MATT SOETH
iPads, apps and your classroom
SOETH
FreeDigitalPhotos.net
2012
iPads, apps and your classroom
©2012 Today’s Special Publishing All rights reserved. This book may not be used for individual profit without the consent of the author. If you do use anything in this book, please share. That is the nature of education.
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Dedication
To all of the wonderful activity directors, administrators and educators who taught me that my job has value. The ones who supported me and ensured that I am a better teacher now than I was when I started. To my students who remind me daily why I do what I do. For my family who willingly share me with CADA - my wife is an amazing woman.
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Preface The first Powerpoint I ever created consisted of over 100 slides and had more sound effects than Three Stooges film. By the second slide, I knew I had done my students a disservice. With that first effort many years ago I began to experiment, to look at the technologies my students were using and work to find a way that they could use those technologies to learn. This book is a result of my work with students from many different backgrounds both culturally and financially. What I share in these chapters is all about integration - making the technology a part of your curriculum as many students have made it a part of their daily life and routine. I encourage to work towards technology integration, and not supplementation, as technology becomes a greater part of our every day lives.
I just referenced the Three Stooges in my preface, interesting ...
C HAPTER 1
iPads There is more to cover in one day on iPads than I could possibly cover in one hour, but I will do my best. Out of all the tablet devices that integrate not only a reading tool - for books - but one that also offers thousands of apps with learning tools that you and your students can use right now; there is only one that sustained the test of time the past few years: iPad. I’m not saying this is the best or you need to buy iPads, but this tablet has sustained the test of time and proven itself to be a resilient piece of machinery. Source: Apple
S ECTION 1
A Few of My Favorite Apps
I MAGE 1.1 What’s on your iPad?
S TATS TO K NOW AS OF I P AD ’ S E DUCATION R ELEASE
1. There are currently 20,000 education and learning applications built for the iPad 2. 1.5 million iPads are in use in educational learning institutions 3. 1,000 university and colleges around the world are using iTunes U 4. There are over 500,000 pieces of audio and video material available through iTunes U - the largest catalog of free educational content out there. 5. Currently, iTunes U has seen over 700 million downloads. source Apple January 2012
Apps are what make the iPad and similar devices so great. Source: FreeDigitalPhotos.net When talking about integration and support - iPad has more resources and fewer problems. The apps are streamlined through the Apple store so you know that each app has been tested to work on an iPad device. Additionally, with access to thousands of free resources all at the touch of a button - it just makes sense. 5
The biggest thing to consider when teaching with the iPad is how kids are taught as these devices were created for independent thinkers who have the ability to create and research right in their hand. What is one of the number one goals in education - get the source right in students hands. In Biology it might be a dissection, in History it’s a trip to Washington DC or a California Mission. In English we want kids to act out
I MAGE 1.2 Change how we see things
3D images
Interactive Images
a scene from Shakespeare or read a poem out loud. We want kids to interact with the material and create something from their newly discovered knowledge. The iPad gives you that ability. My frustration with teaching has always been teaching to the test. In that respect, I feel like I am never teaching kids how to think - just how to get the A. In every English class I have ever taught in my brief experience, it was all about the pre-test and post test; both of which were the same multiple choice test. So, kids learn what they got wrong, change a letter, and do well on that quiz for that brief time. Unless the teacher is trained, there is no thought to reSometimes the right answer flection, there is no can be just as good as the rethought of why I got it quired one. wrong, just that the student missed a question, B is the correct answer, get it correct next time and all is well. The iPad changes this approach as students now have access to a wide range of creative tools. You are not bound by your access to a computer lab or laptop cart - if you are lucky enough to have a 1-1 student integration - students have the ability to research, create, and display their own projects. Today’s lesson: create a 3-5 minute film that documents the life of a blacksmith in 16th Century England. What questions do you have about life in this time period? Make sure you include 6
some graphics, examples of entertainment, and you must have an appropriate background track. Lastly, your video needs to be narrated by both you and your partner. Way more exciting than writing and grading your third essay that week and creates a unique experience for your students. Last thought on this topic, this teach process does involve taking away the teacher as the content expert. No more sage on the stage, the educator will need to show students how to research, create and build rather I MAGE 1.3 Student Work than lecture and provide content knowledge through lecture. Thus, learning is a much more organic process than a linear process. All learning is facilitated by a question. Think about some of our greatest inventors - the see something and want to know why or what they can do to make something better or cre- How do your kids problem solve? ate something to make their lives better. To even think that some of our best minds came from education is not entirely true. Albert Einstein is a great example, a patent clerk who was board in school, he later made some of his greatest discoveries in science while sitting in his office or drinking tea at home. The desire to learn comes from curiosity, a question to want to understand something and how or why it works.
There is a new lease on textbooks with iPads. While I won’t go into the issue of iPad books being more or less expensive, I will go into the details of what makes the books more interesting than the average text book. Aside from being current, weighing less, and having a unique cool factor over the printed word - the books offer more resources than the average textbook. Think about how many time you have gotten new text books as a teacher. When I first started I still had access to supplemental materials that included CD-roms, books on tape and VHS cassettes. Later, it was books on CD, video on DVD, and the consistent and never change supplemental handouts for each unit. Textbooks on iPads are completely self contained. Meaning, any videos, audio, or other resources you need can all be found in the book, within the app, on the iPad. You can watch with the whole class, or your kids can watch on their own at their own speed. In science, you are reading about windmills and wind energy, click on the picture and there is an animated working diagram of how a windmill works. Click on another picture and this shows - on a map - where in the world we currently use wind energy. In Social Science you can click on a picture and see where it was taken. Click on a state and take a virtual tour, with pictures, of what is offered in that area. In this respect, knowledge is rewarded through exploration, and should the questions stop, there are further options to pursue within the framework of the assignment.
See what Apple thinks you can do with an iPad
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S ECTION 1.1
A Few of My Favorite Apps iBooks Who doesn’t like an app that let’s you highlight, save, do notecards, and share information on any and every book, pdf or other handout you create? The interactivity on this one is outstanding. Plus, most of the literature books we teach are currently free for download as PDF files. Very easy to use for annotating and taking notes on the text. Flipboard Take all of your social media streams, magazines, books or any other publication with an RSS and turn it in to an interactive magazine on your iPad. TED The entire library of TED talks is now at your finger tips: search, share, collaborate and learn from some of the greatest thinkers of our time. Evernote One of the best note taking apps out there. Use this to stay organized, create lists, collaborate on projects, fill out planning sheets, or study for tests.
