Danilo's+Journaling+Page

//Most recent entries are at the top//
 * Danilo Lawvere's iPad journal**
 * ESL teacher with students in K, 5, 6, 7, 11**

061611.Thursday I've finnally posted my lessons for storykit. Of course, with the new Ipad2, the possibilities for using Storykit have greatly expanded. Built in to the version of StoryKit for Ipad2 is the appility to take photos using the Ipad2 directly in the app. The images can be painted on within Storykit as well. This opens up the possibliitiy of getting personalized images without having to use the internet, or preloading images when you are conneceted.
 * Ipad StoryKit possibiliities expanded**

Now that the grant is "over" I'm sure that use of the Ipad has only just begun. I look forward to continuing the discussion and collaboration that's started with my fellow Ipad-using colleagues, as well as having a chance to assist others in using it in their classes.

052311 Monday Story Kit is an excellent app for producing simple multimedia presentations or books. I like to think of it as PowerPoint for all ages. I use it extensively with Kindergarten and other primary grade ESL students, but have also used it with all ages. It allows for the students to produce interesting, language rich content. Its well suited for the preoccupation of the last series of posts, since its a blank slate, with a variety of simple tools which allows you to create content, rather than just receive or consume it. Once you are done, others can read it like a multimedia book on your device, or it can be emailed. Each of the tools in themselves are simple, but when combined, the students produce unique and interesting content which they are proud of. And like so many things on the Ipad, its very quick. The simple tech skills that are used--basic keyboarding, placement and basic image manipulation, painting, sound recording, and layout introduce students to the sensibilities and techniques which can be further developed in web design or powerpoint presentations. The language skills--writing and speaking combine with artistic expression in color palette, painting, layout and image selection to produce a pleasing product. The choices on words, sounds, images and the design considerations allow it to be an active tool of production, not just passive consumption.
 * Production: Story Kit--"Powerpoint for all ages"**

051011 Tuesday The Ipad is a good tool for getting information. It is also a way to give information. For the teaching purposes that I'm engaged in, I want students to give me information, in their own words, so that it answers a question or tells a story, or explains an idea. I think when TV first came out, people thought of it as a learning tool. Imagine the wealth of information delivered instantly to people everywhere. Sounds like the internet. It quickly became clear that what kind of content that TV delivers can vary widely. One could argue that some of the content is actually anti-educational. Nonetheless, when it comes to learning languages, even junk on TV can be helpful. And no one would argue that both TV and the internet is an indispensible tool in advancing and disseminating knowledge. For languge, it is sufficient that one has some level of attention or interest in what is being presented. We don't need to settle for junk, however. What appears like a listening tool, doesn't just help listening. Through imitation and modifcation of what you've listened to, you can improve your speaking, writing, vocabulary, sentence structure, idioms etc. Having the music and rhythm of the langauge in your ear, along with the ways in which the music and rhythm changes plays an important role in producing language yourself. Still, you have to actually try to do it yourself. You have to make mistakes, take risks and do it repeatedly. Someone made the argument somewhere on the internet, that the internet is making us dumber. (Naturally, that's all I remember of the argument!) I think that its important to engage the language and have opportunities to produce your own content. Let's not let the Ipad just be an infotainment device. Let's keep finding ways to create a variety of content that push students to express ideas in definite ways that allows precision as well a subtlety and nuance.
 * Reception and Production (continued): Get and give information**

