iPad+Classroom+Ideas


 * We will use this page to give ideas about using the iPad in the teaching and learning process, other than specific apps!**

Please describe the subject area and give clear descriptions/instructions for your classroom ideas!

Use this template for an iPad idea:


 * Idea #:**
 * Title of idea:**
 * Relevant to which subject area/s:**
 * Description of learning activity or link of idea to pedagogy:**

//For all subject areas//
 * iPad idea #1: using the camera for photos**

The camera is a great tool provided as part of the iPad, & in addition to the iPad's portability, there are many very cool ideas for your classroom! Have students take snapshots of their group-work interaction or science lab experiments and embed them into their own personal blog with captions to describe or even reflections on their experiment or group-work etc...

//For all subject areas//
 * iPad idea #2: taking screenshots**

Students can also take screenshots anytime by pressing the lock and home buttons simultaneously and this photo is automatically saved in their photo library. This photo can then be added to their blog or wiki. Screenshots are useful for apps that may not necessarily save their output as a photo file or PDF file etc... Also a very useful tool to combine with ShowMe!

//For all subject areas//
 * iPad idea #3: using the camera to shoot video**

Any video shot by the iPad camera can be very easily uploaded on YouTube, provided that the user has set-up his/her channel. Have students set up their own private channels and the upload short videos of their excursion or fieldwork trip and allow class-mates to leave comments... Better yet, I allow my drama kids to record their performances and upload them on YouTube and then reflect on their performances using the 'comments' functionality, so it's much like commenting on a video from Facebook for example! Videos on YouTube can also be embedded or hyperlinked onto a blog/wiki! Endless possibilities :)

//For all subject areas//
 * iPad idea #4: using blogging in your classroom**

Blogging is a wonderful web 2.0 tool that allows students to write and publish online. A blog can be kept as a journal for reflection or as a workbook for a subject. In drama, I plan to use blogs for the students' "Developmental Workbook". The biggest advantage blogs have are that they are multimodal and allow the publishing of a combination of text, videos, photos and hyperlinks.

For research tasks, students can be instructed to research a certain topic/concept and write up a paragraph or two to respond to a question, embed a video from YouTube into the blog to explain a certain concept, and maybe upload a few pics on the blog post to demonstrate something visually...

For performance tasks or oral presentations, students can be instructed to take a video of another students' oral presentation and instructed to embed that in their blog and reflect on the presentation skills or on the content of the presentation...

There really is no limit to how we can use blogs in the classroom, however, blogging only engages students when you allow THEM to decide the mode they want to present through. This means that typing up an "essay" on a blog will not be engaging if the student doesn't want to type an "essay" in the first place, but may choose a more visual way of demonstrating their understanding. Moreover, students need to be allowed to decide whether to keep their blogs private or public. Some students may feel self-conscious that the whole world is their audience if their blogs are public, while some get a thrill from that.

You can also ask students to author their own individual blog for their personal work, while you set up a classroom blog for discussions outside the classroom.

You will need to download the BLOGGER app, which is free. You will also need to set up an account through Google Blogger, which is also free. The same goes for the students.

//For all subject areas//
 * iPad idea #5: students teaching other students**

Students can use ShowMe the app to create mini-lessons to teach concepts to one another. For example, you could be doing a topic about Photosynthesis, assign one student to create a ShowMe defining and explaining the process, while another student can create another ShowMe showing a diagrammatic description of how the process occurs, and yet another can create a ShowMe about the role of the sun in the process etc...

Students then upload their ShowMes on their personal website, then just create a list of hyperlinks on your classroom blog under the title "Photosynthesis". Done! Less teaching for you too! :)

I also personally use ShowMe to break my lesson into mini-concepts and rely more on this flipped-learning to preserve my voice and also to avoid chalk-and-talk which is a killer for your average high school student!

//For all subject areas//
 * iPad idea #5: students evaluating each other's work**

Use Google Forms to create a 'form' which can include: multiple-choice questions, short-answer questions, extended-answer questions, grid scales, checklist tick-boxes etc.. and then embed the form into a blog or Edmodo.com into the class page. Students then watch each other presenting or performing and evaluate their work. More detail about this can be found here: ePeer eEvaluation?