Twitter and Facebook

We are facing the social media challenge every day with the students. As a result of a recent cyberbullying situation, students are no longer allowed to use Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and any other social media site during the school day. They are allowed to use these sites at home but they must follow the Acceptable Use Policy regarding what they post on the Internet when using the school-owned devices. It has been very difficult for some students to understand that they did not purchase the iPads and cannot do whatever they want on them. I gave a short presentation on Monday, December 12th about ownership, the AUP, and cyberbullying to the entire high school. Many of the girls still feel that the administration, teachers and parents do not have the right to look at the content on the iPads whenever they want. Hopefully, this misconception has been dispelled.

The iPad and the Bazaar

The Maryvale Christmas Bazaar was held today and students set up tables to earn some money for their classes. One group used their iPad as a guide to facepaint others.

Even Apes use iPads

Tablet of the Apes

What began as an April Fool's Day gag - a Photoshopped image of a gorilla using an iPad - soon became a reality when the Milwaukee County Zoo handed the device to its orangutans. Since iPads are allegedly so intuitive that anyone can use them, Trish Khan, supervisor of the primate and ape area at the zoo, thought the tablet could be a great enrichment opportunity for the great apes and donated her old one. At first, the orangutans were just shown pictures and videos of themselves and were not allowed to handle the device. "Their reaction was rather interesting," says Khan. "They took to it immediately. One of them put his arms above his head and clapped while the other stared intently." Then there were allowed to tinker with painting and drawing apps while a zookeeper protected the iPad from damage. The apes have a basic understanding of how the touch screen works, which is good for their cognitive development, Khan says. Next the zoo hopes to develop its own apps for apes and help them Skype with apes from other zoos.

Lauren Brousell
CIO
December 1, 2011

See http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3503234/Gorillas-get-iPads-to-aid-alertness-and-keep-them-happier-in-zoos.html for the Photoshopped images.

Using their iPads After School

Students often sit on the steps and use their iPads after school.

11:11 on 11-11-11 from the iPad

We had a little fun today in computer class and the girls made screen shots of the date and time.

Teachers and iPads

Two teachers using iPads in art and English.

Absent? No Problem! Facetime works just fine!

Two students at school and another students who is home sick using Facetime to participate in the class.


One of the issues that arises for students who are absent is how to get good science lab notes from other students who were actually in school and did the lab that day. A student who is absent due to mono was able to participate with her lab group by using FaceTime. One student in class set up her iPad so that the student at home could watch and listen to what was happening during the lab. How cool is that!?! She will be able to keep up with her class and not feel so far behind when she comes back to school.

There are several ways that the iPad can be used in the classroom. Teachers can use the iPad in place of a computer to deliver content using an LCD projector and white board or screen. It can also become a student work station as well as a collaboration device between the teacher and among the students.

Below are some of the apps that teachers have been using:




AirSketch Free (free) is an app allows teachers to connect to a laptop that is on the same network and then project what is written or drawn on the iPad onto a screen using an LCD projector. As long as the laptop is able to project through an LCD projector, what is drawn on the iPad can be seen.





Science 360 (free) from the National Science Foundation. These beautiful images and videos can be used as writing prompts in English and be visual aids in math and social studies.



Photos and videos can take up a lot of room on your iPad. Try one of these apps to move photos from your iPad to your computer or another iDevice. After they are moved, they can be saved to a jump drive or CD.


Bluetooth Photo Copy (free) is a photo share app that allows you to move photos from one iDevice to another one. Both devices must have the app installed and running for this to work properly.