050911 Monday I will make reference to issues in ESL, but I think its clear that there are connections to other areas. In ESL, we generally address 4 modalities--Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. Listening and reading can be considered receptive skills, and speaking and writing can be considered productive skills. I think that the Ipad should be looked at both as a receptive and productive tool. It is important to note without elaboration that all four modalities should be used in lessons, but that they influence eachother--reading improves reading, but also writing, speaking etc. The Ipad has perhaps received most attention when it comes to consuming or recieiving content, and perhaps rightly so. The ease with which one can access content in the form of text, sounds, images or images with sounds makes it a great tool for reading and listening as skills in themselves, as well as for receiving content within the broader learning environment. Heavy users may spend hours daily reading websites, electronic books and other content, as well as getting information from recordings, videos, photos, graphical images etc. Naturally the nature of the content is a different discussion, and in the educational setting a teacher can play an important role in guiding which content to consume or receive. Suffice it to say that many teachers have had positive experiences of using Ipads where students access webistes, videos, maps and other content. These are important receptive experiences. When it comes to creating or producing content, Ipads may be considered less robust than a typical laptop or desktop computer. What people are ussually talking about here is writing content, like a term paper, or producing art work or a video or a presentation or a website. The specific forms for which we enjoy a full featured word processer with full keyboard, or powerful programs like photoshop or powerpoint, are however perhaps not the arena for comparison. Creation or production of content is definitely possible and has some advantages with the Ipad. Direct input with their fingers allows students to immeadiately create words and images in paint programs. Quick and easy access to photos or Google images, allows them to show content which they can comment on by writing or speaking. Inegrated voice recording can quickly also give a record of their speaking--for easy and quick pronuciation, grammar, word choice etc assessment. I think I will concentrate on the issue of prodcution on the Ipad since in terms of receiving or consuming content on the Ipad, there seems to be a lot of thinking and materials, but less so with production. Some topics for the coming days: Reception and Production: Get and give information Reception and Production: active and passive learning. Understanding requires conscious participation, an act of finding out. Production: Story Kit--"Powerpoint for all ages"; Production: Show me. Is a picture worth a thousand words? Production: Increasing the ways to tell stories Production: Sonic Pics--something to check out--narration
 * Reception and Production**

010711 Friday Joe had to get a sub, but he still had people coming in to observe the Ipad in action. Wow. There are very brief instructions on the board. All the students knew exactly what they had to do, and they were all working away. There were 4 stations and each station had a series of 3 or 4 tasks, each one using different apps or aspects of the Ipad. The students were reading, watching films, drawing, listening and reading along, and answering questions. They were accessing the teacher website for links and questions, and viewing films on an educational site. They were uploading and downloading to dropbox with pohtos and texts. The stations was interesting, since each station just has Ipads, but it emphasizes the timing factor. Great job Joe--very well structured, students were well prepared, very engaged, and were getting alot of content in brief digestible pieces.
 * Very impressed by Joe Minutto's class**

010611 Thursday The Times has many articles on mobile computing. Here is an interesting recent one dealing with schools:

From The New York Times:

Math That Moves: Schools Embrace the iPad Spending money on tablet computers may seem an extravagance, but some educators say they are more than just a cool toy.

[|__http://nyti.ms/gjBzby__]

010311 Monday Rob Zdrojewski, computer and technology teacher at Amherst Middle school sent me the following very interesting link, he wrote: "If interested, take a look at what our Amherst 7th and 8th graders have created in support of using educational apps in schools: []" Great inspiration for using apps, for making videos about using apps, and for involving students in reflecting on the use of the apps.
 * Mobile Devices in Education**

122110 Tuesday

If a parent asked me right now if I would reccomend getting an Ipad for their kids, I would have several things to consider. First, we should be careful about reccomending equipment for students in our own district, since, as professionals, it might be argued that we are saying that its neccesary for the student's education, and therefore why wouldn't the district provide one? I think this is an important consideration, especially in a special ed context, and in light of the very positive press, like the links I posted yesterday. Beyond this point, however, I would still be cautious. I generally want to "wait" when dealing with the first device of its kind. Its only been out since April, and there will likely be a new model soon enough. Secondly, there are lots of competitors out now, whose efficacy should be monitored. There are still problems with the first Ipad--like the limited printing (I know that the new OS is supposed to deal with this, but we have yet to experience it), flash, (at least some) need for a mac, cost. It would probably be good to work out a collective pro/con list. I think I'd have a pretty long "pro" list just in terms of education, which isn't even mentioning all the personal, informational and leisure capabilites.With technology, devices and apps coming out so rapidly, one can't "wait" too long to get in on the latest and greatest thing. The factors I would weigh come down to the fact that learning the latest technology is indispensible for technology education, and being up on the modern world, but its not indispensible for education. We can all teach with stick/dirt or stylus/wax tablet, or chalk/board, but it is very nice to teach with the Ipad!

