Digital Presentation Project

In my Rise of the Rise social studies elective, I do a digital presentation project. Students use iMovie or Doodlcast Pro on their iPads to create presentations and upload them to YouTube. For homework, they watch each others' videos. During the next class period, we have a scored discussion based on the content of the videos. This project combines cooperative group work, research and writing, technology integration, and the flipped classroom model. It provides an alternative to live student presentations. Feel free to use and adapt the resources below. Please contact me if you have questions.

Resources:

-Project overview and instructions: Word
-Rubric: Word
-Scored discussion follow up activity handout: Pages
-Student work sample
-Google Doc submission

Winter iPad Finals

Winter iPad Finals

Today the World Languages Department successfully had the most students ever take their final exams on the iPads: 20 classes with seven different levels!

There is front-end work involved: About two-three hours to type one final exam on myMitty, plus testing and editing.

But...here are the benefits:

1. Instant results that can be entered to Webgrade (No waiting for the scantron machine)
2. Not having to worry about making enough copies
3. No "Version A", or "Version B". You can have "Version infinity" (slight hyperbole) as multiple-choice answers are different for each student
4. Students get their score as soon as they press the "submit" button
5. Edits are easily made without having to make "errata"
6. No paper or scantron waste

Tests can use multiple-choice, cloze questions with drop down multiple choice or fill-in, short answer, matching, or true/false.

See Rose or Graham for more information about write myMitty tests.

Video Projects-Easier Than You Think

For the last unit in my junior English elective I assigned a video project. The students finished reading The Alchemist, which focuses on one's Personal Legend, and I wanted the students to make a video outlining their Personal Legends. This is the first time I have done this assignment, so frankly I didn't really know what to expect.

Here is the good news. I gave my students essentially NO technical instructions on HOW to make the video. All I told them was they could use iMovie on their iPads or a program at home. I also said they needed to have photos from their childhood and they could use video and music as well. As far as turning it in goes, they uploaded the youtube link and their scripts to an online text assignment. That's it!

I just finished watching all of their videos and they did an AMAZING job. With little to no instruction on HOW to make their movies, they were all able to do it, and they came up with some wonderfully creative ideas.

The point of this post is to encourage you to not be afraid to assign creative "techie" projects or assignments because the kids know what they are doing. I did not receive one email asking me how to make the video. So don't be afraid! Try something new next semester.

I have linked a few examples so you can see what they did:

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

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mrxnf1Ck1jo&feature=c4-feed-u2

http://youtu.be/FujQ2TE16JE

Using Doodlecast Pro to Make a Tutorial Video

Have you ever wondered how to make a tutorial video entirely from your iPad?  I recently made a video tutorial for students using an app called Doodlecast Pro.

For this tutorial, I took screenshots of each step, added the screenshots to a blank Keynote, and then exported the Keynote to Doodlecast Pro.  From there, the work was easy--I used the record feature to talk through each step, adding my own writing at times to make my instructions as clear as possible.  When I made mistakes, I'd stop the recording, rewind until I found the error, and then erase that part of the recording.  When I finished my recording, I uploaded the video to YouTube so students would be able to access it.

QR Code Workshop Video

Check out this video of my mini-workshop for teachers at Mitty. You may have seen a QR code (that square barcode) in magazines or on your cereal box, but did you know that anyone can create a QR code? In this workshop, I share how I use QR codes to design engaging class activities and get you started creating your own. All it takes is a QR Code generator (such as http://delivr.com/qr-code-generator), the URL of a website you'd like to share with your students, and the Scan app for your students' iPads (which is available in Self-Service).

Socrative: Best Practices

The Socrative app is useful for conducting a variety of activities using iPads. Several of our teachers use it for practice quizzes, exit tickets, and the ever-popular Space Race game.  You can import existing quizzes, create new ones, or simply ask students open-ended questions. There are a wide range of possibilities across disciplines.

Your students have the "Student" Socrative app available in Self Service. You can download the "Teacher" Socrative app via the App Store. Students and teachers can also access Socrative via Safari on a computer or iPad. Students simply visit m.socrative.com. Teachers visit socrative.com and click on Teacher Log In.

Here's a "best practices" video of Jennifer Salmon using Socrative in her Spanish classroom:

And here's an introductory video from Socrative's website:



If you're interested in using Socrative, please don't hesitate to ask for my assistance!

iPad Enabled Mastery Model

Chett Garcia uses a "mastery model" in his Algebra 2 class. He broke his course into key concepts and allows his students to retake key concept quizzes as many times as they need to in order to prove mastery. The most exciting part is that he uses myMitty & the iPad to proctor the quizzes! He saves six hours a week from not having to directly proctor the make up quizzes. Here's a video of Chett explaining this exciting process:

How might you be able to re-enivision your assessments with the iPad?

