App Harvesting

A group of Whangarei teachers recently had an 'app harvest' session.  Here are a few of our favourite apps shared on the day  - I thoroughly recommend getting together with teachers in your area to share apps you and your students are using to support teaching and learning.  Not only do you discover new apps you also get to see 'how' other teachers/students are utilsing these apps.  AND the most important part of these app harvests is meeting teachers from other schools  A fantastic professional learning opportunity.  As the list below is a picture - you will need to head on over to the Virtual Learning Network where you can download the PDF version to follow the links easily.

iBooks 3

The iBooks store has finally 'arrived' in New Zealand.  While the app has always been available,  the purchasing of books was not an option.  This has now changed and while not all publishers have their content with iBooks, there is a good starting range.  There is also a range of self-published books, created with iBooks Authors.  These self-published books include textbooks, recipe books, children's stories etc.

The release of iBooks 3 has seen alignment with iCloud so that your notes, bookmarks and placemark is synced across all your  ios devices.

It is worth browsing the iBooks Store if you haven't already.  You might like to check out the free sample of Life on Earth, a multi-touch interactive book that showcases the future of textbooks.

MoMA Art Lab iPad App

The children and teaching team at Manaia Kindergarten continue to be an inspiration to me in my role as an Early Years Facilitator. A great ECE blog to check out to see the incredible learning happening. Manaia Kindergarten have had an iPad for sometime now and it is great to see the children working collaboratively using the MoMA Art Lab App to create their artwork. I have just downloaded this app and looking forward to working with it with children.  Check out the You Tube clip below for a quick 'what it's all about':-)

 

Dinosaurs in NZ Classrooms!

Sharon - our Hamilton Early Years Facilitator under attack in Auckland!

I have had heaps of fun exploring the AR Dinopark App with students at different schools throughout Whangarei.  The excitement and buzz is amazing as the dinosaurs crash on into the classroom.  The strategy of taking photos and then using these photos as creative and imaginative writing prompts has proved very successful.  We have used the Pic Collage App to put our stories together.

Check out some of our posts on the Whangarei Primary School blog.  We would LOVE your comments.

Augmented Reality in Room 9

Michael's Triceratops Attack!

Ocieana and Claire's Dinosaur Story

I have recently visited with @AllanahKing in Nelson and she has also had fun with dinosaurs at Appleby School.

The Amazing Spider-man AR

I have been playing around with augmented reality for a few months.      We are at the beginning of AR possibilities and future developments will be exciting.  As much fun as I have had with it, I have wondered how it could be used in the classroom.

While at the Slide2Learn conference in July, I attended a workshop on AR facilitated by Nathan Jones.  Jones talked about how he uses AR in the classroom with his students.  Using AR to spark ideas for story-writing was one of the ideas he shared.

The Amazing Spider-man AR is a great app for Spiderman lovers.   By downloading the free app from the App store, and printing the series of free markers from the site, users can shoot spiderman's web, swing across buildings, capture baddies and climb brick walls.  Lots of ideas for story starters here.  I can see that reluctant writers could be drawn in to story writing this way.

The iPad as a Tool for Education

Longfield Academy in the UK have implemented an iPad programme. This report, published by Naace in July 2012, outlines how the iPads have been used for teaching and learning in the two terms since the programme started.

 The Executive summary is as follows:

"This study, one of the most extensive yet regarding the use of tablet devices finds that with the majority of pupils at the school now having iPads there has been a significant and very positive impact on learning together with further significant and still developing changes in pedagogy. In particular it was found that:

• The overwhelming majority of teachers regularly use iPads in their teaching
  
• iPad use is particularly strong in English, Maths and Science
  
• There is high demand from students for iPad use to be extended further
  
• Teachers have identified significant benefits for their workload and have also
  identified cost savings
  
• Use of the iPads is increasingly being developed for homework and beyond
  school activities
  
• Students are more motivated when using iPads
  
• The quality and standard of pupil work and progress is rising
  
• Both staff and student feel they can work more effectively with iPads
  
• Levels of collaborative working have improved
  
• Appropriate use of Apps aids learning
  
• All find the iPad easy to use
  
• Minor technical issues have arisen, often due to user error, but are readily dealt
  with
  
• Effective project management has been critical to the success of this development.
  The outcomes at Longfield clearly demonstrate the value of the iPad as an educational tool and the role that it can play in learning and teaching." (p. 4) 
  

ABC Spy

ABC Spy is the perfect app to support children learning the ABC.  What I like most about this app is how it gives the opportunity to create your own ABC library of photos.  Each letter is introduced in the normal way - the letter and the sound of the letter but then... wait there's more!  You actually get to use the camera to take a photo of an 'something' beginning with that letter.  You have the possiblility of creating a folder for each child and each child taking their own photos.  I really support apps that allow for the creativity of children.  Give this one a try and let us know what  you think.  It's as easy as ABC!

Step 1 - Choose a user or create a new user by clicking on the + button - it will give you the option of adding a photo to each user.

Step 2 - Start spying!

Step 3 - Listen to the letter and the sound of the letter and then Add a Photo by tapping the camera...

Step 4 - Take your photo - once you have taken your photo you get the option of choosing a frame and typing in what your photo is.  Once you have finished you can move on to the next letter/sound.