Category Archives: iPad in Middle School

This category pertains to middle school age students using and learning with the iPad.

Grants for iPads in Schools

Posted on by mkaufman

using grants to get ipads for school

It looks like there are a number of schools using (or getting) grants that enable them to use iPads in their school. The following are a few of the articles I’ve found recently that mention how schools are using grants to get iPads.

Big grant will help West St. Paul school go ‘paperless’

Updated: 9/30/2010 11:07:05 AM
West St. Paul, Minn. — From the curb of Butler Avenue, Heritage Middle School looks like any other school. But step inside and you’ll quickly learn science and technology is king. Now, a federally funded grant for magnet schools will give the king a kick start.

Every kid at the 690 student school will get an iPad or iPod touch. It means a lot to a magnet school that focuses on science, technology, engineering, and math.

KARE Channel 11

Grant secures iPads for Attalla schools

Published: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 9:14 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 9:16 p.m.
The school system recently used grant funds to purchase 10 iPads to be used by administrators, teachers and students.

“We’re trying to prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s jobs,” said Wesley Gulledge, assistant principal of Etowah Middle School and site director of the school’s 21st Century Community Learning Center. “Tomorrow’s jobs are going to want them to have technology skills. It’s our job to make sure students have access to that technology and know what they’re supposed to do with it.”

The Gadsden Times

Grant lets school add iPods as learning tools
Written by Deb EgenbergerThursday, 23 September 2010 21:23

A grant written by technology coordinator Robbi McKenney and awarded from the John R. Applegate Fund through Mid-Nebraska Community Foundation has allowed the district to purchase 10 new iPod Touch units, two iHome speaker systems and extra headphones.

These are in addition to 10 iPod Classics, 20 iPod Touches and an iPad the school already has available for K-12 students.

The iPod Touch and iPad units have been loaded with educational applications that can integrate into a variety of subject areas including Spanish, science, history, art and math.

Last spring, the advanced computer class completed a project with second and sixth graders using the iPod Touch to learn Spanish, improve spelling, do research online and study geography.

The Gothenburgtimes

IPad hits N.S. classrooms
$10,000 worth of Apple tablets for teachers and students

Last Updated: Friday, September 24, 2010 | 5:25 PM AT
A Nova Scotia elementary school has added the iPad to its list of classroom teaching tools.

Mount Carmel Elementary School in New Waterford, Cape Breton, bought 10 of the high-tech tablet computers this year to share among its students as a complement to textbooks and chalkboards.

Principal Lowell Cormier said the $10,000 cost was covered by a combination of fundraising, community partnerships and school board contributions. He said the school expects a good return in the form of improved learning.

CBC News

Freshmen in Naselle get iPads, thanks to grant
NASELLE, Wash. — School officials in the small Southwest Washington town of Naselle are hoping some new technology will boost performance among high school freshmen.

The school district last week provided its 29 freshmen with iPads outfitted with educational software such as graphing calculators. The high school has 150 students.

Apple’s latest portable computer typically retails for $499. The Daily News of Longview reports the district purchased the iPads with a $20,000 grant from a private foundation and invested $25,000 of its own money in training for teachers.

The Daily News

Pearson Testing Social Studies Text on iPad

Posted on by mkaufman

As predicted getting students to use iPads to access text books is on the horizon. Here’s an article about a one the major text book publishers testing a social studies curriculum being offered on the iPad.

Virginia Schools Launch iPad Study Program
September 30th, 2010 at 8:26 AM – News by Jeff Gamet

Schools in Virginia have teamed up with the educational book publisher Pearson to launch an iPad-based social studies program that relies on Apple’s iPad instead of traditional textbooks. The 12-week test program will include seventh and ninth grade students in two counties, and is the first educational program of its kind.

The test program includes four iPad apps designed by Pearson just for the school’s U.S. and world history curriculum. Students will be able to use the apps to create their own customized textbooks from course materials, play interactive games designed to reinforce class lessons, and take tests.

iPads go to school in Virginia

The idea behind the US$120,000 test program is to draw in students that are more comfortable with digital content than traditional printed media. “The knowledge gained will help policy makers, educators and our private sector partners better understand the potential instructional uses of interactive digital media and wireless technology,” commented Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I. Wright.

Pearson and the Virgina school system are working with Radford University to evaluate the results of the program. Virginia’s iPad learning program is set to launch on November 1.

Students Using the iPad

Posted on by mkaufman

How might students use the iPad? The following reflections come from a middle school teacher in a blog post he made (after giving his iPad to some students and getting their input/opinion). In his previous post he was commenting about how the iPad had changed his life and wondered:

So now I wonder, if this has really changed my game, how might it change the game for a student who is able to go through the school day with it? One-to-one initiatives are popping up all over (finally), and the iPad may be one solution for students. An iPad is a consumption device more than a creation device (we still need laptops or desktops), but the types of input and resources available make it a real possibility for student use. I’m going to try an experiment this week with a couple of students and let them take it to all their classes for a day. I’m really interested in how they think an iPad might (or might not) make their learning better. Hopefully I’ll convicne them to share there thoughts here next week. Stay tuned…

So here is what he came up with after hearing the feedback from the students he gave the iPad to.

