Living in the 4th Screen

Exploring the use of mobile technology in education and life

Apple Summer Learning Institute for Principals 2010 - Language Acquisition

The 3rd session I attended dealt with Language Acquisition. Very good presentation. The presenter showed some video clips of school using Apple tools to help ESL students. The iPod Touch apps we used were Pocket English ESL, Sentence Builder, and iTranslate Plus. We also used iTunes U content such as Lit2Go and an ESL Podcast. 

The presenter also showed some built in functions that are available on a MacBook for free that assist with language acquisition.

I again left this session thinking how useful the iPod Touch is in a classroom setting.

Day 2 Apple Summer Learning Institute for Administrators - Productivity

This was the first breakout session this morning. I was very disappointed with this session. I use my iPhone as a great productivity tool. There are so many great uses to help busy administrators and Apple blew it. No mention of the To Do apps. Very little mention of syncing calendars wirelessly until I brought it up. Disappointed that Apple focused on their apps or software i.e. iCal for Calendar. No mention of wireless syncing with Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook, again, until I brought it up. No mention of Evernote. Disappointing.

So much could have been done in this session to show administrators how to use the iPod Touch, iPad, or iPhone to simplify their lives.

Day 2 Apple Summer Learning Institute - Math Apps on the iPod Touch - Awesome

In the current session I am in we are exploring Math apps for the iPod Touch. As a former math teacher I am very impressed. We used 9 Gaps, Math Pad 4, Multiplication, Number Line, and Factoring. 

In the Multiplication App it allows you to randomly play against someone else (anonymously). That was fun.

The factoring app was also very good. Great for high school algebra 1 & 2 courses.

This session only confirms my thinking that the iPod Touch is a very compelling for schools. The cost factor is so low compared to a computer. The device is cheaper and the apps are free or less than a dollar.

Apple Summer Learning Institute 2010

I am in Boston for a few days attending the Apple Summer Institute for Administrators. Apple knows how to put on a good event. Very nice hotel and very good food. They gave us a MacBook, iPod Touch, and an iPad to use for the two days of the conference. The conference centers around how to use Apple products to improve instruction and learning. Being a PC user who owns an iPhone, it has been interesting using their software on the MacBook. I have used Apple products before and I have always liked them. I can't believe how easy it is to use iMovie to create your own movies. My next computer purchase will definitely be an Apple. No surprise that Apple announced today that their MacBook sales are up. Their products are easier to use and more powerful.

Classroom Cell Phone Disruption by the Numbers - Part 2

 
Back in January I wrote two posts titled, "Cell Phone Disruption by the Numbers" and "What is More Disruptive - Banning or Embracing Cell Phones in the Classroom? ", both posts essentially talked about how we changed our school cell phone policy and allowed students to use their cell phones during the school day. I reported the number of cell phone violations we had in the first half of the year in 08-09 and how many we had in 09-10. Below is some of what I said then:
What is more disruptive, banning cell phones and requiring teachers to confiscate them, or embracing student cell phones and teaching students how to use them more responsibly. For the 2009-2010 school year we changed our cell phone policy at the school were I serve as an assistant principal. We allow students to use their cell phones in between classes and in the cafeteria during their lunch period. The rest of the school day is instructional time and their cell phones are to be off and out of site unless a teacher is using them as part of the lesson.
 
Additionally, we made another change to our cell phone policy. We no longer require teachers to confiscate a student's cell phone if they violate the policy. We tell the teachers to write up a conduct report and turn it in to the main office and we will handle it from there. Our goal was to eliminate the classroom struggle that ensues between the teacher and a student when there is a cell phone policy violation.
 
The school I work in is a high school with about 1050 students. It is a middle to upper-middle class neighborhood. Almost all of our students carry a cell phone and an iPod of some sort.
For the first half of the year in 08-09 (Sept - Dec) when we did not allow students to use their cell phones during the school day we had over 40 violations. For the same time period in the 09-10 school year when we allowed students to use their cell phones during the school day we had 30 violations. I now have the final number of cell phone violations for the second half of the 09-10 school year (Jan - June). In the second half of the 08-09 school year we had 30 violations and in the same time period in the 09-10 school year we had 25 violations of our cell phone policy.
 
I also wrote this back in January:
Overall we have not had an increase in cell phone policy violations versus the same time last year when we did not allow cell phones to be used during the school day. In all honesty the students treated the change in the policy like it was no big deal. Many students have told me that by allowing them to use their phones it has removed the temptation to take them out at other times when it would be inappropriate. 

