All posts in category iPads

A Snapshot of Technology Integration

We started using iPads in our classrooms in 2011. Since our adoption of our 1:1 iPad Program K – 6 , in January 2013, we have focussed on using the SAMR Model as an underlying scaffold. We have also tried to look at ourselves through the Apple lens of The Five Best Practices.

The journey is very much an ongoing one and while we have been delighted to see an amazing evolution take place there remains a sense of untapped possibilities. We are starting to imagine an environment which brings STEM / STEAM into play more inventively, more authentically, more naturally.

Our iPad devices are amazing in their versatility and their power to enable almost anything.

The iPad environment has pushed us in many new directions and has grown our capacity and capability. When I think back to the difficult environment pre iPad and the narrow possibilities on offer via the standard laptop environment I cringe remembering the difficulties and limitations. Our classrooms then were places where technology was much less an enabler and much more a challenge to implement effectively across a large group of children.

I am often surprised when educators and those running technology programs in schools insist that they need more powerful laptop devices. For our Primary School classrooms iPads provide more than enough capability. There are those odd remnants of Flash which elude us e.g. Scratch and some fully blown environments such as Minecraft, but these can be catered for with a few additional ancillary devices or via a rich range of iPad app options. I shy away from returning to the clunky laptop form factor when such great, powerful portability is available in the iPad form. Certainly in our Primary classrooms portability is key for so much which is occurring. I am also surprised at fixations that some have for keyboards. With the way technology is evolving I wonder whether hardware like keyboards will become as odd to us in the future as floppy disks have become.

Our iPads are actively used as tools for capturing learning, communication, creation, collaboration, curation and research. All our learning programs are benefitting from the infusion of easy technological capability and certainly iPads have delivered this brilliantly.

Recently we had a visit from a couple of schools interested to see how we are integrating technology. As an early adopter of iPads, in a 1:1 context, our school attracts a few visits each year. From my point of view these are great opportunities for us to benchmark ourselves and also to interact with other educators. When the schedule for visits is devised our intent is to show real activity as it is occurring naturally in classrooms. There is never a change to our timetable or to the activities on display.

Here is the schedule for this particular visit. A snapshot of activity across the school.

Visit Thursday 17 March

9:30 Meet and greet – (Primary/ ICT) – overview of the iPad Program

9:35 Year 1 Maths – Patterns and Algebra, Seesaw

9:40 Year 6 – G&T group – flipping learning within the classroom

9:45 Year K – Literacy groups – QR Codes, Maths – Explain Everything

9:55 Year 6 Science (PBL) – Chemistry – student designed experiments – recording and reflecting on learning – various apps e.g. Greenscreen, iMovie, slow motion, time lapse etc

10:05 Year 4 PDHPE – Stile interaction – Anti Bullying

10:15 Meet The Principal – morning tea – The Vision

10:35 Meet Librarian – Aurasma, QR Codes, eBooks, and our Apple Distinguished Educator – flipping learning, PE (physical education teacher) – looking at biomechanics / visual feedback apps on an iPad

10:55 Year 5 – (Year 5 Teachers) sharing experience – Book Creator recording learning in Science, Comic Book narrative of learning HSIE

11:10 Year 3 Maths – Multiplication / Division – various apps Stile, Book Creator, Explain Everything

11:20 Year 2 Maths – Patterns and Algebra, Matific and other apps

11:40 Year 5 – using iPads to learn another language – oral learning – Quizlet and Stile

11:50 End

Snapshots from some previous visits:

A visit in 2015

A visit in 2013

It is interesting to compare and contrast the experiences and consider whether the learning program has evolved. What is not clearly apparent, in this brief snapshot, is the increased sophistication via applications such as stopmotion, green screen and the integration of many other applications – along with the power that Stile has brought to enable the exchange between teacher and student (iTunes U offers some similar capability). Nor apparent is the increased sophistication and engagement of the users both students and teachers.

