iPads Transforming the Field Notebook
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September 27, 2011 By: by by Cheryl Steele Oakes
Sep
26
Written by:
9/26/2011 7:31 PM
Once
you are a teacher, you are always thinking of ways to use new
technology with purpose. Purpose to make your job easier, purpose to
help students learn new skills, or purpose to make changes in the
process of being an effective 21st Century Learner.Last
week while talking to our youngest son,( a Surveying Engineer working
on surveying a gas line on the east coast), he was telling me how he
purchased an ipad for his personal use, then when he began “playing
around” with it, something changed and finally, he was excited that this
was going to end up being a tool he could use at work.For
a week, each morning he would call with an idea or process that he had
tried out on his iPad and how it made his job easier. He explained that
he could make his surveying plans into a PDF, mark them up and share
with others, through their email, laptops and smartphones. Then the fact
that his iPad had a camera, where he could document the joints in the
pipes with an image and geotag it with longitude and latitude, added
even more value to his productivity. This may not sound exciting to us
in the classroom, but when you are out in the field and every second
counts in a project, every joint, every cross reference, using the iPad
is making his life easier and more accurate.When
I asked him how he knew how to use this softeware/app, he said, “ I
just kept reading about the things the software could do, then I made
it work out for this job.” For most of us the HELP button on each
software program, just sits at the top of the screen and when we are
stuck, we may check it out. For Dan, the Help button has been a mentor,
instructor and guide as he navigates his way through his software to do
his job. The Manual for this app is an interactive pdf doc. Dan
explained that the PDF manual was a great interactive tool and he used
it like an on demand interactive tutorial.When
one of his co-workers asked him how he knew how to run this program
and how he figured it out, Dan said, “My Mom was all about technology,
if you knew her you would know how I followed this problem solving
technique.“ So, teachers, be all about technology, encourage all your
students, use the HELP button, play and let your students play with the
web, play with software, play with the HELP menu, learn it, take charge
of it and own it.This
is the transformative process implementation that many educators have
been waiting for. It is starting to carry over with our students into
the business world. Keep pushing in your classroom, this 21st Century
Skill is necessary for our next generation. As Dan says, “ Mom, this
iPad is transformative!” I asked him where he heard about transformative
use and he wasn’t able to tell me. But, regardless of that, he
certainly has the understanding, the process and he sees how his
engagement is paying off in his job. He and fellow engineer, Brandon, are beginning to convince those they are working with that the iPad should be their field notebook and he
has great reasons.- One set of gas line plans costs about 300.00.
- When
changes are made then the contractor needs to reprint the plans and
distribute them to all the clients to ensure accuracy. More printing
costs at about 300.00 for each set, again.
- iPad instant pictures with geotag information.
- One ipad about 600.00, and the ability to share documents electronically with others, priceless!
