“For years, the use of technology for many schools and districts was an add-on, not a fully integrated experience,” says Dr. Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow, a national education nonprofit organization. “Because of that, teacher preparation programs did not understand the importance of teaching mobile technology integration to preservice teachers.” 

A partnership between Project Tomorrow and the University of Kentucky is now focusing on developing a training model for new teachers to learn how to integrate technology within instruction before they reach their own classrooms. In the Mobile Learning Project, preservice teachers are partnered with inservice teachers so they can learn about the practical use of technology in teaching. In exchange, the inservice teachers are exposed to the innovation and creativity that is innate to digital natives. 

The backstory for this project emerged over several years of Speak Up data from Project Tomorrow. In the research on the efficacy of mobile devices, they found that principals were concerned about the amount of retraining new teachers required on the integration of technology and that many inservice teachers did not think of mobile devices as a way to impact the quality of student work or change the learning environment.  

Challenges of Mobile Technology Integration 

The development of the new teacher training model was based on Speak Up data on the challenges of effective mobile learning: 

• Only 21% of teachers say they are very comfortable integrating mobile devices into instruction. 
• 47% of principals in high poverty communities say teacher integration of technology is their No. 1 challenge. 
• 37% of principals say that training preservice teachers to effectively use mobile devices in the classroom should be a top priority. 

“The question we grappled with was how to ensure that the next great generation of teachers is well-prepared to leverage the investments that K-12 districts are making around mobile learning,” says Evans. 

The big questions they addressed in the partnership with the University of Kentucky teacher preparation program were:

• What are the challenges with helping inservice and preservice teachers develop capacity to use mobile devices and wireless technologies effectively within instruction?
•  What are the best methodologies or approaches to helping inservice teachers and preservice teachers develop competency with using mobile devices?
• What are the lessons learned from this project that other schools and districts can apply in their classrooms?  

Developing the Mobile Learning Project 

The University of Kentucky teacher prep program was always known for innovative thinking, creativity in problem solving, and a willingness to try something different. Project Tomorrow worked with Dr. Lu Young, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership Studies. 

Evans and Young determined that peer-to-peer learning would blend the assets and skills preservice teachers could bring to inservice teachers with the assets, skills, and knowledge that inservice teachers could share with preservice teachers to benefit both groups. “The real frontier for professional learning is not having teachers just integrate technology during the school day, but help them leverage or capitalize on the seamless use of technology as the student moves from school to home,” says Young.

“For using devices as instructional tools to create new types of learning experiences, you need teachers who understand their pedagogy, curriculum standards, and their students’ strengths and weaknesses to be effective,” says Evans. “Establishing peer-to-peer learning between preservice and inservice teachers increases the impact and decreases the learning curve once new teachers enter the classroom.”

The team worked with three school districts in Kentucky, each with different issues and challenges. The onset of the pandemic this year accelerated the distribution of devices to students. “Now the challenge is to teach students how to have agency and use the devices in the way they own their own learning and move forward to high levels of efficacy, growth mindset, and intrinsic motivation,” says Young. “Our message at the University of Kentucky Center for Next-Generation Leadership is that we will emerge from the pandemic better than we went in.” 

In order to share the results of the program, Project Tomorrow has developed an online course capturing the experiences of the inservice teachers, with the idea that it can be a learning tool for teacher preparation programs.

Who Benefitted from the Project? 

Pre-service teachers. College students are better understanding technology implementation and learning how to become classroom teachers. 

Practicing teachers. Teachers in classrooms are learning how to use mobile devices beyond student engagement. 

School and district administrators. Leaders are now seeing a higher ROI from the implementation of mobile devices within learning. 

Program funders or developers. They now receive input as to how to leverage devices effectively to have a greater impact.

Students. Students are benefitting from more informed teachers today and tomorrow. 

“From a leadership perspective, we’ve learned that you really have to spend the right amount of time on the front end, talking about the ‘why,’” says Young. “Our faculty is now embedding the lessons we’ve learned during this project into our teacher preparation program so that our students have a good grounding in why mobile technology integration is important in 2020 and beyond so that all students can be successful.”

• Best Digital Tools for Teachers
• Strategies for Remote and Hybrid STEM

In self-paced learning, students approach lessons and content at their own speed. This approach is useful in supporting different learning styles, and can potentially help students better retain information. 

With the increased implementation of elearning and remote teaching, self-paced learning is becoming more and more prevalent.

To help students and educators, this alphabetical list offers some useful online resources that can be used for self-paced learning.

Top 15 Tools for Self-Paced Learning

Brain Pop and Brain Pop Jr. - Students can watch animated videos in numerous subjects and then follow up with brief assessments and quizzes.

Education Galaxy - A game-based learning platform for grades K-6 that covers a variety of topics. Also focuses on preparing students for state assessments.

Gimkit - A “game show for the classroom” in which students can collaborate and create quizzes that can then be taken from their own devices.

GrammarFlip - Students can improve their grammar and writing by watching educational videos and then completing interactive exercises.

Kialo Edu - A platform for educators to gauge student understanding and differentiate instruction through collaborative discussions. Helps to build critical thinking and reasoning skills.

Knoword - A vocabulary-building tool with a teacher portal through which educators can create their own topic-themed word packs and track student progress.

Makerdemy - Designed to help students boost their programming and coding skills at their own pace and in a variety of languages (i.e. Raspberry Pi, Google Assistant, etc.).

Mathigon - An innovative interactive math textbook that serves as a personal tutor and provides real-time feedback.

Milestone Math - An iOS app that automatically adapts to a student’s knowledge level and uses self-paced learning to help students bolster their math skills.

Outwhiz - Offers self-paced exercises focusing on math and English for grades K-8. Outwhiz also offers analytics tools to track progress.

PBS Learning Media - Videos, interactive activities, lessons and more aligned to state standards and covering a wide range of subjects.

Splash Math - A K-5 personalized learning math curriculum with interactive games and rewards.

UMU - A site and mobile app (iOS/Android) that can be used to create self-paced lessons in any subject.

VocApp - A free mobile app that employs digital flashcards to help students learn at their own pace and differentiate instruction.

Vocab Victor - Students can boost their vocabulary skills at their own pace with this free mobile app, which assesses and adapts to their vocabulary level in real-time.

A version of this article was cross posted at cyber-kap.blogspot.com

David Kapuler is an educational consultant with more than 10 years of experience working in the K-12 environment. For more information about his work, contact him at dkapuler@gmail.com and read his blog at cyber-kap.blogspot.com.

Innovation goes beyond a simple new tool, innovation infers application, capability, and methods of accomplishing a task… a better workflow. The Future Of Work will demand people are prepared to solve complex problems, interact with clients/colleagues, and be able to adapt to new tools and workflows. Over the next twenty years, we are likely to see a significant disruptions to the workforce and work as we know it in recent memory.(1) 54% of the US workforce says they are not confident their job would still exist in 20 years (2)… a scary self-reflection that must inform our instructional practice. Where is all of this change coming from? 