Change is our constant and as I have already suggested a shift towards the real integration of STEM / STEAM is already underway and I hope that this shift will become apparent in the sorts of experiences in play across the school in future visits. Here I am alluding to a maker culture which leverages technologies, thinking and skills – incorporating robotics, coding, Minecraft, 3D printing etc. All of these capabilities can be accommodated and enhanced in a dynamic iPad environment.

Authentic learning opportunities are also a major focus. PBL is already a natural part of what we do in our classrooms and we are pushing ourselves towards Challenge Based Learning across K-6 and towards publishing and interacting with broader audiences.

2 Comments

by rhp123 on March 26, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Apple, Education, ipad, iPads, learning, Pedagogy, STEM, Stile, technology

Tagged CBL, education, maker, pedagogy, STEAM, STEM, visit

Posted by rhp123 on March 26, 2016

https://rhp123.wordpress.com/2016/03/26/a-snapshot-of-technology-integration/

To Do

To Do
I am preparing mentally for an onslaught of work in January. Many assume that schools close down in holiday periods (This is our long Summer break in Australia). For our school and for most others this is a fallacy. Of course it isn’t just me at work. Our Administration department is active, teachers are often industriously preparing for their students and a whole host of maintenance and cleaning occurs. In my case as the year slid to a halt I was purposefully anticipating and preparing for the 2016 school year. Much has already been done – ordering equipment / software etc and arranging support as required to help enable the process (my tech department consists mainly of myself and a couple of solid, external resources). Flowing on from this preparation is my new “to do” list for the January period. Running a technology infused 1:1 environment, so that it all runs smoothly, does take considerable effort.

.
To Do – January

Update IOS and apps on iPad class sets via Configurator – add / remove apps
Add additional iPads to cater for additional students – cases, screen protectors, configuration etc
Year 6 replace covers and label as required
Redistribution and labelling of class iPad sets to accommodate differing allocations K – 6
Conduct maintenance / repair / replacement for existing iPad stock – via Apple
Provision of technology resources etc for new teachers
Set up additional ancillary student MacBooks – ordered and received
Update existing MacBook supply – OS, apps etc
Set up Office 365 and migrate Exchange to The Cloud

https://products.office.com/en-au/academic/office-365-education-plan

Deploy Office 365 software across various school devices as required
Set up new replacement laptops for Smartboards in all classrooms – we will deploy Windows 10 on some of these (trialling functionality and software compatibility)
Set up a new Windows 10 PC in the Admin – testing compatibility etc
Set up iPad Pros for use with Special Ed program (experimental in consultation with Special Ed and Apple specialist).
Minecraft set up – looking at potential to integrate Minecraft Edu in learning programs

https://minecraftedu.com/about

Maker Space – robotics, drones etc – add EV3 software to all devices
Coding – creating a strategy to enable integration – teacher PD / student development
Revisit and resolve Clickview integration via Clickview support
iBook Authoring – Strategic overview of our technology integration program (ADS Program)
Planning for teacher PD in 2016 – MyPD for new teachers re integration of technology Term 1
Update of email accounts and setup of new accounts
Update information for “Stile” accounts (teachers and students)
Servers and network maintenance – software updates etc

Apple – planner

Day 1: Year 5 iPads, Year 2 iPads, MacBook update and setup new
Day 2: Year 4 iPads, Year K iPads, MacBook update and Setup new
Day 3 Year 3 iPads, Year 1 iPads
Year 6 iPads are provisioned under individual school owned accounts

Windows software / hardware planner

Prepare new laptops, develop new laptop profiles to be applied including Office update – consideration re Windows 10
Pull in existing Smartboard laptops (Windows), prep for clean and restore as required
Warranty repairs as required – Dell
Arrangements re Office 365
Preschool and ELC laptop (Windows) evaluation and replacement plan

As a teacher who has transitioned from the classroom to enabling technology integration I realise that bringing all of this together cohesively for the start of the school year is crucial. Teachers and students expect “it” all to be working and it must because our learning programs are now so intimately tied to technology. No Pressure!

