Posts Tagged "classroom"
5 Innovative iPad Apps That Will Evolve Your Classroom
As a teacher, I enjoy looking for new ways to engage students. Some methods employed may be novel; I know their effectiveness will wear off over time. Other methods are structured around solid principles of learning and have lasting value. Striking a balance amongst both novel and lasting methods helps establish an evolving, engaging and enriched classroom experience.
Below are 5 iPad apps that capture this experience and enhance the teaching and learning experience across all content areas.
1. Garage Band
Read MoreKinect Integrated with Mobile Devices: The New Classroom?
If you’re looking for ways to further explore the use of mobile devices in education, you’ve found it.
Last month, I wrote a post featuring ways to integrate the Kinect in the classroom. Kinect hackers – and even Microsoft themselves – are now exploring ways to integrate mobile devices with the Kinect; specifically, the iPhone, iPad, and Android tablets. Below are videos featuring the integration of the Kinect with these mobile devices.
How educators will implement this in the classroom is yet to be discovered. This is very, very preliminary but still showcases how educators can further capitalize on the use of familiar devices already in the hands of students. Furthermore, it’s very clear that a setup like this virtually eliminates classroom walls while still maintaining the necessary structure required to operate a school. Stay tuned for further updates!
Kinect and Windows Phone 7 Integration:
Read MoreMobile Blogging: Benefits and Resources for Teachers
Many teachers reflect on their daily classroom interactions using a classroom blog that’s accessible to parents and students. Frequently, these blogs reflect on the content, skills, and resources used in class on any given day. “What worked” ,“what didn’t work” , and “what I’d do different” are common themes amongst many teacher blogs.
The primary issues I’ve had with the blogging process for classroom reflections are consistency and accuracy. Since I typically blog at the end of the day (or lately, the end of the week), I forget some of the meaningful and trivial events (both of which many parents like to hear about) that happened during each specific class. Rather than waiting until the end of the day to blog, why not do it during class as I’m walking around the room and monitoring student progress? Mobile blogging provides a great solution for achieving this.
Benefits of Mobile Blogging for Teachers:
Read More5 Simple Suggestions for Making Mobile Learning Part of the Classroom
I recently read an article on Education Week that discusses how to make laptops part of the classroom. After reading this, I’ve concluded that a primary reason mobile technology isn’t make a lot of headway in our classrooms is simply because we don’t know how to systematically make it relevant to our curricula. This is completely understandable since mobile learning is a fairly new phenomenon. We’re collectively coming up with great ideas, but we’re struggling to “make it work.”
It’s easy to surmise that mobile technology might have a positive influence on student learning. However, theories often defy relevant experience, which deters from translating good ideas into good practice. These five suggestions may help squelch detractors and maximize mobile technology integration in your curricula.
Read MoreHow to Create an iPhone Web App for Your Classes
I’ve always wanted my own iPhone app. However, I wasn’t willing to pay the development fees to get an app loaded in the iPhone app store. Furthermore, I wanted to avoiding paying fees for other services that would build an app for me. Although either of these options would have worked, I would have been paying monthly or yearly fees to keep my app available.
I searched around and found a free way to accomplish what I needed done. Using a template from the modmyi.com forums, I was able to design a basic web app for the iPhone that adheres to the iPhone navigation that so many mobile users have grown familiar with. However, it didn’t work properly, and I had to make some modifications to get it to work. So, the template available here is a consolidated effort.
In 8 steps, I’ll show you how you can build your very own iPhone web app for your class.
Read More
