New iPads

During the last school year, the Cleveland Parent Advisory Council (CPAC) funded the purchase of some new technology. Thanks CPAC.

I have spent some time lately “playing” with one of the new iPads, and I like it. I have used a variety of apps this week, including Evernote, Calendar, Pocket, Twitter, iBook, Quickoffice, Dropbox, Instagram, Metro news, and Sudoku, to name a few (I think I am getting good at Sudoku now). I’m not sure how all these will be used by students, but I’m enjoying my time with the device. I may explore iMovie and photos this week, and I am also interested in looking more at Hyperlapse.

iPads in the classroom have certainly been a topic of discussion over the last few years. We will be starting off with one iPad per classroom, and I encourage teachers to find creative ways to make use of these devices to support teaching, learning and creativity.

Some of the articles I have read about iPads include:

The Teacher’s Guide to the One iPad Classroom

The iPad as a Tool for Creation To Strengthen Learning

Why Some Schools Are Selling All Their iPads

When we get back to school, teachers will make use of a variety of tools, including iPads, to help children engage in learning. I look forward to the classroom visits and seeing students learning, sharing and growing during the 2014/2015 school year.

I also look forward to having a bunch of grade 6 and 7 students around so that I can ask them how to make better use of this iPad for teaching, creating and learning. I sure they will teach me a lot.

Take care

The Electronic Project

At Cleveland Elementary, some classes have been allowed to make use of personal electronic devices to support learning and organizing. It has been seen as something that is more suitable for grade 7’s .

Ava, a grade 4 student, has written a persuasive essay arguing for students in all classes to be allowed to bring their own devices. I am sharing her essay with her permission.

 

The Electronic Project

If schools across the country allowed kids to bring one electronic device to school to help them with their work and to listen to music when working, kids would be happy coming to school. We should have one electronic device on our desk or in our desk during school hours because the people who don’t speak English as well as other children could use the translator on their device to help them understand difficult words like literacy. I also think kids should be listening to music when we are working, and that we can take a picture of the agenda.

Many children in our schools don’t have English as their first language. So if we had an electronic device at school the ELL children (English Language Learners) could use the translator on their device to look up the words that they don’t understand when the teacher is speaking. Another reason is that the ELL children could use the translator when they come across a word when reading that they do not know or understand.

I think kids should be allowed to listen to music when they are working. Listening to music is going to make kids work more because they will be listening to music and not talking to other children. You are probably thinking, “What if kids are listening to explicit music?” Well, I have a solution. Kids would make a playlist with no explicit music and check it over with their teacher or their guardian. If they are listening to explicit music during class time, there will be consequences by the teacher and guardian.

If we were allowed to bring an electronic device to school we could take a picture of the agenda or homework. I know that lots of kids don’t like writing in their homework agenda. But if we could take a picture of the agenda, then everybody would. It only takes seconds. It also saves time, like if you are on a hurry to get your work done.

Since electronics are so useful in our lives, we should be allowed to bring an electronic device to school. Why not let the ELL children use the translator? Why not let us listen to music when we are working? Why not let us take a picture of the agenda? “WHY NOT?”

That is why we should be allowed to have one electronic device at school.

Thanks Ava,

Take care

Technology At Cleveland

Technology in education continues to be a hot topic for teachers, students and parents alike. This is not new. I remember helping to put together a computer lab in 1994 and hearing how not everyone was in favour of the money that was being spent on technology. I also remember building a school web page in 1997 and some people thought that was a waste of time.

Technological change continues to be a challenge for schools. The change is so rapid, and people can become anxious about buying the latest and greatest tech. We should be cautious about diving in and spending money without doing some thoughtful reflection on what we are wanting to teach, and how technology can support the learning of our students.

The BC Ed Plan discusses technology in our classrooms – “BC’s Education Plan will encourage smart use of technology in schools, better preparing students to thrive in an increasingly digital world.”

They encourage technology in schools, but will they fund it? I think we will have to figure out the funding on our own, with help from our parent community.

At Cleveland, we are reviewing our technology, examining our needs, exploring some ideas, and collaborating with teachers to start building our tech plan. Once we have something more concrete than “We want more…,” we will work with PAC  and the School District to further develop on tech plan and come up with a time line for implementation. It takes time.

What we have:

  • Cleveland students have access to two laptop carts. Each cart has approximately 30 mac ibooks or iMacs.
  • Our computer lab contains 3 eMacs. These are old computers (I think eMacs were last made in 2006), but they can still be functional for many uses that students may need at school.
  • We have a number of laptops on trolleys, hooked up to projectors and sound systems. These rolling computer stations are shared by teachers in their classrooms for lesson delivery or concept exploration, and students are able to use these trolleys to present their work.
  • We also have websites (the school’s, Cleveland’s PAC, as well as a few classrooms), blogs (a students’ blog and my own blog – but you knew that if you’re are reading this), direct emails to parents from teachers and the school, and at least one of us is using  twitter (the Principal tweets).