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by rhp123 on December 20, 2015 • Permalink

Posted in Apple, Education, ipad, iPads, technology

Tagged holiday, technology, update

Posted by rhp123 on December 20, 2015

https://rhp123.wordpress.com/2015/12/20/to-do/

A Visit From Northern New South Wales

We recently hosted the visit of a leadership team from a school in Coffs Harbour. The visitors had travelled to Sydney to learn specifically about technology integration occurring at a couple of schools in Sydney.

The visitors were treated to a smorgasbord of technology integration. They enjoyed opportunities to interact with the children and they were provided with opportunities to connect with teachers.
As I journeyed around the school, facilitating the visit, I was privileged to witness some great learning in action. This is possibly the best part of my job – seeing the engagement of our students and the innovative ways in which technology has permeated our learning programs. We are happy to open our doors and to share what has worked for us and make valuable connections with other educators too.

Below is the plan for the visit which provides a snapshot of the experience.

Visit Plan:

1:00pm – Principal, ICT Coordinator – Meet / Greet – looking at the Vision, challenges and imperitives

1:30pm – Year 3 class teacher (ADE) sharing his experiences blending, flipping and helping to drive STEM initiatives

1:50 – Librarian – eBooks, QR Codes and Aurasma

2:00 – Year 4 Maths in action creating interactive games using Futaba

2:10 – Year 3 Maths in action, differentiated leaning in a blended classroom using Stile

2:20 – Music Year 5, GarageBand in action – creating music inspired by Star Wars

2:30 – Year 1 HSIE, Wet and Dry Environments using Pic Collage

Year 1 HSIE, Wet and Dry Environments using Popplet

2:40 – Year 4 Student Share Time – looking at student work samples and teacher experience – including CBL and 3D Printing

2:55 – Year 5 Student Share Time – looking at student work samples and teacher experience – including Book Creator Science Journals, Stop Motion, Keynote, iMovie, Minecraft

1 Comment

by rhp123 on November 25, 2015 • Permalink

Posted in classrooms, Education, iPads, learning, Pedagogy, students, teacher, technology

Tagged integration, iPad, PD, pedagogy, sharing, technology

Posted by rhp123 on November 25, 2015

https://rhp123.wordpress.com/2015/11/25/a-visit-from-northern-new-south-wales/

The Five Best Practices

During the holiday period I was fortunate enough to attend an Education Summit in Adelaide. I always find conferences inspirational and this one certainly was. This was a different sort of conference as it brought together the leadership of schools from across Australia and New Zealand that have been recognised as Apple Distinguished Schools. The conference was not at all about products, which we were all using in various configurations. The focus was clearly and coherently on our common interest of education / pedagogy.

One of the things I realise when I mix with other educators, leading change and innovation, is that there are some truly extraordinary people doing some truly exceptional things. These meetings and collaborative opportunities help to feed our vision. I often walk away realising that there is much, much more to do. This conference was no exception. Here assembled were many schools with mature dynamic 1:1 learning programs. Educators with clear vision and deep understanding of teaching and learning. They were representing schools whose teachers have been empowered through powerful professional learning commitments and where students are using technology as a natural part of their school life. The schools gathered were eclectic from across a wide spectrum of systems. This I think always enriches a conference because the models, challenges and solutions expressed are so diverse. There is always something new and unexpected and brilliant. There are perceptions and perspectives which always challenge our own narrow point of view.

Through a series of workshops, we explored Five Best Practices relating to visionary leadership, innovative learning & teaching, ongoing professional learning, compelling evidence of success and flexible learning environments. Each of the workshops encouraged us to look at ourselves objectively and to interact with the other educators. While we might consider that we are making great strides in integrating technology, taking this time to reflect and learn from the experience of others was really beneficial. It fed directly to vision and brings clarity to future planning. It was all about connection and self appraisal.

