Talk:What is an iPad and how is it useful?
Hey Keriann,
This is such a "cutting-edge" topic, I was very excited to demo your first unit. We are moving to a 1:1 ipad model next year with our sophomore class, so I will definitely be checking out your wiki again over the summer in preparation for next school year.
The resources you included in your unit was interesting and progressed in a natural way. I liked the graphic organizer you have the participants fill out while watching the first video; it reinforces the skill of active learning. The graphic organizer had very open ended headings to allow students to make their own meaning while synthesizing the information they learn in the video.
The ipad user guide was helpful to clear up any issues a participant may have with their ipad use and also expose them to aspects of the ipad, even an intermediate user, can learn from.
In your "Putting it all together" the participant has a chance to extend their knowledge and relate the ipad to their own life on a deeper level. It activates the schema of what type of technology the participant already uses in their life. It also challenges the participant to identify other ways they can infuse technology in life, specifically the ipad.
I absolutely love the 3-2-1 activity you included as a reflection for the participant. I will be using this in my own classroom to help students reflect and extend their own learning. Thank you for the idea.
A suggestion: Maybe you could include one foreshadow in the first unit of how to use the ipad in the classroom. Maybe the participant could identify one aspect of their classroom (a routine or task) the ipad may enhance. In later units, the participant can build off of this initial idea.
Great job! I love the pictures and the flow of the unit. I definitely need to go back and work on mine. Yikes.
Kristen Savastano
Developmental Tryout -- Katie Matthews (talk) 21:09, 24 April 2013 (EDT)
Hi Keriann,
You've made a great start on a very fun topic! I'll start my comments with your Introduction page and then move to Unit 1.
On the Introduction page, the picture is huge and overwhelms the lack of text at the bottom of the page. I think you either need to shrink the picture or add more content... and more text would be helpful. You can provide more details about the content of each unit, and describe the assessments that will be involved. Some more detail will help students to know what is coming in this course. Knowing what is to come helps inform how you learn in each unit.
Have you considered creating a sort of capstone project, like designing a lesson which uses iPads? Right now, your objectives/goals only include verbs like define, identify, and state, which can be evaluated through written or verbal reflection. How about making the students apply what they have learned?
Unit 1 provides a very thorough introduction to iPads! You do an excellent job of addressing the possible uses, the benefits, and how to use an iPad. The sources you integrate are high quality and varied. I also like how, rather than providing your own text which would just repeat what they're about to learn from the resource, you allow the resources to directly provide the information. The use of the graphic organizer helps students to synthesize the information from the resource.
The objectives for the unit are very short, and don't indicate how those performance objectives will be assessed. Using the five-part objectives described by the textbook would be beneficial!
The reflection questions are good, but can you tie the reflection questions in with the future goals of the course?
Overall, I definitely think I could learn about using iPads in the classroom from your unit, but some more detail on the Introduction page will provide context for the learning in each unit, and I think would be an valuable addition.
Great start!
Katie
Developmental Tryout -- Ryan Alescio (talk) 09:09, 26 April 2013 (EDT)
Hi Keriann
I liked the topic you have chosen and I think teachers who go through your course would be very intrigued by learning how to use an iPad in the classroom. My comments are on Unit 1:
I thought it was a good idea to incorporate the different videos so that the learner could see how the technology was being used. I also liked the reflection activities at the end of the benefits video, and at the end of the unit. The learners have the opportunity to reflect and understand the material that was presented.
I think the flow of the unit might be better if you start with "Start with the Basics" and then move to the everyday beneficial piece. That way, the learners who do not know how to use an iPad will have a better understanding of the technological tool before they begin learning about its usefulness. Also, the objectives could be developed a little bit more. Being a little more specific with the objectives would help the students fully understand what they are supposed to get out of the unit. Finally, you should think about how you can tie the everyday benefits to the usefulness of using an iPad in a classroom. It would help the learners if they can already begin to think about how to use it in a classroom before they view unit 3.
Overall, I think it is a great topic and I would be very interested to learn how to use an iPad.
Developmental Tryout -- Celeste (talk) 20:55, 26 April 2013 (EDT)
Hi Keriann,
Great topic! This topic specifically would be good for teachers in my district. They have had teachers pilot the use of iPad's in their classroom and have gone as far as creating an iPad lab instead of a normal computer lab last year. So far it has not had much use but I believe this is due to teachers experience with an iPad for educational/classroom use. Your introduction page is nice. The picture really stands out and sums up important functions the iPad can have in the classroom. Your first unit is setup nice and is organized. The one thing I was thinking about as I was trying your unit out is the idea of apps. An iPad has endless use due to the fact of being able to purchase apps for almost anything. Not sure if this is planned in a future unit. I like your ending activity as it really helps the learner sum up the unit. Keep up the good work, looking forward to seeing the ending product.
Instructor feedback on your draft unit -- Jianwei Zhang (talk) 10:46, 30 April 2013 (EDT)
Nice work creating your unit 1. In the next step, you may make this mini-course more engaging and "friendly" by:
- Adding more engaging opening paragraph in the front page of your course, maybe using a story and a few comments from teachers/students about how iPad changes their learning/teaching. You will also need to describe your target learner snd course-level objectives to the front page.
- Your unit 1, discuss with friend, the first two questions are not closely focusing on the topic of this course.