The demographic and socioeconomic trends of the past decade, like rapid urbanization and globalization, coupled with even faster advances in technology from mobile internet to increased automation and machine learning have caused a disruption like never before.(1) Are we preparing our students to be ready for this shift in the workplace?

A trend toward a gig economy has begun. A study by Intuit predicted that by 2020, 40 percent of American workers would be independent contractors.(3) A gig based economy is defined as a way of working that is based on people having temporary jobs or doing separate pieces of work, each paid separately, rather than working for an employer.(4) Contractors developing their own brand in a feast-or-famine work atmosphere must understand collaboration, resilience, perseverance… good ol fashioned sticktoittiveness!

Asynchronous working teams

In a gig-based economy our students will find themselves working on asynchronous teams in different geographies, different times, and with different cultures. How then can we prepare them for this workflow? Traditional, synchronous, “group work” has us creatively organize students in, what we believe will be effective working teams. I have been delegating these types of groups for twenty years as well as allowing students to pick their own teams (groups). I have also helped organize my students into teams and assign specific tasks to each person in the team. This makes a student the team “expert” in a given area on the project. But I ask myself: How often is this type of teams work going to happen for my students in their future? The keypoint being their future rather than organizing them according to my past. 

Asynchronous working teams are more likely what our students will be working in more often, in their future. Recently, I arranged my five social studies classes into asynchronous teams. We were working on a community-based project to document our local cemetery. The Liverpool Cemetery project has always been a favorite of mine, since the history found just a half-mile from my school relates directly to the content I teach. Each year we iterate on the following years work and ask my students to improve and grow our documentation of this local treasure by assigning groups of students specific gravesites to investigate and provide a relevant historical narrative for the people buried so close to our school.

This year I took the 30 or so sites and assigned them in everyone of my five classes. A student in my first class might be investigating site #4 and #5 and a student in my other four classes would also be assigned those sites. 

Each class was given a specific job that they needed to complete as the expert. In each class I would provide the necessary support for how to use various tools to complete the jobs. The common tasks for each class were: 

• to identify sources by keeping a research notebook 
• to use a shared Google Drive on our school iPads to take pictures of the sites.
• Share a Google Slide deck of all the work being completed to track progress and communicate needs

The project included a walk to the cemetery with each of the classes during one of our 80 minute blocks.

In class, students were organized and given direction by their project managers (in a different class). The project managers, and I, would review the work completed on the Google Slide deck and use the comment feature to assign work that needed to be completed. 

The project managers were coached on specific kinds of productive feedback (see “Assigned to” boxes below:

The completed task components were compiled on a website we built. My plan is to continue to iterate on this website with my future classes.

It was interesting to hear from the students following this new group dynamic. Here’s what they had to say: “The biggest thing I learned about this type of group work is….”

• “you have to rely on all your classmates. If your classmates didn’t do the work properly it affects you because you don’t know the answer. And you have to be in communcation with all your team members so you understand fully what each teammate expects from each other.”
• “you rely on your partners a lot and when they don’t do their job like you did yours it’s disappointing and throws the whole project off.”
• “how people can indirectly help you on certain things, creating this chain of other peoples work helping someone else’s work to create something special.”

A heavy focus of student responses was on the value of communication and transparency. Students wanted to hear from each other and be able to see each other’s progress… more than actually seeing each other. Dissenting opinions were expressed as well: “I did not like not seeing my partners.”

Perhaps most insightful was a more descriptive student response:

“The biggest thing I learned is it can be AGONIZINGLY PAINFUL when only one person does their work. All I got from everyone but Sam was nothing. I got a timeline after it was due and wasn’t able to put it on the website. Julie was sick, so I can cut her some slack. However I never got wind of any slideshow(s). I can understand why teachers get so angry when we don’t do work. It is so frustrating and makes me want to scream! Sam was the exception turning in all his work to me and doing a great job at that.”

Ah, middle school… refreshing honesty through empathetic experience!

Conclusion

Clearly a technology-driven shift education is upon us and will greatly impact the future of work for our students. This shift demands a different approach to the knowledge and skills we have relied on in the past. Our need to adopt emergent technology, and meaningfully pedagogy to leverage it, has never been this high.

Our shifts must transcend simply integrating new technology in our instruction. We must have adopt innovativeness (a mindset that embraces change) in order to prepare our students for a future with a gig-based economy and it’s demands for new productive workflows. Helping our students understand the importance of embracing a constant state of change will help them ride out the dark valleys knowing successful mountaintops are coming. 

cross posted at micahshippee.com

Micah Shippee, PhD is an out-of-the-box-doer, a social studies teacher, and a technology trainer. He works to bridge the gap between research and practice in the educational sector. Micah explores ways to improve motivation in the classroom and seeks to leverage emergent technology to achieve educational goals. As an innovative "ideas" person, Micah likes to think, and act, outside the box. Micah is motivated and energetic, taking a creative approach towards achieving goals. As an Educational Consultant, and Keynote Speaker, he focuses on the adoption of emergent technology through the development of an innovative learning culture. Micah believe that innovativeness is the pedagogy of the future.

Sources

1. Tunkel, A. “Three Trends On The Future Of Work.” Forbes. 13 Aug. 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2018/08/13/three-trends-on-the-future-of-work/. Accessed 8 Dec. 2018.

2.  Inc., Wonolo. “Data on the Gig Economy and How it is Transforming the Workforce.” Wonolo. 15 Feb. 2018. https://www.wonolo.com/blog/data-gig-economy-transforming-workforce/. Accessed 8 Dec. 2018.

3. Rouse, M. “What is gig economy? – Definition from WhatIs.com.” WhatIs.com. https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/gig-economy. Accessed 8 Dec. 2018.

4. “GIG ECONOMY | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary.” Dictionary.cambridge.org. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/gig-economy. Accessed 10 Jan. 2019.

From our friends at Tom's Guide: With kids headed back to school, it’s time to take a closer look at the apps that should be going to class with them. We’ve looked at a bunch of apps for a wide range of grade levels — from elementary school up to high school — and these are our favorite mobile apps for students.

Why this matters: There are thousands of apps for K12 students, covering subjects from algebra to zoology, and functioning as calculators, recorders, digital flashcards, monitors and much more. Knowing which apps help kids to learn best while still remaining budget-friendly is a must for teachers and school administrators. Find out which mobile apps are tops for K12 students by reading the full report at tomsguide.com.

Jamf today announced new features for Jamf School aimed at helping teachers to utilize their Apple technology to its fullest potential. Jamf School is a purpose-built mobile device management (MDM) solution for education. Its web-based interface aims to make deploying, managing and securing Apple technology simple and accessible. The Jamf School management system also pairs with three apps, Jamf Teacher, Jamf Parent and Jamf Student – with a goal of creating the optimal digital learning experience within the classroom and at home. 

