You may have seen on Twitter yesterday that the DLC team completed an iPad challenge. What is an iPad Challenge, and why did we do it? Great question! We challenged ourselves to spend a day in the life of a 1:1 learner here in CISD. That's right, we ditched our MacBooks, keyboards, and even our Apple Pencils in order to experience a day just like our learners do. Back at TCEA, I had challenged myself to leave my MacBook in my hotel room each day. I had a fabulous time, although, I'll admit, I did use my Apple Pencil and keyboard during that week to take notes. I was admittedly nervous about this challenge, not because I'd miss my MacBook, but because I knew I would miss the Pencil! However, I successfully completed the challenge, and had some major "Aha!" moments along the way. How did the challenge work? My teammate Alli Pryor led the charge for this challenge, and she worked with DLCs Brad Cook and Brian Timm to create a Bingo board of tasks for us to complete during our day. These purposeful tasks made the experience much more authentic and aligned with how learners spend their day. The Bingo board was created in Pages, and on the day of the challenge, I made my own copy of the board in order to track my completed tasks. I'm competitive and an avid Bingo player, so I went for a blackout! You'll also notice the reflections linked below each task. DLC Brooke Sims and I worked together to create reflection spaces on Schoology discussion boards in order to give everyone the opportunity to jot down their successes and struggles for each task. Do you know what the coolest thing was about the discussion boards? There were struggles, sure, but overall, the comments reflected more successes than frustrations, everyone learned something, and everyone shared cool tricks they discovered - or even simply remembered - throughout the day. What were the results? I feel that, personally, the challenge was successful because I developed empathy for the experiences - successes and struggles - of our learners. When things didn't work exactly as I wanted them to, I had the opportunity to problem-solve and seek alternate solutions to complete the tasks I was doing. It reminded me of some of the most basic trouble-shooting skills I used to teach my learners (restarting the iPad, toggling the wifi on and off, restarting apps), and reinvigorated me to use some of my favorite apps that I've been ditching in favor of my MacBook (like the Apple native apps Pages, Keynote, and Numbers; Chatterpix Kids; and Google Drive apps, especially Google Keep). Above all, what I valued most about the experience was the refreshing opportunity to consider the tasks I complete each day and the tools at my disposal. I realized that even though often times my MacBook is the most efficient device to use to complete many tasks, it isn't always the most effective. Moving forward, I will be more intentional about considering my goals and then selecting the tool that best fits the task - just as I want our learners to do. Check out the Twitter moment below that features my teammates' reflections on The Great iPad Challenge! Are you inspired to take on the challenge? I'd love to hear from you - and I can share the task card template if you want to play Bingo, too!
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I've already shared my notes from TCEA, but I want to give you more details about some of the things I learned. Over the next few posts, I'll be sharing my top TCEA takeaways, starting with... My friend and teammate, Brian Timm, is also the Apple Distinguished Educator who presented this session at TCEA. Although I have become very comfortable using Keynote on my MacBook, I was really happy that I decided to focus on using my iPad during this session. It made me appreciate how seamless the transition is between devices, and how accessible and user-friendly this interface is - which is great news for using this app with learners! Change Your Thinking Since this session, I've been sharing with more and more educators the power of Keynote. Typically, the exchange will go something like this: Me: Do you ever use Keynote in your classroom? Educator: Keynote... I've heard of that. Isn't it just a presentation software like PowerPoint? Me: It is a presentation software... but it is SO MUCH MORE than that! Let's unpack some of the reasons why we should think of Keynote not as a presentation software for the educator to use, but more as a tool that can unlock learner creativity and transform the way they are able to make meaning and share what they know. Take Your Class "All Over the World" with Instant Alpha Instant Alpha is the image feature that "magically erases" backgrounds out of images - I use that phrase specifically for anyone who uses Photoshop. However, instead of bringing your image into Photoshop, struggling through figuring out how to use the magic eraser, saving the image, then uploading it into your presentation, you simply use Instant Alpha in Keynote to create the same effect - in far fewer clicks! Check out this example of how Instant Alpha can transform your images: Record in the Command Center to Capture Learner Voice We know now more than every before that we can and should allow learners to use a variety of modalities to show what they know, and it seems that speaking is becoming more highly regarded as a valuable expression tool for learners. Right inside of Keynote, learners can record in order to explain their thinking. This does not necessarily have to replace writing, since you have various text features within Keynote, but it can supplement, enhance, and transform how they're able to demonstrate their thinking. Below you can view examples of learners using Keynote as well as a multitouch book that will guide you through using Keynote to tell stories: Digital Manipulatives to Deepen Learning Apple apps like Pages and Keynote have a library of shapes that are not only polished looking, but customizable. You can change the size, shape, and color, add a border to turn the shape into an outline, give the shape a shadow, or even use it as a text box. Think of the things that could be done with these! You could provide learners with a template you've created so that they can practice things like... Animate Using Magic Move There's a reason this feature is called Magic Move - it really is magical what happens when you use this transition to animate your slides. In short, using Magic Move between two or more slides with the same shapes or text in them creates a seamless transition in which your audience sees the path of transition, even when objects change color or size, like this: That's just my basic example. Scroll back up and watch (or rewatch) the Demonstrating the Digestive System I linked above. That is an example of shapes and Magic Move in the hands of a learner! Here's another incredible example of what can be done with Magic Move: The Possibilities Are Endless They truly are! Do you use Keynote in your classroom? Do your learners use Keynote? I'd love to hear about the experience, as well as see some of your examples! Share in the comments below!
The Internet Is Down, Now What? You may remember that fateful day two weeks ago when the Internet went down for our entire district. Days like that can really throw a wrench into anyone's plans, but my friend and fellow DLC Alli was inspired to explore ways to use the iPad without wifi. Alli provides a list that is definitely worth printing - in case, you know, the Internet goes down again. Focus on the Learning: The Triple E Framework I recently participated in a book study over Liz Kolb's book Learning First, Technology Second, which discusses the need for and provides a technology integration metric that focuses on exactly what the book title suggests: putting learning at the forefront of decisions regarding technology integration. Check out my friend and fellow DLC Megan's post about the Triple E Framework. Moving from Feedback to Feedforward One of my favorite education podcasts - really, one of my favorite podcasts, period - is Jennifer Gonzalez's Cult of Pedagogy. Technically this is from January, but since this is my first Link Roundup, I'm going to include it anyway. In this podcast, Gonzalez interviews Joe Hirsch, author of The Feedback Fix: Dump the Past, Embrace the Future, and Lead the Way to Change. Gonzalez interviews Hirsch to find out exactly what feedforward is, and how and why it works. (Not a fan of podcasts? Don't worry, Gonzalez provides a transcript for your reading pleasure.) I'm a SOLE Man... No, this post isn't about the Blues Brothers song, although it does feature a fun song lyric. Inspired by Pinkerton 4th grade educator Kori Haverstick, I led my team in a Self-Organized Learning Environment with the StartSOLE app. My friend and fellow DLC Megan reflects on her experience in her post. An Apple a Week DLC Blog Series Lastly, don't forget to check out the winter blog series: An Apple a Week, led by my friend and fellow DLC Alli. |