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Quick read for ideas on how to include math games in the classroom and recommedations for free apps to try

This blog was written a couple of years ago, but it has great information on the Digital Learning Farm. There is a chart of iPad apps to be used for each of the jobs in the Farm model. I found the chart to be a valuable source of information for someone starting to implement this model.

This is a great article with some useful app information. Can't wait to begin our farm :)

I was happy to see that last year we did a decent job using the digital learning farm and can't wait to perfect it this year. This blog will be very useful in helping us do just that!

Beth Holland is an insightful, creative educator who I saw at MassCUE yesterday so I decided to follow her and see what else she had to say. This is an interesting and insightful discussion of the potential positives and negatives of screen time. A good reminder to keep it meaningful, and as we have all said, avoid "technology for the sake of technology." "Television rots your brain." In a similar vein, video games turn your mind to mush, and staring at a screen for too long potentially makes you a zombie. In 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published a report suggesting that children under two should not have any screen time.

The three questions this article asks are something I think a lot about when using the iPads in my classroom. Last year when I first started using them in my classroom they were mostly being used as mobile educational gaming devices. The kids were using apps that reinforced the phonics and math concepts we were learning, but they weren't really going anything further than that. They certainly were engaged and learning so I don't feel that it was time wasted, however I always knew there was more they could be doing with the devices. The third piece, is it empowering, was the piece I was missing last year and am trying to incorporate more this year.

Great article. I agree there needs to be a balance with screen time and how we should use that time. The 3 questions of screen time being appropriate, meaningful, and empowering are key to allowing students take charge of their learning. The article states "… teachers had found educational apps to reinforce math and reading concepts, the students passively interacted with content rather than constructing understanding. The interaction primarily consisted of students just tapping on a screen." I feel it is important for us to limit these types of apps and find the few that are going to allow students to "construct understanding" and apply content they learn outside of screen time. To me, this strikes a good balance. At MassCUE this past Thursday, I attended a session by a district that made the decision to use apps that allowed for creativity. They recognized that there were many apps for gaming and skill drills, but they wanted their students to be able to use their devices to apply learning in a meaningful way. This was music to my ears. I applaud their efforts, and based on the examples of student work that were shown, it's working.

Interesting article on setting guidelines for limiting the amount of time kids spend on a device. Also brings up issue of parents not really knowing how to help their child use the device for educational purposes. My guess is that most parents defer to their children as the experts on their devices and yield to what they want for apps.

A great visual on multiple intelligences through the use of iPad apps. The apps are categorized for an easy way to find what matches a particular intelligence.

Changing teaching practices with mobile devices is hard. Here is a story of how one teacher stepped out of his comfort zone. BTW 2eyes is not a mobile app.

Janet, this is a great reminder of some basic teaching practice that goes a long way, no matter what the technology is - pretty funny!

I read a similar article a few weeks ago that cites Carl Hooker as coining the phrase "two eyes, two feet app" (see http://www.edudemic.com/5-tips-classroom-management-mobile-devices/) and it made me giggle a little. Monitoring student use of mobile devices is not an exact science. Will they text? Check Twitter? Check their make up in the camera app? Sure, at one point or another they likely will, but does that mean they are not using the tool academically? I think teaching students how to manage their attention while we are supervising them is much better than zero tolerance rules that deny them the ability to use the power of the mobile device in the classroom at all. It is just another media literacy lesson.

This is an interesting page by Kathy Schrock which includes charts detailing iPad apps and Android apps that support Bloom's Taxonomy.

Jan, I really like the way she has organized all of this information so visually. It really helps me connect Bloom's Taxonomy to technology in a way that makes so much sense. Great reinforcement of the idea that we're using technology as a tool to help us achieve these aims, rather than as an end in itself.

Hi Jan--I totally agree, this is a great resource. Kathy Schrock has been very influential in my teaching. Also, Bloom's T is why I love teaching research---finding, evaluating, using, synthesizing. All verbs, mind you. Web 3.0 is all about verbs. Flip research right and you hit jackpot in terms of who owns the learning. I'm creating a h.s. research elective that is all about passion based learning and sharing the love. I hope you will look at it as I progress---I would love feedback from you and Annemarie. '

Northstar Elementary in the Northeast Heights was packed today with students and teachers getting ready for a learning lesson, but it's a different kind of learning lesson. 18 fourth and fifth graders taught their teachers how to use apps. The project was spear-headed by April Requard--the school's technology director.

This is fantastic - thanks so much for sharing, Janet. This project seemed to elicit great energy from both kids and adults!

A really interesting reflective post about parents' concerns about screen time and our increasing use of screens as a way to encourage learning. What should schools do when curriculum and instruction conflicts with parenting? No easy answer here. Just posing more questions.

Interesting post, Kerry. I don't have any answers, either. And since I'm not a parent, it's hard for me to imagine how I might feel on the parent side of the issue at this time. It's interesting because in our jigsaw group discussion on chapter 6, we talked about a similar issue. Wagner points out how parents of the innovators he showcased in his book limited screen time, but also set an important distinction between screen time where kids are watching TV and playing video games, often independently, and screen time in classrooms where kids are engaged in collaborative learning projects. I certainly agree that there is a difference, but it makes sense that there should be some balance, or some limit, somewhere. In education it always seems that the pendulum swings from one extreme to the other before settling somewhere in the middle. It will be interesting to see how this issue unfolds. I'd also be curious to hear from the perspectives of the parents in our EBTL2 class, since they are also educators involved in the BYOD initiative and growing world of technology.