Simple Note This is the alternative to Evernote. While Evernote is free in it’s base form, you need to pay for certain features and extended storage. Simple note works like Evernote but does not charge you money. NYPL Biblion Get access to the resources of the New York Public Library without ever having to travel to New York. Included are original source documents on historical events not found anywhere else on the web. Discover Wikipedia for your iPad that works like an interactive magazine. Like Flipboard, but the content is all sourced from Wikipedia. Math Snacks Ratio, Rate and Proportion through five fun videos that are quiet entertaining. Chicktionary It’s spelling with chickens, very interactive, free levels and levels for purchase. Wolfram Alpha Wolfram is your instant expert on anything, well worth the download at $2.99. 8
iTunes U One of the largest comprehensive and free resources from colleges around the world. Pick your subject, find a school and start listening. Some even come with PDF presentations and handouts from the class. I learned how to program iPhone apps here from Stanford University. GarageBand I’m not overly musical, but I can use this app. My students love this one as well since they can create their own music for projects. Highly intuitive and very easy to use, this is a great app for creating music on your own. It also comes with adapters - for purchase - to attach your own instruments for recording. Doceri Turn your iPad into an interactive white board with this app. The app itself is free, the software to install on your computer - is $50. It does come with a 30 day trial. This app has many features and a lot of uses in the classroom. Splashtop This is the less expensive version of Doceri. Still a great app but with much fewer features than Doceri.
iMovie Quite possibly the easiest way to create a film with pictures or video anywhere. The iOS version is basic, which is fine, with transitions, themes, music and titles. It does integrate well with your other apps like GarageBand and it’s easy to transfer to your computer if you need to transfer. All you really need to worry about is having your kids tell a good story. Video Time Machine One of my favorite apps, since instead of me looking for video from a certain era, this app has already done it for me. Pick a decade and if there is film or audio relevant to that time period this app has already found it. You will spend a lot of time using this app for fun as well as for learning. I wrote a review here. RSA Vision RSA Animate offers some amazing videos of keynotes that are animated for the audience. Ever wonder where a great idea comes from or how people think? Think TED Talks with visual aids. Comic Strip Take your pictures and go to work creating your very own comic strip. Show the life cycle of a plant, a section from Romeo & Juliet - the possibilities are endless. 9
Super 8 Developed for the film of the same name, you can shoot super 8 type film on your iPad. Going for a classic look? Shoot on this device and then edit in iMovie - worth the 99 cents if you use film. iMotion HD The easiest way to shoot stop motion film without doing all of the work manually. Track movements of the class pet, students walking across your quad, or evolution of a sunrise over your school. This is a great time lapse app. dv Prompter There is a better prompter app out there for $10, but unless you are teaching video, this one is great. Have your students practice doing live news broadcasts and reading from the prompter device as they present their info - a great skill to have and know. CollabraCam At $5.99 this is the most inexpensive tri-caster out there. It works off of your wifi and can sync up to 5 iOS devices with cameras. If you want to give your students the fell of shooting a live broadcast this app is by far one of the best and easiest to use. Easily export to iMovie and edit as necessary.
i4Software Video Camera Currently the hottest video app out there, though the $7.99 price tag may give you pause, it works like CollabraCam with two added features. This app has an upgrade coming that let’s you capture video from other people’s phones over the 3G network (no wifi needed) and you can edit directly in the app. Soundnote Never lose another lecture again. For $4.99 this is a bargain as it records everything you write and draw on your iPad. This screen capture software is great for note taking - you could save every lecture you do and post online for your student to access whenever they need to review work. ScreenChomp Record, save, and share. Draw out items, use pictures you take, work on difficult concepts or share homework ideas to make the work a little bit easier to accomplish. Oh, and this one is free. Skitch Mark up pictures, maps or anything else on your iPad and share them easily with friends, classmates or your teacher. Goes very well with Evernote (same company). 10
FiLMiC Pro This is a great app that let’s you do everything with your iPhone or iPad that a professional camera can: white balance, frame lock, control FPS and record. If you are looking for real practice shooting film, this app will provide that for you. Movie Looks Red Giant does a lot for film and color correction for every film maker. In this app - only $2 - you can color correct any video you shoot. It does take time, but the finished product will have a professional look. Cinemek This storyboard app is one of the best. However, it’s $30 pricetag will turn a few people off. Just remember, if your goal is to teach great storyboarding and film, this app is for you. If not, I would save your money. Remind101 I am all about organization and communication. If you want to be able to stay in touch with your kids and communicate openly, this is the app for you. Create an account online, have your kids sign up, and you can use this app to mass text any group or organization you have saved.
Wiggio This app does it all from setting task reminders, emails, creating or sharing documents and setting up a calendar. I use this for all of my classes and it is great for getting organized. Again, set up your online account and go to work. iThought Mind mapping is huge for my non linear thinkers. This app let’s you plan and map out activities and objectives. You can add information and when you are done email it, check out some graphs, and share with as many people as you like. Maptini Similar to iThought, let’s you create mind mapping events. This one is a bit more evolved in terms of options than iThought, I tend to prefer this app for my planning. Educreations This app lets you record both your screen and audio as you demonstrate whatever you like on your iPad white board. Then, it immediately uploads to your Educreations webpage for anyone to see whenever they like.
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Autodesk ForceEffect This is a mobile engineering app that allows you to design equations for every day problems. You do the drawings and the app does all of your calculations. Qwiki Create a video instantly on any topic, great for introductory assignments. Shakespeare in Bits A highly interactive app for your students who may be having trouble with the Bard. Includes character lists, audio and animation, as well as help with vocabulary.
iPhoto Quick and dirty fixes to pictures on your iPad. If you have the SD card reader, this is a handy app when you are traveling. Paperport This app does it all and is a must have if you ever get frustrate by PDFs on your iPad. Now, you can write on PDF’s, pictures or any other document you like with this amazing app. Skitch Companion app to Evernote, great for drawing on pictures, diagrams and saving sketches.
eClicker
Avid Studio
This is a must if you are doing in class surveys or informal class quizzes. You have the host app and your students get the client app.
An iPad version of the very popular professional video editing software. If you are committed to video you may like this app.
ThumbJam A slightly more logical way to play an instrument. No musical talent required, just push the buttons in any order you like to create music using any number of free instruments.