This summer, Jamf School will provide the following features:

• Creating ad-hoc classrooms within Jamf Teacher for flexible teaching allows teachers to initiate and create a classroom and immediately. Usually classrooms are defined in the management system by IT, but sometimes an educator needs to create an instant classroom themselves. Now, when a teacher creates an ad-hoc classroom, the students in close proximity to the teacher will get a notification inviting them to join. 
• Filtering content for maximum focus now allows an admin to manage the iOS built-in web content filter and offers a more user-friendly way of filtering apps. Educators and parents can now use the Jamf Teacher and Jamf Parent apps to block categories of apps, such as “games” or “social media”, helping students stay focused during the school day and when doing schoolwork at home. 

In addition to Jamf School, Jamf Parent, an app that allows parents to guide their children’s use of apps and features on school-issued devices, will soon be available for Jamf Pro customers. 

CatchOn, a data analytics tool, announced today the deployment of its new  technology which provides secure collection of application and software utilization data across all major operating system platforms. Designed to support today’s device-agnostic, anytime/anywhere learning environments, CatchOn provides administrative and technology leaders actionable intelligence and data analytics across all platforms and school devices.

CatchOn requires no virtual machines, hardware, or additional authentication process or captive portal to capture and deliver comprehensive data analytics on applications used across district devices, both at school and at home. 

“Learning doesn’t stop when students leave the school building," says Michael McKerley, CTO and Vice-President at ENA.  “In today’s connected world, it’s essential that districts have 24x7 access to the data being generated on all school devices inside AND outside of the classroom. CatchOn’s advanced agent technology provides districts with the metrics, insight, and reporting they need without requiring extensive technical resources from the district.”

“In order to personalize and enhance their learning environments, districts need to see what online apps and resources are being used in their schools, and CatchOn provides them with that much-needed visibility,” says Jena Draper, General Manager of CatchOn. “This advanced agent technology is a game-changer in the way actionable data is compiled from all school devices and delivered in clear and concise dashboards and reports to district leaders, instantly providing them with the information they need to improve instruction, assess return on investment, and inform professional development and student data privacy practices.”

Teaching students to recognize both sides of an argument, and/or have structured conversations centered around class content, regularly finds its place in our classrooms. We teach argumentative essay writing, debate protocols, conversational cues (in all languages), etc… These lessons can be completed through traditional classroom strategies, through podcasting…. and perhaps through texting.

There are a number of websites that let you create a fake text message but I have found many are loaded with questionable (and clickable) advertisements or are just plain blocked in school. To circumvent these roadblocks, I have created a Google Slides deck using an iPhone X frame for inserting text messages in.

The process is relatively easy, you just copy and paste the appropriate shape to keep the conversation going. One of my students called me out on the fact that there is a green iMessage arrow but I made my conversation bubbles blue… thanks Brady, I fixed it for class!

Students can check their work by previewing the slideshow and clicking the next arrow. One bubble at a time should appear on each slide if they have done it correctly.

Once completed, students can make the slideshow run itself with the following steps in Google Slides:

1. Click “File”
2. Select “Publish to the web”
3. select “auto play” with 2 second transitions
4. A link will be created that can be shared.

For a bit more of an extension to this activity you can upload the slides to Tall Tweets to create an animated GIF like the one I used.

Our students are texting and communicating via social media on mobile devices quite regularly, perhaps activities like this will provide us with teachable moments in the classroom.

Have fun!

Micah

cross posted at micahshippee.com

Micah Shippee, PhD is an out-of-the-box-doer, a social studies teacher, and a technology trainer. He works to bridge the gap between research and practice in the educational sector. Micah explores ways to improve motivation in the classroom and seeks to leverage emergent technology to achieve educational goals. As an innovative "ideas" person, Micah likes to think, and act, outside the box. Micah is motivated and energetic, taking a creative approach towards achieving goals. As an Educational Consultant, and Keynote Speaker, he focuses on the adoption of emergent technology through the development of an innovative learning culture. Micah believe that innovativeness is the pedagogy of the future.

Capstone, publisher of children’s educational content for schools and home, announces significant upgrades to its PebbleGo™ database coming in Fall 2019.

Among the improvements will include compliance with Section 508 standards (U.S. Workforce Rehabilitation Act of 1973) and WCAG 2.0 AA (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), ensuring PebbleGo will be accessible to children with vision, cognitive, physical, and hearing disabilities.

Accessibility features will include:

•  Simple, intuitive, and predictable navigation
•  Text-to-Speech on all articles
•  Transcripts for all videos
•  Alternative text and descriptive titles for meaningful images
•  Screen reader support
•  Access keys for keyboard-only navigation
•  Color contrast design to support color-blindness and low vision

PebbleGo will also be mobile-responsive, providing students with at-home or on-the-go access on their smartphones, tablets, and computers. In late Fall 2019, PebbleGo will launch a “Read More” feature in its Animals and Science modules which will allow students to delve deeper into research projects or their own interests with optional, read-aloud e-Books. Two e-Books will be available for each article.

All PebbleGo database modules include levelled text and are narrated by professional voice-over artists to provide essential scaffolds for emerging and struggling readers and English language learners.

Siri has her own sense of humor and personality and certainly the kids enjoy playing with it.

[SAFE YOUTUBE]

Using iFakeSiri, now students can take the role of Siri and create fake conversations that they can write. Simply, go to iFakeSiri website and start writing your dialogue. When you are done, you can take screenshots, get a link or embed a code.

We can give the Siri questions to our students and ask them to generate the answers or we can give a topic to our students to write conversations with Siri. This tool will certainly be a good one to improve writing skills.

cross-posted at ozgekaraoglu.edublogs.org

Özge Karaoglu is an English teacher and educational consultant in teaching young learners and teaching with web-based technologies. She is the author of Minigon ELT book series, which aims to teach English to young learners through stories. Read more of her ideas about teaching English through technology and Web-based tools at ozgekaraoglu.edublogs.org.

As they go “all-in” on digital learning, schools are demanding more from their networks. The shift to personalized and inquiry-based learning not only engages students more effectively, it depends on efficient technology. First as consumers and then as educators, schools are committing to mobile technology as their preferred method of digital interaction.

More complex systems are now required to support two to three devices per student or staff member. Security cameras, HVAC systems, and other IoT devices also need to reside on the network. A single network may need to support hundreds or thousands of devices. Every device is a potential entry point to the network, so robust security is critical. Streaming content and simultaneous testing put heavy demands on a network that needs to supply high-density connectivity so that the technology is seamless, dependable, and invisible.