1st period, Science: Collect microscope data using the ProScope Mobile

2nd period, ELA: Enter/edit literary responses in a discussion forum

3rd period, Music: Compose music and email the music and notation files with the app, Music Composer

4th period, Spanish: Record target language conversations with the app, Voice Memos for iPad, and email them to the teacher

5th peroid, Math: Practice solving equations in the app, Draw for iPad, and share them with classmates over Bluetooth

6th period, Social Studies: Review historical videos on YouTube or Discovery Education Streaming

7th period, Band: Put the iPad on the music stand and play music from the app, Scorcerer

8th period, Physical Education: Enter fitness data into a Google spreadsheet (AFTER keeping iPad in locker room and moving actively for 40 minutes in class…)

9th period, Art: Sketch designs using the app, Doodle Buddy, and post work to the class website

These are his first thoughts. His further reflection suggests that he’s sold on the value of the iPad versus a laptop. His final thoughts in this post were:

So that is just a glimpse of what could be. All in a device that just turns on (as opposed to boots up) and tucks in your arm like a book. There is a incredible amount of room for deepening the learning experience for students. I totally acknowledge the proprietary nature of the iPad and some inherent limitations, but I’m still sold.

So the question becomes, does the school try to provide the iPads, or come up with some unique solution where families purchase them and get to keep them?

Back when the iPad first came out another teachers wrote the following review about the iPad and its use in schools:

What’s GREAT about the iPAd in Education:

  • It’s on INSTANTLY! I can’t tell you how great that is to have what you need on NOW! Love it.
  • It’s FAST! Everything is so fluid and quick. (And BIG!) Better than any interaction with iPhone or iPod Touch.
  • Reading books is outstanding!
  • The battery life is incredible. You can you use it all day on a single charge.
  • You don’t have to SAVE anything. Yep, that’s right, just hit the Home Button and come back later. It’s still there. Love it!
  • There is nothing to learn. You just use it!
  • The iPad’s inability to multitask is a plus for students. They will learn to focus on the project at hand.
  • Keynote’s ability to place a simulated red laser pointer where you touch is a nice touch.
  • The sheer fact that it holds so much content and can do so much in such a small form. Amazing. Yes, even magical.
  • Amazing Apps! Download the Free and spectacular Dragon Dictation to speak text into your iPad. It is so easy and accurate.
  • You can teach with it! You can actually walk around teaching with the iPad in one arm while displaying notes, plans, grades, etc.

How can the iPad be Improved for Education?

  • The iPad can’t print. (Teachers need to print stuff.)
  • The iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter is horrible for education! Your choices for what you can project is far, far, far too limiting. You can’t share a webpage on the projector, or a book for that matter! (Full review coming soon.)
  • More Educational Apps! (Build them and teachers will buy them. Better yet, give teachers an easier SDK to create our own. Templates?)
  • Textbooks Available on the iBooks Store. (Give it time.)
  • Educators and students need a camera. Student recognition, projects, capturing data, and more. (You put one on the iPod Nano for crying out loud.)
  • iPad to iPad collaboration and interactivity.
  • The ability to work together with Interactive White Board (SmartBoards). Teachers love their SmartBoards.
  • Easier ways to transfer documents. It is difficult to get Pages Documents, Keynote Presentations, Photos, etc, onto and off of them iPad. Not all classrooms allow students to email.

As I find more teachers reviewing and exploring the use of the iPad in schools I will post them here. What’s your take on the primary uses of the iPad in schools?

Students Get iPads

Posted on by mkaufman

students with an iPadI imagine this fall we should be seeing many students using iPads – and many because their school is providing them. This eventuality will come with controversy as there are still many school personnel that do not believe giving students a laptop – or an iPad – will improve learning.

If the teaching methods employed in schools do not change I would tend to agree with this. Just giving students a tool like an iPad will not solve any of the issues related to student engagement and student achievement. Sure there may be some short term novelty but that novelty will wear off – unless something uniquely different happens in the experience of the teacher and in the experience of the students.

For instance, in typical teaching environments where students have access to computers, schools have installed monitoring software to be sure students are following along and not doing other things. In these types of environments the iPad will present a similar challenge. In order to insure students are doing productive things on the device the way they are used in the learning experience will have to be compelling, interesting, and relevant to the learner. And, maybe the need to control everything the student does is part of the problem?

The other thing is what I mentioned in a previous post. The iPad is a consumption device and that creates a problem for schools – as many of the leading schools know they must transition to getting students to be producers and not just consumers.

In a recent ABC News article (June 16th) several schools have announced giving 6th graders (6th and 7th graders in one case) iPads in the fall when school semesters begin again. I imagine, and I hope, these schools would be on leading edge of understanding that just replacing text books and traditional tools with a digital version will likely add little value. The opportunity in these schools is to explore and discover new ways of teaching and learning.

No matter what, the tide has turned, and we will continue to see more and more students carrying iPads at school starting this fall!

From the ABC News article: Coming this fall every 6th grader at Sacramento Country Day School in California, a private school, will receive an iPad at no extra cost to parents. From the headmaster,

“There are hundreds and hundreds of educational apps for the iPad,” he said. “We found that there are so many [that] we felt there was a tremendous opportunity to bridge the gap between the traditional pen and paper and textbook and laptop.”

More from the article and the headmaster:

Students will use the sleek tablets to develop reports, conduct research, read e-books and study. For example, using a flash card application, they could study for tests. They could also hook up the iPad to a projector and easily share a multimedia presentation with the class, he said.

The article also says another school in Wisconsin plans on giving 6th and 7th graders iPads this fall and plans on having all students and teachers from 6th grade through 12th grade using iPads instead of text books by 2012.

The local Racine newspaper published an article both praising the school and warning that being on the leading edge could have some unseen costs – since no one has used iPads under school conditions to date there is little known about how they will hold up.

The ABC News Article: Apple’s iPad Joins the 6th Grade: A Novelty or the Next Big Idea? Schools Embrace iPad as a Teaching Tool, But Some Educators Say It’s Limited

iPad, iFad, iWait – the Journal Times Article