iPads at GSB: Part I

               As some of you may know, there are a number of teachers and administrators at GSB using iPads.  For most of us, the goal is to consider how tablets might enrich instruction and learning at school.  To that end, there is quite a bit of exploration under way.

          Apps – more formally, applications – offer an incredible range of source materials for schools.  This doesn’t necessarily mean these are the best materials or that the information can be delivered easily and sensibly.  But that’s what we’re trying to figure out.  What apps hold curricular promise? Do apps, and tablet delivery, change learning in a discernibly positive way?  If you're interested in this question, you might want to check this site: http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=26195

         And an important corollary question is this:  If we believe tablets like an iPad are tools that we want to use, how can we best deploy them into classrooms?

          One of the projects that is connected to this exploration is a joint effort between Jill Fedon, Carrie Petkiewich and me.  We’ve been test-driving, reviewing and categorizing iPad apps for school use.  To date, we’ve reviewed over 100 apps, and have designated them by academic discipline and school division.  I’m certain this spreadsheet of information will be useful moving forward if we broaden our use of iPads at GSB.  And for now, the process is helping us to better analyze which apps are most useful in a school setting.  If you’d like a copy of the spreadsheet, let me know.

          One of my interests as I’ve worked with an iPad is in creating content, as opposed to only viewing content.  It’s a great device for viewing content.  Whether you’re browsing web pages, checking a work calendar synched to a desktop unit, or learning about the cosmos via an app developed by NASA, the iPad works beautifully.  But as I learned more about ePublishing using an iPad, iTunes and iBooks, I became far more interested in creative possibilities.  To that end, I decided to learn about the process of writing and publishing using an iPad.

          I didn’t want to spend time writing the sequel to War and Peace, so I decided a children’s story of about a dozen pages made sense.  But I did want to include visual and text content, wanted to explore layout and design, and most of all wanted the final product to appear on the iBook bookshelf in my iPad as a “published text.”  In my next post, I’ll be talking more about the project.  You’ll be able to see the story, and to hear about how our kindergarten classes responded to a reading.  We'll take it off the shelf and check it out.