122010 Monday Someone referred to the teachers on the grant as "reps". I have mixed reaction to this. Yes, we represent the grant, and yes we can represent what the device is and can do. On the other hand, I'm a little senstitive to appearing to be a cheerleader for a brand, especially for a trendy and consumer oriented product. In truth though, while all these things are true, at the same time it appears to be a good quality product. Now the planned obsolesence is another thing...

I've had some more discussion on special education and ipads. Here are some links to consider: http://www.districtadministration.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=2619 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/nyregion/31owen.html

121710 Friday One thing I found interesting about our traiing on Wednesday is the amount of work that everyone is putting in to the project. Speaking for myself, I am motivated by the qualiity of the experience, both for myself and my students. This is a modern and, it seems effective, way to take in and output information. The positive qualities are what push me to want to do more. But, I was tired after that traiining. Its alot of activity and brain work: trainings, visitaitions, internet research and reading of blogs, personally exploring the apps, browsing the app store, testing new apps, planning and modeling lessons, observing and eliciting feedback from students, demonstrating to colleagues, journaling and lots of conversations with the others in the project. I think we are getting to the point where we can start boiling down or own and others experiences.

121610 Thursday I saved one of my responses to the survey so that I could paste it here. Can we see our surveys? With ells, we try to use all four modalities-reading, writing, speaking and listening in order to practice and learn the same modalities. Often, we use materials from content areas. The iPad is a tool that allows quick creation and accessing of visuals, texts, and sounds by both teacher and student. Thus, any given concept or content can be tailored to an individual student, and both teacher and student can generate multiple media, using various modalities, until the given concept or content is mastered or sufficiently learned.

121010 Friday I just figured out how to mail storykit stories. They allow you to save the storykit to a website, and then you can send an e-mail which links someone to the site confidentially. This is the only way to share the story lit stories.

120710 Tuesday Be careful about resetting your ipad. For some reason, apparently having to do with flash content, safari crashed and i could not get it to open without a message in the middle of the screen..I was impatiently trying to fix the problem when I accidentally reset the ipad. Well, this means that I had to have the image restored by our technical staff which means that anything that I had on there is now gone. Not that there was anything very important, but it will take a while to reinstall apps that are not with the original set up we started with. I would have saved important photos or documents to the dropbox. I only installed free apps, I wonder if one would have to re-purchase the apps if they were paid for? Unlike with the i-books, where there is a record of books you've already downloaded, its not clear that the app store remembers what you had previously downloaded. Since I have some app reloading in store I think I should mention the ones that I really think are important--one is Adobe Ideas--this is just a much better painting and image manipulation program than others. I also have 3 or 4 phonics type apps that I use with kindergarten that i've reinstalled. The google app, with voice search input, is also key.

110810 Monday It was a very busy week, and I didn't get a chance to journal. This reminds me that being involved in the grant is additional work. Learning to use the ipad and make it an effective tool takes time, lots of discussion and research and practice. Its helpful that we had our visitations during staff developement times so that we can put in some work on them. Last week Sue visited and then I visited her classes at Cayuga Heights Elementary. Based on our discussions and planning together, we had both used primarily Story kit for our Ipad lessons. This way we could both assist eachother's students. My lesson used Story kit for personal journal entries. Sue's lesson used story kit to recount a story that the group had collectively read about Johnny Appleseed and planting apples. She had dowloaded a variety of images that worked with the story and then the students in small groups took turns choosing pictures and writing text to go with them, as well as any other drawing they thought to add, so that in a few moments each group had a short book which included the main plot and themes from the story. ONe group also tied the story to science class by discussing how seeds grow into trees. I enjoyed my visit, and it gave me some new ideas, as well as reinforcing some of my ideas about effectively using Storykit. At this point I'm using Ipad almost everyday with most groups. The middle school students are regularly journaling or telling stories with the Ipad. I spent some time downloading free ibooks and will possibly use those for reading and finding definitions. The free books vary in quality, so it would be good in the future to have a book budget, although I guess there may well be many texts which the school acquires that will include an electroinc version. I use the Ipad everyday with Kindergarteners as well. They use it for writing, both typing and letter formation, as well as reading and hearing pronunciation, and for vocabulary flashcards. In addition to the language goals that I can achieve with the Ipad, I think its also important to recognize the value of the skills which are intrinsic to the Ipad. I have no doubt that personal devices will be ubiquitous in no time at all. Just think that the Ipad only came out a few months ago, and already there are dozens of competitors in the tablet arena, not to mention smart phones etc. My complaint with Apple is the over emphasis with commerce--every turn we are supposed to spend more money for books or apps etc. This also means that way apps or books are organized is not so straight forward, not like a public library--a model I would favor both in terms of how its organized and the spirit of sharing the materials for free.