Many schools and districts need to do massive upgrades to support today’s classroom demands and build capacity to handle the future. Each district has unique sets of goals and aspirations for their students, so networks must be flexible enough to provide the technology needs for seamless, 24/7, comprehensive connectivity that fosters student collaboration, engagement, and other 21 Century skills.

Watch the webinar: Inventing the Future: Mobile-First Learning

To design and implement the kinds of wireless/wired infrastructures needed today, districts need a strategic partner who can help them achieve their vision of preparing their students for college or career. It’s not just a question of more technology, emerging learning environments require technology that supports mobile, student-driven collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and communication.

Because the needs of schools and districts are different from those of businesses, the best kind of strategic partner is one that has experience in helping K-12 schools and districts achieve their goals. Security and efficiency are important, of course, but supporting instruction and learning goals for individual classrooms, schools, or districts has unique challenges. Redesigning schools to facilitate collaboration means that instead of traditional classrooms, schools are focused on creating flexible learning spaces that can accommodate small or large groups of students working together on learning projects.

Aruba provides a range of network solutions for K-12 schools and districts. Experienced with working with educators and administrators, Aruba understands the unique challenges of building secure and reliable networks that handle the demands of streaming digital curriculum and thousands of mobile devices, whether they are school owned or BYOD.

Learn more about Aruba’s K-12 experience working with districts through these resources:

Case Study: Enable a half-million simultaneous Wi-Fi connections for school & community

Providing mobility connectivity throughout 15 million square feet of facilities makes enterprise Wi-Fi a top priority for Frankie Jackson, CTO of Houston’s Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District.

Solution Brief: Reliable classroom Wi-Fi that won’t interrupt learning

It’s evident that today’s #GenMobile students are showing up in classrooms knowing more about technology than previous generations. They’ve grown up tech-savvy and prefer to do everything on mobile devices. For them, untethered digital learning is fundamental for future success.

Leveraging E-rate to help students stay ahead of the curve

Today’s students learn about the world and their social life on mobile devices. Bringing that experience to school by allowing them to easily access content and learning tools on a similar mobile device just makes sense.

The first U.S. Education Benchmark Report from Adobe Digital Insights (ADI) analyzes year-round Web site traffic, mobile versus desktop traffic patterns, back-to-school retail trends, and social conversations. Key report findings include:

Computers and printers drive back-to-school retail sales: Computers and printers are expected to be the top-selling items in electronics, up 11 percent in August from July.

Traffic to education Web sites isn’t growing: K–12 site visits are down eight percent year-over-year in Q2, and post-secondary site visits are down one percent YOY in Q2.

Education lags behind other industries in the shift to mobile: Desktop visits account for 68 percent of Web site traffic among post-secondary schools in Q2 2016 (this share has decreased only three percent YOY).

Education is a year-round topic of social conversation, with spikes in August and January.

To link to the full report go to http://www.techlearning.com/blogentry/11147

If you have an iOS device or work with students who have iPads in their hands, you’ll want to check out this list of totally free classic books! There’s no catch – classic books are part of the public domain and you can download them for free on your iPad or iPhone. The iBookstore is full of classics including plenty of my favorites. I’ve compiled a list of 19 classic books that are totally free and ready to download.

Free Classic eBooks!

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

White Fang by Jack London

The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Anna Karenina by��Leo Tolstoy

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift

Don Quijote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

Do you like reading on iPads?

Reading on an iPad is a very different experience than turning the page or scribbling in a margin. It took me awhile to get comfortable reading on a digital device, and I still switch back and forth from paperback to tablet. One reason I love reading iBooks on an iPad is how easy it is to highlight, color code and take notes as you move through a chapter. All of your notes are organized and can easily be shared with another person or saved for your own review. This is especially helpful if students are preparing for a book club meeting or literature circle.

Do you have a favorite and free classic book I left off the list? Share the title and/or the link to the iBookstore in the comments section below!

cross posted at classtechtips.com

Monica Burns is a fifth grade teacher in a 1:1 iPad classroom. Visit her website at classtechtips.com for creative education technology tips and technology lesson plans aligned to the Common Core Standards.

“The whole art of teaching is the only art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards.” – Anatole France

QR codes, Quick Response barcodes, inspire curiosity in our learners. QR codes get learners out of their seat scanning to discover what the knowledge they will uncover with their mobile devices. QR codes are mostly attached to websites or text, but we can also attach QR codes to audio, video, games, polls, or multimedia presentations. Below are a few ideas on how to make your QR codes more interactive. Once you are comfortable implementing a QR code activity, try getting your learners to create their own QR codes. Below are a few tips and resources to get your students started with learning with QR codes. Feel free to download the slides as a pdf and find the bookmarks here.

Learn with QR Codes

• Create QR codes on your mobile device with the Quickmark app, which allows students to scan and create QR codes with an iOS, Android, or Windows phone.
• Scan QR codes on your mobile device with the I-nigma app, which allows students to scan QR codes with an iOS, Android, or Windows phone. Create QR codes on the web with at the I-nigma site.
• Make colorful QR codes with images with Visualead, Unitag, and QRstuff.
• The QR Code Treasure Hunt generator by Classtools will help you easily create a series of QR codes for assessments, scavenger hunts, and treasure hunts.
• Install the QR Code Bookmarklet to easily and quickly create a QR code attached to the url you are visiting.

Moving from Dioramas to Dynamic Projects
What is Flipgrid and How Does it Work for Teachers and Students?

The following web tools allow you to create QR codes that go beyond text and get learners to do more with the learning:

• With QR Voice type in up to 100 characters in several languages and a QR code is generated that will create an audio of the text.
• Use Vocaroo to create a QR code attached to a listening or recorded audio. First, record the audio of any length then click QR code on the bottom. Print the generated QR code for your learners to scan and listen.
• Padlet allows teachers to create a QR code attached to a web wall where students add links, thoughts, images, and videos about any topic.
• Edubuncee lets you create QR codes embedded into a digital poster with videos, images, stickers, and audio.
• PollsToGo is a site for creating a polls attached to a QR code.
• Create your own scavenger hunt with QRWild.
• A good way to introduce students to QR codes is to get them to notice the QR codes around them.Students collect QR codes they see outside of class on cereal boxes, coupons, the mail, or pamphlets.In small groups, students share these examples with their peers to scan and discuss the following: What did the QR code link to? Where was the QR code found? How would you make the QR code more engaging or interesting?
• Student can jigsaw with QR codes. One student’s QR code has the information matched to another student’s QR code. In Learning to Go, I provide a lesson plan and template where one student has a joke and the other has the answer to the joke.One student can have a question and another peer have the answer.One student can have a vocabulary word and search for the peer with the definition.One student can have a character description and search for the peer with the character’s name.
• Put QR codes on objects to get students out of their desks moving and engaging with the objects.The PE Geek has a wonderful video with his learners scanning a skeleton with QR codes.Students can scan the QR Code Periodic Table of Elements and find videos for each element.
• Students can create QR codes for the library.QR codes can be to their own book trailers of various books.QR codes can be next to a book to offer recommendations of other books their peers might enjoy. For example, a recommendation for someone who enjoyed the Twilight series might be books by Anne Rice.
• Students can create QR codes for science fair or poster projects.The QR codes can direct the audience to a Works Cited or Reference list.The QR codes can be attached to interactives or multimedia that supports the research topic.
• Work with a national or state park or other landmarks or museums to create QR codes of exhibits which do not currently have QR codes.