The Five Best Practices concept is really worth a close look. It extends on criteria going beyond the Distinguished classification, looking at how schools can aspire to achieve Exemplary and Transformative descriptions.

Clearly we are on a continuum and being able to better articulate where we are on that continuum is essential to future planning e.g. while we are integrating and creating impressive workflows are we creating truly authentic learning experiences? How can we become more focussed on providing personalised opportunities for our students? How can we do better in providing formative feedback to teachers? How can we reinvent our learning spaces to really match the needs of students?
Materials and resources were all provided efficiently via iTunes U and we were pointed towards many of the great resources being produced by educators and available in the iTunes U Library. Of course the evolution of iTunes U with 3.0 has revolutionised the possibilities as it is now possible to provide direct feedback to students. https://www.apple.com/au/education/ipad/itunes-u/

A great highlight, for me, was speaker Tim Jarvis who provided compelling insights into leadership in extreme circumstances. He spoke about Shackleton’s Expedition to the Antarctic and about his own expedition to retrace the impossible Shackleton journey. It certainly put our own struggles into perspective. Here I have to add that intertwined with this extraordinary tale was a deeper message about global warming and the subsequent environmental issues. Here is Challenge Based Learning in the extreme. You can learn more about Tim Jarvis’s journey here: http://www.timjarvis.org/speaking/video/

Another highlight speaker, educator Craig Smith, impressed with his passion and commitment to improving learning experiences of Autistic students. His creative use of technology to improve outcomes was inspired e.g. Using Minecraft to create digital representations.

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by rhp123 on July 27, 2015 • Permalink

Posted in Apple, Conference, Conferences, courses, Education, Innovation, ipad, iPads, Pedagogy, technology

Tagged Apple, conference, five best practices, pedagogy, summit

Posted by rhp123 on July 27, 2015

https://rhp123.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/the-five-best-practices/

STEM / STEAM In Action

Is this a school or a SCIENCE LABORATORY?

Over the last few days I have had the pleasure of observing our Year 3 Students at work. I enquired about the experiments underway.

“In Year 3 we are learning how to investigate a specific part of the universe known as Heat. We learn what heat is, how it moves through the world and what kinds of things can be changed by heat. We have created our very own testable questions about heat, and then designed and carried out experiments to try and answer these burning questions about thermal energy.”

What struck me was the focus of the children purposefully at work and the seamless, natural use of iPads to record and reflect on their observations and conclusions. What I was seeing, from these nine year old students, was real scientific process and authentic learning occurring.

This short video gives a small window into the great learning being experienced.

http://youtu.be/AzDDRik1i9s

A few steps away in another learning zone, this time Year 5, I found students in action conducting experiments on microorganisms. Here too I was seeing real scientific process as the students tested conditions which might influence the growth of mould on bread. Here too I was struck by the richness of the learning and by the engagement of the children as they conducted their experiments.

And then off to one side I stumbled upon a bizarre group of petri dishes also in various stages of growing “something”. Here was, as it turned out, a great and unexpected example of Science and Art at work. The Year 5 students were attempting to grow microorganisms in patterns to create works of art. It was clearly an example of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths) in action. The other aspect which I found particularly exciting was that the Year 5 teachers had brought a Scientist from the UNSW and a working Artist into the learning experience. These “real life” participants brought a sense of authenticity into the classroom. Being able to bring professionals into learning environments is now easier than ever before. Technology breaks down the physical barriers and opens great possibilities.

2 Comments

by rhp123 on June 17, 2015 • Permalink

Posted in ipad, iPads, learning, PBL, STEM, technology

Tagged iPad, Science, STEAM, STEM, technology

Posted by rhp123 on June 17, 2015

https://rhp123.wordpress.com/2015/06/17/stem-steam-in-action/

Making It Easy Isn’t Easy

Walking into classrooms and seeing learning in action is always a great pleasure. I am seeing a range of activity which I wouldn’t have imagined could become a reality just three short years ago. It is amazing how far we have progressed in our journey towards making technology a truly integrated part of our learning environment. Even our perception of what integration looks like has changed and that in itself is exciting.