Scripts Pro Take your scripts with you. Again, video people, this is a great script writing app, no frills, that organizes your information in script format. Work from anywhere.
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Brushes
iDraw
Brushes is a powerful and simple app to use for painting. What set’s this app apart from other is it’s ability to recognize finger pressure and how that affects the stroke of your brush
This app has the most extensive vector image capabilities out there. Many graphic designers swear by this app as being a necessary addition to your iPad.
Sketchbook Pro
Layers Pro
One of the more popular art apps for the price and features it gives you a wide range of palettes and features.
You can test out this app with the free version, but the full version gives you a lot of control, like selecting your favorite paint colors and saving them if you prefer to paint in a specific hue.
Art Studio One of the easiest apps to use for the beginning artist. Not as many options as Sketchbook Pro, but it does offer lessons for the novice and is a good start for the budding artist. Inspire Pro It’s somewhat bare bones but offers quite an authentic painting experience. As you paint, the brush actually runs out of paint as you go - just like the real thing. Artist’s Touch This is great for new artists as you can paint on a blank canvas or you can paint over existing photos. This can be good as you can trace features as you practice specific brush strokes and techniques.
ArtRage The range of brush strokes, colors and layers make this app ideal for complex artists. However, some reviews claim there is a delay between your finger stroke on the screen and the brush stroke appearing on your canvas. Morpholio If you want your art work critiqued, this is your app. It’s a file sharing app where users can leave feedback on your creations. Procreate Another artist favorite with many features like a slider to choose your own colors or an eye dropper for touch up. It also allows you to customize your brushes.
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Colored Pencils
Easy Release
The name is what it says, you can paint, color or draw with colored pencils. It has a vast selection of pencils, has undo/redo options and has great control for shading, filling and coloring.
Model Release App that any artist needs. If you paint people or landscapes this is important as the artist wants to make money on their work rather than pay royalties. You can export your release as a PDF or JPG
Paper by 53 A lot of buzz on this app is it’s free. A great art app with good control and lots of in app purchases.
PhotoForge 2
A simple sketch app with three pencil types. This app is simple and allows you to focus on your black and white sketch.
A great editing app for photos. No matter your line of work, if you dabble in art, you will need a good photo app and this one has all the bells and whistles you need, including the ability to share with social networks or cloud services like Picasa and Dropbox.
Tracing Paper
FX Studio HD
A great app to hone your skills, it allows you to trace images and work on lines, shading or anything else you would like to work on. It works just like tracing paper and offers grid lines to help you. If you feel saucy, you can also use colored pencils on this app.
Boasting over 201 filters, this app is an easy resource to add effects to your pictures. It also share easily with instagram and other social media apps.
ASKetch
LightTrac This app was designed for photographers. It takes into consideration your best light, the placement and direction of the moon and sun so you can have the best angle to create your art work for a specific effect or the best way to display your art if you are doing an exhibition.
A+ Signature A great app to copyright your creations so no one else can make money from your work Padfolio A great app that will organize your art work and integrates with Dropbox for easy storage.
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Whatever you decide to do with your iPads, there are some native features that are just plain fun. The photo booth feature is a great team building tool in your class. Have your kids take wacky pictures and post them around the room or create a slide show to present on back to school night. The camera on your iPad is amazing. It’s not high end quality, but it works and can do amazing things for your students and their ability to capture moments or create their own lessons. If there is a discussion on the board, they can either take notes or take a picture and save it for later in one of their notetaking apps. There are also white board apps for free, like Chalkboard. These are free apps that let you draw on your iPad and share later - much like some of the apps we already shared. The best part of the iPad 2 and 3 is its ability to mirror on any LCD projector. Buy the $30 VGA adapter, get an audio cable and project to your hearts content. Whatever kids create, whatever you create - or anything you want to share you can show from this device. Even better, go wireless with AppleTV and mirror any iPad in the class via your wifi network. The headphones are a must. Each set of earbuds comes with speakers and a mic. This allows kids to record decent audio for projects and listen to any programs on the device. This is great for teachers of ESL students or those who are teaching a foreign language. You now have the ability for kids to record what they are saying and listen to themselves speak without
having you to hear every word. There are also transcription apps you can use to translate language where appropriate. I get a lot of questions on word processing on the iPad. There are many keyboards out there that work on BlueTooth, they all work and will be much faster than the keyboard that is native to the iPad. However, you would be surprised how fast some of your kids can type on an iPad (let alone their phones). I’m a big fan of Google Docs for word processing, spread sheets or presentations that are not Keynote. They can be embedded in blogs or easily shared among group mates or with me for a final product. Blogging, I hope you use that tool. Much like word processing, this a great way to evaluate higher level thinking in an informal environment. This is also a great way to foster discussion in class and get feedback from multiple students. I tried to get as many apps as I could list on this list, obviously I left some off due to time and space. If you feel there are any I should add or would like to know more, please check out my blog or hit me up on Twitter and let me know what you like to use from the App Store. And last, a link to all of my posts dealing with the iPad.
There really is no limit to what you can do with a little creativity and planning. The bigger issue will be your willingness to guide students to create their own projects as they guide their own learning as you let that bit of control out of your grasp. 15
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C HAPTER 2
Evernote Growing up, I knew I had to keep a notebook, but I never really knew why. It was something I had to carry, it was bulky, I had to have a different one for each class - it just seemed like work. When I started in administration, I was told to carry a notepad around. I don’t have that kind of room in my pockets and I don’t want to carry more than I have to carry. My solution was Evernote, a note taking tool on my phone that syncs with my computer, iPad or any other device I can connect to the internet.
FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I have done a ton of presenting, blogging and sharing on Evernote. I share on this app wherever I go at any workshop and leadership seminar I can attend. It is that good, it is free (unless you want more features) and kids get it once you show them how to use it. So, here are my uses for Evernote. The routine is always the same, kids come to class, pull out their notebooks, and prepare for the day. Invariably, there are one or more students who give out the proverbial cry, “I left my notebook at home!” This is not a huge problem at my school, but students coming unprepared is a problem. In this day and age of digital access as well as the growing need of student collaboration for success in the real world, I turned to Evernote. Evernote is your digital notepad. I started using Evernote two years ago after reading about it online. My theory, I carry my phone everywhere, why should I have to carry a notebook as well? After experimenting for a year or so I unleashed this program on my students to see how they would pick up on the software. They were resistant at first, as well as hesitant as I was giving them permission to use their phones in class. However, over time, they became quiet adept at using Evernote. This year, my students have no issue using Evernote to take notes in class. My first assignment was a research project. Traditionally, I would have the students keep 3x5 note cards to track their sources in a research paper. This time, I had students fill out their cards and use them for two sources, and then find three
more using only Evernote. At the end, I asked students to tell me which way was easier, a few cited Evernote as being easier as they did a majority of their research online. For those who may have searched in a book, I had them take a picture of their quote and put that in among their resources. So, at the end of the project, along with their papers, I had 58 notebooks filled with data and research by each student that they would then email to me so I could check out the process they went through. For most this was awkward as it was new. However, in my other class that I taught to do research the traditional way, I had the similar awkward results. The second time we did this project, the kids preferred Evernote to note cards (fewer note cards were lost using Evernote). I did a lot of teaching and modeling on this one. While kids are good with phones, they still need great teaching on note taking and research. Also, the kids did appreciate the ability to search their notes and share them, it made their lives and their work much easier. I also added another assignment, at the end, where the kids partnered up, and using the notebooks they created in Evernote they had to teach someone else what they learned. I even put a couple of notebooks up via the LCD projector and asked kids the process they went through to create them. Now, my students have pages of notes all on their phone or home computer. The versatility of Evernote makes it great for class lessons. For example, normally I would teach my students how to recognize points of emphasis just by how I change my voice. Now, I give my students the option to re18
cord what I am saying at important points. They can write it out later and add it to their notebooks. The final bonus, after students graduate, they have these notes for as long as they want them or need them. Should a similar research project come up in college, they have already done the work or can add to their existing work. Plus, this is a great portfolio to show potential employers when asked about organization or work experience.
Evernote Top 10 1.
Now that I have the ability to add media and text in one note – I do that all the time. In class, I will take a picture of what is on the board from our discussion, share about 30 seconds of my closing thoughts by using the recording option, label and tag the note to search it later, and then share it. I like this in that it frees up my kids to engage in discussion and they can take the notes down later.
2.
Books: I’m always coming across books that I need to read, so I have a list going of my favorite books, and I started adding pictures of book covers. If I have time I add links online where I can buy the books.
3.
To do list – I start one of these every day and add check off items finishing all I can before I leave work. New features include creating boxes to check off as tasks are completed.
4.
I taught my students how to take notes on this app – so much easier and more usable than a notebook in that they always have their phones with them.
5.
I take pictures of documents; I have my students do the same. That way if something is lost I am not making more copies and the kids have a digital copy as a jpg or a PDF file. Homework should not get lost any more.
6.
Screen Capture: with so much content blocked on my school server, I have used the screen capture tool of Evernote on my computer to take shots of sites I cannot access at school.
7.
Geo-tagging: this is more for admin, while walking around I thought how neat it would be to tag places where certain issues arise, such as where kids hang out during lunch or after school, graffiti, fights, or slow lunch lines. Then, after tagging that several times with the GPS in my phone, sharing that Evernote file with my staff and ask them to keep a specific eye on an area. I could easily show them what is going on and where certain events are taking place. It would be so easy to track a pattern and identify what is really happening.
8.
In leadership I started having kids create notebooks for projects. Rather than fill out committee handouts the kids can now post all of their information into the file. Then, if I need an update, say how the float is looking for homecoming, I can have a picture, video, and text showing me everything is done or in progress and find out the 19
status of the group. Afterwards, I now have a file that accurately and completely demonstrates what that group did and can now use that as part of the student’s grade as well as a living history for the class. 9.
Learning then and now
Collaboration: as I work in class I have encouraged other teachers to start using Evernote. We try to share ideas back and forth. It’s not perfect, but it has started a dialogue and forces us out of our rooms once in a while. It helps me keep track of lessons online rather than going to my file cabinet or looking for my planning book from two years ago (or more).
10. I had the kids create a notebook/scrapbook on Romeo and Juliet. The girls were Juliet, the guys were Romeo, and they had to create a notebook with notes that detailed the life of the two young lovers from right before to the night they met. I encouraged my students to include media: they recorded dialogue, added pictures, and one group went all out and shot a short dance sequence in costume. So much fun and great presentations at the end. This challenged the kids with their analysis skills and it engaged them with access to a new medium. BONUS: take a picture of someone’s name badge or their business card at a conference. Now their name is searchable in your database and you never have to worry about losing or keeping track of a business card again.
The good man is the man who, no matter how morally unworthy he has been, is moving to become better. - John Dewey 20
C HAPTER 3
Cell Phones
Today, more students than ever have cell phones at school. More surprisingly, in a period of four years, we have seen smart phone use climb from about 10% at school to over 70% at school. Kids have access to more apps and resources on their phones right now than the average person has had throughout most of the 20th century.
FreeDigitalPhotos.net
S ECTION 1
When I started using iPhones in my classroom, I really didn’t have a whole lot of ideas to use them for other than to communicate. I knew I could do polling (polleverywhere) or I could have my kids reach me via a phone call or text message.
Twitter C ELL P HONE F ACTS 1. Texting is common amongst 75% of cell phone users. 2. Two of the poorest countries in the world had the highest rate of texting, Indonesia and Kenya, so texting is not tied to culture or income. 3.
In the US, over half all of cell phone users say they use their phones for social networking.
4. In Japan, 78% of 18-29 year olds use their phones for social networking. 5. South Korea and Japan lead in mobile broadband penetration. 6. China and India now account for over 30 percent of world subscriptions, both rapidly approaching 1 billion users and dwarfing the US in third-place. 7. There are 95.8 millions smart phone users in the US in 2012 - a 30 million increase from 2011.
