to see the items we would be discussing in activity prior to them learning about them. (Duomo, Canals of Venice, St. Peter's Basillica). Using the auto-tilt feature and layers, they were able to get an unbelievable view of these places. It also allowed them to witness the geography of the area and how it impacted the historical development. Very Cool. And, they were absolutely freaked out by the fact that Google Earth could locate the exact spot of their iPad on earth. So naive...

~Rich

__**10/28/2010**__ The iPad experiment continued today, with 2 classes being introduced to the technology prior to our first major assignment using them. We took part in a Google Earth Warmup Activity, and then allowed 15 minutes for them to explore both Google Earth and the installed Applications. Students found the following applications to be extremely interesting: Speak It!, Penultimate, Draw, and Virtusoso. They all, of course, wanted to install applications through their iTunes account. This required a restating of the initial discussion about the grant purposes and objectives. They will need to purchase their own iPad if they want to install!

The procedures for using the iPad has proven to be challenging. With only 17 machines between myself and Ms. Ferguson, we must plan carefully to make sure that equal opportunity takes place. To make sure that all iPads are consistently monitored, and that students are responsible for their use, we have created a sign out binder for each individual machine.

We have been certain that only students in the designated classes are utilizing the iPads. Although...demand and requests for use have been extremely high! Studyhall students, other classes, and even staff have hoped to use the technology...but, the log has been created so that only Science and Global students in our classes are utilizing them.. That is all for today! ~Rich

__**10/29/2010**__ Day Two of the iPad Experience in Global...With the initial "WOW" factor vanishing, the true value of the technology as an educational tool will soon expose itself. Today, we continued to explore relative sites on Google Earth as a way of introduction into a major assignment next week in Renaissance Europe. The relative comfort and ease the students have picked up the technology is a bit surprising to me. Although I am quite aware of the paradigm shift in the past 15 years regarding technology, it is amazing to watch 15 year olds assimilate into the iPad. The same technology which would baffle and confuse even the most willing post 30 year olds is just another "thing" in the collection of this generation. Quickly learned, and utilized in ways that even the most dedicated of us past High School would never imagine. This is an exciting part of this grant to me, as I am gaining an insight into their genesis with the technology. Where they end up, I may also....and hopefully gain insight into how best use this exciting technology. Have a great weekend, and Halloween!

~Rich

__**11/1/2010**__ Our first observation today, and the Renaissance project is in full swing. We started with a virtual visit (courtesy of Google Earth) to Venice, Florence, Constantinolple, Pisa, and the Mediterranean Sea. This allowed students to witness with their own eyes the trade routes followed by Middle Age Traders. Then it was on to the actual internet based research project iPad Learning Center Projectwhich asks the students to trace the origins of and find the results of the "rebirth" of European Culture. Using the iPads for the group quiz will turn the ipad into a test taking skill, with a program written to assess their research and grade it out of 100%. The iPads will conclude the study of Renaissance Culture with a Virtual Art Museum Tour ( Renaissance Art ). Overall, the kids have remained remarkably focused on the task at hand. They have fallen in love with the technology of the iPad. One of the periods today had to substitute laptops for the iPad (as they were being used in Science) and the energy and level of work dropped significantly. All of the nightmares of laptop use (bad connections, slow speed, etc) vanish with the browsing capabilities of the iPad, and the students and I both noticed the difference. Already I am looking forward to the next opportunity to utilize them in class in several weeks. I will be shipping them off to science next week for Kim's next unit, but I will ready for their return! __**12/8/2010**__ Using the FlipVideo Camera, students in my Participation in Government Class put together Campaign Commercials for their study of the political electoral process. Seniors put together campaigns for the "Foundation Party" which included the commercial as well as an introductory speech in class. The opposing party was called the "Better Party" The class also researched 10 campaign platform positions using the iPads and offered a candidate debate in class. The research assignment is located here. This project continues, and further updates will be posted! The final commercial and speeches will be given to class in mid-January. __**12/2010**__ The Global 10R students were asked to analyze the 95 Theses of Martin Luther as part of their study of the Protestant Reformation. Upon finishing the assignment, students used the iPads to comment on a Blog as either Martin Luther or Pope Leo X. This was a quick wrap up of the study with the iPads, but it worked well and stimulated a nice discussion in class! __**12/2010**__ As we wrapped up a lesson on Absolutism in Europe, the students were asked to use the iPads to research a particular leader and create an informational poster for the class. After completing the posters, they were displayed in the class. As a final assesment for the unit, students utilized the research completed using the iPads to complete a Thematic Essay on Absolutism. They were allowed to walk the room and use all of the posters to garner information used to complete the essays. This interactive lesson combined iPads with the need to have a solid base of factual information needed to complete a Level 5 essay on the June Regents Exam. __**12/22/2010**__ As 2010 comes to a close with the first use of iPads in the classroom, I have become very impressed with the ability of this technology. Each activity completed gives new ideas for another. While the true value of the iPad in a High School setting seems to be leaning towards the excellent web browsing capability of the iPad, as more and more applications are added it may prove to be even more beneficial. As months have passed, the App which is used the most in the class is Google Earth. I cannot express how improved the students vision of Geography is by placing the locations we study on this App. It gives them perspective, geographical obstacles and benefits. Our study of Italy, Russia, the Age of Exploration and the Architecture of Europe have all been enhanced incredibly by using Google Earth in class. It has become a very common (and expected) use! __**2/1/2011**__ The class World History, 1980-Present is currently working on the cultural effects of the Cold War on music, art, and cultural perception. The iPads came in handy for this! We were able to use them and watch many music videos, movie clips, and speeches from the era. Students brought in their earbuds, and went at it for several classes. Led to amazing discussion about the power of music on social beliefs and the role of the media in the Cold War. __**2/16/2011**__ A long awaited return to a major iPad project! We put together a partner centers project on the Industrial Revolution. It utilizes the internet to provide video, primary sources, and document analysis. To watch a video showing the progress of the students on this assignment, click HERE (To watch the video, you will need to open it using Apple Quicktime. It is in Mp4 Format.) __**3/17/2011﻿**__ The use of the iPad technology which has worked best for me in Global has been one which fuses internet research with multimedia presentation. Using iTunes, QuickTime Video, Safari, and YouTube has allowed me to put together "virtual centers" which can allow a given assignment to address multiple learning styles and allow for true differentiation of the input. As the year has progressed, we have been able to tweak this model into different assignments. For our Global Teaming class, Kate and I have put together the following assignment on World War One which attempts to hit many styles of learning and appeal to different modes of instruction. I will follow this up with some FlipVideo and student examples as the students progress on this assignment during the week. ~Rich