Challenge: Try one of these ideas to get your students curious about your topic with QR codes.

If you enjoyed these ideas, you may want to get your copy of The 30 Goals for Teachers or my $5.99 ebook, Learning to Go, which has digital/mobile activities for any device and editable/printable handouts and rubrics.

Bookmarks

Click to access that resource!

QR Codes, by team Mobile Learning Implementation Resources

cross posted at teacherrebootcamp.com

Shelly Terrell is an education consultant, technology trainer, and author. Read more at teacherrebootcamp.com.

Where are all your devices, what’s on them, how are they performing, and who’s using them to do what? As mobile devices in schools continue to proliferate, districts need to be able to answer these questions, control access, manage updates, and more. Multiple Device Management, or MDM, saves teacher and tech staff time, helps to facilitate learning, and is also a matter of fiduciary responsibility. Whether it’s thousands of Chromebooks or iPads or even textbooks hiding and breeding in closets, thoughtful and context-sensitive management systems are crucial. As MDM solutions continue to mature, districts here in the U.S. and in Canada share their successes and challenges—as well as some first impressions of Apple’s new iOS 9.3.

MAKING WAVES

Scott Smith, chief technology officer at Mooresville (NC) Graded School District (MGSD), describes his district of 6,200 students as “average.” But what sets them apart is that they’re eight years into a “digital conversion,” a curricular and instructional initiative that’s changing how teachers teach and students learn—that and the fact that, while eight years ago MGSD consistently ranked in the upper sixties among the 115 public school districts in the state, for the past five years they’ve been among the top four or five. At the moment they’re tied for third in North Carolina for academic achievement. Their drop-out rate is down, and their graduation rate, attendance, and test scores are all up. Smith is quick to point out that it’s not about the devices, but from an instructional standpoint it’s clear that the technology is supporting student learning in new and exciting ways.

Left: MGSD students learning with their Apple devices. Right: MGSD students collaborate using their Apple devices. When the district went 1:1 with iPads and MacBook Airs, in 2008, the term “MDM” didn’t exist, but Smith quickly realized he needed a technological solution to manage between 6,500 and 7,000 devices. “I needed the ability to reach out and touch every device in our district and push a change through with the click of a button,” Smith says. FileWave gave him the power to do just that. Smith was, and is, impressed that FileWave is a cross-platform solution that’s scalable, affordable, and easy to use.

YOUR DEVICE YOUR WAY

Another key FileWave feature that enables MGSD students and teachers to get the most from their devices is a self-serve portal called Kiosk. Smith likens it to the drink and condiments station at a fast-food restaurant, where customers choose what they want. Approved software and apps are put into Kiosk, and students download what they need to their devices. So much manageability also helps with licensing, Smith says. He can make a software program available to an individual user who needs it or push it through to their device—and he can equally see and remove illegal copies.

START SLOW TO GO FAST

Smith encourages districts looking at device management to “start slow to go fast”—to do their homework, learn from the successes and mistakes of others, carefully plan what they want to do and why, and start with some pilot projects. “There are so many different aspects—technology, but also PD, infrastructure, school culture, management, community outreach and messaging—they’re all important,” he says.

The district has partnered with FileWave for seven years now. “They’re truly in vested in what we do and in our kids,” Smith says. “If we have a technical issue, they get it, and what it means in our environment, and they listen to our suggestions and incorporate changes.” The digital conversion at MGSD might have started slow, but they’re going fast now.

TOOLS THEY USE
MGSD

► FileWave
► iPads
► MacBook Airs

EMPOWERING AND EFFICIENT
JUST CHOOSE ONE

Teachers in the Public Schools of Northborough Southborough benefit from Lightspeed’s multi-platform control for one-stop management. Having handled thousands of different devices—from Apple laptops to Androids—with four different MDM tools, and having suffered the headaches caused by lack of live updating and by having to double back down various paths to track missing devices, Leo Brehm, newly appointed Director of Technology and Digital Learning at the Public Schools of Northborough Southborough (MA), speaks from experience when he urges districts to find a single MDM tool that can manage all of their devices.

Clearly, ease of updates and inventory management and control are key advantages to using one MDM solution. In addition to improved efficiency and communication, Brehm says, it’s part of a district’s fiduciary responsibility to track and maintain what represents, for many districts, millions of dollars’ worth of equipment. The one tool that enables Brehm and his team to do all this and more is Lightspeed.

EMPOWERING TEACHERS

One of the strengths of Lightspeed, Brehm says, is its intuitive, user-friendly interface. And one of the advantages of the thought that Lightspeed has put into its design is that teachers can be easily trained to manage their own classroom devices and distribute apps to students. While this is helpful for tech staff, even more importantly, Brehm says, it’s empowering for teachers and respects their time and expertise. “There’s lots to be said for a distributed management model,” Brehm says. “Teachers can evaluate content for their students and make those decisions, often just-in-time decisions, rather than filling out a ticket and waiting for support staff to load the program.”

GOING FORWARD WITH THE SPEED OF LIGHT

Brehm urges districts to examine management tools based on the features that are important on a daily basis (as opposed to those that might be used periodically or not at all) in their context. The fact that Lightspeed is 100% cloud-based is an advantage, Brehm says, and particularly when 1:1 devices are going home. Cost-effectiveness was another factor in the decision to partner with Lightspeed. Brehm is confident that “Lightspeed is a product that will take us into the future as the focus moves more and more from hardware to user experience.”

TOOLS THEY USE
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTHBOROUGH SOUTHBOROUGH

► Apple laptops and desktops
► Chromebooks
► iPads
► Lightspeed
► Windows desktops

HAS ANYONE SEEN MY TEXTBOOK?
A DISASTER

Community Unit School District 300 uses Follett’s textbook inventory to track resources. Imagine thousands of textbooks, rows and rows of them, piled on the floor, stacked in cabinets, classrooms, storage rooms—an inventory for a district of 21,000 students in 27 different schools stretching across 118 square miles. Imagine purchasing hundreds of new textbooks and later discovering hundreds of copies of the same textbook, brand new, in another classroom. Imagine waking up in a cold sweat only to realize that it’s real. This was the situation in which Community (IL) Unit School District 300 (D300) found itself in 2013 when Susan Harkin, district CFO, sent a courageous SOS to Follett’s Managed Services.