Source: Mashable
I took that a step further by attempting to reach all of my students via Twitter. I got them to do fast follow on Twitter which greatly increased classroom communication. Next I started Google Voice, and we did some mini lessons and my students now had the means to communicate with me via their phones which they appreciated. After about four years, with all of this work, practice and planning I have learned one thing about students and technology: they don’t know nearly as much as we expect them to know. The students I work with tend to know two things, texting and Facebook. They know these things because those are the tools they use to communicate with the people who have value in their lives: most notably their parents and friends. All of the lessons in this chapter are carefully crafted from several years experience. They were not always introduced well and sometimes I did struggle only to find a better way of implementing phones into the classroom. My one observation, if you have strong classroom management you will be good at integrating phones into your lessons. A teacher who does not have strong classroom management will struggle with this concept just as they struggle with student cell phones right now and the kids aren’t even supposed to have them on during the school day. 22
S ECTION 1.1
Twitter My first experiment with cell phones came with Twitter, I thought it was a brilliant way to communicate, short and to the point, and it afforded access to working professionals across a wide spectrum of interest. My students saw it as waste and work, one comment being “What do I care for some celebrity and their breakfast?” This was partially true, Ashton Kutcher had just finished his battle with CNN and won proving a celebrity could be more popular than a major news organization. What people had failed to notice, Ashton was using his one million followers for some good organizing massive canned food drives and other charity events; his clout a means to raise awareness in areas that it was needed. I introduced Twitter to my kids via a ppt, gave them some examples, asked them to sign up, they had four days. In four days I had two kids sign up, “This is dumb,” or “what’s the point,” and “what’s Twitter again?” were constantly ringing out. After a talk with several friends - including one Ron Ippolito, I introduced fast follow. Fast follow is a way to send a text to Twitter so anyone with a regular phone can now get text updates via their sms service. At 140 characters Twitter was designed as a text based service, so this made sense. On that day I had 138 students sign up for Twitter.
Why Twitter? I wanted to communiI LLUSTRATION 3. cate with my kids. I wanted them to 1 History of Twitter think about my class even when they weren’t in my class. I wanted to share ideas with them about my subject, make them think, and make them think that I was thinking about them even when they weren’t in my class. I wanted to take our discussions beyond the fifty-eight minute period. That’s how learning occurs, when you can get kids to think and apply their knowledge outside of the classroom. I also wanted to build better relationships with my students. I could talk to them every day, and now I can send them a message that says “I’m thinking about you and how you are doing in my class.” At the same time, my students can tweet back to me and ask questions - I just created a new avenue for us to communicate on homework. This is very powerful for students as I know their level of respect goes up when they know they can reach out to you beyond the classroom. There is a great study just finished by a CADA member by the name of Corey Bess. In it, Corey had two identical groups of kids in a middle school science class. He sent one tweet per day: remember your book, have a great day, the homework is on page 58, or don’t forget to smile today. Just through this basic experiment, Corey was able to prove that his class that used Twitter performed significantly better on their standardized tests than his class that did not use Twitter. 23
Once I had all (or most) of my students in the Twitter-sphere, I played some games. The first one was a general tweet, “The next five people to respond to this tweet get a king size Hersey bar.” The next day in class, I made a big deal over the winners, presenting the bars, putting their names up, taking pictures and showing them to other classes.
them are on Twitter. This has made getting followers much easier as many students now find my class feed or the school feed and follow me. In the long term, many students are still following the school feed, my hope being that they will follow long term which will make setting up re-unions and other community events much easier.
My next game was a little more subject specific. The next week I tweeted, “Whoever can name the five main characters in the first four chapters of Great Expectations gets a HW pass.” Everyone wanted to know who won, so I showed them the next day on the board with a screen shot I took. This also led to a great discussion on the top five main characters as the tweets had different information. Now I could ask people, “Why did you put THOSE five names?” which led to a great class discussion on the opening of the book.
One last thing, on my school accounts I do not follow anybody. People can see who is following me and they can see any conversations if people mention me with the “@” symbol. However, by not following anybody, the only thing people will see on my feed is what I tweet out. At the same time, if a student sends me an @reply, unless I feel it would benefit the entire class, I always respond with a Direct Message (DM). This creates a one way conversation, so a question about homework or the length of an essay does not clog up someone’s inbox.
After this time, many of my tweets were along the same line. About once a month I would do a contest as I do not have the funds for weekly games. I would tweet out about dress-up spirit days, what book we were using, homework dthat was due, quotes, funny pictures (cartoons about doing or not doing homework). Anything that I could use to build rapport with my students. My goal was always one a day as many of my students were on limited texting plans - more than that and they would have to opt out since I was using up their 200 messages. This year was an anomaly for Twitter. Currently, over half my students are one Twitter. Not all of them use it, but most of
For all of my Twitter needs I use my phone, or while at school, HootSuite. I’ve talked about HootSuite before, but this allows me to schedule my tweets. I often sit down on a Monday and schedule what I need that week - or for a couple of weeks based upon my lesson. Recently we did a massive community service project, I tweeted out facts on homelessness each day and asked people to donate over a two week period. We collected almost 7,000 pairs of jeans for our local shelter. There is power in social media.
More on Twitter 24
Remind101 is a great texting service that is free for teachers. For any designated group, you get a unique phone number that kids can text. Kids are then prompted to reply with their name so you can see all of the individuals who are logged into your account. This way, I know exactly who is accessing the texts I send out. I see a lot of freedom with this software. First, I can create multiple groups – one for each class to start. As an activity director, I see creating a group for the school, possibly for parents, for my freshman mentors as well as my leadership students. I can send secret messages such as “If you get this message report to the cafe’. The first five people there get a free shirt”, or “Mentors, give every freshman in your group a high five.” This allows me access to students on the one item they are pretty much guaranteed to have on them at any time of the day. What’s more, remind101 allows you to schedule text messages so they can go out any time you want. I can time messages to appear at the start of class, end of class, passing period, after school or before school. I use Hootsuite for all of my Twitter updates. Now, while I will still use Twitter, I see Remind101 taking on a whole side of communication as it has the potential to reach a much wider audience. Set up an account for every class, why not? Each group is a bit different, and you want to hit everyone where they are communicating. If it’s Twitter, go for Twitter, if it’s Facebook make it happen. Your goal is information and communication of your subject, and in doing so, you create connections with your audience - connections that extend beyond the classroom. You
can reach them, and kids know if they need you they can reach you and ask for help. That is powerful.
Remind 101 I MAGE 3.1 Remind101
This is what your screen looks like when sending messages.
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S ECTION 2
Set Expectations Early U SING GOOGLE 1. You get one phone number - unique to you from Google with free calling over wifi (in the US). 2. You can make phone calls or send text messages from the comfort of your computer. 3.
Voicemails and text messages can be forwarded to your email inbox so you know when new messages show up.