Photo Transfer App ($2.99) is another app that allows you to move photos from the iPad to another device including a PC, a Mac, or another iPad or iPhone.

iOS 5

Getting iOS 5 installed on all student iPads has presented us with some issues. Some students just haven't done it, others try and it doesn't work for them for whatever reason. Some have lost notes on the pdf-notes for iPad app after they have updated their devices to iOS 5 because these types of third party apps don't always back up to the "cloud". I would strongly recommend that students use Pages and Keynote to take notes since these are Apple products and they automatically sync to the cloud. The notes can then be accessed by going to iCloud.com on any iPad, computer, iPod, or iPhone. One student lost hundreds of flashcards on an app but was able to recover the flashcards when she reinstalled the app but this wasn't the case for another student when she reinstalled pdf-notes.

Discussion about some of these issues will continue and we will work to resolve whatever issue arise. We have a computer set up in the MLR lab now so that students can install iOS 5 at school if their home computers will now work.

(Sent from my iPad)

Even the Ravens are using iPads

"According to an article in Sports Illustrated, two NFL teams -- the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baltimore Ravens -- are issuing their players iPads instead of paper playbooks, with another 14 considering the move. It's estimated that the league consumes 7.6 million pages of paper annually (no wonder they can't line up correctly) at a cost of more than $100,000 per team."

Reposted from http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/8-piles-paper-replaced-ipads-175297

I guess Maryvale is a leader in the use of iPads in Maryland.

Math and the iPads

Today, students from the Honors Geometry class went onto the new field and made some measurements using crepe paper streamers. Part of their assignment was to use their iPads to take pictures of what they were doing. Above are a few images from today's geometry activity.

Students using iPads to Study

Yesterday, several students were talking about studying together for an upcoming science test and they were planning to use Skype. The test was today and I asked them if they had actually studied together last night. They said they spent 3 to 4 hours on Skype studying for this test and only got off task a few times. One student said that she is more distracted when studying alone than with her friends using Skype. I am curious to know how they did on the test as a result of this virtual group study.

The Story Continues....

Teachers continue to share ways that the iPad is being used in the classroom and for projects and assignments. One English teacher shared that the girls recorded a chapter from the book they read as a radio presentation. The music/drama teacher recorded dances for the upcoming musical and the girls practice it using the videos on the private YouTube channel. The students often use the iPad exclusively when completing projects and taking notes. They use the iPad everywhere on campus and because it is small and portable can be placed next to them wherever they are.

We continue to get back iPads with broken glass. Getting the supplemental insurance for accidental damage was probably the smartest thing we did. So far we have sent in 9 iPads but have not replaced the damaged ones yet. The girls have been strongly encouraged to buy a separate padded case to keep their iPads in just in case they are dropped. These will be sold in the school store starting this week. There is no guarantee that this will completely protect the iPads and keep the glass from breaking but we are trying. I have a new iPad case on order but I think that they are in high demand now and we have been waiting almost two weeks for it to arrive. We may end up replacing all of the student iPad cases if we continue to see the amount of breakage that we have seen in the first month and a half of school.

We plan to send a survey to the parents of the students this week to find out how they are doing with them at home. One or two parents have complained about the amount of time their daughters are spending on the iPad and they are not sure what to do to about it. We suggest that they take the iPads away at night or turn off the Safari browser by putting on parental restrictions.

We still believe that this is a phenomenal program for our school and many students and teachers wonder what we did before we had the iPads.

UPDATE: The new iPad 2 case/cover came in and it looks like we might be getting these for our students. They are called the Griffin Survivor and because they have a hard case and then rubber edges all the way around, it will definitely protect the corners much better than the cases we currently have for our students.

Now the Learning Begins

The honeymoon is over and the students are starting to see the real value of having the iPad in their hands every day. They realize now that they need to take care of their iPad or it won't take care of them. We have had a few issues but nothing that can't be handled easily. A couple of students have dropped their iPads and cracked the glass, one student's iPad was stolen but then was found, and one student's display is not working right. Three iPads were defective out of the box and when I went to the Apple store, there were immediately replaced. We have one iPad that was shipped to the insurance company for replacement and we have not heard back from them yet. Luckily, we still have 8 iPads in reserve for those that are defective or broken.

