Part of the technology plan at Gordon Greenwood has been to get iPads into the hands of our teachers and support staff in order to give them an idea of the possibilities that technology can present for their students. A few weeks ago, Sarban Sangha, a principal at Lochiel U-Connect here in Langley, was kind enough to offer his services to provide a discovery session for our special needs educators. And more recently, I was able to finish the preparation of our teacher sets of iPads to release into the hands of our teaching staff.
In my opinion, there is nothing more empowering for a learner than hands-on experience. I could stand in front of a group of staff members all day and show them what they could do on an iPad, but none of it means anything to them unless they actually have the iPads in their hands. Moreover, I find that learning on devices is more authentic when the learner makes the discoveries themselves rather than through delivery of app knowledge. The part of these sessions that excites me the most hearing the little murmurs between engaged staff members, "Oh, this would work really well with [Student A]!" or "My low reading group could really benefit from this app!" or "This is a great extension for [subject area]." For teachers who are really stuck in the discovery process, I get them started with apps like GeoBoard or FindSums that are user-friendly and immediately engaging and they usually move on on their own from there.
After a few discoveries have been made and some play has ensued, most of the educators I've worked with have aligned themselves with the idea that the devices have something to offer their students. Following this process, there will certainly be a more vested interest if you do want to introduce increasingly complex apps such as PDF annotators, note-taking, or file sharing apps. Or maybe you just want to show them how to buy an app. It's a neat challenge for teachers to look for apps that matter to their students and classroom, and I'm finding this far more valuable to staff than just me calling all the shots when installing apps. (And it's really fun for me to monitor their discoveries as my device is the Master iPad on our iCloud)
I have found this to be an extremely important first step in introducing iPads to a school and one that I would definitely apply in any school I worked in that was introducing tech. As our school moves toward getting a class set of iPads, it is my hope that these educators continue to be open and excited about what changes are to come. Until then, let them play.
After a few discoveries have been made and some play has ensued, most of the educators I've worked with have aligned themselves with the idea that the devices have something to offer their students. Following this process, there will certainly be a more vested interest if you do want to introduce increasingly complex apps such as PDF annotators, note-taking, or file sharing apps. Or maybe you just want to show them how to buy an app. It's a neat challenge for teachers to look for apps that matter to their students and classroom, and I'm finding this far more valuable to staff than just me calling all the shots when installing apps. (And it's really fun for me to monitor their discoveries as my device is the Master iPad on our iCloud)
I have found this to be an extremely important first step in introducing iPads to a school and one that I would definitely apply in any school I worked in that was introducing tech. As our school moves toward getting a class set of iPads, it is my hope that these educators continue to be open and excited about what changes are to come. Until then, let them play.
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