4. You can access your Google voice from your smart phone and use over wifi. Or, you can use it on any phone to contact people - normal fees apply. 5. The number pad on your phone too small, Google Voice to the rescue - send a text message like you would send an email. 6. Create class lists with student numbers (great for leadership and service classes) without
When I was four years old I remember my family – with great interest – sitting around the kitchen table and teaching me the home phone number. It took a while, or felt like it did, as we went over and over again the seven digits that would connect me to our house phone. At the time we had a rotary phone and one of those new age push button phones, a gift from grandma and grandpa who worked at the phone company. Now, with hundreds of numbers stored in my iPhone and on my computer, I don’t need to remember numbers (scary) and I have the option to create another new phone number using Google Voice. I first heard of Google Voice when I got an invite from one of my friends, Chris. I had no idea what it was, though I liked the novelty, and let it sit for about a year. Then, inspiration hit – why am I not using this in class? Kids are so connected through their phones that I should hit them right their on their own turf. So, I came up with my first assignment. After spending a few days talking about poetry, terms, etc. I had each kid call in with one definition of a term we covered in class. I preselected kids for each one so as not to create confusion. Then, I played each one for the class and had the kids follow along with their notes. Next, after we practiced on several poems, I had the kids take a poem home, and the next night after they practiced, I had them call my Google voice number and record their analysis – in a minute or less – on what they thought the poem meant and why. The voice recognition needs work, but the audio works great. 26
I liked this activity for several reasons. First, I got to hear from every student (and I did hear from every student). Second, I got instant feedback, as copying answers is fairly easy, but for speaking, each student will have a unique take on the situation no matter how many people they talk to; their understanding, or lack their of, will show through their verbal explanation. I use Google Voice with Group projects. I have questions I put up, as I am walking the room, if kids have questions or if they need help each group has a designated texter who can reach me. Questions are answered in the order they are received (customer service humor). Also, about every 10 minutes or so I can see if a question has been answered and I know if my kids are on task. I can't be at every group, but this is a great way to see where they are at on the assignment and keep tabs. Additionally, if I have a designated texter in each group, then I should only see one phone out. My kids can create podcast like assignments using my Google Voice number. I can have them call and record for as long as necessary working off their script. We can then include that dialogue on a project, assignment, or in any other area necessary for the task at hand. Lastly, for anyone who does not text (which is many of my teacher friends), you can now text from the comfort of your keyboard. You can send and receive texts right on your computer opting out of anything landing on your phone. Plus, texts are saved, so if you are worried about how media is inter-
preted or if your district is strict about who is sending messages to who, you have an ongoing dialogue saved online that documents any and all conversations. A couple of suggestions, if you are doing a response, give the students a couple of days. If it’s due the same night I did have some delay as well as answers that were not that good. With time, I found that students actually talked about the Transcription from Google Voice poem as reading out loud freaked them out a bit. Plus, you don’t need a cell phone for this assignment, I have a phone in my The audio works great, the tranroom, so students who scription keeps getting better can’t complete the assignment can walk over to my wall and get this assignment done. Also, limit answers to 30 seconds to a minute or their voicemail will ramble on forever. For more info on cell phones, Google and other services, check out my podcast Leadership Isn't Funny. I also have a couple of more posts on Google Voice that are worth check out such as my Top 10 and my first post on Google Voice. Voicemail on Student Assignment from the poem Metaphors.
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S ECTION 3
Set Expectations Early T IPS 1. Never be afraid to take a phone away 2. Start on day one setting expectations for your students on what is appropriate and what is inappropriate phone use. 3.
Every interaction is a chance to teach. Teach your kids how to contact you via text message or how to leave a voicemail - both are skills that many students do not have.
4. If you can manage students, you can manage cell phones. It’s all about your classroom procedures. When it comes to cell phones, education is fighting a losing battle. With most schools and districts banning phones and their use at school we are missing out on a great teaching moment. Think about how many times in a day and year we take phones away and have parents come pick them up at school? Especially when it is the parent who bought the phone for the sole purpose of being able to communicate directly with their
son or daughter. This is apparent when you see a student heading to the parking lot to meet a parent who does not want to walk into the main office. Keep in mind, before I ever did anything with cell phones, I had a long talk with my principal about what I was going to be doing and how I was going to do it. I wanted to make sure she was aware, should anything come from other sources like parents and teachers, that I was going to be using phones in my classroom. I carefully outlined my procedures and what specific activities I was going to be using. With my administrator on board, it was time to take some action. First off was a lesson with my kids, this was initially a little more touchy -feely - implying that we were privileged to be able to use phones, and as a privilege, I could take it away. In this vein, we spoke a lot about responsibility, not hiding phones (on the side of your leg, in backpacks, in binders or between your legs as they often do). Over time, this talk, led to my expectations/procedures. 1. Okay everyone, take out your phone and please turn them off, we won’t be needing them today. Once they are off please set them on the left hand corner of your desk. 2. Okay everyone, take out your phones and refer to the assignment on the board. Once you you are ready please set them on the left hand side of your desk.
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3. If you do not have a phone, please move your desk over to the person closest to you so you can share. When you are ready eyes up here. 4. Pick up your phones, start texting/writing. Once you are done, please set them back down so I know you are finished. Like any good teacher, while this is going on, I am roaming the room. I’m sure, at least once, a kid has checked a text or taken a peak at Facebook. Usually I catch them as their face will give that away, however, after establishing expectations, I tend not to have many problems. And yes, I take away about 2-3 phones per year.
CTIA Smartphone Users Global Digital Communication Other Amazing Links to Cell Phones
I NTERACTIVE 3.1 Cell Phone Keynote Presentation
After this time, most of my expectations are taught through doing. I have them tweet, text, look up a photo, take a picture or write notes. By modeling this behavior, kids are on task and doing what they need to do. Like social media, tell people what you want and they will do it. For more info on cell phones, Google and other services, check out my podcast Leadership Isn't Funny. You can also check out my other posts on Evernote 2 and my Top 10 with Evernote which is another great cell phone resource for taking notes and staying organized. I also have a couple of more posts on Google Voice that are worth check out such as my Top 10 and my first post on Google Voice.
The cell phone is a powerful tool that is only as good as the teacher who instructs his/her students on how to use it. 29
S ECTION 3.1
Set Expectations Early When you stop to consider that over 80% of our students have a cell phone, it makes sense that we want to communicate with our students on the one device that captivates their attention. At the same time, we need to work with our students to convince them that they do not always need to be reaching for their phone (especially in class when most of them are ninja texting under their desks). So, here are a couple of strategies to teach some good behavior to your students and connect with them at the same time. The best time to start modeling proper behavior to your students is at freshman orientation. That first day when you have most of your students at school for the first time and you are starting your event, ask your students to take out their cell phones. It’s best to make it a game, like if you are singing a song and you are creating that magic concert moment when everyone holds up their phone because they enjoy something so much. Next, ask them to turn off their phones. Have your mentors walking around demonstrating that their phones are off because you are there for them – not anyone else they can call or text. In turn, the freshmen are there to get to know other students and meet some of the upperclassmen as they learn about high school life. Also, let them know you will give them
a chance to get some phone numbers and share towards the end of the day.
