iPad Classroom Ideas

[killercatfish]

Hello!

I am a middle school teacher. I deal with organizational issues, attention issues and sloppiness issues on a daily basis. I recently purchased an iPad and have downloaded many, many, many apps. I am interested in deciding on a few apps that could be used as a classroom suite. the main types of apps I am looking for are: an organizer (think of it as a 3 ring binder), a file management app (the way to have teachers distribute materials and students to access them) and a whiteboard (import worksheets and fill them out).

I have narrowed it down to 2-3 apps per category and before I post what I have in mind, I would like to see what people think here and get some fresh ideas.

Thanks!

 

[cardfan]

My wife is a middle school teacher but i don't think an ipad would work too well for her. Her school ties her down basically with their own programs they must use. They're not allowed to use anything but. Or install anything.

To be fair i can understand this as many of her co-workers can barely manage to turn a computer on. It's the federal school system btw and she teaches on post.

I don't think we're there yet but maybe later as these tablets become cheaper and more adopted.

 

[lorin.bute]

1. Organizer: Evernote, Springpad
2. File management/sharing: Dropbox. All of you can have free accounts (2 GB of storage online) and make a shared folder with them. Once you put something in that folder its immediately available for them (it even uses auto sync so they don't have to do anything, the file will be on their laptops/desktops/macs/ipads/iphones/android phones right away).
3. Whiteboard: Adobe Ideas

Enjoy!

 

[Nicoleen]

Using iPad in schools is very helpful. There are now schools that use iPad as their teaching aids. Well, exposing children to technology is good when properly supervised. Like with everything in Education, and therefore in life ? balance integral.

 

[Alli]

We've covered this in a few other threads if you'll do some searching.

The iPad is too heavy to carry around a classroom with one hand, and you can't just constantly put it down or you're defeating the purpose.

Do you want it to make your life easier or do you want it to enrich the education of your students? These are two distinctly different concepts and come with distinctly different answers.

You'll find like any single user computer, you can't just share it with 30 students (or even 15 if you're that lucky), so that your students can access your files.

 

[GreenflyStudios]

Following up on this, have you looked at Honywood Community Science School in Colchester, UK?
They issued out 1,200 iPads for all their students - this seems to be a more ideal situation considering the potential of a single person getting targeted for having an iPad.

I wonder how long it will be until the majority of schools begin to use iPads / tablet computers as a requirement?

 

[mobibomaxx]

iPads are almost ideal for classroom integration. Many years ago, my middle school had a class where every student received a PDA to use for the class. They also built simple websites among other things, but the concept made sense.

If every student had an iPad with the ability to hold every textbook they will ever need plus having the functionality/connectivity inherent within the iPad seems like a much more logical way of allocating resources.

Physical textbooks are just a scam weighing down on school systems.

 

[Peligro911]

Not to mention text books on iPad can be updated with a download vs using and printing tons of paper ... But I agree using one iPad for personal use is great to keep yourself organized but unless every kid has one your not going to get the full benefit like a whiteboard that appears on every students iPad as you draw on yours .


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