In all honesty I expected the violations for this school year (09-10) to be higher. One of the reasons I expected higher numbers was because teachers do not have to confiscate the student's cell phone when the student violates the policy. I thought this change in procedure would result in more discipline reports. Not the case.
In summary, we had 70+ cell phone violations for the 2008-2009 school year when students were not allowed to use their cell phones during the school day and 55 cell phone violations for the 2009-2010 school year when they were allowed to use the cell phones during their lunch periods and in the hallway between classes. I fully expected the number of cell phone violations to increase somewhat during the first year of a new policy. I also thought the fact that teachers did not have to confiscate the student's cell phone in order to write them up for a violation would make it easier for teachers to report violations and hence, expected more conduct reports dealing with cell phone violations. That did not happen.
 
Although pleased that our cell phone violations decreased, I am not exactly sure why. The students tell me that because they had opportunities to use their cell phones throughout the day it diminished the temptation to use them at inappropriate times. I am not naive to the fact that students still used their cell phones at inappropriate times this year and that not all those violations got reported to the office, but year over year we had a decrease in the number of cell phone violations. Overall a positive result. Students are certainly happier with the new policy and some parents have told me they are pleased with the change as it allows them to connect with their children during the day if they need to.
 
I have two final observations. First, the other assistant principal and I agonized in late spring and early summer in 2009 as we pondered a change in the cell phone policy. We didn't know what to expect. We contacted administrators and teachers from others schools who had made similar changes and peppered them with questions about how it turned out for them. We contacted some of our teachers over the summer and asked them what they thought of our idea of a new cell phone policy. Now looking back, we realize how foolish we were. The change in policy was really no big deal.
 
The second observation I made was that I thought a majority of students would be texting or talking on their cell phones during lunch. I expected to walk into our lunch area and see hundreds of students on their cell phones. This never happened. As a matter of fact I rarely saw more than 5 students at any given time on their cell phones, calling or texting. One day I had a colleague here from another school. I told her about our change in policy and we both walked into our lunch area to purposely count the number of students we observed using their cell phones. We saw 3 students texting and one listening to an iPod out of the 250 students who had lunch at that time. I read all the time that today's students do not know how to have face to face conversations because all they do is text. This has not been my experience. They are doing just fine when it comes to conversing with their peers.
 
Over the summer I will finish writing my paper reporting my findings this year with using cell phones as an instructional tool and will post it here when completed.
 
 I borrowed the picture from this website.

Using Pandora as an educational tool

One of my duties as assistant principal is supervising the world languages department. The department members and I are always looking for ways to improve classroom instruction. Below is what one of the world language teachers sent to me in an email today:

I'm excited to use Pandora because it's free and I already had a bunch of Latino stations I can use in the classroom.  I can use this to play during a do now or other "down time" where students are entering or exiting or working quietly.  It does have commercials but it seems like there is no interruption for continuous play.

 

Just thought I would share.  Not sure how many other people use music in the classroom, but this certainly makes it easier.  No need to bring the iPod or buy a ton of songs on ITUNEs which I have done already.
I have Pandora on my iPhone and use it from time to time, but I never thought of using it this way in the classroom. Pandora is free and available as a desktop version as well so you do not need an iPhone or iPod Touch to use it.
 
A constant challenge in a world language classroom is for students to hear native speakers speaking the language. A number of the teachers in the department have used songs as a way to meet this need quite effectively. Using Pandora opens up many more possibilities.
 
 
 

What does Seth Godin think about kids using the iPod Touch?

I saw a two-year old kid (in diapers, in a stroller), using an iPod Touch today. Not just looking at it, but browsing menus and interacting. This is a revolution, guys.
Seth's post was about how the Kindle could take on the iPad for ebook reading. He ended his post with the quote above. His quote speaks to the ebook issue but I think it speaks to a larger issue as well. I have seen my own 5-year old use an iPod Touch or iPhone with relative ease. She has been able to move around in apps and discover features all on her own. She is quite deft at using the device. Friends and colleagues have shared similar stories with me about their children or grandchildren doing the same thing.
 
I believe the power of Apple and Steve Jobs is their ability to make using technology simple and fun. Last week I assisted a colleague in purchasing an iPhone. Before the iPhone he used a Blackberry.  You should hear him talk how easy the iPhone is compared to a Blackberry. In a matter of days he was taking pictures and emailing them to people. On the Blackberry he said he could not even figure out how to type a period (his words not mine). He is estatic with his iPhone. Apple should put him in a commercial. Say what you want about Apple, RIM, Goolge, and their competing devices, but millions of people are voting with their pocketbooks and choosing Apple. Their devices are easier to use! If Verizon offered an iPhone, RIM and Android would have serious problems on their hands. The power of the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad is their simplicity.
 

iPod, iListen, iRead, and apparently iLearn

A recent article in Edutopia.org talks about using iPods as voice recording devices to provide feedback to students who are learning to read. According to the article the students can listen to themselves reading and it provides the "missing mirror" in terms of reading instruction. The last thing students with poor reading skills want to do is read aloud in front of their peers. Having students read into an iPod provides a non-threatening outlet for students to listen to themselves read. Apparently this process also improved the students ability to read.