Teach the behavior that you want your students to exhibit when they are on your campus. At the end of the day, give the students a chance to turn on their phones. I suggest you do this in the small groups. Have the mentors give out their number if they like, or the kids to get phone numbers of other students within their group. Also, give the kids a chance to program the phone number of the school. Encourage them to call when they might be out sick or if they need help with anything. The more you can do to encourage kids to make connections in appropriate ways the more you will have modeled appropriate behavior. Feel free to extend this model to the classroom, “Students please take out your cell phones and set them on the left side of your desk.” I always say left because most students are right handed. Second, “Please turn off your cell phones as we won’t be using those right now, but keep them handy as we might need them later.” Or, you can have the kids do an activity with their phone. The bottom line, be clear on your expectations and demonstrate the behavior you desire. This is much better than trying to catch your students using their phones in inappropriate ways. 30
I MAGE 3.2 Cell Phone AUP
I got this care of my friend Ron Ippolito, a great suggestion, who has an AUP for his students just for the classroom. Check out a sample AUP
F IGURE 3.1 Texting Trends
F IGURE 3.4 Texting and Driving
Texting Trends and practices F IGURE 3.2 Who is Texting?
F IGURE 3.5 who does text the most?
F IGURE 3.3 History of the Text
Sadly, 15% of teens have received a sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude multimedia text from someone they know.
31
C HAPTER 4
Blogging
I don’t have much here outside of my practice. I was very excited to start blogging and I enjoyed teaching the process immensely. The top goal with blogs was getting kids to write and interact in an informal environment. In doing so I hoped to create some good thinkers. What I learned was that kids were not prepared to interact - like other assignments - they were prepared to complete a task and get a grade.
C HAPTER 4
Blog I started my blog out as a summer assignment. The kids had to complete four blog entries by certain times during the course of the summer (I got this idea from Don Bott at Stagg High School in Stockton). My preferred site was Blogger. I liked this site the best as I had a lot of control over who was there, what they wrote, who could comment, etc. Each student had to email me in order to be added to the blog. This was two fold, it got me in contact with my AP students sooner - which made conversing easier and allowed me to add them to the blog. Only students who had my permission were able to add to the blog. Lastly, make
F IGURE 4.1 Summer Assignment Blog
sure students use their name and not an email or alternate name for their blog handle. This makes grading infinitely easier for SusanPowell instated of saucydame20 - I don’t know who saucydame20 is, but I know Susan.
After about a month I checked in to the blog to see what the kids had done, and I noticed a problem. The kids might be commenting and they were posting, but all of the posts were plot summary and very superficial like, “To Kill a Mockingbird takes play in the South which was really prejudiced in the 1960’s.” Aside from missing the decade, these were the type of generic statements I did not want my students making. So, I went on to the blog and tried to correct their thinking. That night, ten more posts went up with the same horrible superficial thinking. That’s when it hit me, the kids knew to post in the blog, they never learned to go back and actually read the blog. Thus, all of my comments and feedback went unheeded until the start of school where the logic was, “ I did the work how come I don’t have an A.” Our first lesson, after writing the blog, was commenting on the blog. Many of the comments were vague or generic such as “You write pretty,” or “I like how you use the word morose.” There was absolutely no thinking going on whatsoever - that is not what AP is about. I put several blogs up on the board, and I went through and commented, I solicited feedback from students, and after two days we had our criteria for what makes a good comment. We used sentence starters like, “I agree when,” as a means to get kids started; and eventually we worked away from those. Other assignments included the students finding YouTube videos, political cartoons, and other items to share and respond to. The cartoons really got some good conversations going. 33
Also, the news article search was fun as looking for a good article from a reputable source was challenging for students. They could not go to their first Google option and be done.
that much easier for the different classes as we were not always on the same topic.
Other issues that arose out of this project were students cheating. On Blogger -which is my preferred client - students found out they could change the date on their posts. So, even though it was 5:00 the day after an assignment was due, they would post their assignment two days before giving the appearance that their work was done. I caught on to this by setting up my email preferences on Blogger to notify me every time a post was finished. Once I started catching them in the act the cheating stopped.
For my personal blog, I had everything from that day, what was due, and when. I would type this on the board for everyone to see as class was getting ready to go or I would show it to the other class (and adjust for the period).
The other thing I learned was that students need time to post blogs. In the beginning I learned four days. So, I would assign on a Monday and grade on a Thursday or Friday. Thursdays were good as that led to a weekend assignment. I would also assign the writing in class and have them finish at home. The first four blogs at the start of school were all hand written and then typed on the blog. At that point, my goal was more the practice of typing in the blog versus writing. Once the routine was down, the kids were good to go and the writing and comments continued to improve. I did have a blog that I used for daily updates on class. Blogger gives you the ability to create multiple blogs, so I created a blog for each class (this is a must, it makes grading much easier for a class than jumping back and forth to different grade books). Plus, having a blog for each class makes discussions
F IGURE 4.3 Sam-
ple HW Assignment
I also liked Blogger for the integration of Google Docs. I could do forms, quizzes, share worksheets or embed presentations for my students. Whether using Google’s presentation tool or Prezi, I started to post to the blog each day - both for absent students and those who may have forgotten a part of the notes. As my AP kids got better I started working with my college prep students. One modification, I had to take them to the computer lab. They would do the work, but my homework rate was about 38% - they needed time and space to get their blogs finished at school in order to make the lesson more effective.
F IGURE 4.2 Sample Student Work
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With any new technology, it inevitably takes me about a year to get anything under control and integrated in my classroom. When it comes to communication, I feel pretty good about my system: utilizing Twitter and Twitter fast follow, making my Google Voice number available for my students to text me if they need anything, using my blog to update information, and sharing handouts via Google Docs. This worked for me for three years, was a lot of work, but was very reliable. However, I recently came across some new online resources that can make my communication even better. In managing my own blog, I took a page from a friend, Ron Ippolito. One of my challenges was managing a blog on a daily basis, updating information seemed a chore as I had to go home and log in to the account as the blog eventually became blocked on the school server. All of this changed with Posterous - a teachers best friend when it comes to blogging. First step is easy, sign up. After that, you can post whatever you like. Think about this, you just gave out an assignment in class, there is a handout kids need but a few are absent. Simply send an email to (nameofyourblog)@posterous.com and attach the film/handout you want your kids to have. The file appears as part of your blog. It doesn’t stop there, you can have a link go out to Twitter, Facebook or just about any other social media site you use for your classroom. So, with one simple email. you can send out any information to your students.