What we don’t have:

  • We have yet to develop a comprehensive technology and learning plan, but we have started working on it. We are still in the formative stages of this planning, so we ask that parents be patient as we move forward with this.

What we are doing now:

  • Last year we piloted some BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) initiatives for students in some of our senior classes. We are still in the pilot stage and will work with teachers and students on developing a plan that will reflect educational needs as well as some concerns raised by parents and teachers last year. Please note: BYOD will not require students to bring their own devices to school. If you have any questions, please ask your child’s teacher.
  • Recently, we have borrowed 6 iPads from the Learning Services department of the school board. These are set up with apps for French Immersion classes (grade 1), and we will be exploring them in different ways for the month that we have them. Will we like them enough to make a push for buying iPads for the school? I don’t know. The iPads just arrived Friday, so we are just starting to play with them.
  • Teachers are compiling data from a teacher survey about technology and learning and, as we have a number of new staff this year, we are asking them for their thoughts before we finalize the survey results.
  • We are examining our practices as teachers in the ways we monitor laptop or computer use and work with students to ensure that they follow our code of conduct when working with technology at school.
  • Our communication plan for technology is also being developed. We want to educate ourselves, our students and our parents where technology fits within BC’s curriculum, and how it can support learning and engagement. This blog is part of the communication plan for parents. Please share it with other Cleveland parents. Thanks.

Some further reading:
Are you interested in reading more about technology in schools? Here are some blogs that I have found interesting on tech in schools.

Other topics for future tech discussions include:

  • Social media and children
  • Digital Citizenship and Responsible Use of Technology
  • Cyberbullying
  • Equity and Access
  • Collaboration and Creativity
  • Tech Learning Tools
  • Web 2.0
  • Screen Time

There are many good reads out there on technology in schools. I will continue to read more on this topic and work with the Cleveland community (students, parents and staff) to develop a plan for learning and technology at our school. Thanks for your support.

Take care.

Google in Education

I recently came across the Google in Education web site. I started off being a bit skeptical about an education site from Google. Are they using educators to help set up the page? Will they include lessons on appropriate use? Will the site be of use for teachers, parents and students?

So, I explored, and here are some of the things I found:

Google in Education Report: The document font is too small for me to read comfortably on my laptop, but I will download it to read later on (when I can enlarge the font). It looks like an interesting read.

Google Family Safety Center: The first page has some good tips for home computer use and things to teach children. I like the first one – Keep computers in a central place. I think this can now apply to children’s smart phones or iPod Touches. If the device can be used to communicate with others, I think having them in bedrooms can be problematic for some. Students in grades 4 and 5 report getting text messages after 11:00 pm from friends.

Lesson Plans: This site has some lesson plans that can be searched by category, subject or age. I looked at a few lesson plans, and on one (Story Buddies) I was pleased to see an evaluation rubric included at the bottom of the page. Rubrics are an excellent tool for evaluating a person’s work, and to provide some guidance about what the expectations are for the assignment.

Google for Students: This section seems to be aimed at students who are older than the children at Cleveland. If you have older students, this page may be of more interest to them.

I am less skeptical about this site now. It seems to have some good ideas.

I don’t know if this site will be of use to families, but try it. I think the sits still has room for improvement, and perhaps they are working on it. I would like to see some more for students about using cell phones and texting appropriately. Perhaps include some cautionary stories from teens who have experienced the down side of using mobile devices.

Take care.

Lately on Twitter…

There are often a number of great and interesting articles that come my way via Twitter. I would like to share a few.

On Spending Time with Children – Face to Face Talks“Too much screen time can be detrimental to girls 8 to 12 years old, but there is a surprisingly straightforward alternative for greater social wellness.”

On Social Media – Trust Building Exercises for Parents and Their Connected Kids – When Jesse Miller was here with Mediated Reality, he spoke to parents about password behaviour and talking to kids about their online behaviour. This is an interesting infographic.

On Cell Phone Issues – Cell Phone Tips for children and parents. This is a good place to learn some good practices prior to giving your child a cell phone or to review good ideas if your child already has one.

On Assessment Practices – 6 Big Assessment (AFL) Practices – Chris Wejr is one of the people I follow on Twitter. He seems to come across many good ideas. Assessment practices are changing, and it is important to help students learn how to assess themselves.

On Showing Appreciation – Why Appreciation Matters – Sometimes applying information from the business world works well in education. “Whatever else each of us derives from our work, there may be nothing more precious than the feeling that we truly matter…” I think this even more important for children. We need to show appreciation for who they are and how they add to our lives.

On Asking Some Questions – If I could ask students anything about schools… – an interesting request from a Principal. He has created an online document where people can share questions that they would like to ask students. Some interesting questions so far.

On Something Way Out There – Rare Pictures From The Dawn of NASA Spaceflight – I was hoping these pictures were older than I am, but alas, I arrived in Pointe Claire, Quebec just a few short months prior to these photos being taken.

Take care.