So, I'm a parent of a 7th grader and a 3rd grader, and obviously I'm also involved as a teacher at RMHS. We have 1:1 iPads in my LLD English classes but they stay at school. I haven't had any push-back from parents so far about assignments or screen time. I did look at this link, and I looked at the forum as well, and I think as a parent, what was a little concerning about the forum comments, was the lack of empathy and understanding from teachers towards parents. As a parent, I also have concerns about screen time, and I see that there are certainly ways that we can limit recreational screen time. We do as much as we can. But, sometimes if my 7th grader has a project, I might not know much more about it than she is able to communicate to me (sometimes this is a lot, and sometimes it is not much). There have only been a few times when this has happened, but I have tried to set some limit about how much time to spend on the project, my daughter has really fought it, because she's been concerned about not doing a good job, etc. Occasionally new technology or apps take longer for her to master than the intended time for the project or assignment, and so something simple or seemingly quick takes much longer than it should. Situations like this can turn parents off to technology if they don't understand the big picture, or if they don't have any confidence that the teacher understands the big picture. Sometimes we don't give kids enough time in class to "play around" with apps or new approaches before turning them loose to do an assignment independently, and that too, can lead to stressful situations at home where both parent and child don't know how to do the assignment. I think the point is that any change is going to make people uncomfortable, and some folks are going to react more strongly than others. The more we can communicate and explain what's happening, and let parents know that the technology and experimentation is a vital part of the learning proce

I came across this article and found its first tip not to jump right into downloading apps especially helpful. I've found the most effective apps to use with students to be ones that can be used across subject areas to take learning to the next level and help students synthesize and share information.

I found this article while searching the "community" tool in Diigo. It's a great companion to Kerry's top 3 apps she can't live without.

Thanks for sharing, Robyn! What a great and simple way to differentiate instruction! In class last Monday, I was thinking of ways to use audio QR codes as a way to share student work...this article gave me a ton of new ideas on how to integrate QR codes into my instruction!

Love these ideas. Jan and I talked about using QR codes for a project with third grade and this gives us some great information. Thanks for sharing!

I'll be presenting at the Blue Ribbon Confernece next week (along with several other people in our cohort). For part of our presentation, I asked my sixth graders questions about their thoughts on our classroom iPads and other technology we use in the classroom. I was happy to see that all of my students seemed to be enthusiastic about and enjoying some of the changes I've made this year! Some of the topics included are apps students find helpful, how we've been using Google Drive, and now having a set of iPads on our team has enhanced learning in all their classes - not just ELA.

Some free apps that look great and easy to use. I think our elementary students might like to try them out. I just wish they were all free.

Nothing earth shattering in this article, but a good reminder to think outside the box when it comes to asking students to demonstrate understanding of what they're reading. I love the movie trailer idea, and the kids have shown they can do some amazing things with iMovie. I'm also interested in exploring some of the apps that the author says would allow students to put characters into new settings - it may be a neat way for them to demonstrate deep understanding of character's personality and motives.

Julie, I agree that these projects are interesting and also that kids like doing them. But...always...I wonder... do they really get kids more interested in reading or do they really just help kids get through the monotony of assessing reading? I think the latter goal is a worthy one and I do feel that kids get something out of these projects.researching, writing and collaborating. Even when I was a student, I used to wonder about these questions. Outside my school life, my reading was so rich and varied. English classrooms to me seemed places devoid of books and the discussion of books that took place in my home. So I don't think think this is a new question, but I like to think of the primacy of helping kids finding books they love as well as giving them a place to discuss them.

We used the camera app to take the photo, Skitch to put text on it, and Evernote to create a URL for Diigo.

SAMR Model Explained

Thanks for posting, John. This gives me a clearer picture of the SAMR Model. The first I heard of it was in this class. Is it meant as a sort of hierarchy of progression? For example, the first step or minimum use of technology would be substitution of using paper/pencil means, and Redefinition would be a more sophisticated use, where we are actually achieving new results by using technology? Janet, I also downloaded the Aurasma app and tried it out. Very cool, and I can see many possibilities for students in the classroom.

Janet has mentioned Aurasma to me before. I definitely have to check it out soon and see if my students would like to use it to create some stations around the room. I also posted the link to this quick video on the SAMR model on Twitter a while back. http://youtu.be/us0w823KY0g It is a quick but clear way to explain SAMR to someone who has never heard of it.

If you loved xtranormal, here is a similar app. We used this to get ready for our 3rd/4th grade assembly this Friday.

I was so sad to learn that Xtranormal closed that part of their business. It was easy to use, and free for educators. Thanks for the suggestion of Tellagami! I tried it, and really liked it. It has a record option as well as a text-to-speech option. I wish there was a child avatar, maybe I'll send that along as a suggestion!