110110 Monday Today Sue Sadkin from Depew visited our school. We worked on a number of applications of the iPad, and also discussed some of the issues facing ESL students.

102710 Wednesday I spent quite a bit of time last night reviewing, downloading and testing apps for phonics and sight words which I will be mainly using for my kindergarten students. The students read, write, speak, listen to the letters or words, and on some of them, they can also record their own voice. Initial results are good. I have also gotten a few apps which allow you to make your own flashcards. THe apps are somewhat limited, especially since they are free, but combining more than one together is helpful. I'm looking for a good picture dictionary for the Ipad mainly for purposes of basic vocabulary.

Since I travel to different buildings, it is helpful for me to have my flashcards, worksheets, books and other materials all together in one device, which then also holds the student work.

102510 Monday No special discoveries or insight today. The iPad was more like an appliance today. We picked it up in order to quickly find the weather, or for Wikipedia, or look for image. It also served as a brief free time for my students when we had 10 min. left at the end of class.

102210 Friday A feature of the Ipads that has come to the fore is that it is quick and easy to use. Some examples from yesterday and today: I was explaining my work with an esl student to a colleague, when I just pulled out the Ipad and showed her my notes, and his work on penultimate and storykit--it was quicker than finding my written notes and having to page through them. I was reading an old fashioned book with another student, when he wanted to find out more about coonhounds (//Where the Red Fern Grows)--//no need to wait for a computer to boot up or to go find the encylopedias in the library. Literally within seconds we had several photos downloaded, and were reading from an article about the dogs. A kindergartener wanted to show me what his Halloween costume will look like. He doodled his drawing, we placed in story kit, then he, on his own, insisted on adding text, which he typed in: identifying his storykit and his costume: Kalin book spiderman. It is a useful "go to" tool--small, immediately on, lots of possibilities.

Yesterday's eclicker experiment went off without much of a fuss. THe only problem was not having enough questions. FOr a small group in person it probably is not the key thing to use, but I can see how it might be nice for a large lecture. Also, you should be able to ask students questions wherever they might be so long as they have a device.

102110 Thursday I'm experimenting with eClicker today.

102010 Wednesday Jeff helped me figure out how to save photos to dropbox. From Dropbox go to photos folder and then click the plus sign at the lower left where it asks to upload photo. Then you'll get a display of photos on your ipad.

I also got a sweet stand for the IPad from Kristin via Jeff. I will guard it with my life. They are worth their weight in gold is what we've been told.

I also installed drop box on my work laptop. its pretty easy to quickly drop your files into it, and then you can access them from Ipad. Formatting was negatively affected, however.

Work with kindergarten was fun as usual. There are several interesting apps dealing with phonics for this level which I may try to use

101910 Tuesday I am trying to use technology for students journals. Usually, I have my students write daily in their journals. They write about weekend activities, or they may answer a writing prompt. Recently, I've tried to have them type their journal entries into laptops. This seems to work well. The question is: can we use the iPad for this?

-Well, I gave it a try. Those students were able to type into the iPad. The problem, of course, was where to save the students work. I can use drop box for the iPad that I am working on. But, do I have to log into drop box for each of the iPads which the students is working on?

I also tried to have the students dictate into dragon. Unfortunateliy this was not very effective.