Evidence of Student Outcomes
Escondido and Canby classrooms are seeing large gains in the speed of student reading, one part of reading fluency. In a Canby fourth-grade classroom of sixteen students, from the fall to mid-year assessment of reading fluency, when average increase in word count per minute (WCPM) is 12, the average in the iPod classroom was close to 20. (WCPM measures the pace of reading; accuracy is another component of fluency.) Most students achieved more than double the average expected.

In an Escondido fourth-grade class of ten students, average increase was 48 WCPM in just six weeks. At the start of fourth grade, all of the students lagged behind the 120 WCPM goal for third-grade completion. Within the six-week period, more than half of them had caught up and surpassed the goal for fourth-grade completion, making more than a year's progress in that period.

A pilot study of reading achievement using the Iowa Test of Basic Skills also showed impressive gains. A group of 12 fifth-graders in Escondido using iPod Touches averaged 1.8 years of reading progress in six months, compared with a matched group of students at the same school who averaged .25, a quarter of a year’s increase. Both districts are planning larger-scale studies of reading achievement.

Needless to say those are impressive statistical gains made by the students at Escondido and Canby. Further on in the article it talks about the iPod making a painful process private:

The iPod makes personal a process that has been painfully public. No struggling reader likes to have his or her weaknesses exposed in a group, in front of the entire class or their reading circle. The iPod enables more intimate, 1:1 reading instruction between a student and a teacher listening to each other's voices in audio files.

Not only are the students excited by the iPods but so are the teachers. Below is what some of the teachers had to say:

We have heard teacher after teacher say, 'This has totally transformed my teaching!' 'I'm having more fun and being a better teacher.' 'I'm never gonna retire.'" One teacher told Shirley, '"Using iPods with microphones has engaged students more than anything I've ever experienced! These tools allow even the softest speaker to be heard and motivate even the most reluctant reader." Another said succinctly: "There's less of me talking and more of them doing."

Finally the article mentions that the iRead project at Escondido would not have been a success without the support of the school superintendent Jennifer Walters. In my experience as an educator for any school-wide project to be successful there needs to be buy-in from the entire group of stakeholders i.e. Administration, teachers, parents, and students. Follow the link above to read the entire article. It is well worth your time and there are a number of links provided for further research.

I have stated many times on this blog that I believe the iPod Touch is a very compelling device for schools (Click here to read my post -  Reach out and Touch Someone as I enumerate why I like the iPod Touch for schools). Of all devices currently on the market I believe the iPod Touch provides the best return-on-investment in terms of improving student learning.

Why Apple does not include Flash on it's mobile devices

Steve Jobs recently wrote this article detailing why Apple does not include "Flash" on it's mobile devices. It is a well written piece. I would like to see Adobe's response to this letter because what Steve Jobs wrote is very convincing. Following are some quotes from the article:

Symantec recently highlighted Flash for having one of the worst security records in 2009. We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash. We have been working with Adobe to fix these problems, but they have persisted for several years now. We don’t want to reduce the reliability and security of our iPhones, iPods and iPads by adding Flash.

In addition, Flash has not performed well on mobile devices. We have routinely asked Adobe to show us Flash performing well on a mobile device, any mobile device, for a few years now. We have never seen it. Adobe publicly said that Flash would ship on a smartphone in early 2009, then the second half of 2009, then the first half of 2010, and now they say the second half of 2010.

We know from painful experience that letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in sub-standard apps and hinders the enhancement and progress of the platform. If developers grow dependent on third party development libraries and tools, they can only take advantage of platform enhancements if and when the third party chooses to adopt the new features. We cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers.

Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short.

Follow the link above to read the full article. It is very insightful.

Tie everything you do to your learning vision

Some interesting thoughts from the writer of the uLearning Blog. Follow the link to read the full post. Most enlightening was the writer's response to the growing proliferation of iPod Touches and iPhones in classrooms:

And what should an educator’s response be? Possibly you’re already in the middle of deploying one of these options – and if so, my biggest suggestion is – reflect. While our sector has stood still for so long, the current rush might make us forget our usual values of tying everything we do to our learning vision first. So reflect first, then on how these devices can enhance learning – don’t make learning fit to them.

It is refreshing to have an educator say that we need to reflect first and tie everything we do to our learning vision. So often in schools we run after the latest educational technology fad. In education we need more sustained deep reflection before embarking on any technology initiatives. Do small pilots to test a hypothesis and find critical stress points.

