back and shakin!

 

It's been a couple weeks since I returned from the IPad conference in Watsonville, CA.  It was mind-opening to me!  I went with some preconceived ideas about the role IPads would play in education.  Some were ... yes "were"...
     Laptops were the ticket in education.  Windows OS, productivity software, media savy, controls on content, software management, keyboards, locked machines.  Plus all the steps you have to go through to email, download, dropbox information from student to teacher or lesson to pupil. Security and lack of "control" over student tablets, managing all the devices through the Apple world.
Following my visit, most of these data points for me are not longer valid. Here's why...

• My world of usable apps were greatly expanded - more practical and ease of use was a huge for me. The exposure to applications for education was very engaging.
• Educational publishers will make more textbooks available to schools in the next few years.  
• Battery life is 4-5 times the length of a laptop.
• Access to technology and internet is a finger poke away!
• Apple TV application through a hdmi cable and projector or tv

However, with all this being said, the ability to flip the classroom and engage students in the learning process is dynamic!  So what have I done since...
We had just purchased 25 Ipads to use in K-1 classrooms so that teachers could use them in with a "center" approach to daily instruction. We were already moving down the path for using it as a digital learning device for math and reading.  Those tablets are loaded and ready for deployment.  I even purchased a MacBook to help with specific configuration of the tablets. 
I bought an Apple TV sensor and tried it out on a tv on campus.  Pretty cool... Considering how to best deploy this with a teacher and Ipad.
I realized we did not have the expertise between myself and current technology teacher to implement and manage these new tools, so asked our contemporary worship leader to help out with this.  He is an Apple disciple and has invested time and talent in learning how to make this work.  A talented parent who is part of a technology class needed a  project to work on and she is loading all the apps on the pads for us.  
I sit back and simply marvel.  I can't wait for kids to engage in the learning curve with tools that most already know how to operate.
Not sure what the future holds... still mulling, talking, sharing, thinking and collaborating about tomorrow.  Being a student is invigorating! :)