I had another positive experience with my other kindergarten student. While I was showing him, the principal at Marilla Primary also came by and she got a demonstration. I think they both enjoyed it.

101810 Monday

I used the iPad with my kindergarten student at Elma today. It looks like it has a lot of potential. He immediately started drawing, and responding to my prompts to use prepositions. He also wrote his name and some of the sight words that he knows. He enjoyed seeing the photographs which he could then write on. I'd like to see how dragon works with him since he has an accent, and it could help him perfect his speech until it understands him. I also plan to use story kit with him, and he may use more voice recordings until he has more literacy.

I think I'm becoming hooked on this Dragon dictation. One of the challenges with what my job is that I have to travel to many different buildings. So, I was driving back from the primary school, when I thought, quote hey this is a perfect time to dictate my journal entry." Evidently, it does require an Internet connection, which I did not have. Oh well. But seriously, I think the dictation makes up for some of the lack of robustness in inputability. I also think that the iPad or similar devices are bound to Improve rapidly, so that the features of word and excel are usable, for instance. More difficult for me to see is how we'll edit photos or videos, or do artwork or layout in detailed way.

101510 I'm having a bit of a spurt in journaling. I think it has to do with my own enthusiasm for the iPad. More to the point, perhaps I am excited about the possibilities of what the iPad could become. For example, I've made a point of doing all of my entries for the journal on the iPad. I can't say that typing on the keyboard has been interesting or compelling. Rather, I've been using the Dragon to dictate my notes. This has worked pretty well! I do have to make some corrections or additions.

My son at home is regularly using the iPad for his dictionary and calculator and for flash cards. I've somewhat de-emphasized the entertainment aspect of the iPad with my kids at home. Still, we have watched the occasional humorous YouTube video, such as, the one about the cats.

Could the iPad be the one device? One device for everything? Imagine going on a trip where all you would need for your children's education is the iPad. All the books, images, diagrams and movies are in there, and they enter their writing and projects into the device. Yes, they still need you and the experiences, and other kids to interact with. But they may not need much else...

Okay---i just wrote half of this on the keyboard, and it wasn't that bad. The students really enjoyed being able to make almost instant multimedia work. They found the pictures, they added the sounds, they wrote some text, they modified pictures. The response has been overwhelmingly positive.

I'm curious about what kind of apps exist for special needs. A colleague of mine, a speech pathologist, is using Dynavox's for her students. Seems like the iPad could do the same job.

101410 I worked with two middle school students who've rapidly picked up basics of the iPad. I am a little concerned that the iPad is almost too exciting, what I mean is that, they may not want to be limited in the amount of time that I give them.

Now I am going to show a high school student how to use Dragon. I hope it may be on method for her to input her ideas, since she has lots of trouble with spelling. People, that is, her teachers, also sometimes have trouble reading her handwriting.

I just had a chance to show the speech pathologist some features of the iPad. Mr. Kenny, principal of high school, also came in at that time and he got to see different apps on the iPad.

One student really likes dogs. He likes black labs. He also likes other kinds of labs. He likes to pick the pictures that have dogs on them, and then we'd like to write words that go with the pictures. We also like to make the sounds that go with the pictures.

101310 I have been wanting to journal using dragon to transcribe my words. First I lost a paragraph which stated that I had introduced the ipad to my high school student who used it to find images with google and got a brief introdcution ehich was positive.

A great introcution was with a 5th grade student. His face just lit up as he made drawings and notes in penultimate, search for photos of dogs and then added text to it in comic touch. He also used his comic to start a new book in story kit, where he added text, drawings and sound effects,

The following was recorded and transcribed with dragon:Next I am introducing the iPad to the middle school students. I'm not sure how they will react. On the one hand, they have some experience with iPods. On the other hand, they tend to like to play and so may not want to follow directions. We shall see...

10/8/10 I felt like we alll worked hard at our meeting last Tuesday

I presented some of my ideas using story kit, and several of you seemed to like it, Kristin added an interesting idea of using story kit for vocabulary, where different pages could contain words, definition, sentence example, drawing, photos and audio pronunciation