Even though the district had previously purchased and implemented Follett’s Destiny Resource Manager, a lack of consistent practice and policies meant the product was not as effective as it could have been. So the overwhelming task ahead involved not only finding the books, but also putting systems in place to ensure they wound up in the right hands at the right time. Harkin’s chief concern was that the textbook chaos would infringe on critical educational time for students. “At the heart of all this was that our students weren’t starting the school year with the proper materials,” she says.

A JUST-IN-TIME SOLUTION

“We sat down with Follett, explained our situation, and asked them to help us out,” Harkin says. After meeting with stakeholders and fully assessing the situation, the Follett team recommended a single solution that combined the benefits of their Destiny Resource Manager with their new “Managed Services.”

This solution involved working with the district to create new policies and procedures and to develop and support a revolutionized management process—managed from a central office. And it required a huge investment of many hours to barcode and scan each individual textbook into the system. Follett also took over warehousing and distribution of the books, delivering them on-demand as needed.

The solution improved district-wide efficiency and saved many thousands of dollars. Most important of all, however, is the fact that this mammoth project was completed over the summer so that, on the first day of school, every student had all the right resources to hit the ground running.

Today, D300’s textbook inventory is accurate and up-to-date and textbooks are easily moved within the district as needed—and the district is looking at duplicating a similar sustainable system to inventory other key assets, such as band and athletic equipment.

MDM ACROSS THE MILES

Doug Klassen, Technology Coach for the Sun West School Division (SWSD) in Saskatchewan, Canada, travels many miles to serve the district’s 5,000 students in this rural area covering many thousands of square miles (180 miles from one side of the district to the other). Many of the district’s 40 schools have a K–12 population of fewer than 200 students.

SWSD students from the Davidson School engaged in the school-wide Up to Code project. While some of these locations are remote, SWSD stays on the cutting edge of edtech. “Our division is really a big supporter of creating new learning environments where the students have more control over the pace, path, and place, allowing greater engagement and greater success rates,” Klassen says.

Throughout these schools, SWSD maintains approximately 500 laptops, 1,000 iPads, and 350 Android tablets. They run Windows on their 2,000 desktops, as well as on the laptops, and they use Microsoft’s SCCM to manage them and help with the deployment of technology. “The teachers and students have access to our application catalog,” Klassen says, “where they can install software themselves, saving the IT department a significant amount of time.”

The district uses the Apple DEP program to set up iPads, combined with AirWatch to keep track of them once they’re deployed. In addition, Klassen and his team set up the Apple Volume Purchase Program at each school so teachers can easily purchase and download apps.

THE BENEFITS OF BETTER CONTROL

“In the Android world,” Klassen says, “we run TabPilot as our MDM. In this environment we are allowed much more control of the actual devices. Teachers can control what the students see on their screens and content can be sent to the devices very quickly and easily.”

This greater level of control, monitoring, and classroom management benefits both teachers and students, Klassen notes. Teachers who want students to go to a specific Web site, for example, place that Web site on the screen as an icon so the students can click and go straight to the site. Another useful feature of TabPilot is that teachers can lock student screens with a message telling them to look up for further instructions.

As the district continues to promote blended and personalized learning, Klassen says, these tech tools help them accomplish their goal of success for all students.

TOOLS THEY USE
SWSD

► AirWatch
► Android tablets
► Blackboard
► iPads
► Moodle
► OneNote
► SCCM
► TabPilot

NO INTERRUPTIONS, PLEASE
A BIG LEAP

A seventh grader at a Pleasant Valley (CA) School District middle school creates a scary story using her iPad and a green screen. When Jay Greenlinger became Director of Instructional Technology at Pleasant Valley (CA) School District (PVSD) three years ago, the district had no mobile devices. “We were primed to take a big leap,” he says, “and we did.” The district of 6,600 students has deployed 4,400 Chromebooks, 1,300 iPads, and 1,000 Windows devices. The goal for managing these, Greenlinger says, is to “balance management that doesn’t interrupt teaching and learning.” And the district finds it easiest to accomplish this with Chromebooks because of the superior visibility and control that GoGuardian affords teachers and administrators.

This visibility has alleviated a lot of concerns for experienced teachers who have changed the way they teach with the new devices. They have a live view of every student’s Chromebook screen and can close and open tabs, interact with messaging if a student needs to be redirected, and show a student’s screen to the entire class with a single click.

Greenlinger also notes a key shift from beginning with device control to starting with teaching and learning and adjusting management around what’s happening in the classroom. “We’ve become less restrictive and more permissive,” he says, which also benefits students as they’re guided in learning how to make good decisions.

SUPERVISION ON THE PLAYGROUND AND ONLINE

Students at this same Monte Vista Middle School collaborate using Chromebooks. Greenlinger emphasizes that digital citizenship is simply one aspect of “good old-fashioned school citizenship.” Students know that an attentive playground supervisor will intervene when they break the rules on the tetherball court, and students at PVSD know that doing an inappropriate search or trying to access blocked content will result in a visit from the principal, who will have received a notification about the activity.

Greenlinger speaks from experience when he urges districts to have a solution and processes in place before deploying devices. When the district gave in to the temptation to deploy their iPads too quickly, they had to recall and set them all up again. Greenlinger says they brought their questions about MDM to GoGuardian and the company answered them all. Now PVSD teachers can focus on instruction instead of management—without interruptions.

TOOLS THEY USE
PVSD

► Chromebooks
► GoGuardian
► iPads
► Lightspeed (to manage iPads)

TECHNOLOGY RICH

TUSD students experience virtual reality on their iPads. Tustin (CA) Unified School District (TUSD) is about to enter year four of its 1:1 program. Most schools in the district are 2:1 or 1:1 with iPads up to fourth grade, while fifth through eighth graders have iPads, and high-school students receive Toshiba Portege Z30 laptops. Students learn using these devices in classrooms equipped with projectors, interactive boards, voice amplification, document cameras, Apple TV, and more. In addition, Haiku LMS, GAFE, Microsoft 365, Aeries, and numerous online texts and resources support the curriculum as students and teachers explore learning in all areas—from STEM and robotics to storytelling through film.

With 24,000 students and more than 28,000 devices, Robert Craven, Senior Director of Information Technology, says that device management is very different than it was a few years ago. His department manages laptops and desktops through SSCM and the 1:1 iPads through AirWatch. Craven also notes that their use of iboss filtering to aid in device management and filtering is “a key component to any large technology deployment.”

NEW DEVELOPMENTS SAVE TIME

TUSD students experience virtual reality on their iPads. Below: TUSD students engage in a Socratic seminar. “MDM solutions,” Craven says, “are exceptional at enabling teachers and the technology staff to save enormous amounts of time.” Both a Windows 10 upgrade, which TUSD will begin this summer, as well as the new Apple iOS 9.3, promise greater instructional capability and time savings. With Microsoft, apps will be available to students and teachers on a self-service model. And with iPads, “the ability to push apps to students without requiring an Apple ID now is huge; that feature alone is going to make an enormous difference in saving the technology department and entire district time,” Craven says. He also emphasizes the benefits of Apple Classroom as well as the increased functionality during testing to push the secure browser and determine which devices are properly set for testing.