The overall success of the program has been tremendous. Teachers have completed a survey about iPad use in their classrooms and they are saying that it is more beneficial than detrimental for them and their students. Yes, we know that students are playing games on them sometimes when they should be working on assignments. This is more of classroom management issue than a concern for the students.

Teaching with the iPad

The teachers are finding many useful ways to incorporate the iPad into their lessons. Some are using Edline more now to post worksheets and information for their students and students have found many creative ways to use that information. Some teachers are using apps as their lesson. For example, I heard about a teacher who was having her students manipulate virtual molecules today. A teacher told me that she read an entire book on her iPad in a day and she would never have done that if it were a regular book. She thinks it is so much easier to read on the iPad. A student deletes the games after a week or so because she no longer wants them. The spot checks of iPads are good because students are aware that we will either have them remove the app or reset their iPads. They have passed the "honeymoon" phase and are really starting to use the iPad as an educational tool.

Here we are at the end of our second full week of school and all of the students now have their iPads. How cool is that?!?

The 6th graders were so excited to bring their iPads to school today. They are all set up on our network and are ready to learn with this new tool!

Here are some comments this week from students and teachers about the iPads:

• I don't know what I did before I got the iPad!
  
• It is like an extension of my arm - I am always using it.
• The girls are so good at using their iPads already.
• It fits in my backpack, and I can get on the Internet to check edline for my classes when a teacher asks me to.
• It helps me prepare for classes or quizzes. It makes it easier to get the information I need faster and more efficiently. I also enjoy getting emails immediately.
• [It is] so much easier to follow along with the teacher and take notes.
• Teachers have emailed me back so much faster than they did last year. It saves me from stressing over minor issues and helps me to gain information fast.
• We can have instant access to the Internet anywhere on campus. This makes writing papers, studying and accessing information so much easier and quicker than any other years.

It is such an exciting time to be student at Maryvale!

Inception to Implementation

The iPad 1:1 program has been on the minds of the Maryvale Technology Committee for many years. Our goal was to find a way to bring technology to all students in a cost effective and educationally appropriate way. We looked at laptops and netbooks but did not think that this was the solution for our school community. When the iPads hit the market almost 2 years ago, we found our technology tool! It is small, portable and students use it in an intuitive way - very little training or instruction is needed for this iPhone-iPod using generation. They are comfortable using touch screens and expect an instant response, which the "i" tools reliably provide.

Below is the timeline of events leading to implementing the iPad program at Maryvale Preparatory School.

September - December 2010: The technology staff met with the administrators of the school and discussed the possibility of bringing the iPad to Maryvale and its students. They were receptive but uncertain about the reconfiguring of our network to accommodate the just over 400 iPads we would be providing to our faculty and staff. The cost to rewire and update our network grew with each meeting and almost stopped us in our tracks. However, because we are building a new building it seemed like the right time to bring our entire network up to date to meet our growing technology needs.

October - December 2010: 10 iPads for students were purchased and students were allowed to test them in various classes and in the library. The students also tried netbooks and compared their experiences - iPads won hands down! They were so happy with the instant "on" feature, the iBooks, and all of the different apps they could try.

January 2011: The administration announced that we would provide iPads for all students in the 2011-2012 school year. This would be 3 to 4 year program with an assessment of our technology needs at the end of our third year. Our students would pay a higher tech fee to help offset the cost of the iPads but they would not own the iPads at the end of this time.

March 2011: The iPad Committee was formed and made up of teachers, administrators and technology department members. The committee developed a list of questions and answers that they believed parents, students, and teachers would ask. The FAQ page is now on our Maryvale web site. This committee also kept researching how other schools are using iPads, their Acceptable Use Policies, and cases/covers. After ordering the magnetic covers for all our teachers, we decided that these just would not work in a school environment. That was a wise decision on our part. We settled on a portfolio style case for the teachers and ultimately decided to purchase these for our students' iPads.

