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Kindergarten Ipad Program Sees Positive Results Auburn, Maine, Research Study Initial Results Are In The initial results are in. iPads increased kindergarten literacy scores according to a new study from Auburn, Maine. Auburn School Department made world news last summer when they announced they were providing all of their incoming kindergarten students with Apple iPads. As one component of their district-wide Advantage 2014 program, Auburn educators are promoting the iPad and its apps as a dynamic literacy and math tool for students. The Advantage 2014 program seeks to bolster 3rd grade literacy and math scores by 2015, and the first phase of their research study is making them hopeful of attaining this goal. Auburn kindergarten teacher at Fairview Elementary School, Michelle Green thinks, "Being part of the Advantage 2014 iPad project is very special. It has been an eye opening opportunity to watch children use a tool of technology to learn in a way I never did as a child." Michelle's colleague at Washburn Elementary School, Jess Prue, agrees, "We are not only giving kids a new engaging way to learn, we are also preparing them for technology in the future. It is exciting!" Since Auburn is the nation's first public school system to provide iPads to each of their youngest students, the district is closely examining the program through a yearlong research study. Dr. Mike Muir, Auburn School Department's Multiple Pathways Leader, stated, "Too many innovative programs don't prioritize their own research, and even if they collect observations and stories later, they don't make the effort to do a randomized control trial, like we did. We wanted to make sure we could objectively examine the contribution of the iPads."

A QR-Code Treasure Hunt is a fun, simple way to get students using their mobile devices to continue learning outside of lesson time. Here's how we set one up at the International School of Toulouse with some guidance on how to do the same with your own students using the QR Treasure Hunt Generator at ClassTools.net.

Apple officials say they know of more than 600 districts that have launched what are called "one-to-one" programs, in which at least one classroom of students is getting iPads for each student to use throughout the school day.Nearly two-thirds of them have begun since July, according to Apple.New programs are being announced on a regular basis, too. As recently as Wednesday, Kentucky's education commissioner and the superintendent of schools in Woodford County, Ky., said that Woodford County High will become the state's first public high school to give each of its 1,250 students an iPad.

Colllege student who founded a non-profit initiative to bring tech solutions to classroom learning. Here he talks about how he only uses an iPhone in college. Might be a good person to talk to our students in BWCT!

One challenge for teachers with students using devices like iPad and iPod touch is collecting student work. Unfortunately, there is not one consistent way for apps to export what a user creates. Some apps connect to Dropbox, some share through iTunes, some export to a website, some share through an IP address, but most apps email content as an attachment. In order to send images, movies, and documents as an attachment, email must be set up on the device. Logging in through web-based mail won't work because you cannot attach files when using web mail in iOS. Email has to be set up in iOS's Mail app in order for an app that shares through email to actually be able to send.

In the United States, many schools are seeing six-year-olds with cell phones. The average UK kid gets their first cell phone at eight. Children's access to mobile devices is staggering, as you can see from the "Learning in the 21st Century: Taking it Mobile!" survey. For instance, among middle school (6th-8th grade) students:59 percent have a cell phone24 percent have an Internet-enabled Smartphone53 percent have a personal laptop or tablet A generation of students is growing up with a different level of access to information at their collective fingertips

App Yalie and 2 high school students created for the iPhone. What's interesting is the ability for students to create their own customized tours based on their specific interests.

Updated Cell Phone Agreement--Celly Friendly and Safe for Educators Updating the cell phone agreement for nonteaching school personnel as found on page 122 of "Teaching Generation Text: Using Cell Phones to Enhance Learning" is a joy due to the use of Celly.  When using Celly there is no exchange of personal phone numbers.  All of the texts go through the Celly site and are documented, which adds a further safety net for educators concerned about texting with students. 

Wiffiti looks like Wallwisher except students send messages to post on wall via cellphones http://bit.ly/csLT4N #edchat