I also like the writer's comment that we should not make learning fit the device. I am not a big proponent of electronic whiteboards or Smartboards. I feel these devices are an example of trying to make learning fit the device. We spent years trying to get teachers away from the front of the classroom controlling everything and now we anchor them to the front of the room using an electronic whiteboard. Backwards innovation.

Cell Phones in education has potential

Panel: Cell phones have much potential in classrooms
New paper reports that students' cell phone use is growing, and educators should harness the power of mobile devices
 
The above is the title and sub-title of an article that recently appeared in eSchool News. These observations were made during a panel discussion on the use of cell phones in the classroom. Below is a quote from the article:
 Teachers are finding interesting and creative ways to include mobile phones in classroom instruction in an effort to bridge the divide between the technologies children use at home and what they use in school, education technology experts say.
A day does not pass where I don't read another article of some school using student cell phones in the classroom. There is so much going on in the mobile space that I find I can't keep up with it anymore. I have almost 60 articles sitting in my inbox waiting for me to read and comment on. Just last August when I started this blog there was maybe an article a week about mobile technology in the classroom. I sense that we are at the precipice of mass adoption of mobile technologies in the classroom.
 
 
 
 

Rate, review, and categorize books, and even create a virtual book club, all from your mobile handheld

Good Reads is social media center or reading club. Below is a snippet from the Good Reads website:

Have you ever wanted a better way to:
Get great book recommendations from people you know.
Keep track of what you've read and what you'd like to read.
Form a book club, answer book trivia, collect your favorite quotes.

Good Reads recently added an iPhone app. Using the app you can search for books and categorize them into virtual bookshelves. You can also keep track of the books you have read, are currently reading, and the ones you would like to read in the future. You can rate and review books and even start a virtual book club. All of these features are available using the iPhone app or directly from the website.

Are any teachers out there using Good Reads in the classroom? It sounds like it would be another great way to foster an interest in reading amongst our students.

iPhone app helps autistic children communicate

The screen shot above is from an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad app that assists non-verbal people to communicate using pictures. The app is Called Grace. People can use the app to build sentences using a series of pictures. The app was developed by a mother from Ireland who has two autistic children. Her name is Lisa Domican and she writes about her experiences on her blog called Hammiesblog. The video below is of Lisa explaining the development of the app.
 
 
 

The iPad - Heavier than I expected

I finally made my way over to Best Buy to play around with the iPad. My very first impression was that it was heavier than I expected. I don't know what I was expecting, but right away it felt heavy to hold in one hand. It was also kind of slippery in my hand. If I were to purchase an iPad I definitely would be buying a case for it.

On the positive side I really like how the calendar app worked. One of the primary things I do on my iPhone is use the calendar app. The calendar app on the iPad is larger and offers some additional views. I have been using an electronic calendar for over 10 years so this would be a useful feature for me.

The mail app looked good but there was no email account on this iPad so I could not get the real feel for how the app worked. I played Flight Control and it is very nice on the iPad. This is one of the few games I play on my iPhone and it is well done on the iPad. 

Overall the iPad was very much like I expected, except for the weight. It really is a large iPod Touch or iPhone. I think the ease of use and simplicity of design makes the iPad a great device for someone from an older generation that wants to get emails with pictures of their grandkids. Or maybe they just want to read the news or watch a movie. 

Using Technology Students Already Have

Derek Keenan has a great post on his Adventures in Teaching and Learning blog. He lists 5 reasons for using the technology students already have in their pockets. Students are very adapt at using their cell phones or iPod Touches to access information or communicate with others. I like his 5 reasons. This ties in with my last post, Students on their cell phones in the hallway, what was going on in this classroom?, where I talk about a classroom I observed with students using their cell phones as part of the lesson. We should allow students to use the technology they are comfortable with, not the technology we are comfortable with. Follow the link to Derek's post and give it a read.

Original Historical Documents and Speeches in the Palm of your Hand


MultiEducator, INC. has created the American Dream app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Below is a blurb from their website describing the app.

FEATURING 480 DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING: 90 Supreme Court Decisions, all the US Presidential Inaugural Addresses, the Constitution and dozens of key laws, first-hand accounts and speeches (with 18 Audio Recordings) make this an incredible compilation of primary source documents in American History. Each document entry includes an explanation of the significance of the court decision, law, or key points of a speech. MultiEducator, Inc. has applied its 20 years of experience writing Multimedia History and to the iPhone and iPod Touch. Documents can be accessed chronologically, or often by groups. You can search for a document and save recent or favorites. All of the documents can be e-mailed and thus shared.

Follow the links above to go to the companies website or to the iTunes link. Below is a screenshot from the application.