My next new favorite is Wiggio. Someone mentioned this at a conference I was just at, and I filed it away as Wiggio was described as a mass texting application. When I logged in to the account, I learned it was so much more, the features are abundant. I was able to enter my students’ email addresses and names right off the bat and invite them to the site. Keep in mind, this site is private, so only myself and my students can see this information. Students can also add cell phone numbers and they have the option of getting sms updates without anyone in the group seeing their number (same for me, the teacher). In Wiggio, I can invite people to meetings, establish groups with smaller members of the main group, assign tasks (and set reminders via email or sms), share documents or even create them directly on the site. I can also share links, important as we are using a lot of items from other sites like Google Docs or Evernote; or there may be a video I would like them to watch before coming to class. As an activities director, I am noticing more and more that my students are walking a fine line between being organized with a binder and being organized with their phone. In general, teens are disorganized with both except for a select few that teachers often refer to as their favorites. With Wiggio, I see the ability to communicate beyond just the planning sheets or post-it notes on the wall that declare something as being “do”, “doing”, or “done”. I like that it can text kids reminders, I am a big believer that if it has to do with a student’s cell phone they are more likely to do it than when they have to remember to look at a calendar. Every time I add a task, meeting, docu35
ment or other item it appears in a calendar on the site and color codes it so we can differentiate between the items. I pull it up and on any given day I can see if something was done, not done or is due soon. This I can put up daily for the class to see so I know if we are on task.
I MAGE 4.1 Wiggio Home Page
Lastly, I like that in Wiggio I can create a chatroom for the kids to discuss items far away from Facebook. I like Facebook, it’s a good tool, but too many times the conversations get out of control and too many times we have read something about teacher/student interaction on Facebook. So, let’s keep it in the class here. I also enjoy the ability to set-up to do lists, and my new favorite, my ability to take a poll. We sometimes spend so much time in class discussing issues – most of which I feel is a waste of time in that it wastes class time. A quick poll online can solve a lot of those issues. While I will still be using Twitter, Google Voice and Facebook to communicate, I will be adding Wiggio and Posterous. My philosophy with communication, hit kids where they are at. I use all of these services because I have a great chance of finding all of my students on some level. Now, I don’t always post the same content to each site, but I do post to each site as needed. I am excited at the possibilities these apps offer to my teaching and I look forward to seeing how they integrate with my classroom management style.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Wiggio
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C HAPTER 5
iAuthor
Publishing is not what is used to be. That’s not to say we will no longer read or use books in the same way, but how we choose to interact with our print and media is drastically changing. iAuthor is putting tools in the hands of teachers and students and allowing them to create some mind blowing academic works that are highly advanced and also coincide with the new common core standards that many states are choosing to adopt.
FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Another great thing about iBooks is that you can imbed any media you like. Along with native media built in to the applicaiton, there is an amazing site
http://classwidgets.com/ that allows you to download custom widgets for your book. You could have your own puzzle
I NTERACTIVE 5.1 A sample puzzle to play with I used
created from words doing a #iPad search on Twitter Tagxedo to create this picture after I did a hashtag search on Twitter for the word iPad. You can use just about any picture, maybe even make it a physics problem. Or you could have a live Twitter feed like this one
The goal is to put content where you need it and to relay content to people that you feel is valuable. For me, I am conI NTERACTIVE 5.2 Twitter stantly feeding my kids via feed for @waldo2526 Twitter as well as other communication services, so this could have value for me. Moreso, with adults, as I use Twitter as a part of my professional development, this is a great tool to have in books for adult as many do not have a Twitter feed. You just brought them a wealth of resources right to your book. A map is another great feature you can add. If you think about all of the hidden gems in Google maps, then it’s no surprise that that is a great widget to have your students use when doing research, history, science, or any other project that may rely on a map as a demonstration.
I NTERACTIVE 5.3 Half Dome in Yosemite Park
Again, point people where you want them to go
When you want to imbed video in iAuthor for your iBooks, it’s just a simple conversion. Make sure your files are in m4v for38
mat (for example, movie.m4v). This will ensure that the program will not only read your file, but you can play that video on any mobile device that Apple makes. You can simply export the video from Quicktime for your conversion. Check out the video for an example. This next school year I am going to have my leadership stu-
I MAGE 5.1 Embedding Video to iAuthor
I share that last example to prove one point, creating a book does not need to fall on the teacher. Your students are more than capable of creating content in Word, Pages, Google Docs or anywhere and having someone import it into iAuthor. Also, don’t think of iAuthor just as a book publisher. You can create pamphlets, informational pages on your classroom (an iBook syllabus), conference brochure, and any other type of interactive publication you would like to create. One last app you will need is Google Sketchup. It’s a free download from Google, but a great app to create free 3D interactive graphics for your iBook. They also have a gallery of free images if you feel your graphic skills are lacking.
If we teach today’s students as yesterday’s we rob them of tomorrow.
dents save/archive all of their work. My goal is to publish all of our planning, diagrams, reflections as well as details of our process for everything we do in leadership. Each students will have a part in creating the book, that’s forty-five students in all. My hope is that the finished product will not only inspire my students to create more, but will be a guide to future students who take on leadership in the future.
iAuthor gives you the tools to harness and promote student -John Dewey learning. You can incorporate visuals, presentation skills, written and oral communication and technology all into one assignment. It’s amazing what you can do with the right technology.
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I N C ONCLUSION
Postface When it comes to Tech, students know as much as they need to know to survive. This usually translates to Facebook and texting. I did an experiment with QR codes. Out of sixty students, one knew what a QR code was, but had to use the scanner on my phone to read it as she did not have one. We assume this is the tech savvy generation, which is a half truth. This generation is highly tuned and incredibly invested in the technology that helps them communicate with friends and improve their personal stats within their social circles. It is up to the educators to show students the possibilities and opportunities that technology can offer. We need to teach kids when and how to use their devices to be productive citizens.
Does this sound like your student?
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