April 2011: Parent information sessions were held and the technology department members answered as many questions as we could. Unfortunately, our network administrator left for another position on April 1st which made it difficult to answer all of the questions that were being asked. Overall, I think we did a good job based on the information that we had available at the time.

The iPad 2 release date was announced and our iPad Committee decided that we would purchase these instead of the iPad 1 for our students. They would get the latest and greatest device!

June - August 2011: All teachers were given an iPad to take home over the summer. They were given $20 in iTunes cards and told to download apps and books. They could use it for their personal as well as school use. Teachers developed lesson plans that we shared at the August faculty orientation days. Enthusiasm and excitement filled the room as the teachers shared and learned about all of the exciting ways they and their students would be using the iPads during the upcoming school year.

June/July 2011: All of the iPads were ordered for the students and they all arrived on time even though a part that was being manufactured in Japan at the time of the earthquake/sunami was rumored to have stopped being made. There was a concern that the student iPads would not be in before school started but they all arrived in July. I spent my summer using a magnifying glass reading the very tiny serial numbers on the backs of each individual iPad. We used our library database to catalog and check out each iPad to every student. The iPads will be checked back in in May 2012, checked for damage and/or defects, and then checked out again by the students. They will use them over the summer in 2012.

August-September 2011: Parents were required to attend a meeting to pick up their daughter's iPad. Parents were given a packet of information about how to set up the iPads on their personal iTunes accounts. The iPad Committee decided that it would be a good idea for students to use parent iTunes accounts so that they would get the receipts for any app or book purchases. Some parents allowed the older girls to use their own accounts and this has worked out pretty well so far. Younger students may not always have the ability to purchase apps on demand so all teachers were asked to provide a list of required apps and books for the students before the parent meetings were held. Some teachers did not do this but those that did helped the students and parents tremendously as they could go home and begin downloading books and apps that night. All parents attended and by the end of the second week of school all students had their iPads with the exception of the middle school students. We believed that middle school students needed to adjust to the new school year, especially the 6th graders, before they were given one more thing to deal with. This seems to have been a good decision on our part.


Maryvale retains ownership of the iPads and this is a good thing! We have the ability to monitor content, remove apps and inappropriate photos and replace iPads at our discretion. Students are aware that any teacher can audit student devices and students are held accountable for their actions while using the iPads. Our Acceptable Use Policy was revised to address some of the issues that we are facing now.

Have we done everything right? Only time will tell but so far, we are very pleased with our students and how they are using the iPads for their school work. Our teachers have embraced the iPad and we will continue to improve our program as the year progresses.

iPads are here!!!

All high school students received their iPads last week and have been using them in their classes since Tuesday. They are so excited about this new technology tool! They have been playing Words with Friends, using Facetime to find out about their homework assignments, and reading novels on iBooks. It is such an exciting time to be a student at Maryvale!

Windows 7

We are moving from Windows XP to Windows 7 this year, and you can learn all about Windows 7 by going to the Microsoft site.

Compare Windows 7 to Windows XP by watching this video.

Learn how to personalize your computer by following the instructions on this video tutorial.

Learn how to find your files by watching this video.

This video will help you understand the control panel and settings.

Apps for your iPad

Check out some of these apps for high school students: http://palmbeachschooltalk.com/groups/ipadpilot/wiki/70925/High_School_iPad_Apps.html

iPad info

Check out the iPad information on the Maryvale web site: http://www.maryvale.com/academics/technology/index.aspx

Announcement!

Maryvale will be providing iPads for students to use beginning in the 2011-2012 school year!

Web 2.0 Presentation Tools

If you don't have PowerPoint on your computer or if you want to try a new presentation tool, try these:

• Prezi - http://prezi.com/
• Slide - http://www.slide.com/
• ZoHo - http://www.zoho.com/
• Animoto - http://animoto.com/

Your teachers may be impressed that you used something different as a presentation tool.