I have had several teachers recently contacting me to see how to make good use of their new ipads in their art classrooms. I have given them a few simple ideas but it's hard when I am not in the classroom everyday. I am going to visit the art teacher Chelsea Meyer in Waverly to see how she incorporates it into her teaching. We are going to do some work on how to assess kids through Voicethread and Flickr in a few weeks, then plan a project with her students and mine.
Looking for a good drawing app for the ipad and possibly some animation apps too. Any suggestions?
Thanks, Wendy
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
iPad Guide for Teachers
As we gear up for the summer workshop I thought I'd give you a preview of one of the things we will be doing. That's right, we'll be using our iPads again. Only this year you'll have them to use throughout the entire workshop rather than the last day. Since many are on different levels of comfort with using the iPad, all the way from it's still in the box to using it creatively in the classroom, I wanted to share a website I found in my Twitter feed today. It's a short list of useful apps for teachers. There are simple apps like file storage/transfer to brainstorming to content creation. There were a few I hadn't seen before so I wanted to pass it on.
Remember, if there is an app that isn't free that you want to try, let me know. I'd also be interested to hear if there are any apps that you are using that would be worth sharing with the whole group.
http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/2012/04/an-introductory-guide-to-ipads-for-teachers/
Remember, if there is an app that isn't free that you want to try, let me know. I'd also be interested to hear if there are any apps that you are using that would be worth sharing with the whole group.
http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/2012/04/an-introductory-guide-to-ipads-for-teachers/
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Meeting Tomorrow
Good afternoon! Tomorrow we will be meeting again in my office 543 SEC at 2:30 for approximately an hour. If there is anything you'd like to get on the agenda, please let me know. Here is what I'd like to talk about, but as always, I'll defer to your interests.
Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge: http://tpack.org
TPACK Activity Types: http://activitytypes.wmwikis.net/HOME
Please add a comment if there is anything you'd like to talk about.
Dan
Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge: http://tpack.org
TPACK Activity Types: http://activitytypes.wmwikis.net/HOME
Please add a comment if there is anything you'd like to talk about.
Dan
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Hi folks-
Sorry I missed our last PLC time, I was so sick!
I have been working with Dan to get my students using Twitter this semester. Why? I am teaching a class called Issues and Theories in Art Education and we discuss a great deal about social justice art education and the inequities of the world we live in and how art can be a social agent of change through things like service learning and and community based art projects. This semester my students seem to be pretty clueless in what is happening in our world (current events, educational reforms, etc...)
I was talking to Dan about ways to get them more connected with what is happening and he suggested I have them use Twitter to follow news. I had them all sign up for it and Dan helped me make a list of good folks to follow and my students quietly complied and did it all.
We started following Iowa education news, national news, art educators, and local art teachers, to name a few. It seemed like a great plan. I was enjoying the news and resources I was finding, but I found that my students were not moving any further. They were not sharing resources, or tweeting or even re-tweeting what they were reading. This led me to have a conversation a week later asking where had I gone wrong? I told students they did not have to go out and tweet a bunch of times right away but that they should take time to explore, read, and learn to navigate Twitter. They were pretty honest and most said they had forgotten about it.
I gave the assignment for that weekend to tweet or re-tweet at least 3 interesting finds that connect our class. Dan suggested a rubric that scores them on the quality of their tweeting (not the quantity) but I felt that it was not in my original syllabus and that adding it at mid-term was tricky. Most did the 3 assigned tweets last week so I now my goal is to start talking more about things on Twitter that I am sharing with them. I am still not sure what I want to go with this or what I am exactly trying to achieve with this addition of Twitter to my class, so I am working through it slowly. My class is short and only 2 credits so it seems already packed. I worry I am overloading them with another thing and want more quality and to make less busy work for myself and students. How do I get to that?
I am asking for any feedback. Thanks!
Sorry I missed our last PLC time, I was so sick!
I have been working with Dan to get my students using Twitter this semester. Why? I am teaching a class called Issues and Theories in Art Education and we discuss a great deal about social justice art education and the inequities of the world we live in and how art can be a social agent of change through things like service learning and and community based art projects. This semester my students seem to be pretty clueless in what is happening in our world (current events, educational reforms, etc...)
I was talking to Dan about ways to get them more connected with what is happening and he suggested I have them use Twitter to follow news. I had them all sign up for it and Dan helped me make a list of good folks to follow and my students quietly complied and did it all.
We started following Iowa education news, national news, art educators, and local art teachers, to name a few. It seemed like a great plan. I was enjoying the news and resources I was finding, but I found that my students were not moving any further. They were not sharing resources, or tweeting or even re-tweeting what they were reading. This led me to have a conversation a week later asking where had I gone wrong? I told students they did not have to go out and tweet a bunch of times right away but that they should take time to explore, read, and learn to navigate Twitter. They were pretty honest and most said they had forgotten about it.
