Kelly+Jeffords


 * Students are excited to use the iPads. __They__ love that they're automatically signed on to the internet and __I__ loved that they can't pretend to have log-in issues when they were really just fooling around. They also can't believe that we want them to use them "just to use them" during academic support and to play around to see what they can create or do with the apps.


 * Have spent a week using the iPads to do research. Had a couple of scares with missing iPads. "Oh, here it is under the newspapers!" =S It would be awfully easy to slip one in a notebook and walk out of class. Luckily they're so new, I'm paranoid & vigilant. Students will be given permanent iPad numbers so that they must use the same iPad each time in order to avoid the passcode lockout concern and monitor any internet-use infractions. This will also quicken the distribution & return times.


 * Have had access to the iPads for a few weeks now. The novelty is beginning to wear off for my seniors because they have had regular access to them. They are now asking to use laptops for many tasks instead of __always__ taking an iPad. They don't really want to learn the dropbox option when they have things started on a computer. They'll still take one to do research or surf the web if they're available. When they do try to type on the iPad, I find them using texting shortcuts instead of formal writing.


 * Observed iPad use at Pioneer in English classes. The PowerPoint review used in one class had a glitch but the teachable moment was that the students were able to solve the problem themselves and use the iPad scrolling feature to solve it ~ they were totally unfazed. The iPads allowed students to quickly and easily jump from site to site with quck page loading. It would be easier if you could do a little multi-tasking on the iPad so that students could have 2 sites up side by side or be looking at one while another continued to load. I liked Ian's use of the iPad and Elmo to allow students to share visuals they found with the class. This is way more convenient than having everyone bring up their site on the teacher workstation or using laptops to try to share. We'll definitely steal that!


 * I love that the iPad allows for easy access of information however, I'm still finding it very limited for product creation.


 * Been trying to find something to use the iPads for other than a web quest and am failing! Every interactive site I go to requires flash or has pictures that are not supported. It is unbelievably frustrating! This should be a perfect surfing tool but without flash capabilities it's too limited.


 * Loving Google Earth these days to use as a hook. Having kids "wander around" different places, whether it's New York City or the Parthenon,checking out what Wikipedia has to say allows them to stumble upon learning and information.