Mark Anderson
I have lots of interests relating to ICT being my subject area and have a number of resources online too. I am a firm believer in how the use of ICT in lessons can improve pedagogy and outcomes for learners. To that end I organise TeachMeets in my local area and these are very well attended with more than 160 educators attending my most recent one.
My blog is a place to record thoughts, ponderings, findings and exciting things all related to teaching and learning, ICT to engage and inspire learners, iPads and their role in advancing teaching and learning, Web 2.0, gadgets, apps and anything else which excites me.
Scoop.it! http://www.scoop.it/t/ipads-and-learning
Youtube: http://youtube.com/ictevangelist
Website URL: http://ictevangelist.com E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
iPad 100 series
Below you will find all of my iPad 100 posts covering everything you will need to know when investing in iPads for your school.
iPad in schools 101 – In the beginning http://buff.ly/TNmYa1
iPad in schools 102 – Why iPad? http://buff.ly/ZjYmuD
iPad in schools 103 – THE device http://buff.ly/TNnbdB
iPad in schools 104 – THE learning http://buff.ly/ZjYH0r
iPad in schools 105 – Workflow – How to save, work with multiple apps and share http://buff.ly/ZjYQkr
iPad in schools 106 – The importance of your infrastructure http://buff.ly/ZjYXwh
iPad in schools 107 – Why trialling is important http://buff.ly/TNnxRj
iPad in schools 108 – The importance of training & staff http://buff.ly/TNnF3o
iPad in schools 109 – Ways in which mirroring can take place http://buff.ly/TNnPYx
iPad in schools 110 – Stakeholders http://buff.ly/TNo31z
Photo credit: FHKE
How to display interactive work online
It is widely recognised that showcasing the work of students, and giving them an online audience, is a brilliant way of empowering students. Pete Jones’ call to arms in his post “Judging a book by its cover: Ideas and thoughts on how learning is displayed in schools“, powerfully makes the case for how he would like work to be shown around his school. Showcasing work helps improve students' confidence, and makes them work harder to refine their work as high-quality as possible, given they are going to have a wider audience. Some fantastic examples of students' work showcased online can be seen at High Tech High, San Diego, CA in this post by @JamiePortman. The way that they showcase their students' work, and the work that is on display, is phenomenal. How can we translate that to the display of work made by students in ICT lessons?
ICT is a subject where it is particularly difficult to put work on the walls without printing it off. This is fine if it is static work, such as a graphical design, a magazine cover, or a piece of writing. However, problems occur when you’re dealing with interactive work - videos, animations, websites, games, etc. How do you showcase these things in a clear and visible light? One way is through the procurement of plasma screens around your department and school - this is a fantastic idea and many schools do this. However, when you regularly want to showcase the work of hundreds of students, schools cannot afford to purchase so many screens to facilitate this. So how do you make it work?
The increasing role of curation in teaching & learning
Curation has always been an important weapon in the arsenal of a student, but never before has it been easier to curate, gather, organise and collate information on topics. It is going to change the way in which we teach, and the way in which students learn and can access information.
Robin Good is bang on in his detailed article on the topic when he gives his ten reasons why curation is transforming the education landscape:
Using the iPad to support learning with QR codes
It has been recognised for some time now that using QR codes can really support learning but how can the iPad support the use of QR codes in the classroom?
Well the fact that it has the camera built in makes it super-handy for working in the classroom with QR codes, but how can they be used to support learning, what methods can you employ in order to create them and then share them?
Student workflow on iPad in your lessons
It has been obvious to me for some time now that any learning that is based around use of an iPad should really not be hung on one particular app. That it is about a flow of work, be it individual, or collaborative. Yes, there are some powerful productivity apps that will assist with note taking and organising oneself such as Evernote, OmniFocus, OmniOutliner, Paper, Penultimate, so forth and so on. There are also amazing apps with content such as Solar Walk, Star Walk, The Elements, Wonders of the Universe, etc, but actually – in an environment where students, or groups even, have access to iPads – we want them to be able to demonstrate their understanding and ultimately their learning through the generation of their own content.
With that in mind, I’ve been thinking that really, there are two main tiers of creation based apps for the iPad. There are those that are compilers and those that are the creation tools, i.e. those tools that take all of the various elements that you have created (creation tools) and those that put all of those things in to a combined format (compilation tools).