Students regularly recording their learning using a variety of media
Teachers delivering differentiated and personalised content directly to students via their devices
Student workflows leveraging multiple applications
Regular, integrated use of open ended applications
Teachers actively recording learning for formative assessment
Teachers providing timely, poignant feedback
Students working, regularly in productive collaboration
Student and teacher intuitive engagement with technology
Curriculum being manipulated to leverage technology meaningfully
Direct and necessary communication between students and teachers
Students and teachers happy to explore, try new things and take risks
Students extending their own learning
Technology tools regularly employed to extend and support students
Confident technology users
Changing classroom dynamic – use of space, the way teachers and students work together
Easy exchange of information between teachers and students
A shift in the relationship between the student and the teacher
Greater ownership of learning by the students
Open ended learning – PBL, CBL
Proliferation of authentic learning opportunities

What I like best is that it all feels effortless. This isn’t to devalue the work of our wonderful teachers in any way because I know that in the background there is a great deal of effort being employed to enable the learning programs, but when I see it it feels completely natural. There isn’t a feeling of bells and whistles. The technology is seamlessly woven into the fabric of purposeful activity. And I know that this is how it is meant to be.

Making it easy isn’t easy. So what have been the crucial elements which have enabled our progress to this point?

Firstly the technology itself needs to be right. This is a major component. The technology needs to work reliably, day after day. Crucially for us running with a 1:1 iPad Program Internet and Wireless infrastructure are vital enablers. We opted for a corporate level CISCO wireless network. These devices have worked perfectly and have coped well with the high demands of multi user traffic. Our Internet has been continuously improved as demand has grown (40 up / 40 Down). Providing redundancy in case of failure of this primary link is also essential. If our Internet fails then our classrooms stall too. We have a 10 up / 10 down fibre redundancy.

iPads are our 1:1 device of choice and they have been brilliant. They have challenged us too, but once we understood the device and its Cloud based DNA we were able to leverage its versatility, portability and power. IPads for us have been a game changer. They have great battery life and they have proven to be extraordinarily robust and reliable. We turn over our iPads on a biannual basis. This maintains the quality of our iPad fleet. We do as little as possible regarding apps. Early on we realised that the best apps are the open ended ones and we only add odd apps here and there as required. In most instances the central core of apps are all that we require. Compnow have helped us with device deployment.

In our own experience Professional Development has been crucial to the success of our program.

Before embarking on our 1:1 commitment we needed to invest in preparing our teachers. Initially we supplied all of our teachers with iPads. We conducted workshops and provided hands on support via a full time support teacher to help our teachers with the technical side of using devices and to support pedagogical change.

We teamed with Datacom (originally Xcitelogic), a provider, who had a strong educational support team. We were able to leverage their experience, gained in early adopter iPad schools in Victoria, Western Australia, to inform our own experience. Datacom educators facilitated traditional workshops for our teachers and parents, but crucially they offered a mentoring program for our teachers. This mentoring enabled a personalised approach to support, grow and develop our teachers. Catering to the different needs of our teachers was essential and as a result we were able to bring all of our teachers along on a journey no matter what their starting point (this program is an ongoing part of our PD program). Teamed with this is a natural organic internal mentoring where our teachers work together to support each other.

Datacom educators have helped to push our boundaries and opened us to new possibilities.

We have also formed a close relationship with Apple Education and this relationship has provided ongoing vision around pedagogy and considerable inspiration and sense of purpose. We are supporting our teachers to participate in the Apple Distinguished Educator Program.

We are actively, now, involving partners like Datacom, Apple, Stile, Clickview, CISCO and Furnware in the process of helping to develop our teachers. We have found great advantage in developing and leveraging external connections.

