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iPads @ AOM This is a collection of my thoughts and notes on the use of the iPad in my 6th and 7th grade classroom! ﻿Science 6, Science 7, Social Studies 6

4/5/11: Yeah!! The ipads are here!!! What an exciting day!!!

4/7/11: Syncing the ipads is a chore and a half. I set up an itunes account for just the ipads, but the account has to be set up to a credit card. I had to double and triple check that my credit card info would not be available to students. There has to be a faster way to sync the ipads. I have to individually sync each iPad. The WI fi in my classroom is not good, so I downloaded about 45 apps that I knew I would use with students so that they would already be on the ipads. It took about 15-20 min per ipad because they needed to be updated. I called apple and talked to a representative and they told me I had to sync them one at a time or use more then one computer. Macbook to the rescue! At least I could do two at a time:-) Still takes a looooong time!!

4/8/11: ﻿iPads are synced, now, where to charge them and secure them. Although my wonderful middle school students are amazing people I still can't help but to wonder how many will try to download apps that have nothing to do with school. Everything has been made password protected. It would be nice to have the ability for students to download apps that you approve without having to sync them individually but if they do this they see all sorts of info. I called apple about this and they showed me how to go into settings and then to the account info to hide it. You can’t buy apps when you hide the credit card info.

4/11/11: iPad day!! My students’ introduction to the iPads could not have been better! They were so excited! I even had students from other classes stop by after school to see if what they heard from students in my class was true! I had a few parents email me as well to tell me how excited students are about the iPads. This is huge for my students who usually respond to what they did in school as stuff. They are racing to my room to see if we are using the ipads for that class period. Yeah!!! Students are actively engaged and having a blast learning!!!!

4/12/11: Well my students are still thrilled, but I am realizing my low WI fi signal is going to cause a few problems. Half of my student’s ipads cannot get on the WI fi network which means none of the apps are going to work. So I talked to the amazing Mr. Little and found out he was having the same problem. He purchased the apple AirPort Express for his classroom. So I went to apple and looked as confused as possible so a nice apple employee would find pity on me and help me with my WI fi problem. They were great, but they were not convinced that the airport express would boost the signal. I bought it in hope that it would work, and then headed to Best Buy, where they convinced me that I needed the Cisco router. Well at this point I just wanted the WI fi to work so I bought both. Let's see which one works!

4/14/11: Had to sync the ipads once more, but it did go much faster! I have decided to buy a few apps. The really great apps are unfortunately not free. I have posted on school loop for parents who are interested in making donations in the form of iTunes gift cards to help cut the cost. The great thing is once you buy an app it can go on all the other ipads with no additional cost.

4/15/11: After many calls and visits from a parent who does this computer stuff for a living, I have Internet and a strong Internet connection at that! The best product for my Internet problem... Cisco Router. It acts as a bridge between the wi fi and my computer to create a boost in the already secure wi fi signal. My students and I are soooooo excited!

4/18/11: I need to find a way for student to turn in assignments that they complete on the ipads. I am looking into dropbox, but I can't seem to figure it out. Ideally I would like students to log onto school loop and get a doc or pdf file, write or annotate over it and then turn it into the drop box. I just can't seem to figure it out. I will have to do more research. Today I created an email for students to email ipad activities: ms.koopsen@gmail.com. I think this will be a good option, but I think I have to pay for it: A few thoughts from teachers who are using the ipads in thier classroom. **What’s GREAT about the iPAd in Education:** **How the iPad be Improved for Education:**
 * It’s on INSTANTLY! I can’t tell you how great that is to have what you need on NOW! Love it.
 * It’s FAST! Everything is so fluid and quick. (And BIG!) Better than any interaction with iPhone or iPod Touch.
 * Reading books is outstanding!
 * The battery life is incredible. You can you use it all day on a single charge.
 * You don’t have to SAVE anything. Yep, that’s right, just hit the Home Button and come back later. It’s still there. Love it!
 * The iPad’s inability to multitask is a plus for students. They will learn to focus on the project at hand.
 * Keynote’s ability to place a simulated red laser pointer where you touch is a nice touch.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The sheer fact that it holds so much content and can do so much in such a small form. Amazing. Yes, even magical.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Amazing Apps! Download the Free and spectacular Dragon Dictation to speak text into your iPad. It is so easy and accurate.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">You can teach with it! <span class="goog_qs-tidbit-1"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-1">You can actually walk around teaching with the iPad in one arm while displaying notes, plans, grades, etc.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The iPad can’t print. (Teachers need to print stuff.)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter is horrible for education! Your choices for what you can project is far, far, far too limiting. You can’t share a webpage on the projector, or a book for that matter! (Full review coming soon.)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">More Educational Apps! (Build them and teachers will buy them. Better yet, give teachers an easier SDK to create our own. Templates?)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Textbooks Available on the iBooks Store. (Give it time.)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Easier ways to transfer documents. It is difficult to get Pages Documents, Keynote Presentations, Photos, etc, onto and off of them iPad. Not all classrooms allow students to email.

4/29/11- Success with Google Docs!!! I used Google Docs for students to write thier own study guides for a test I am having on the atmosphere. They wrote questions and then students went on and answered them. It was AWESOME!!! I am a huge fan and will use this all the time!!! It is amazing how numerous students can be working on the same document!!! Go GOOGLE!! Thanks for the tip Mr. Little! ** iWork for iPad and Google docs **