I gave the assignment for that weekend to tweet or re-tweet at least 3 interesting finds that connect our class. Dan suggested a rubric that scores them on the quality of their tweeting (not the quantity) but I felt that it was not in my original syllabus and that adding it at mid-term was tricky. Most did the 3 assigned tweets last week so I now my goal is to start talking more about things on Twitter that I am sharing with them. I am still not sure what I want to go with this or what I am exactly trying to achieve with this addition of Twitter to my class, so I am working through it slowly. My class is short and only 2 credits so it seems already packed. I worry I am overloading them with another thing and want more quality and to make less busy work for myself and students. How do I get to that?
I am asking for any feedback. Thanks!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Using technology as an assignment vs using technology to support classroom activities
After reading Chad's response to the previous post, I thought it made more sense to enter my response as a new post.
I think there are two ways you can look at technology in education. The first, and most often way people look at it, is through the assignments students complete using technology. This could include basically any assignment students are required to do through the use of technology. I'm thinking digital storytelling projects that require students to use cameras, software, and the like. But there's also another aspect that is overlooked, which I'm going to term lesson-based technology use.
Technology use doesn't need to be an assignment to be used effectively. Rather, technology can be leveraged in the classroom to enhance the teaching that is already taking place, not to mention the opportunity for something new to happen. In this regard, I'm thinking of lesson-based things you could do with technology such as: setting up a back channel during a lecture, bringing in an expert through a video conference, or something as easy as having access to the Internet to bring in outside resources and opinions.
But it isn't always as easy as...which is why many teachers resist. Often teachers don't have faith in the technology working or that they won't get the intended outcomes they wanted from the technology. The locus of control is beyond their grasp and when it comes down to it, we don't have the required trust in other people, the system, or simply that the technology will work. Usually this is due to past experience.
That doesn't mean we have to like it, and I often don't, which is why I try to eliminate barriers that prevent teachers from doing something really amazing with technology in their classrooms. Will things go right the first time you try it in the classroom, probably not. But that doesn't mean we need to stop trying to make it work. Innovation doesn't happen overnight and it often takes a considerable amount of time. I understand that teaching time is sacred, but only to the extent that we fail to be relevant.
So my question to you is, are there ways you want to use technology in your classrooms? If so, are there any barriers that I can help remove or reduce to make this happen?
I think there are two ways you can look at technology in education. The first, and most often way people look at it, is through the assignments students complete using technology. This could include basically any assignment students are required to do through the use of technology. I'm thinking digital storytelling projects that require students to use cameras, software, and the like. But there's also another aspect that is overlooked, which I'm going to term lesson-based technology use.
Technology use doesn't need to be an assignment to be used effectively. Rather, technology can be leveraged in the classroom to enhance the teaching that is already taking place, not to mention the opportunity for something new to happen. In this regard, I'm thinking of lesson-based things you could do with technology such as: setting up a back channel during a lecture, bringing in an expert through a video conference, or something as easy as having access to the Internet to bring in outside resources and opinions.
But it isn't always as easy as...which is why many teachers resist. Often teachers don't have faith in the technology working or that they won't get the intended outcomes they wanted from the technology. The locus of control is beyond their grasp and when it comes down to it, we don't have the required trust in other people, the system, or simply that the technology will work. Usually this is due to past experience.
That doesn't mean we have to like it, and I often don't, which is why I try to eliminate barriers that prevent teachers from doing something really amazing with technology in their classrooms. Will things go right the first time you try it in the classroom, probably not. But that doesn't mean we need to stop trying to make it work. Innovation doesn't happen overnight and it often takes a considerable amount of time. I understand that teaching time is sacred, but only to the extent that we fail to be relevant.
So my question to you is, are there ways you want to use technology in your classrooms? If so, are there any barriers that I can help remove or reduce to make this happen?
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Professional Development Needs
As we head into the middle of February, I wanted to check in with everyone to see if there were professional development needs you might have. We've been talking about some of the possible things you could do with technology, but I was wondering if there was anything you needed to make the process go a little easier? This could be helping you design the lesson, helping you learn how to use an app, or even just having me come to your class on the first day that you implement a new technology. Whatever it might be, just let me know and I can help.
It also helps if you let us know how things are going in your classroom by posting to the blog. This way the rest of the group can give you their insight into what you're doing. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Dan
It also helps if you let us know how things are going in your classroom by posting to the blog. This way the rest of the group can give you their insight into what you're doing. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Dan
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Infographic: Social Media in Education
Here is an infographic about how schools and colleges are using social media in education. I thought it was interesting enough to share. Thoughts? You'll want to click on the picture to be able to read it.
Source: http://www.buzzom.com/2012/02/infographic-how-schools-and-colleges-are-using-social-media-in-education/
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