The Technology Integrated Classroom

One of the problems I face on a daily basis has to do with monitoring the use of the iPads on my cart. So, first of all, as a BYOD school, it may be surprising to some how often students rely on the iPads in my cart.  Students come to school with dead devices, devices that don't work well or at all, or that are so slow as to be more problem than they are worth. These students use the iPad assigned to them. When I give a test or quiz, I have them use the iPads because I can monitor test security using Apple Classroom. This has cut down on the cheating that I knew was happening when taking a quiz on a device. But my problem centers on the shared aspects of a device that's not meant to be shared. Students who use Canvas on the iPads frequently do not log out, and they are not automatically timed out. This means that the next student who uses that device might accidentally access someone else's account. The same problem exists for anything Google related. When they acces

I have wanted to try the Playlist method of giving students options ever since I first saw them last year, but I found it difficult to set up and execute with world history content. I was able to create a playlist for a mini-unit on Korea. I gave students three learning targets about Korea and then set up the Playlist page in Canvas. The three columns each were linked to other pages. The first was the instructions page, the second was the links to resources, and the third was the links to where students could go to turn things in. We began the lesson with an overview of the expectations and then students completed a goal setting sheet to identify a goal for what they could complete by the end of the class period.  Students could choose to work alone or with a partner.   Below is a sample of one of the slides from a student's work. We are still working on the skill of not writing complete sentences on their slides. But I'm happy about the student writing the lea

One of my goals this year was to increase the options students have for completing assignments through the use of technology. I started the school year by scaffolding the types of activities they could choose from. We would do them together as a class or in small groups so that they would know my expectations. As we build their toolkit of options, I will add to their options through the Canvas website. The first tool that they began to learn was Google Slides.  They created presentations in small groups to share with me.  They had a choice of 20 minute video to watch on early human history and then co-created a Google Doc with their notes from the videos.  Then they created a slide presentation on their video. I created the Google Doc and the Slide presentation template. These were shared with students in Canvas. Each group made a copy and worked as a team to complete and then submitted the completed document in Canvas as an assignment. The teamwork of students so early in the

I'm proud to be a part of the ISTE leadership network. I am a member of several communities and believe that contributing to the proper use of educational technology.   One of my goals this year is to explore the good and bad uses of educational technology. Too often, I am caught up in a new tool because it promises something or looks impressive only to find that its use is very limited or that it is too much work to learn, too time consuming for my students to use in class, or is so limited in the "free" version that it is useless.   The truly good technology is rare and when I find it, I want everyone to know about it. I have a few of these tools that I'm excited to use this year. 1. Nearpod. This tool will always be among my tools, and I can't imagine going back to teaching without it.  The interface is easy to access, it's easy to transform an existing presentation into a Nearpod , and there are lots of features to add into the lesson to make

This is a new beginning in a lot of ways. I began blogging about using iPads in my classroom in 2011, but let the blog fade away due to lack of time. I was working on my doctorate, and it was too much to maintain the blog.  With the doctorate completed, I am freed up to return to blogging. I'm also looking forward to the new school year and finding new ways to integrate technology into my classroom. Philosophy toward Technology My philosophy about technology use in the classroom is that it has to be easy to use, quick for my students to learn, flexible to adapt to my content, and offer more than just bells and whistles. Engagement is not enough. Students need to be engaged in the right thing at the right time. Too many apps are just bells and whistles without strong pedagogy behind them. iPad Integrated Classroom I have had a cart of iPads in my classroom since 2011 when the iPad 2 was released. There have been lots of challenges along the way as I struggled to use the device