3 TOP TIPS FOR MDM ADOPTION

“With many MDMs offering similar features due to the integration available from Apple, I think it’s important for districts to look at three key features when determining which MDM to use,” Craven says.

1. Customer service. Which companies are going to be there when a problem arises? And how long does it typically take them to close support tickets?

2. Timeline for supporting new Apple features. How long did it take them to support 9.3 features after their release?

3. Ease of use. How would the solution fit within your existing infrastructure? And how much management can be easily turned over to teachers?

TOOLS THEY USE
TUSD

► Aeries SIS
► AirWatch
► Airwolf 3D printers
► Apple TV
► Document cameras
► Epson projectors
► GAFE
► Haiku LMS
► iboss
► Interactive boards
► iPads
► MacBook Airs
► Miracast
► Numerous online resources
► Project Lead The Way
► Toshiba Portege Z30 laptops
► Vex Robotics

MANAGING MORE THAN DEVICES

Schools know management comes in many education flavors. Here’s a snapshot of a few ways schools are using tools to manage other kinds of tech:

The Southern Kern Unified School District in Rosamond (CA) uses Absolute (absolute.com) to prevent the theft of about laptops in circulation at their five schools. The solution accesses near real-time information on the location and status of laptops and provide audit-quality inventory reports on hardware and software.

Tuscarawas Valley Local Schools in Zoarville (OH) wanted to prevent students from being able to go to Web sites that are not a part of student instruction, and also stop them trying to delete the web history. They turned to NetSupport School (www.netsupportsoftware.com) to help. “It is nice to be able to glance to the screen and instantly see everything that is on their screen, “says Heidi Varansky, Assistant Technology Coordinator. “We have also used it to completely block web access when a student isn’t doing what he/she is supposed to be doing.”

Print management is another area where schools can realize thousands in savings. Hutto Independent School District is one example. As the district’s fleet of devices and print capabilities grew, so did its need for greater security, output monitoring and chargebacks. Ricoh, who had been providing multifunctional printer devices to Hutto ISD for eight years, collaborated with the district to add centralized Active Directory-based authentication software to the MFPs, where users can either input their name and password or swipe their ID badge to release documents or scan and email from the device. Ricoh also implemented centralized faxing added new scanning software that allowed users to scan-to-email, scan-to-PC or scan-to-file. “By right-sizing , we saved $72,000 plus in fleet maintenance and leases over the 5-year contract working with Ricoh,” said Travis Brown, Director of Technology at Hutto ISD.

Although those of us with declining eyesight might be holding out for larger-than-life-sized monitors, our students have embraced smaller-is-better as they pop their devices into their back pockets and backpacks. And so, in our effort to prepare our students for the increasingly mobile world they already inhabit, tablets may be the best choice of hardware purchase. But which tablets? Is there a magic formula to finding the one that your students and teachers will use? Let’s see what some of your colleagues have to say.

MIAMI-DADE (FL) PUBLIC SCHOOLS

What tablets are you using?
HP Elite 900 for secondary students; HP 210 laptops for elementary students.

How many do you have?
Approximately 31,000: 5,000 for 7th-grade civics and 26,000 for 9th-grade U.S. history.

How long have the students had them?
Since August 2014.

What do teachers have?
The HP Elite 1000, which comes with Mericast capability.

Three best things

❉ Ease of use
❉ Extremely rugged
❉ Easy to use when reading

Three worst things

❉ Charging
❉ Cases
❉ Managing images

Any tips for finding the best tablet for your students?
Best price and best fit for existing infrastructure (applications and operating systems). Take advantage of cases and gorilla glass, as well as local battery swapping.

CINCINNATI (OH) COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

What tablets are you using?
Microsoft Surface Pro 3

How many do you have?
225; 1:1 for grades 5-12.

How long have the students had them?
Since August 2014, but the school has been 1:1 since 1996.

What do teachers have?
Teachers who were due for a new tablet received Surface Pro 3 tablets.

Three best things
Flexibility: It’s a full-powered laptop running a full OS that can be used as a laptop or tablet. It removes all constraints and allows us to fit the tool to the task—not the other way around. We have access to the desktop version of OneNote, which has been a game changer in terms of collaboration, engagement, and organization.

Three worst things
They need a bumper case to prevent damage.

Any tips for finding the best tablet for your students?
Choose devices that allow for creativity and creation of content. You need to have pen, touch, and a keyboard. Decide on objectives and then choose devices that allow you to achieve them. Too many schools pick the devices first and then try to figure out how to use them.

EANES (TX) INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT

What tablets are you using?
iPad2: 16GB; Wifi only.

How many do you have?
8,000 (1:1 K-12).

How long have the students had them?
Between 3 and 4 years.

What do teachers have?
Teachers have the same models, although we are starting to replace some with upgraded models to replenish our student swaps.

Three best things

❉ Ease of use (not much technical training needed)
❉ Unanticipated creativity (students creating amazing films and designing their own apps)
❉ Mobility/versatility

Three worst things

❉ Transitioning from traditional teacher-led instruction to a more student-centered approach
❉ The battle with IT over the thought that everything has to be standardized and that education is an enterprise system
❉ Waiting for textbook companies to play catch-up and then being disappointed in their “digital” solutions

Any tips for finding the best tablet for your students?
Do not make it about the device. It should be about the learning. Too often, districts start with a device in mind and then try to make pedagogy and curriculum fit—based on what they choose. Think about what you want to do and a device that aligns with those ideals will naturally rise to the top.

HOLY REDEEMER SCHOOL IN MARSHALL (MN)

What tablets are you using?
LearnPad XD (the 1st model).

How many do you have?
Approx. 540, one for every student.

How long have the students had them?
Since the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year.

What do teachers have?
Every teacher has a LearnPad Quarto.

Three best things

❉ Having the ability to control what the students see and do and not worrying about them misusing the devices
❉ Being able to assign differentiated work on the device and receive completed work through the “hand-in” feature
❉ Having the ability to see exactly what all of the students are doing, at the same time, so I can work in small groups while monitoring the entire class

Three worst things
We occasionally come across Web sites or apps that we wish we could put on the LearnPad, but we know in time they could become available.

Any tips for finding the best tablet for your students?
Find a device that will help you manage your classroom and design lessons that are specific to what the students are learning.

BROCKTON (MA) PUBLIC SCHOOLS

What tablets are you using?
Acer Iconia W510 and Acer Aspire Switch 11.6- inch tablets.