Professional development has helped change us from being inward looking to becoming outward looking. Where we can we involve teachers in conferences and external workshops such as Edutech, Future Schools, AIS, Apple, VIVID, Datacom, Furnware, Stile etc.

Our professional learning journey has delved widely into Curriculum, thinking processes, pedagogical theory along with the integration of technology. Our teachers are becoming leaders of change, they are open to new ideas and our students are the clear beneficiaries.

The third game changer for us has been the integration of Stile into our classrooms. This has been a relatively new component in our program. The to and fro of information between the teachers and students has been one of the greatest challenges presented by our brilliant iPad tool. While we could create amazing work on our iPads being able to easily view and share was difficult. Initially we were using a range of tools e.g. Dropbox, email, Evernote, Showbie, Edmodo and iTunes U (iTunesU has rich content which is valuable. With a recent update (3.0) iTunesU now has capacity to interact in the to and fro of information more fully). All of these required accounts and offered different capacities. Stile has to a large extent allowed us to consolidate all of this via one application. Stile has “unlimited” capacity and is able to transfer all sorts of work. Stile has also enabled work anywhere, anytime capability because it is accessible via any browser as well as an app. Here I should mention that we don’t send iPads home (this has helped with maintenance and reliability) and Stile has meant that we have easily been able to blur the lines between home and school. Flipping becomes an easy, realistic option.

The last element I will discuss is planning and leadership. In our circumstance having leadership and commitment from across the School has enabled our vision to become a reality. In my role as a dedicated resource (supporting, managing and dreaming) I have needed the commitment of many participants. Bringing all together in a purposeful way is key. Often with all of this it has been about DREAMING BIG. While I can certainly dream big sometimes there are those who can dream even bigger. Being open to the dreams and visions of others is most crucial. Our School Board is a good example of dreaming big. We have recently perceived a need to evolve our learning spaces. We were starting to consider how we might reinvent our existing classrooms with furniture and some minor renovation. Our amazingly progressive Board wanted to dream much bigger. A whole architectural program has resulted, which will substantially reinvent our school. Sometimes the dreams can become enormous challenges. Here I must emphasise that the vision is what makes the dream sustainable. Certainly this has been true of our recent evolution and our integration of iPads in our learning environment. Leadership and Big Dreams have punctuated this. Dreams of teachers, of parents, of students and of administrators have sparked and evolved the vision. The tricky bit is interpreting, articulating, realising and building these into the structure. Some of the dreams of course don’t become reality immediately timing is also crucial. Knowing what will fly and when is also important. I have a strong belief that simplicity is vital. Educators don’t need or want complexity as it gets in the way of the teaching and learning. Students also need things to work easily. So sometimes dreams have to wait for technologies to mature enough to be viable. I note here that in some school environments there is abundant technical support and often these schools are able to be early adopters. In our circumstance we can observe and learn from these early adopters. There is much to be gained from learning from the experience of others.

We are seeing a revolution occurring and being a part of the conversation is crucial. For my own part social networking is vital – conferences, workshops and Twitter have been major enablers. I read a huge amount and it helps that I am really obsessive about enabling our learning environments. Seeing it all working simply and seamlessly in a wholistic educational context is the really exciting part.

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by rhp123 on June 8, 2015 • Permalink

Posted in Education, ipad, iPads, iTunes U, learning, learning spaces, Pedagogy, school, Stile, teacher, technology

Tagged education, integration, iPads, primary, school, technology

Posted by rhp123 on June 8, 2015

https://rhp123.wordpress.com/2015/06/08/making-it-easy-isnt-easy/

Teaching Gen Tech – a response to questions posed by “Stile”

Recently I attended a conference day with Stile – Teaching Gen Tech http://blog.stileeducation.com/events/2015/5/1/stile-learning-community-conference

The organisers posed some questions. Below I have provided a few thoughts in response. I hope to have reflected attitudes of my teaching colleagues here to some extent.