The Explain Everything App in a Math Classroom

Chett Garcia uses the Explain Everything App to create Khan Academy style videos for his math students. This is a great way to differentiate instruction and facilitate learning outside the classroom. Check out his demonstration in the video below.

The Explain Everything App is an app for creating screencasts on your iPad. For more on screencasting and its potential for your classroom, see our previous post on screencasting. As always, email your department chair to request an App on your iPad or your students iPads.

iPad Tools for Teachers

  Do you have an idea for a project or activity in your lesson but are not sure how to use the iPad effectively? For example-

• I want my student to be able to study with iPad
• I want t my students to create written content on their iPad
• I want to use  the iPad as a student response system

  If you have time, take a look at this resource from edtechteacher.org.

Infuse Learning: Newer, more versatile clicker tool!

Use your iPad to scan to PDF

Did you know that you can use your iPad to scan documents to PDF so you can post it on MyMitty? If you have many pages to scan, you might want to just make the trek down to the copier, but if it's just a couple pages or less, using your iPad is a quick way to do it.

There are several (free) apps to choose from, but the one that I like is called DocScan. Watch the video for a quick demo:

Board Cam (Using your iPad as a document cam or whiteboard)

Board Cam is an app that basically transforms your iPad into a document camera or a white board. By using AppleTV to mirror your iPad on the projector, you can show a live feed from your iPad's camera, and then write on top of the video image, or show a pointer to direct people's attention to a certain part of the screen. There is also the option of recording the session so that you can post a video of it on MyMitty for your students to reference later.

Here's a video that I made using Board Cam:
 

HOW MIGHT I USE THIS IN MY CLASSROOM?

1) Walk around the classroom with your iPad, projecting examples of student work for the rest of the class to see. You can use the pointer or pen to discuss certain areas of the work.

2) Set up your iPad at your own desk, point it at something (a worksheet, a book, lab setup - anything you want to show the class that they may not be able to see from their desks at the back of the room). Then you can demonstrate how to do a part of a lab, or project, or work out an example problem on a worksheet. Record the session and post it on MyMitty so that students can refer to the video again later.

3) Use the Board Cam app to "freeze" an image. This basically takes a picture for you, and then you can write on top of the still image. This might be helpful when you want to show impromptu examples to the class. Just aim your iPad at the example, take a picture of it, and then use the pen or pointer to discuss or work out a problem for the class to see. You can also use any picture in your Camera Roll as a background image and write on top of it.

4) Use the White Board feature to transform your iPad into a white board. You can now take your iPad anywhere in the room, and still be able to write on the board, or use a pointer to point to different areas of the board.

If you'd like to check out this app yourself, go to Self-Service on your iPad to download the app. Enjoy!

Using Guided Access on the iPad

Using Guided Access on the iPad

Link to video on iTunes

Here is how you would explain to your students how to initialize the "Guided Access" mode on their iPad :

1.  Open "Settings"
2.  Go to the "General" tab
3.  Tap "Accessibility"
4.  Tap "Guided Access" (under 'Learning')
5.  Turn "Guided Access" ON
6. Tap "Set pass code".  Type "1,2,3,4” (or whatever you'd like they pass code to be, but make it easy).
7.  Make sure "enable sleep" is OFF.
8.  I would also make sure that "Auto correct" and "Check spelling" are turned OFF when using Guided Access:  go back to the first page of the "General" settings, tap "Keyboard", turn "Auto correct" and "Check spelling" OFF.

When you are ready for the students to activate the "Guided learning" mode, have them:

1. Open MyMitty to access the quiz.  
2. Once it's open, have the students press three times the "Home" button and the window will shrink.
3. Have them draw a rectangle around the URL window and Google search window (make sure they're completely covered in grey).
4. Finally, have them press the "Start" button.
5. Also, make sure the “motion” button (bottom right) is “OFF”. If left on, the student can move the iPad from “landscape” mode to “portrait” mode and this will turn “Guided Access” off.

When they've completed the assessment and want to quit out of the "Guided learning" mode, they need to click the "Home" button three times again, enter the pass code , and tap "End".

I would suggest have the students do the set up earlier (maybe the day before), so that all they need to do is open the assessment and then start the "Guided learning" mode without having to do the set up.

Enabling and using the Zoom tool on the iPad