How many do you have?
Approximately 2,000 tablets (for the five schools participating in PARCC testing).

How long have the students had them?
Between 3 and 18 months.

What do teachers have?
The teachers were provided with the same tablets.

Three best things

❉ Space saver: When managing more than 9,000 devices, this is a big bonus.
❉ Battery life expectancy: It seems to be more in line with listed specs and battery longevity is better than laptops of old.
❉ Versatility: Our tablets came with detachable keyboards, which gives us the freedom to use them like a laptop when needed or to enjoy the true portability of a tablet.

Three worst things
Life expectancy: With regular maintenance, we are accustomed to getting 5-7 years from our devices. It is more difficult to keep track of devices in this form factor. Deploying tablets requires much more planning and staff participation than desktops.

Any tips for finding the best tablet for your students?
All of our tech decisions have been a joint effort between the curriculum team, which identifies the need, and our technical team, which comes up with product suggestions. Typically, vendors are eager to lend or give discounted prices for a pilot, so take advantage of that opportunity and bring in several devices to kick the tires. We look for technical merit and whether the device fits our immediate and long-term needs.

PINELLAS COUNTY (FL) SCHOOLS

What tablets are you using?
Dell Venue 11 Pro tablets (with Dell Slim Tablet Keyboards & Active Stylus pens).

How many do you have?
400 for grades 9-12.

How long have the students had them?
Since the start of the 2014-2015 school year.

What do teachers have?
Some use the Dell Venue 11 tablets but most use the Dell XPS 13, which can be used as a laptop or a tablet.

Three best things
❉ Form factor: It allows them to be truly mobile and—thanks to Office 365—enjoy 24/7 learning opportunities and collaboration.
❉ Exceptional battery life: A full charge allows the student to use it the entire school day without issues.
❉ Versatility/manageability: Tech staff can preload an image on it, complete with the necessary applications, and manage it through Active Directory Group Policies and push down and install additional applications if needed. With the corresponding dock, we can take full advantage of a two-screen experience. With a bit of imagination from the teacher or student, the tablets are adaptable for every single course.

Three worst things
❉ The glass touchscreen has a tendency to crack when it is stuffed into a backpack with a load of textbooks. We think uneven pressure from the textbooks against the glass screen is causing this. A raised or reinforced bevel or a protective case would fix this.
❉ None of the adaptive styluses seem to work, which makes digital inking an adventure in frustration. (Dell is working with us on replacements for all the first-generation styluses.)
❉ It is imperative to keep the firmware current, and since firmware can’t be pushed down via management tools this means we have to eventually touch every single tablet.

Any tips for finding the best tablet for your students?
Choose the device that makes the most sense for the age group and circumstances of your situation. You must take into account: infrastructure, manageability and its cost, pedagogy, and peripherals. Put the devices under consideration into the hands of the people to whom it matters most: the students. My student assistants reviewed every single Windows 8 tablet for strengths, weaknesses, and relative costs of each.

LEXINGTON COUNTY (SC) SCHOOL DISTRICT TWO

What tablets are you using?
Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Education tablets and 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 tablets with a kid’s mode interface.

How many do you have?

More than 5,000 tablets for students and staff in grades PK through 12.

How long have the students had them?
We began the first phase in November 2014.

What do teachers have?
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2014 edition, which has the Samsung S-Pen.

Three best things

❉ Ease of provisioning and set-up with Google management console
❉ The ability to use Samsung School for classroom monitoring and collaboration (a truly transformative software)
❉ The ability to manage tablet content with the Google Play for Education store and Samsung School

Three worst things
Unpacking the mountains of boxes preparing the tablets for use by students, and—as with any technology—dealing with help desk issues.

Any tips for finding the best tablet for your students?
First look at your level of staffing and support. Certain devices/tablets require a greater level of support to manage and provision. But the driving force should always be transforming the learning environment. Create a vision for the learning environment you want for your students and let that be the measure in the search for the right device.

SOME OF ÖZGE KARAOGLU’S FAVORITE APPS

■ Adobe Voice is free and it gives the chance to children to use their pictures or their text and record their voices with music at the background.
■ Biscuit lets users create their own vocabulary list and includes definitions.
■ FriendStrip lets kids pick a story and personalize it with pictures and texts.
■ PicCollage lets students write and add props in a picture.
■ QR Code Scanner and Creator—Kids love it!
■ Tellagami helps you to create your own avatar, choose a background and record your voice for your animated avatar.
■ Videolicious is a great tool to create videos from your pictures, by adding music and your voice.

Footsteps2Brilliance (F2B) is an impressive educational game platform that supports students in prek - 3rd grade in learning to read and write. Their Academic Language Program for Students (ALPS) teaches young children the 1,000 key words they will need to develop a powerful reading and writing vocabulary through animated ebooks and games. There is a back end management system tracks mastery of each child's vocabulary and comprehension development as well as standards-based concepts. The program was developed in response to the landmark Hart-Risley study on language development that shows that an underprivileged child enters school with 25% of the vocabulary they need to succeed academically. This program helps to rectify this situation by creating a language rich environment for all children.

There are several features that I particularly like. First, I love that the books are interactive. With F2B books literally come to life. Each story page has animated characters that students can interact with to act out what is written on the page. I also like that the child can have the choice of reading the book or having the book read to him or her. Additionally, a child can choose to read the book, and just have words they are unsure of read to them. Reading comprehension is assessed in a fun and natural way with interactive games that rewards children as they develop their comprehension skills. Student reading ability is tracked in a backend system that provides meaningful information to the child's teacher or parent. With a tool like this assessing student progress, there should no longer be a need for outdated, standardized bubbletests. Finally, I love that the program provides children with the ability to write and illustrate their own books.

Research-based success
Reading comprehension of Calistoga preschoolers increased from 58.5 percent to 76.4 percent, with Footsteps 2 Brilliance. You can read more about what happened at the schoolhere and in this newspaper article. Read the data behind the study here.

See for yourself
The three videos below provide great insight into how this program works. The first video shows a five-year-old girl using the program. The second brings us into its use in the classroom and the last video is a story featured on NBC with the teacher and the parent of a student who used F2B for learning.

Lisa Nielsen writes for and speaks to audiences across the globe about learning innovatively and is frequently covered by local and national media for her views on “Passion (not data) Driven Learning,” "Thinking Outside the Ban" to harness the power of technology for learning, and using the power of social media to provide a voice to educators and students. Ms. Nielsen has worked for more than a decade in various capacities to support learning in real and innovative ways that will prepare students for success. In addition to her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator, Ms. Nielsen’s writing is featured in places such as Huffington Post, Tech & Learning, ISTE Connects, ASCD Wholechild, MindShift, Leading & Learning, The Unplugged Mom, and is the author the book Teaching Generation Text.

Disclaimer: The information shared here is strictly that of the author and does not reflect the opinions or endorsement of her employer.