1. What are some of the challenges your teachers are faced with in the classroom?

Student engagement, surface learning rather than deeper learning due to the demands of a crowded curriculum. Challenging students with authentic learning tasks is key.

Teachers feel the pressure of time especially. They are contending with a new Curriculum with all the demands that that brings regarding reinvention, construction of new programs etc.They are also finding increased exposure to parents via digital connection and expectations for immediate response. Teachers are also being asked to be more proactive in their formative assessments of students and in improving their own practice. Much of this is positive and works towards improving student outcomes, but on mass places teachers under increased pressure.

Certainly for Year 3 and 5 the narrow confines of NAPLAN testing creates a conflict with the idea of a rich engaging curriculum.
2. What’s the single most exciting thing happening in education right now?

The easy access and possibilities offered via technology in particular the open source – learning e.g. Moocs, iTunes U, eBooks, movies, Kahn Academy etc. and easy access to data / information e.g Google, Wikipedia, news outlets etc.

3. How have student expectations changed in the last five to ten years?

There is a sense of immediacy and an insatiable need for purposeful activity. Students can be more motivated than ever. Technology when teamed with authentic, challenging and exciting learning opportunities can be a catalyst for deep learning and student engagement. Ideas around project based learning, design thinking, challenge based learning can be powerful ways to engage and enable students.

4. How is technology improving learning at your school? Is it there yet? Where do you want to get to?

Technology is enabling individualisation and differentiated learning.

It is empowering teachers and students to do things differently and creating opportunities to do things that were difficult, impossible or even unimagined a few years ago.

Because of the easy access to (enabled) mobile devices in our classrooms the children are able to:

Record their learning easily and powerfully.

They can use applications to create. They have rich open ended applications such as iMovie, GarageBand, Explain Everything, Book Creator, Popplet, Comic Book, Puppet Pals and Pic Collage which can work alone or be teamed together to create rich workflows,

They can curate information, images and data. They can create surveys and graphs and reflect on the information and data.

They can communicate and collaborate within and beyond the local environment.

Teachers have tools such as Evernote to record learning of students.

They have Stile which enables easy delivery of content, media, and which can provide a canvas for student production. Stile has revolutionised our ability to easily track students, provide feedback and assessment. Where it has been used well it has revolutionised the student teacher interaction.

Our aim for technology is more about enabling teaching and learning than it is about the technology itself. We should always be seeking to do things better. There isn’t really an end point to our journey.

5. Could you give us an example of how you’re using Stile?

In our classrooms Stile is used to direct, inform, engage and challenge students. Stile is used across the curriculum and it has enabled students to easily deliver a diverse range of activities and assignments – a few examples are listed below.

Book trailers

Audio

Movies

Texts

Scripts

Discussions

Assessments

Drawings

Mind-maps

Completing visible thinking strategies

Responding to teachers videos

Stile is enabling:

Flipped learning

Receiving feedback written and oral

Working in groups to collaborate on tasks

Completing differentiated, individualised, personalised tasks

Gathering and reacting to formative assessment

Work collection

Curation of student data

Stile: http://www.stileeducation.com/

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by rhp123 on May 2, 2015 • Permalink

Posted in Conference, Education, ipad, iPads, learning, Stile, technology

Tagged classroom, conference, integration, learning, Stile, teaching gen tech

Posted by rhp123 on May 2, 2015

https://rhp123.wordpress.com/2015/05/02/teaching-gen-tech-a-response-to-questions-posed-by-stile/

Frenetic Activity – PBL in a Year 6 Classroom

One of the most enjoyable aspects of my current role is visiting classrooms and working alongside our wonderful teachers and students. Last week I spent most of the week working with our Year 6 group. For much of the time the children were engaged in a project based learning environment which leveraged their open plan activity space, collaborative groups and technology (iPads and MacBooks).

The children’s work related to Science – Natural Disasters. Students had selected events such as tsunamis, bushfires, cyclones etc. The children were investigating their chosen event and then worked together to produce information / script, a stop motion claymation and a news report.

Apps used: Pages (word processing), Stop Motion (animation of claymation), iMovie (combining video, sound etc.) , Safari (research, connection, collaborative tool), Stile (content delivery and upload), Veescope Full Live (green screen – news report scene creation).

This short video shows activity underway in our Year 6 classroom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stbaWzIbvFg

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by rhp123 on April 8, 2015 • Permalink

Posted in apps, Education, ipad, iPads, learning, learning spaces, PBL, technology

Tagged iPad., PBL, primary, Science, technology

Posted by rhp123 on April 8, 2015

https://rhp123.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/frenetic-activity-pbl-in-a-year-6-classroom/

Broadening Our Horizons

Last week we were asked to share our 1:1 iPad student experience at an Enterprise Conference at Sydney’s Intercontinental Hotel. One of our teachers Mr B and his Year 3 Maths class attended.

This is Mr B’s account of the event, to over 100 participants, from some of Australia and New Zealand’s largest companies .

“At the end of my 15 minutes presentation, I said ‘You know, I could stand up here all day and tell you about what we do with iPads and Education, but instead why not show you?’ It was a great reveal as the whole audience turned around and then to their surprise, the doors opened and in walked my Year 3 Maths class looking super happy and confident. It was really a great moment! They interacted with the audience and illustrating their creativity, proficiency and capabilities. Many people were amazed at the competency of our 9 year old students. The feedback received from the delegates was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. At the end, the audience made a huge tunnel and cheered us out of the room which I know made the kids feel like true rock stars.
It went incredibly well. The presenters said on multiple occasions that it went better than they ever could have imagined, so it is a huge testament to our students.
It was a fantastic event.”

(No picture available at this time)

Throughout the year we have hosted several “in school” visits of both local and International educators, but this was the first time we had participated in an external event of this nature. Managing and facilitating such moments involves considerable time and energy on the part of all involved, but the benefits are also great.
*Our students gain confidence, esteem and they love to showcase their work
*Our teachers feel empowered and more connected
*Our school gains affirmation and gathers momentum for meaningful change
*Our community recognises that we are striving to be the best we can be
*And we, of course, hope that sharing our experience benefits others

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by rhp123 on December 6, 2014 • Permalink

Posted in Conference, Education, ipad, iPads, learning, technology

Tagged conference, education, iPad, iPads, learning, technology

Posted by rhp123 on December 6, 2014

https://rhp123.wordpress.com/2014/12/06/broadening-our-horizons/

Stile: A Few Impressions

Early in Term 3 we commenced a trial of an application called Stile. You can read in more detail on a previous post https://rhp123.wordpress.com/2014/07/23/a-stile-ish-journey/
Since my first introduction to Stile, over a year ago, I have toyed with doing a trial. I think, now that we are concluding our trial, that Stile might be the truly robust teaching / learning solution that we have been seeking to team with our iPad Program. I must stress here that nothing is ever perfect. I still like Edmodo, Dropbox and iTunes U etc. I also keep stumbling on great new options like the new Glogster app. Possibilities are growing and the ground is constantly changing. One of the things that appeals about Stile is that it can easily fit into an eclectic environment like ours. When choosing something new, to use across K to 6, we need to take a firm step particularly as this application (Stile) will cost the school money.

When we came to undertake our trial, during Term 3, we needed a reasonable amount of time to really get the trial up and running across the K to 6 classes. This was provided. We also needed to run our trial across all of our classrooms. We wanted to know whether Stile would be suitable and be adopted by all age groups and potentially by all teachers. We wanted to know if Stile would make a significant difference wherever it was employed. I must say that the Stile team have been very helpful and supportive throughout and their willingness to accommodate our needs has helped to make our trial a meaningful one.

As our trial has drawn to a close we have sought teacher impressions. These are provided below via an exit survey which we posted in Google Forms. We sought responses from teachers who had really engaged in using Stile as part of their regular classroom activity during the trial period.